053 Christianna Capra – Spring Reins of Life

Christianna Capra (CC) is co-founder & Director of Equine Services with Spring Reins of Life 501c3 (Horses, Humans & Healing). Started in 2012 Spring Reins of Life, almost right away began working with the Men’s PTSD Unit at Lyons VA Hospital. In 2015 that expanded to include the Women’s and the Domiciliary PTSD Units. CC and Spring Reins of Life have been in four books and numerous print articles. Also featured in the media such as PIX11 News, Verizon Fios, and more. CC has over 40 years of horse experience handling (exercising) riding and competitive showing. Working with horses at liberty is a very freeing experience. Capra spent 25 years in NYC with a background in publicity, she now resides at the farm/facility where the horses live and the work happens.

Operation Horse, EAP/L for combat veterans suffering with PTSD/TBI.
Veteran suicide is an out of control epidemic today. There are over 5,000 recorded deaths in Iraq & Afghanistan, yet over 128,000 suicides on US soil. At Spring Reins of Life in New Jersey we are working to be part of the solution. NJ had a high population of veterans, also has more horses per square mile than most states. PTS is an internal injury and trauma robs you of present moment, peace, trust, resiliency. At Operation Horse we do not ride, nor do we teach horsemanship – both of which have immense qualities. We are more focused on the interaction with horses who are “at liberty” (loose and able to express themselves freely). It is impossible to not become fully present when there are 1000 lb + creatures moving around you. Especially if you do not have experience being around horses. Horses are prey/flight animals and you will not get close to a loose horse unless they trust you. Veterans with moderate/severe PTS have lost all trust (even with themselves), so establishing trust with a horse can become a very large metaphor. Horses read body language and energy with acute precision and once this is understood – veterans are able to begin exploring their own set of coping skills. We do not “talk about it”, words are not necessary. At the end of each session we do ask for ONE word to describe that days events. Over 300 times we have heard words like: Peaceful, Calm, Relaxing, Awesome, Laughter, Thank-you, Inspiring, etc.

Spring Reins of Life is an EAGALA Model certified program – EAGALA is the Equine Assisted Growth & Learning Association and is present in all 50 states and over 50 countries worldwide. Spring Reins of Life was founded in 2012, in 2014 we were the first (and currently the only) program in the state of NJ to earn and retain the “Military Services Provider” certificate. Currently we see veterans (OIF, OEF and Vietnam) from Lyons VA Hospital – and we could be doing more. Funding is an issue. With over 23 suicides per day, the VA needs to step up and release some of the millions of dollars set aside for mental health crisis and put it into modalities that are showing results. There is not evidence based research on EAP/L however if the VA put money into it there would be in no time. Because horses heal, and in the case of the veteran population they can and will save lives! Spring Reins of Life also has programming created for veterans families and supports called “Coming HOME”, and while we have requests, we have no funding in that area. Must admit it is rather frustrating to be a volunteer run organization so that we can allocate more than 85% of funding dollar towards services…and then there are places such as Wounded Warriors who Exec Director makes $2M a year and maybe 20% of millions of dollars in funding gets to the veterans themselves. But regardless, we keep pushing and fighting for, the avenues to keep this service going and to ultimately expand it. Really does take a village!

For More Information:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpringReinsofLife501c3/

Website: http://www.springreinsoflife.org

Upworthy video/ Veterans Day 2015 “Operation Horse”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCaSvfgMhZE

June 5th, 2016 Open House / Demo: http://www.springreinsoflife.org/2015/09/21/3rd-annual-spring-festival-open-housedemo-fundraiser/

NJVMA Service Animal Hall of Fame Award 2013 to Straw for her work with trauma survivors (The Miracle Mare): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUUWzCaX0U0

SUMMARY:

Spring Reins of Life provides equine assisted psychotherapy to trauma survivors of three populations: military Veterans and their Families, Bereaved Children, At-risk/High-risk Youth and Addiction Recovery.

What drew Christianna to work on this project is that veteran suicide is an out of control epidemic today. There are over 5,000 recorded deaths in Iraq & Afghanistan, yet over 128,000 suicides on US soil. At Spring Reins of Life in New Jersey they are working to be part of the solution. NJ had a high population of veterans, also has more horses per square mile than most states. PTS is an internal injury and trauma robs you of present moment, peace, trust, resiliency. At Operation Horse they do not ride, nor teach horsemanship. They are more focused on the interaction with horses who are “at liberty” (loose and able to express themselves freely). Horses are prey/flight animals and you will not get close to a loose horse unless they trust you. Veterans with moderate/severe PTS have lost all trust (even with themselves), so establishing trust with a horse can become a very large metaphor. Horses read body language and energy with acute precision and once this is understood – veterans are able to begin exploring their own set of coping skills. Animal assisted therapy with horses combines the positive emotional effects gained from the human/horse bond with opportunities to challenge and explore one’s thoughts and internal struggles during activities with an equine partner. It is a therapeutic intervention that defeats the stigma often associated with traditional counseling, but more importantly, it is an intervention that works.