Therapeutic Horseback Riding Brings Healing

After a particularly challenging time in her life, Heather Miner took a year off to get "back to basics." That's when she discovered therapeutic horseback riding through Ride For Joy. Now she is helping others find healing as a therapist there and says it "feels like home." For more #GrottoStories subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/GrottoNetwork Connect with us on social media! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/GrottoNetwork/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrottoNetwork Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrottoNetwork/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/GrottoNetwork/ Visit us at grottonetwork.com --- | TRANSCRIPT | Heather Miner lost several loved ones over a short span of months. Heather Miner: I lost several family members, and I consequently lost my job because I went to too many funerals, and I was just kind of a mess. She knew she needed to find joy again. Heather: I knew I couldn’t function as a counselor because I needed to take time for myself to heal. I took a year or so, and I called it “getting back to basics.” If it was going to stress me out, I didn’t do it. That’s when she discovered Ride for Joy. Heather: I heard about Ride for Joy. I had never heard of therapeutic horseback riding before. I was like perfect, I will just go ride some horses. It’s all I had to do. Ride for Joy is a nonprofit equine therapy program. Heather works with riders of various needs and abilities to aid in their healing. Heather: So I got out here, and I realized my very first day out here, it was going to be more than just a job. It was definitely going to be a home for me. Heather could share her lifelong love of riding with others. Heather: I was working with a veteran, and he wanted to learn how to do something called lunging, which is making the horse go in a circle around the person. In the process, she found healing for herself. Heather: Teaching this veteran how to utilize his energy with the horse’s energy and talk to the horse across a distance, he was really in the moment, and I was really in the moment. I’m like this is where I’m supposed to be. This is what I’m supposed to do. I’m home.