Sask. ranch to host study seeing if horses can help First Responders manage PTSD symptoms

A horse ranch in the Prince Albert area will host a research study to determine whether or not horses can help public safety personnel manage symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Cartier Farms partnered with Ontario-based McMaster University to see if Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) will help improve symptoms for first responders with PTSD.

“Equine Assisted Learning is a learning based program of life skills with horses. We use the horses in specific exercises with stations and that sets up situations. Today it's all about clear communication,” Gayle Cartier, EAL facilitator told CTV News.

Cartier works with people with a variety of needs to develop life skills. She noticed many first responders were looking for a more hands-on therapy.

“We had a lot of people dealing with us that were firefighters and paramedics. We started looking at that and it seemed like it was almost an epidemic of the need for help,” she said.

Eighty participants will be divided into four groups over the course of two years. The groups consist of 20 people, half of them will work with horses for eight weeks, and the other half will not.

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“We're going to compare what those two look like with respect to mental health afterwards,” said Ashley Williams, a postdoctoral fellow with the McMaster University trauma and recovery unit.

The control group will have a chance to participate in EAL once the tests are complete. The test subjects will be interviewed before, after, and three months after the sessions are complete.

For more information or to potentially participate, call McMaster University at 647-551-2701 or email [e-mail]