Mane Intent marks 5th Anniversary of utilizing a horse’s natural empathy for humans

Since 2013, The Mane Intent near Indian River has been helping people deal with the gamut of trauma and emotional issues by hanging out with horses.

Owner Jennifer Garland says those who come to her business are often surprised by what can be accomplished through non-verbal communication between themselves and a horse.

“Horses are very intelligent animals, very sensitive animals,” Garland says. “They’ve evolved as a prey animal so they are very sensitive as to what’s happening in their environment, who’s in their environment, and they reflect back to us what we present. They are always taking in our body language, our emotional state, our energy.”

You don’t ride the horse, often the horse will lead you, physically and emotionally to a new place. Dave McNab, an OPP officer was struggling with both illness and mixed emotions about retiring from a job he loved. Then he met Harry, a former racehorse who had to retire from racing because of illness.

“We had more in common than I ever would have dreamed and when I looked at his life and how he managed to handle the obstacles in front of him, I realized I had a few of those same obstacles,” McNab says. “I took a lesson from Harry on how he dealt with it and now he’s in a better place and how he’s doing great things here.”

The Mane Intent also works with emergency service workers and military personnel dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.