TAYLORSVILLE, Ky. — Following this month’s mass shooting, Veteran’s Club of Louisville will open its monthly equine therapy sessions to people impacted by the tragedy.
“For the last couple weeks we’ve been really trying to find out how we can support our city and community and we thought why not utilize the program that we use know helps people overcome trauma,” Jeremy Harrell, founder of Veteran’s Club said.
The organization has hosted therapy sessions for veterans and first responders for the last three years. In that time, they’ve helped hundreds deal with issues such as addiction, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and other trauma.
Harrell says offering this program to the hurting community of Louisville just makes sense.
“We understand that this is a very challenging time for our community and we understand that the content of what we are going to discuss is very, very heavy and difficult, but none the less we’re here for you,” Harrell said.
Equine therapy sessions take place on a property outside of Taylorsville. Sessions begin in the stable where participants spend time brushing the horses.
It’s a calming activity for James Murphy and Richard Hayes, who are both veterans.
“This place represents peace for everyone,” Murphy said, “No matter who you are or what you’ve done.”
Both men encourage anyone affected by the shooting to find help and talk through that day when they’re ready. Whether that be here at the farm or elsewhere.
“A lot of things that I like to tell people is you don’t have to go to war to be traumatized right, you don’t have to be a soldier to get PTSD.” Murphy said. “There are several people from that one instance that’s going to live with that forever. It’s going to affect them forever.”
After time with the horses, the group gathers to talk through issues. If someone’s not ready to open up, that’s okay, too.
“We know it’s still fresh, we know there are still people out there who aren’t necessarily ready to come and kind of talk about this openly yet and that’s okay,” Harrell said.
While from the outside looking in, it may not seem like anything special, for those who’ve been through the unimaginable, having a quiet place to decompress and heal is priceless.
Veteran’s Club will host its next equine therapy session May 13.