FALLBROOK — A longtime Fallbrook nonprofit that provides horse-based therapy is expanding its services with the launch of a new mental health initiative and facility at its Mission Road ranch.
Since 1984, Riding Emphasizing Individual Needs and Strengths, or REINS, has provided equine-assisted therapy for individuals with special needs and injuries, focusing on both physical and cognitive development.
In recent years, the group’s therapeutic horsemanship program has placed increased emphasis on mental health, particularly for veterans, active-duty service members, first responders, foster youth and displaced children who have experienced trauma.
The REINS of Valor mental health initiative, officially launched two years ago and led by Kaitlyn Siewert, has grown quickly, prompting the need for additional facilities on the property.
“This program grew by 75% in the first year,” Siewert said.
Siewert, who has served as executive director for the past several years, has witnessed the program’s growth since she first began volunteering as a middle school student.
Unlike the traditional therapeutic riding program, the new program is unmounted and relies on senior horses who have retired from carrying riders to deliver ground-based interactions with participants.
“When they transition into that role, they’re talking in their native language,” Siewert said. “They’re going back to nature.”
The sessions can vary from person to person, depending on their individual needs. For example, an equine-assisted psychotherapy session would include a licensed therapist or mental health professional, a certified professional from REINS, the participant, and, of course, the horse. In these sessions, the participant works with the horse and professionals through their trauma and individual goals.
Siewert explained how a typical session may go:
“Let’s say the participant is an active-duty Marine who has experienced trauma, who has been through deployments, is quick to anger, has high anxiety and high stress,” she began. “Horses sync their heart rates with beings within seven feet. In the wild, horses are at a relaxed state but still hypervigilant – their heart rate and blood pressure is down, and they’re relaxed but they know what’s going on around them.”
Meanwhile, it’s the opposite for people, particularly service members, whose heart rates can frequently stay elevated, which can lead to physiological issues down the road.
“So this guy walks in, and the horse takes off to the other side of the arena because it senses the elevated heart rate. That’s a predatory instinct, because a predator is elevated when hunting, which is why our soldiers operate at that level because they are trained for war,” she said.
The therapist then asks the participant why they think the horse ran away, with a typical response being, “They don’t like me.” As the session progresses, the therapist may introduce a grounding exercise to help calm the participant, often prompting the horse to move slightly closer.
In another activity, the participant may be asked to walk around the arena to help lower their heart rate. Over time, the horse may begin to walk alongside them.
Talking about personal problems can be difficult for people, Siewert explained, because of a fear of how another person may react; working with horses can help ease that fear.
“If we’re sitting in a room and talking about our problems, what’s going on in our head? ‘I don’t want to tell this person how I feel, I don’t want to open up and be vulnerable, I don’t want them to judge me or dislike me.’ Well, the horse isn’t thinking any of that, nor do we assume the horse is thinking that – especially when they’re walking with you,” she said. “They’ve just become a partner in your journey.”
Working with horses can be both mentally and physically draining, often leading to improved sleep, according to Siewert. She said this benefit is especially helpful for individuals struggling with night terrors, paranoia or other challenges related to post-traumatic stress disorder and similar mental health conditions.
As part of the program’s expansion, a new arena has been built on the property to host many of the mental health sessions. Siewert said the arena will be dedicated to those who have lost their lives to mental illness and their families.
“We want those stories of losses to have an impact on the future,” she said. “They weren’t lost in vain, they just didn’t have the right resources – we want to be that resource. We want to provide the help that’s needed in an accessible environment.”
In addition to the new arena, the 10-acre ranch is receiving support from North Coast Church, whose volunteers are building a barbecue area and a small, one-room classroom for the foster youth program. Once completed, each child who participates in the program will have the opportunity to leave a handprint, along with their name and the date, inside the classroom.
“That way, they’ll always know they left their mark and can come back and see it,” Siewert said.
The mental health program for veterans, active-duty service members, first responders and foster youth will continue to be offered at no cost. Siewert said she also plans to expand youth services, along with parenting support, crisis recovery and grief counseling, at discounted rates to help sustain the program.
Participants in the mounted therapeutic riding sessions pay only 25% of the actual cost, she said.
“Accessibility is such a huge thing – especially in the state of California, where everything is so astronomically priced,” she added.
The ranch also plans to increase its electrical capacity, upgrade its septic system and add a new pasture for horses used in the mental health program.
To help sustain the program and increase access, Siewert said, scholarships remain a critical need for REINS.
“The biggest barrier to healthcare is financial,” Siewert said. “Mental health is the number one need in our communities. We need scholarships to offer these services at a reasonable rate.”
REINS is a premier, accredited equine-assisted therapy program recognized by PATH International, a designation held by only 200 of the organization’s 850 programs worldwide. Ivey Ranch Park Association in Oceanside is another local facility with premier PATH accreditation.
The program operates with 35 staff members, including 16 PATH-certified instructors, seven equine specialists for mental health and learning, and six full-time management staff, along with support from 150 weekly volunteers. REINS serves approximately 200 riders each week and currently has a waitlist of nearly 350 people.
A dedication ceremony for the new facility is scheduled for July 19 from 10 a.m. to noon at 4461 S. Mission Road in Fallbrook. Attendees must RSVP at reinsprogram.org.
