Traumatized soldiers receive equine therapy
Many German soldiers return traumatized from their deployment in Afghanistan. They suffer from Depressions and feelings of guilt, often they are unable to work. A horse therapy in the Black Forest is intended to help affected soldiers process their experiences.
Somewhere in Nowhere in the Black Forest, the war in the minds of German soldiers still rages. Even years after the troops' withdrawal from Afghanistan, the experienced trauma continues to affect them. Such is the case with Mike, 49 years old, a captain and a specialist for imaging clarification. In mid-July 2013, Mike provides crucial coordinates, and a US Airforce B-1 Bomber drops a bomb on an Islamic Taliban position based on this information. Twelve people die.
For Mike, it's a shock. Due to his diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the officer is currently spending six weeks at the Silberburg Ranch west of Rottweil, twice a week, with two other traumatized soldiers. There, Mike works intently with Wallach Kurt - and hopes that horse therapy will help him process his nightmares.
At the farm in Aichhalden, a study for the Federal Ministry of Defense is still running until the end of 2025. It aims to show if the close contact with horses can help traumatized German soldiers. Mike has strong moral dilemmas. He stutters. He keeps rubbing his hands over his face. "If I had known there were so many people there, I wouldn't have given the coordinates," he says. Meanwhile, Therapy Horse Kurt seeks comfort in Mike's stroking. Mike laughs.
"I hope I can become calmer and more relaxed here while working with the horses. I want to understand what happened, deal with it, and be able to live with it," Kurt whinnies. Several years after the bombing, Mike cannot bring himself to talk about what happened in the deployment. Not even to his wife. "I was afraid of being labeled a murderer if I talked about it."
However, his irritability and aggression increase. He still hoped at the time that his teaching duties as an aerial interpreter would help him process the horror in his head. But his condition did not improve. "The complete withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 shook my moral principles," he says. "Why?" he asked himself a few months later, in December, when he was put on sick leave due to Depression and Burnout.
Now stationed in Fürstenfeldbruck, Mike has a DPaK (dienstpostenähnliches Konstrukt) position. He can no longer follow his work. Through the work with the horse, the conversations with other participants in the therapy, Mike can breathe again. "Stroking helps me the most, and I feel the power of the animal," Mike says.
PTZ Study of the German Army on the Effectiveness of Equine Therapy Running Since 2020
The PTZ study of the German Army on the effectiveness of horse-assisted therapy is being conducted at two locations since 2020: at the Center for Therapeutic Riding in Berlin-Karlshorst and at the ranch of Alexander Varn in Aichhalden. "100 German soldiers should have completed the therapy by the end of 2025," says Oberfeldarzt Christian Helms, who works at the Psychotrauma Center of the German Armed Forces in Berlin. The therapy takes place on the two-hectare ranch of Alexander Varn. He is the military psychologist in the Command Sanitäts-Einsatzunterstützung in Weißenfels.
He was at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs for 14 months in 2018 and 2019 as part of a scientific exchange and learned about equine therapy there. He provides this service in Aichhalden. The project is cost-effective in the Bundeswehr, according to Varn. The Bundeswehr incurred no costs other than the working hours of the two-person care team. The five therapy horses and the stable are provided privately by Varn. "The demand is there," he says.
The military psychologist is supported by Jens Hölzle from the Jaegerbataillon 292 of the German-French Brigade, which is stationed in Donaueschingen. Hölzle himself was wounded in action in Afghanistan in 2009 when a patrol was ambushed. A bullet fragment from the Taliban penetrated the armor of the Fox, on which Hölzle and Sergej Motz were deployed. Motz did not survive the attack. The young corporal is the first German soldier to fall in combat since the end of World War II.
According to the Bundeswehr, psychologically stressful experiences such as human cruelty or senseless suffering can trigger PTBS. Symptoms include fearfulness, addiction problems, sleep disturbances, nightmares, aggression, as well as feelings of guilt and shame. In the past year, there were 322 new reported trauma-related illnesses in the Bundeswehr, 197 of which were diagnosed as PTBS. "The feedback from the participants in the study is very, very positive," says Helms.
In the context of the PTZ study, Oberfeldarzt Christian Helms aims to have 100 German soldiers complete equine therapy by the end of 2025, alongside a similar program at the Center for Therapeutic Riding in Berlin-Karlshorst. After being wounded in Afghanistan, Jens Hölzle from the Jaegerbataillon 292 of the German-French Brigade turned to equine therapy to cope with his post-traumatic stress disorder, inspired by his personal experience and observations during his time in Colorado Springs. Internationally, equine-assisted therapy has proven effective in addressing symptoms of PTSD, such as fearfulness, addiction problems, sleep disturbances, nightmares, aggression, and feelings of guilt and shame, commonly experienced among soldiers returning from war zones like Afghanistan.
The International Society for Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (ISEAP) advocates for the inclusion of equine-assisted interventions in various mental health treatments, recognizing their proven benefits for individuals dealing with trauma, psychological challenges, and behavioral issues. As global conflicts like the Afghanistan War continue to take their toll on military personnel, equine-assisted therapy represents a potentially life-changing approach to post-war recovery and reintegration into civilian life. These equine-assisted interventions have also been implemented in the treatment of survivors of natural disasters and other traumatic events, highlighting their flexibility and adaptability to various mental health issues.
