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Happiness Through Horses Helps Vulnerable Youth Become the Best Version of Themselves

“Horses really mirror to what we are feeling,” said Swaney. “You have to have your mind, body and spirit right to have a successful time with a horse.”

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

From one woman's challenging adolescence and passion for horses came an organization helping to improve self-esteem and mental health in vulnerable youth.

Happiness Through Horses is a nonprofit organization with programs designed to help children and teens develop communication and decision-making skills, experience emotional and behavioral growth, and more, by caring for and interacting with horses.

Founded by Kim Swaney and Shauna White in 2013, Happiness Through Horses provides various year-round programs for students in Boulder, Weld and Larimer Counties. They have four full-sized and three miniature horses at Trinity Ranch in Fort Lupton, and also partner with other barns across the state to supplement their programs.

Photo courtesy of Happiness Through Horses

 “We can help all kids either with our program or through our referral program with our partnering barns,” said Swaney. “But 99 times out of 100, we can take the child and help them. We do that through one-on-ones and group activities and programs.”

For Swaney, the main force driving the organization is the suicide rate in Colorado. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the seventh leading cause of death in the state. The suicide rate in Colorado rose by a little more than 34 percent since 1999. And, according to a 2018 report from the Colorado Office of the Attorney General, between 2015 and 2017, there were 222 suicide deaths among young people between the ages of 10 and 18, in Colorado.

 “It’s something that we got to stand up to and do something about,” said Swaney.

Some of the programs offered by Happiness Through Horses include the Youth Leadership program and Junior Wrangler Program, which are eight-weeks long. Qualifying students can receive scholarships to attend.

These programs consist of a variety of curriculum ideas that help adolescents learn about conflict resolution, boundaries, nutrition and more. Another key goal is for participants to become the best person they can be, and develop self-leadership skills.

“This is about how we lead ourselves,” said Swaney. “We can’t be leaders in our workplace, in our school, in our families, if we’re not good self leaders.”

These behavioral development and life-skills are taught through classroom sessions and by interacting with horses. Kids clean and care for the animals in addition to touching and riding them.

“Horses really mirror to what we are feeling,” said Swaney. “You have to have your mind, body and spirit right to have a successful time with a horse.”

Photo courtesy of Happiness Through Horses

Studies have actually shown that horses can smell human fear and happiness. So, for the program participants to effectively interact with a horse, they have to have to be calm and in control, mentally and physically. Thus, working with the horses indirectly teaches them these skills and behaviors.

Additionally, research has proven that interacting with horses provides therapeutic benefits for anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance abuse, autism and more.

In 2018, the University of Colorado Anschultz Medical Campus conducted a study on the impacts of therapeutic horseback riding on children with autism spectrum disorder. The results showed that participating in 10-weeks of therapeutic horsebackriding resulted in significant improvements in word fluency, hyperactivity, irritability and social skills. 

Swaney says it’s clear that Happiness Through Horses is having a positive impact on program participants. She’s heard from parents about how their child is now a different person in school and can also see for herself the progress and changes in the kids.

Photo courtesy of Happiness Through Horses

“These kids, they want to be better people. They want to show up differently in the world than they did before. Or they’re just not as scared to push through fears and things like that,” said Swaney.

Happiness Through Horses will hold the second annual Happiness Hoedown on May 5, 2019, from 5-8:30 p.m., at DBarn Longmont. Proceeds from the event will support programming for Happiness Through Horses. For more information, visit Happiness Through Horses.