Healing our heroes using horsemanship skills
The military and emergency services teach us to resilient, often encouraging us to ignore our responses and needs to fight for the greater cause. Our foundation in these careers is based on our skills, experience, the team/unit, and institutional structures. However, it is crucial to recognise that resilience can also be built and strengthened while serving, even in the face of trauma. By fostering a supportive environment, encouraging open communication, and providing access to mental health resources like Horse Aid, current serving personnel can develop coping strategies and resilience to effectively manage stress and trauma.
When we eventually transition from our careers, these resilience-building practices can help maintain a sense of identity and motivation, even in the face of service-related trauma. However, the system often fails us; without early intervention, our foundation can shatter over time, turning each day into a battle.
Wellbeing is about: nurturing our foundation; understanding who we are through our interactions and interconnections; bringing purpose and wholeness; expressing love, joy, learning, achievement towards personal empowerment; and developing resilience in times of stress, illness and crises in a way that builds a solid foundation to our responses and needs.
If you are participating in a program with Horse Aid, you will be asked to complete an assessment. This assessment helps you to understand your connection to yourself, others and the world around you. It serves as a tool to identify areas for improvement to enhance your wellbeing. You have the option to receive a free confidential one-page analysis of your assessment findings from Dr Mel Baker. Additionally, anonymised assessment data will be used by the Horse Aid Board to refine programs and secure broader funding and support.
It is important that you answer each question on how you feel today and what is most true for you.
The answers will remain confidential between yourself and Dr Mel Baker who will provide the anonymised assessment analysis to the Horse Aid Board. The overall results will be collated into the group experience and anonymised as well as used for research in the wider community of military and emergency services who have completed the Horse Aid program – whether One Day Intro or Five Day Residential programs.
Select the image below that corresponds with your program
Who is Horse Aid? Horse Aid is an Australian for-purpose and not-for-profit registered charity that provides free equine-assisted healing programs for serving and ex-serving defence personnel and first responders who are suffering from mental health challenges due to their work serving our nation and our community.
Developed by former NSW Mounted Policeman, qualified riding instructor and horse trainer Scott Brodie, our healing horsemanship programs offer a second chance and support system for both heroes and horses who need help to heal from trauma, rebuild confidence and learn new skills–finding a path forward to hope and second chances.
Who is Dr Mel Baker? Mel is the founder and creator of Living Your Wellbeing, with evidence-based and practice-based research wellbeing model specifically designed to capture participants’ foundation, functionality, validations and needs with pre and post program data. Mel served in the NSW Police Force (2004-2011), New Zealand Police Service (2006-2007) and Royal Australian Navy (2011-2015) until she was medically discharged with PTSD, anxiety and depression due to abuse and subsequent cover ups in the navy. Through the Homes for Heroes program, Mel completed 2 live-in programs in 2015 and 2016 with Scott Brodie and was part of The Healing documentary. Mel continues to volunteer with Horse Aid.
Recent statistics
Those who have completed a 5-day residential program with Scott Brodie and continued volunteering with horses following the program (orange), has had a better outcome of their overall wellbeing than those who have only attended a mental health clinic with therapy (blue), yoga classes weekly (yellow), or only attended an equine residential horse program and stopped (red).
