Testimonials
Connecting with horses and having horses identify "old baggage" and talking through it with positive affirmations and balance.
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Relationships
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Shame
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Abandonment
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Trust and accepting love in new relationships
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Working together to make a difference. This is what it's about.
Quintin loves going to Gaits of Hope. I can't even describe how much these services have helped us grow as a family. Thank you for everything!
I am one of the veteran participants!
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And I tell you, I started my journey towards better mental health at the VA just a few months before finding my way to Gaits of Hope Equine-Assisted Healing & Learning. All the VA really ever seemed to do was give me some meds that made me worse, and refer me to therapists that had no clue how to deal with someone with my needs. With Jodine, it isn't about meds, it's deep therapy that really focuses you to spend time investigating questions like what value of mine is being questioned by this 'thing' occurring in my life and how can I maintain my values while navigating through the muck.
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I also think that working in a group environment, you can learn so much just by being present when someone else is working through something. Like Scripture says, "...there's nothing new under the sun." Maybe this guy and that guy both miss their kids and maybe they both have completely different reasons why, but the two can work through the same experience as one works through it out loud. You walk away knowing you're not alone, which is huge, and also with a different perspective on your own matters.
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I can't write enough about it, it's just something you have to try to understand if you're affected with mental health issues like me. But what keeps me going back is that it's the only place I have found that combines faith with healing too. And, as part of my values, it has helped me avoid the pharmakeia and seek out Jesus Christ too!
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Jodine has taught us all a lot about pain management, too, whether she realizes it or not; by showing us how to release tension in the horses, that can also be applied to us, if you do it right. You can learn so much out there!
I cannot express enough how #gaitsofhope changed my life. My first day (and a few more) I was in fear of the horses; they are big, powerful, and unpredictable- as in, I had no idea where they would suddenly run. Nothing felt safe. Then Jodine, who owns Gaits of Hope, provided extensive guidance and, through the horses, taught me what my fear represented. It was my PTSD from situations from serving in the Army and trauma from multiple domestic violence situations. All places I felt the same way as I did with the horses- fear of what's big, powerful and unpredictable to me.
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Within a few sessions, I was taking cheek-to-cheek selfies with my beautiful, gentle new friends. I learned to recognize what it feels like when PTSD tries to 'own' me. I can now ground myself and become confident in knowing, I GOT THIS!
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Hearing fellow veterans share their journey was helpful. Finding out many of us struggle in similar ways was like a breath of fresh air. That I'm not a horrible person who carelessly has no direction in life, which I've been told multiple times.
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Jodine teaches life skills, self-love, how to release the guilt we carry and, most of all, that we are worthy and deserving of the life we desire.
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We (veterans) are part of a small percentage of the entire population qualified to serve our country. We are amazing, strong, selfless, loyal men and women who, no matter how long it's been, are still willing to protect you and our country at all costs. We knew the risks, we volunteered anyway. The ways we cope with those risks can destroy ourselves, every relationship with family and friends, we lose jobs and some of us become homeless. But that's not WHO we are, and we need reminding of that.
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Equine-assisted healing gave me a part of myself back that no medicine (which I don't want to take anyway) ever will. By the end of two months, I was actually sitting on a Belgium as a fellow veteran led us around the arena. They are giant horses!
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Veterans, checkout Gaits of Hope Equine-Assisted Healing & Learning. The horses will teach you about yourself and life, they are always happy to see you and best of all...you can tell them all the heaviness you've carried for decades and it stays between you and the horse.
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When you arrive for your next session, your horse will find you and check in with you to remind you, they've got your back too!