Horses give vets High Hopes for recovery

Horses give vets High Hopes for recovery
By Jennifer McDermott
Publication: The Day
Published 05/03/2012

Therapeutic riding in Old Lyme helps former soldiers cope

Old Lyme - After she rode a horse at a fast gait for the first time, Katye Zwiefka cried.

She threw her arms in the air and said, "I did it!" Zwiefka compared it to the joy she felt as a child on Christmas morning.

"It had been such a long time since I had that feeling or anything like it - just that excitement and that thrill, that joy that's untainted by the world," she said of her experience cantering last summer.

Zwiefka, who served in the Marine Corps, belongs to a women's riding group at High Hopes Therapeutic Riding. Struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, she turned to the center two years ago. She and another veteran in the group, Khaylan Widener, said bonding with the horses and the other equestrians has helped them cope with the anxiety and isolation they have felt since leaving the military.

"It's hard to make connections with people," said Zwiefka, a 30-year-old who lives in Norwich. "It's hard to feel comfortable in my skin and my surroundings and to really just enjoy the moment for what it is.

"Being here, I'm really able to do that," she said of High Hopes. "It's beautiful out here and I'm able to enjoy every moment."

Zwiefka and Widener, an Army veteran, met in counseling at the Norwich Vet Center, run by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

With her new friend's encouragement, Widener began riding at the center.
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