COEUR d'ALENE - A charismatic, friendly paint horse practically stole the show Tuesday afternoon in the Stables at Mica Meadows.

Levi, the horse, inquisitively sniffed and solicited attention from the 10 veterans and interested individuals who were present for the site visit and an Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association equine-assisted learning demonstration, causing a few laughs and generating conversation.

The event was facilitated by Helena Rouhe - owner of Blue Moon Mending and licensed marriage and family therapist - and equine specialist Shannon Morse in conjunction with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 889 and the Mica Foundation.

"Ultimately right now, the VA doesn't provide equine-assisted learning or equine-assisted psychotherapy," said District 1 Quartermaster and Post 889 Jr. Vice Randy Beat of Post Falls. "I believe the VFW are becoming involved in trying to provide those services for vets in need. It's a grassroots process rather than a bureaucracy to provide that for local vets."

Rouhe and Morse, along with Levi and two other horses, illustrated how equine therapy provides an alternative to the more confined method of office therapy, through metaphors and relating to the horses.

"Because they're such big personalities, they tend to bring out a lot of emotional and physical responses in the people who watch them and work with them," Rouhe said. "They become kind of a blank canvas for people to be able to work through painful things that otherwise they didn't want to manage or deal with."

A December 2013 study from the Equine Assisted Veteran Services found a majority of a sample of 18 veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder indicated a statistically significant reduction in symptoms after participating in equine-assisted therapy for four consecutive weeks. Half the participants reported a clinically significant reduction.

Air Force and Gulf War veteran Chris Ford of Coeur d'Alene said he experienced equine therapy at a different facility and he has seen its positive effects.

"I've been with groups of just the dirtiest, meanest soldiers and Marines that you've ever been with, guys that have tried to commit suicide and they just don't know why they're alive," Ford said. "They come out to a session with some of these horses and they just fall apart. A lot of veterans have a hard time with intimacy, and for some reason, an animal is easy to connect to."

The purpose of the demonstration and visit was to give attendees a glimpse of equine-assisted therapy and scope out the location for the first Veteran Family Retreat that Post 889 is planning for spring 2015. The retreat will welcome veterans and their families as they take the time to be social, heal, enjoy the great outdoors and utilize the horses for therapy purposes. Beat said he is hoping to see anywhere from 10 to 30 families participate.

"The genesis of this thought was that the veteran families, not just the veterans themselves, need this help," he said. "If a veteran or a member of the family is left out of the process, those kids now become at risk or can be at risk down the road. We're trying to fix a problem before it becomes a major issue ... we want to heal that problem or fix that problem before it becomes a community problem."

Beat, an Army veteran, said the retreat will be a way for veterans to share stories around the campfire and lighten their burdens by talking about them, much like Native American warriors once did.

"Their warriors would come back around the campfire and unload their actions on the tribe, and the tribe would carry those memories and those stories," he said. "Now, we don't do that a whole lot as a culture. We write them down, maybe, and/or just hold them in. As a soldier, we oftentimes just hold them in and don't tell the stories ... the retreat will allow us to have activities together and take it back around the campfire and build upon that cultural difference."

Beat said Post 889 is actively seeking sponsors and contributions for the Veteran Family Retreat. Current needs are housing/lodging, food and activities for the event. There is also the tax-deductible opportunity for businesses to donate money to the event or to provide equine therapy for local veterans.

Individuals and organizations can call Beat at 667-5236 or email him at [email protected] for information.