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While psychotherapy incorporating equine interaction (PIE) has proven to be a viable therapeutic intervention, it is not a common mental health service found on college campuses. Nevertheless, with the rise of mental health challenges on campuses after the COVID-19 pandemic, a need for effective therapeutic solutions is warranted. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of a collegiate recovery community (CRC) PIE program for substance abuse disorder (SUD) compared to that of traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and to determine whether physiological synchronization occurs between the human and horse during the therapy process. College-aged adults were recruited during the COVID-19 pandemic for two types of short-term SUD therapeutic interventions, CRC-PIE and CBT. Both groups completed a self-reporting survey assessing emotional safety. Vital signs measurements for human and horse participants within the CRC-PIE were collected prior to and after the first and last therapeutic sessions. Results concluded that although emotional safety did not improve significantly for PIE participants by the last therapy session (p = 0.85), emotional safety scores were significantly different between therapy types, with lower post-therapy scores for PIE (p = 0.04). As for physiological measures for PIE participants, respiratory rates (Human: p = 0.01; Horse: p = 0.01) and pain rating scores (Human: p = 0.03; Horse: p = 0.01) significantly decreased post-therapy and a strong positive correlation (R = 0.73, R2 = 0.53) associated with vital signs was observed between humans and horses. This human–horse physiological synchronization during the therapeutic intervention suggests that the horse may be a viable tool within campus CRC programs for the development of therapeutic alliances within the therapy process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective teaching requires an educational environment that promotes learning, and yet, developing such an environment can be challenging within today's agricultural-based classroom for educators due to the trend to a more virtual teaching format and less hands-on learning. Animal interaction, particularly equine activities, has been shown to assist educators in the development of an emotionally safe environment for promoting learning. However, research is lacking as to whether the interaction with the animal needs to be direct or indirect within the collegiate educational environment to observe benefits. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the impact of equine interaction, both direct and indirect, within an educational environment on the emotional safety and learning for the college student within the agricultural-based classroom. Three course types were observed within the agricultural-based educational environment that included courses with no equine interaction (Group A) and courses with equine interaction, both direct (Group B) and indirect (Group C) interaction with the horse. Indirect interaction included items such as observation of equine handling via a video or gaining knowledge from reading online materials, but not engaging in direct, hands-on activities with the horse. Development of emotional safety within the students enrolled within these courses was measured using a self-reporting emotional safety evaluation. Due to the structure of the scale, a decrease in emotional safety indicated a positive change. Learning, both development of semantic and procedural memory, was measured using a student-completed knowledge examination and an instructor-completed skill evaluation, respectively. While significant improvement in emotional safety was not observed within any of the course types, a weak negative correlation was found between emotional safety and semantic memory for students enrolled in equine courses, both direct (R = −0.55, R2 = 0.28) and indirect (R = −0.25, R2 = 0.06) interaction, finding as emotional safety scores lowered to the ideal range that knowledge improved. In addition, students within equine courses showed semantic memory development in specific areas of equine sciences (Group B: Grooming/Tacking, p = 0.03; Group C: Equine Behavior, p = 0.04) and direct equine interaction resulted in development of equine-based procedural memory in all four skill areas measured within the study (p = 0.00). As such, learning is promoted through equine interaction, whether direct or indirect interaction, within the agricultural-based classroom, suggesting that both forms of equine interaction can be a valuable educational tool for the instructor within the collegiate setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substance use disorder has become an epidemic in the young adult population across the United States, and these numbers rose during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychotherapy incorporating equine interaction has emerged to show promise in the mental health community as a complementary form of therapy for this age group and offered a viable treatment option during the pandemic due to the outdoor nature of the treatment environment. However, research concerning its use within a residential treatment program was lacking. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of psychotherapy incorporating equine interaction in a residential treatment program during the COVID-19 pandemic for developing an emotionally safe environment for learning for young adults. Participants (ages 18–25 years) were those in a substance abuse residential treatment program utilizing psychotherapy incorporating equine interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were involved in weekly equine therapy for 2–7 weeks. Participants were divided according to length of stay at the residential facility and participation level with equine interactive activities. Assessment of emotional safety and long-term memory development was performed at the beginning and end of the treatment program. The development of memories centered around equine information that was covered during the treatment program. Semantic memory was assessed using a self-reporting knowledge exam and procedural memory was assessed using a skill evaluation. Emotional safety was determined using a self-reporting survey instrument. Paired t-tests determined significant improvement in emotional safety (p = 0.02) and semantic (p = 0.01) and procedural (p = 0.00) memory for all participants by the end of the program. The one-way analysis of variance indicated length of stay and participation level were not significant indicators of emotional safety (length of stay: p = 0.91, participation level: p = 0.98) and semantic (length of stay: p = 0.09, participation level: p = 0.60) and procedural (length of stay: p = 0.25, participation level: p = 0.09) memory development. These results suggest psychotherapy incorporating equine interaction was an efficient complementary therapeutic intervention for developing emotional safety and encouraging learning in a young-adult residential addiction treatment program during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While research supporting the psychological benefits of equine assisted psychotherapy and learning (EAPL) is expanding, little is known about the physiological impact this therapy has on the human and horse. The physical activity for younger adults may hold promise where other therapies have failed, but can this form of exercise therapy be physically demanding on the participant? Therefore, the objective of this study was to measure physiological responses of horse and human for those participating in an EAPL outpatient collegiate recovery program for substance use disorder (SUD). This pilot study assessed humans (n = 4) and horses (n = 5) participating in a collegiate recovery community EAPL SUD program. The six-week program included riding and ground activities for 1 hr/wk. Vital signs (heart and respiratory rates and pain rating) were recorded weekly at the beginning and end of each session. Human pain rating used the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale and equines used the Equine Utrecht University Scale for Facial Assessment of Pain (EQUUS-FAP). T-tests were performed comparing measurements at the beginning and end of each session (P = 0.05). Pearson Correlations were used to determine relationships between human and horse vital signs. While no changes were seen in human heart rate, a significant decrease in respiratory rates and pain scores was found by the end of the session (Table 1). Horse heart and respiratory rates and EQUUS-FAP scores increased. A moderate correlation was determined for human and horse respiration rates (r=0.65, P = 0.00). Correlations became weaker when evaluating the other vital signs (Heart Rates: r=0.54, P = 0.00; Pain Rating Scores: r=0.27, P = 0.17). While relationships between horse and human vital signs were limited, it is important to note the differences in how the two physiologically respond to EAPL suggesting further research beyond this pilot study may be needed to investigate the physical demand of EAPL on the horse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]