News 8: The Equus Effect provides therapeutic work with horses to veterans and first responders

SHARON, Conn. (WTNH) – Visitors to this bucolic farm in Sharon are prepping horses for a peaceful trip to a field in the woods.

“I never imagined myself this close to a horse, so it’s very therapeutic,” said Devante Layne, a Yonkers, New York firefighter.

And that’s the mission of The Equus Effect, a program for veterans and first responders that aims to heal post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety through engagement with horses.

“It was this figure of 22 suicides a day among the veteran population, and we were just like, you know, this work we’re doing, maybe there’s a fit there for veterans,” explains co-founder David Sonatore, a social worker. He and his partner, Jane Strong, believe that “therapy as usual” doesn’t always work and that trauma is stored in the body.