Southern Boone Horses Offer Mental Health Therapy

By: Tara Blue
A newly popular trend in the mental health community is one that has been practiced for some time in Southern Boone. With a deep history of horsemanship, several organizations around Ashland, Hartsburg, and the Columbia areas offer equine-assisted therapy for children, handicapped persons, veterans, and other adults who seek an alternative way to navigate emotional and traumatic experiences.
For some, the conventional method of visiting a psychologist and receiving prescribed medications has not achieved desired results. According to statistics from WhiteHouse.gov (2022), there has been a general trend of worsening mental health for the American public in recent years. Some of the annual 280 billion dollars paid out by the federal government for mental health services could be redirected to new and effective approaches, such as equine therapy.

See more in this weeks Boone County Journal