Supporting victims of trafficking with therapeutic horse riding for improved well-being

On a gently sloping hillside, a green stable looks out over a corral with a white fence. A blue banner appears in the bottom left-hand corner of the view, with white text inside:

ONSCREEN TEXT:        Dallas, GA

Inspirational piano music plays as a person’s hand gently strokes a brown horse’s flank. A black horse looks out from its stall inside the stable, and a group of people lead a rider on a beige horse down a path lined with lush green trees. An adult’s voice reads out a journal entry from a notebook propped up on the gate of a stall, written in a young person’s handwriting:

NARRATOR: I never in my life imagined me riding any animal, especially a horse. It was actually one of my biggest fears, but once I went to the horse farm therapy here in Dallas, I faced my fear. Grooming the horses, and riding them is so therapeutic.

A blue highlighter emphasizes the last line, and then journal entry continues without narration:  

ONSCREEN TEXT:        The horses and volunteers are so kind, and patient.  

A black horse paces in its stall, and a chestnut horse whinnies in the corral.

KATHERINE HUFF:       Horses are beautiful, sensitive, and intelligent.

A young blonde woman speaks inside the stable, wearing riding boots. A blue banner appears in the lower left-hand corner with white text inside:

ONSCREEN TEXT:        Katherine Huff

                                    McKenna Farms, Lead Riding Instructor

KATHERINE HUFF: So many things happen here at McKenna Farms. We’re able to care to a large community of people in need. It’s very special to see the bond that can be made between horse and human, because the way you communicate with a horse is so different than the way you communicate with a fellow human.

An instructor helps a young person, whose face is not shown, onto the back of a horse. A group supports another young person as they ride down a forest path.

KATHERINE HUFF: Our therapeutic riding and horsemanship program is how we are able to offer services to different organizations such as Well Spring Living.

Now a round floral sign appears on a white wall, with black text inside:

ONSCREEN TEXT:        BE YOUR

                                    beautiful

                                    SELF

Colorful paintings decorate an empty room with a soft bench, bright rug, and plush blue and green ottomans. A man with a dark beard speaks in a bright office. A blue banner shows his name and attribution in white text:

ONSCREEN TEXT:        Delton Magee
                                    Program Director

                                    Receiving Hope Center at Wellspring Living

DELTON MAGEE: At the Receiving Hope Center, we service youth 12 through 17 years old; we service females, males, and transgender youth. Our mission is to transform the lives of those at risk or victimized of sex trafficking.

A view from high above a city shows a freeway lined with vehicles. A skyline rises over the freeway, and a blue banner appears in the bottom left corner:

ONSCREEN TEXT:        Atlanta, GA

DELTON MAGEE: Atlanta is a “hub” of sex trafficking: what it does to person, where it changes their mind to something that they can’t even fathom. We have a wide array of things that we do on a daily basis that leads to them being more independent and functional in the community.

Desks in rows line a classroom with colorful posters on the walls. A blue tint appears over the classroom, and white text appears:

ONSCREEN TEXT:        A grant from UnitedHealthcare to

Wellspring Living helped create an

Enrichment Coordinator position,

expanding on therapies to victims

who have been exposed to trauma

to promote mental well-being

and decrease social isolation.

DELTON MAGEE: The Enrichment Coordinator position has been great. Just having that person to be able to be that liaison and build those connections with us, and then to be able to connect with a community partner that’s close by and go to McKenna Farms and have equine therapy, is light years beyond some of the things that some of our youth have never even thought about experiencing.

Horses eat in the corral at the farm. Silhouetted against the sky, staff help a young rider off a horse.

KATHERINE HUFF: They come here and then they see a horse and they’re mesmerized by it, because they’re such a majestic and beautiful animal. The horse doesn’t know about their past and they are just living together in the moment.

A horse grazes in a pasture, and another looks out from over the gate of a stall with wide eyes and flicks a white ear. Three staff lead a rider on horseback down a gravel path in the forest.

DELTON MAGEE: If you have access to a animal, you’re grounding yourself in nature like you’ve never grounded before. It’s just amazing how they come back and how their whole attitude is shifted.

In the stable, Katherine brushes a horse’s mane, then grooms its flank. The view soars over the green corral at the farm, where horses graze peacefully.

DELTON MAGEE: Our partnerships with UnitedHealthcare have been amazing because we’re able to do things that we couldn’t do before. I think the partnerships are major because we can’t do it by ourselves.

In slow motion, a staff member leads a horse with a black mane and brown coat out of the stable. The view fades to a white background. In the center, the blue UnitedHealthcare logo appears: a U with three stripes on its right-hand arm. As the music fades, the logo transforms into blue text in the center of the white background:

ONSCREEN TEXT:        United
                                    Healthcare