PTSD | Horse Racing Free Tips

Letter to the Editor: the Man O’ War Project

My sincere thanks to Ms. Sue Finley for the compelling article about the Man O' War Project in the TDN Thursday. I whole heartedly appreciate Earle Mack's support of our veterans.

I have only mentioned my own personal story about PTSD to a few people. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 my father left Columbia University and enlisted in the Air Force. He was 17, turning 18. He went to Officers Training School and was promptly shipped to the South Pacific to work in the intelligence corps. His job was to set up airfields for reconnaissance once the Marines had taken an island. You can imagine the carnage he saw with the Japanese scorched-earth policies in full force and in full view to a young man not yet 20. The indigenous people suffered enormously. It affected my father deeply.

When he returned from the South Pacific, he finished up at Columbia, then moved to Lexington to find a position in the horse business. He worked for Keene Daingerfield at the Thoroughbred Record (later, better known as the Dean of Kentucky Stewards). Experiencing difficulty adjusting to civilian life, did he self-diagnose some sort of stress disorder and know that he needed to reconnect with horses to reprogram his psyche? One wonders. The whole concept of PTSD had not yet been identified at that time and men were supposed to buck up and push through the pain. It was a different era. It seems that something inscrutable drew him back to horses and he eventually readjusted to post-war life. He trained horses at Keeneland in the mornings before work in the late '40's while starting a family and working at The Record.

Later in life, when GE hired him for his first real job and he was transferred to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, he took in layups from Suffolk Downs and the vibrant fair circuit in Massachusetts at our farm in Stockbridge. We were just an hour from Saratoga. I remember him taking me to the Travers when Jaipur beat Ridan by a nose in 1962.

He always had horses in his life until just a couple of years before he died, by suicide, at age 49 (when I was 19). My sister and I have often wondered if he had stayed physically connected to horses if he might have made it through the rough patch preceding his suicide and enjoyed a full life.

He only spoke about his South Pacific experience once to me, when I threatened to leave home to enlist during the Vietnam War era, because we had argued, and it had turned violent. I was 18. But he knew that war was as close to hell as life can be and he did not want that for me, or on his conscience. He was gone a year later.

My sister and I have both kept horses in our lives; my wife Mary and I have five retired racehorses at our farm here in Kentucky and my sister has three warmbloods at her ranch in Los Alamos, California. It is our lifeline at times too, and perhaps an homage to our late father who connected us with horses, for life.

The research Earle Mack has funded is meaningful. If it saves one veteran's life, it was worth whatever he invested in the Project. I tip my hat to him and say thanks.

Best regards,

Joel B. Turner

The post Letter to the Editor: the Man O’ War Project appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Man O’ War Study Finds Equine Therapy Helpful for PTSD

by T.D. Thornton and Sue Finley

Although using equine-assisted therapies (EAT) to help people overcome post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been long believed to be effective via anecdotal results, a recent exploratory scientific study declares that it “is the first to demonstrate that EAT can affect functional and structural changes in the brains of patients with PTSD.”

The findings are groundbreaking not only from a scientific standpoint, but also from the perspective that the peer-reviewed work by Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute researchers published Feb. 5 in the medical journal Human Brain Mapping could not only pave the way for national funding for PTSD therapy, but provide homes for untold retired Thoroughbred racehorses.

The study, whose principal funding was provided by the Earle I. Mack Foundation, was based on a three-year program at the Man O' War Foundation, also a project of Mack's. It was supported by a $200,000 grant from The Jockey Club.

The complete study, “Neural changes following equine-assisted therapy (EAT) for posttraumatic stress disorder: A longitudinal multimodal imaging study,” may be downloaded here.

Groups of participants each took part in an eight-week program at the Bergen Equestrian Center in Leonia, New Jersey in a study that was conducted over three years. They were subjected to tests, including MRIs of the brain, before and after the program.

Dr. Xi Zhu, Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurobiology, and first author on the paper said, “This project provides the first neurobiological evidence of the effectiveness of equine-assisted therapy for treating veterans and civilians who suffer from PTSD.”

Dr. Prudence Fisher, Associate Professor at Columbia Psychiatry, who co-led the study with Dr. Yuval Neria, also a Professor at Columbia Psychiatry, said, “The results from this study are very exciting for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who suffer from PTSD.”

Said Neria, a lead author, “The results provide the first-of-its-kind proof that equine-assisted treatment may have not only a clinical promise but also brain-based changes that may increase a patient's capacity to enjoy life despite facing traumas and war adversities, which make this treatment so unique.”

Especially common in combat veterans, PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that occurs in people who have experienced a traumatic event or a long period in which they felt trauma. It can cause flashbacks, nightmares, anger, fear, estrangement, and a lack of trust.

“Improving reward circuitry might be a significant, initial step to finding new and enhanced methods to treat this complex disorder,” the study says.

The Man O' War Project was the first equine-assisted therapy program that wasn't content to rely upon anecdotal evidence, but insisted upon a university-led research study to examine the effectiveness of equine-assisted therapy in treating veterans with PTSD. Founded in 2015 by Thoroughbred owner, philanthropist and businessman Mack, a veteran himself and longtime Thoroughbred owner/breeder, the project was born out of his concern about the mental health crisis facing veterans and his observation of anecdotal stories from various equine-assisted therapy groups, which yet had no hard science to support their results.

In a 2019 interview with the TDN, Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, Professor and Chair of Columbia Psychiatry and one of the driving forces behind the program, criticized the effort that had previously been put forth by the United States, and praised Mack for his innovative efforts.

“I know it works,” Lieberman said. “This is a very simple, intuitive therapeutic process that the government hasn't seen fit to deal with sufficiently, and civic-minded people are stepping in. But taking it at face value, that's not the way medicine and science works. You've got to prove it. And Earle was willing to submit this hypothesis to rigorous testing in the form of a clinical trial and that makes all the difference.”

Because the model is tested and proven, it can be replicated all over the country, delivering badly needed new treatments for a devastating disorder. The therapy is particularly suited to ex-Thoroughbred racehorses, who, like veterans, had a very short, intense career, and are mission-oriented.

“I am grateful for the dedication and excellence of the Columbia University team in seeing this project through with compelling results beyond our expectations,” said Mack, “validating EAT as a very effective and much-needed therapy for veterans with PTSD. We look forward to future phases allowing for the mainstream implementation of the Man O' War protocol.”

The post Man O’ War Study Finds Equine Therapy Helpful for PTSD appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Cheering for Hope from Houston

Nearly a thousand miles from Keeneland Race Course, a watch party in Houston, Texas is sure to be cheering just as emphatically as if they were in the grandstand.

Residents of Camp Hope, a facility that provides support and mentoring to combat veterans suffering from the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress, will tune in on Friday to watch a juvenile colt named after the residential program. If Camp Hope (Summer Front) ends up in the winner’s circle for the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, his earnings will go back to the facility he represents.

Camp Hope heads into the Breeders’ Cup coming off just one career start, but it’s a flashy four-length winning one on Oct. 25 at Churchill Downs. The son of Summer Front is campaigned by Walking L Thoroughbreds, a company owned by Scott Leeds and his wife Dana.

Leeds stopped in at the Camp Hope facility early this week to make sure the residents would be watching the races this weekend.

“When I walked in, everybody knew who I was and they started saying how much they were looking forward to it,” Leeds said. “They’d seen the race from Churchill and were pretty excited. They were asking if horses normally win in their first race and I had to explain to them that I’ve had horses that didn’t win the first 14 times they raced.”

Leeds has hardly had bad luck as an owner in Thoroughbred racing. When he retired from the oil and gas business five years ago, he decided horse racing might be an interesting new venture. He got connected with Kenny McPeek, and was quickly hooked.

“We started out with some small shares in a few horses he had bought,” Leeds recalled. “Before any of them ever ran I was already in so deep that we went to the sales in the summer of 2015 and started buying horses ourselves.”

Since then, they’ve already had several top stakes contenders including Cairo Cat (Cairo Prince), who won the GIII Iroquois S. two years ago but was held back from a Breeders’ Cup start due to an injury, as well as Envoutante (Uncle Mo), one of McPeek’s top fillies this year who most recently claimed the GIII Remington Park Oaks.

Leeds presents Camp Hope staff with Fighting Seabee’s win photo | Scott Leeds

Camp Hope is not the only Walking L horse that races for a cause. It all started with a colt they named Fighting Seabee (Summer Front) in honor of Leeds’s great-grandfather who was a Navy Seabee in World War II. When the colt ran undefeated in his first two starts, including a win in last year’s GIII With Anticipation S., Leeds and his wife decided to share Fighting Seabee’s earnings with the Seabee Historical Foundation, the PTSD Foundation of America and Camp Hope.

“We’ve been supporting the PTSD Foundation of America for a few years,” Leeds said. “Their mission is to support veterans who suffer from PTSD with an expectation that if they can provide peer-to-peer support and temporary housing at Camp Hope, the lives of these folks who come back from the service and have a hard time transitioning will be impacted.”

According to their website, Camp Hope offers a minimum of a six-month program. Residents attend group counseling sessions, as well as individual mentoring sessions with a certified combat trauma mentor. Veterans will also receive vocational preparation, workforce development and job training.

“One of the statistics that knocked us over was that 22 veterans a day, on average, commit suicide in the United States,” Leeds said. “That’s one every hour and six minutes. Their mission is to stop one. If they can make one less veteran make that decision and help them cope with PTSD, the mission is successful. The groups have been so supportive and grateful for what Fighting Seebea has done. We made great racing fans out of the folks at the foundation and at Camp Hope.”

There will be much for the new fans to cheer for on Friday as Fighting Seabee will run in the ‘Future Stars Friday’ undercard in the Bryan Station S. hours before Camp Hope is set to make his second career start.

Camp Hope came to be purchased by Walking L in large part from Fighting Seabee’s early success. Leeds purchased Camp Hope, a son of Summer Front, at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton July Sale just three days after Fighting Seabee became the second winner for the Airdrie stallion.

“We had actually already bought three horses and it was getting pretty late in the day,” Leeds recalled. “We were talking about where we were going to eat dinner that night when Bret Jones called Kenny and suggested we come look at a horse he was going to take through the ring in a few minutes. So we went back and ended up liking him a lot.”

When McPeek chose to enter Camp Hope in a 1 1/16-mile maiden race, Leeds said he had been excited to see the juvenile take on two turns.

Dana Leeds poses with a yearling Camp Hope | Scott Leeds

“We thought he would end up being pretty strong first-time out,” he said. “But you also expect a horse would get tired going two turns in his first start so you don’t really expect to win. Coming down the backside, I saw where he was positioned and I saw the time was slow and could tell Brian had him pretty well in hand. Then I had a feeling we were in for a big performance.”

After Camp Hope’s easy four-length victory, the team sat down to discuss where to go from there.

“There wasn’t much to think about,” Leeds said. “Kenny and I both felt strongly that with no Lasix, coming back in 12 days really wasn’t that much of a stretch. The horse didn’t get asked for a lot and he galloped out even further than he won by. Brian [Hernandez, jockey] said they were on cruise. We pre-entered with the expectation that if he didn’t bounce back as quickly or if there were any issues, we would obviously scratch. But he’s done everything above and beyond what we’ve expected and I think it’s going to work out great.”

While McPeek is still winless at the Breeders’ Cup, he couldn’t be coming in with a hotter hand this year with four other contenders including GI Preakness S. heroine Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil).

Leeds said that he and his wife will be making the trip from Texas to Lexington on Wednesday, and that they will be on-site for the rest of the week sporting their Camp Hope gear.

“We told them we’re going to look for every opportunity to spread the word,” he said.

And while Leeds would certainly be thrilled with their first Breeders’ Cup win, there’s no doubt he would be even more excited for the rest of their connections.

“We’re very fortunate and we feel like we’ve already outdone the expectations we set for ourselves,” he said. “If we run good, that’s our goal- to show that this horse has a really bright future going into his 3-year-old campaign. But if we happen to win, we’re just going to be over-the-moon excited for the horse, for Kenny, and then for Camp Hope. Being able to write the check to those people would truly be special.”

The post Cheering for Hope from Houston appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

At Outside In, OTTBS Bring Needed Comfort

Jennifer McVoy is a Licensed Master Social Worker and the founder of Out Side In, located in Grand Haven, MI, who grew up riding and showing Arabians. Her first educational degree was in business and she began her work life in the corporate world, but, early on, she decided that it wasn’t for her and went back to school to earn her Master’s Degree in Social Work. For 15 years, she practiced traditional therapy in a public-school setting and was always aware that horses could make a difference for people in need. Just over 10 years ago, she made her first foray into equine-assisted work. The enhancement to her traditional practice was so profound that she expanded and brought in a second horse, an off-track Thoroughbred that she found in a classified ad. McVoy’s practice took off, so she purchased a 25-acre farm, has incorporated an average of 18-22 OTTBs at a time, and has become a Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-accredited aftercare organization.

The mission at Out Side In is threefold. The organization focuses on providing psychotherapy, a unique 12-week program for veterans, and Thoroughbred aftercare. The majority of the clients participating in psychotherapy and the veterans’ program are severe trauma victims with post-traumatic stress disorder. Many have attempted suicide or have had suicide ideation. Many clients are referred to Out Side In because they are considered treatment-resistant, meaning these women, men, teens and children have refused treatment, or that other therapies have failed for them.

“We take the hardest cases and we have success where other therapists do not,” said McVoy. “In many situations, I say just get him or her here and if need be, I bring a horse to the car.”

Out Side In employs six therapists and all have a deep background in horses. On the first visit to Out Side In, the therapist and client go into the pasture to meet the herd of Thoroughbreds. To ease the client into the treatment process, they ask questions related to the horses which bring out answers about themselves and the issues they are facing. Inevitably, one horse will be especially interested and pick that person.

“We don’t really know why one horse connects with a certain person,” said McVoy. “All it takes is that one moment when the horse comes over and chooses the client. In that bonding moment, the walls in the person just come down.”

Over its almost 10 years of operation, Out Side In has grown and become established in the community for its unique success rate, serving 150 people per week. Because they practice traditional psychotherapy, enhanced with the participation of horses, client care is often covered by insurance and Medicaid for uninsured or under-insured clients. With the help of local supporters, Out Side In grew from one pasture with a port-a-potty to a state-of-the-art facility with a more-than 20,000-square foot indoor arena, six treatment rooms, a waiting room, and 16 stalls. Thoroughbreds are the only horses helping with therapy.

“After nine years, the Thoroughbreds still amaze me every day,” said McVoy. “I will only do this work with Thoroughbreds. They are intelligent, perceptive and they love to be with people. Especially with the difficult cases we handle, there is so much to work with.”

The veterans program, Heroes for Horses, pairs three veterans at a time each with a horse, recently off the track, for 12 weeks. Together, they work through their many common experiences.
“Just like veterans, foster kids, survivors of abuse and trauma, and all people, racehorses have life experiences that shape their personalities and how they interact with others,” said McVoy. “We can watch the herd and talk about how the horses adapt to their circumstances, like being moved from one home to another and having to become part of a new herd or family.”

Often previously treatment-resistant veterans will ask to stay and volunteer to help other horses when their 12-week program has ended. One such veteran suffered from severe PTSD and had tried therapy at the VA that was not successful. He wife pressed him for three years to visit Out Side In. Finally, when she gave him an ultimatum, he agreed.

“He bonded early on with one mare, Theteflonwarrior (Killenaule), and completed the program,” said McVoy. “He lives close by and he still comes and helps early in the morning before we open. He even had a picture of the mare and our logo tattooed on his neck. He said she saved his life.”

Out Side In retrains and adopts out two to three OTTBs a year to make room for new rescues. Esla Mambo (Black Mambo), the second OTTB to enter Out Side In, came through CANTER. He ended his racing career with 38 starts and close to $50,000 in earnings at Hawthorne Race Course. He is the herd leader and the calm quiet type–often the gateway horse to ease the initial fears of new clients.

“Esla Mambo is our go-to horse when people are nervous about horses,” said McVoy. “It’s funny because he is the biggest horse but he is a gentle herd leader and we can trust him around everyone.”

“We have a wonderful therapy client who my daughter is now teaching to ride on Esla. It was always her dream to learn to ride. She is 82. She started therapy with us when she lost her husband a few years ago.”

Out Side In serves many children and teens who have been abused and are now in the foster care system.

“I just did an intake of two children who witnessed their father shoot their mother in the head,” said McVoy. “She survived and brought them to us. For them and for many others, being with the horses becomes the only good experience in their life.”

“So many kids have done nothing wrong and no good situation exists for them in their home or in being removed from their home. At Out Side In, in spite of everything, they can have an hour of happiness. I always let them sit on a horse and then a kid who has nothing good in his life to talk about can go to school the next day and say `I rode a racehorse.'”

For more information about Out Side In, visit https://www.outsideintherapy.com/

The post At Outside In, OTTBS Bring Needed Comfort appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post