A few years ago, I faced a number of stressful situations that occurred simultaneously in my life. The
result overwhelmed my nervous system to cause a chronic state of anxiety. For months I was
crippled with anxiousness, with sleep offering the only reprieve. Being a mental health practitioner, I
was aware of the conventional treatment options available to me however nothing I tried was
proving to offer any long-term relief. I was suffering, with my presentation rapidly affecting my social
and emotional life. I felt utterly hopeless to my situation despite my experience and expertise within
the mental health field.

I have had a deep love towards animals since a child, especially horses, and was privileged to grow
up around horses. At the time I owned my own Off the Track thoroughbred ‘Grumpy’ named after
his racing name ‘Got the Frown’ (although far from the truth!). Horses have always been a constant
to bring a sense of peace and calm ever since I could remember. Their presence naturally initiates
this effect on me, so in desperation to alleviate my symptoms I decided to turn to Grumpy to see if
he was able to help in anyway.

Being herd animals, horses have an innate ability to sense what we are feeling at any given time.
This allows horses to offer humans with direct biofeedback into our internal worlds. By drawing my
awareness to what was happening within my body, through Grumpy’s provision of feedback, I began
connecting with the bodily sensations representing that of my anxiety. Once aware, I was then able
to experiment with different strategies that assisted to release the energy attached to the
sensations. This process in itself began to restore my nervous system. My anxiety began to lessen,
and in time shifted from being chronic in nature to occurring only fleetingly which was then able to
be managed with the newly developed skills I had learnt along the way. With Grumpy as the co-
facilitator, I was able to overcome my anxiety and find joy in life once more.

Although I have always thought horses to be incredibly healing, it wasn’t until Grumpy personally
supported me did I discover the true healing potential horses can offer to people.

Following my experience, I became driven to combine my two life passions of mental health and
horses together to help others on similar journeys to restore their health and wellbeing. With the
help of Grumpy, I was able to move through a really difficult period in my life and hope to support
others to achieve their own mental health aspirations.