Barnyard therapy working for P.E.I women

Spending a day in the barn with horses, goats, chickens, rabbits and donkeys can be uplifting, says a social worker who's turned her private farm into a therapy ranch for women.

One of the participants, 16-year-old Samara Ford, joined the Cowgirls program at Grand River Ranch on P.E.I.'s North Shore, and spends a lot of time grooming and riding the horses. 

"It helps with a lot of things," said Ford. "Like anxiety and everything. School. So I come here and just let it all out, talk to my furry friends."

The program runs Wednesday evenings and all day Friday. The provincial government helps pay the cost for participants through its Disability Support Program.

"I feel very happy and like pumped to come back,"Ford said.

'You see it in the smiles'

Hearing words like those is proof to social worker Heather Blouin that she did the right thing last year when she opened up her ranch to others. 

Blouin's day job is co-ordinating home care, but she decided she wanted to share her private ranch with Island women she thought could benefit from being around farm animals.

"We started out with just one or two ladies and now we have about seven or eight that come on a regular basis and they keep coming back for more," Blouin said. 

"You see it in the smiles, you see it in the change in their confidence level. We're just thrilled to see the benefits that it's providing."

Blouin is so committed to that belief she even takes time off from her full-time job to run the program, so others can experience the ranch.

Blouin is pleased to see "the reduced anxiety, the sense of responsibility, the confidence that's gained."

'Now I talk to everybody'

"It brings great pleasure to come here," said Karen Chapman, who has been with the program since it started last June.

"I wasn't the type of person to talk to people and now I talk to everybody — I go out with my friends to different places," she said as she washed out pails. 

"Because I have dyslexia, I talk backwards," Chapman explained.

"People used to make fun of me quite a bit. And I wasn't included in activities in school or nothing. But here nobody's different, everybody's the same, equal."

"I love the animals here," said Chapman. "I can't wait to get here on Wednesdays and Fridays." 

'Do it until it's no longer fun'

Although most aren't yet ready to ride the horses, they enjoy hanging out with them.

"I live with my grandmother so I don't really get out that often,' said Alex Took. "Here we have a bunch of girls to meet."

Took doesn't mind cleaning out the handful of rabbit cages. She scatters wood shavings in the cage, then gives the rabbits food and water.

"Gotta clean them out all the time, because if you don't they don't have a bed to lay in and it will get awful stinky in there."

"There's nothing really hard," Took said of the work. "Heather always says, 'We do it until it's no longer fun.'''

'More confidence'

Blouin works alongside the participants, doing her share of the chores.

"Animals need water, they need to be cleaned out, they need to have fresh water, fresh food — so all of those things have to take place," Blouin said.

She spreads around the chores so each participant gets to try different tasks and see what they like.

"We have one lady who although she doesn't drive a car, she really enjoys driving a tractor," Blouin said.

"She's gained a real skill set and it's hoped that because she's gotten a sense of driving a tractor, she'll now have more confidence when she applies for her driver's licence."

'That's as powerful as what I feel'

How does being around animals help people?

"I really compare it to music," Blouin said. "We see the physiological changes in the brain of people when they're listening to music or when they're around animals, the benefits that happen as a result.

"That's as powerful as what I feel when I'm working with animals."

Blouin is pleased the work she's doing with the program is paying off.

"When they're describing to their families and their friends how it makes them feel and the change that it's had for their entire life, I just feel a sense of what I'm doing is the right path I'm supposed to be on."

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