No Horsing Around

Donna Thibedeau has always loved horses. Growing up, she had pictures of horses on her wall. She even convinced the commander of the Army base where her father served as an officer to lease the base's horses, which only came out of their stalls to draw a carriage at special events. For a $40 a month allowance, Thibedeau took care of the horses and gave them regular exercise. These days Thibedeau is an international remote reservation agent working out of her son's home in Utah. It's an hour from her passion, Tranquil Valley Sanctuary.

Thibedeau started Tranquil Valley Sanctuary, located on her ranch in Idaho, after doing research on horse therapy while she was in college. "I learned that horses can heal wounds. They are a mirror into souls," she says.

She began taking older horses on her ranch as part of a rescue effort but realized she could do much more. "I was inspired by a show I saw on television about soldiers coming home wounded, and how trauma was taking a toll on their lives," she recalls. She also learned that soldier suicide rates were high and decided she could do something to help. "I know horses heal," she says. So Thibedeau offered her horse therapy program at Tranquil Valley to wounded soldiers.

"There was a new type of injury soldiers were suffering, traumatic brain injury, that is basically like shaken baby syndrome in adults," Thibedeau says. "Soldiers had severe memory loss. They couldn't remember where they worked, so they couldn't go to work." But horse therapy at Tranquil Valley Sanctuary has helped the soldiers to begin working on memory.

"We also do therapeutic riding for amputees," says Thibedeau. Soldiers who have lost a limb can climb on a horse, and while the horse walks, the muscles in the soldiers' body respond as if they were actually walking. "In one hour's riding each day, we've seen improvement in as little as three weeks. Some of the soldiers have even started walking again."

Thibedeau describes how a 25-minute walk with a horse helps some soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. "We tell them that they can talk to the horse and whatever they say stays with the horse," she says. Soldiers have let go of combat memories they felt they couldn't share with anyone. "Knowing that their story is safe with the horse allows the soldiers to get back to who they are," Thibedeau explains.

Thibedeau recently received permission from the Department of Veterans Affairs to bring miniature horses to the VA hospital in Salt Lake City to visit with soldiers who cannot leave the hospital for therapy. "We will take them through the doors, up the elevators, and into the rooms," she says.

The program doesn't turn away any soldier who needs help. "We run this program solely on donations, but we are here for anyone who needs us," Thibedeau says. To learn more about Tranquil Valley Sanctuary, visit tranquilvalleysanctuary.org.

– Lora O'Riordan

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