Vets with PTSD find peace through equine therapy in Monroe

MONROE — She survived a sexual assault while on active duty in the military. Now horse therapy is helping Army veteran Jennifer Landanger heal.

Landanger, of Everett, has for the past year been working with Arleen Gibson at the Monroe nonprofit H3, which stands for horses healing heroes. It focuses on helping veterans recover from traumatic experiences by building relationships with horses.

“When I work with the horses, I get peace I don’t get anywhere else,” said Landanger, 29. On Friday, she stood in a small wooden stall in Gibson’s barn with a 4-year-old mustang named Aiden, who has a reputation for being pushy.

Equine therapy is growing in popularity. There are now more than 600 programs in 50 countries with professionals offering the treatment, according to the nonprofit Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association.

H3 is situated on a pastoral 50 acres along Fern Bluff Road. An old-growth fir barn houses horses Aiden, Skeeter and Buddy, along with mini horses, Arby and Dre, a pony named Beau, Billy the mule and a goat called Mama.

“A lot of soldiers don’t want to sit down with a therapist and talk about their troubles,” Gibson, 64, said.

Landanger, a former U.S. Army medic, said she had a hard time with being discharged in 2012 after she was hit by a bus and injured her back on her way to work at a military hospital. Landanger didn’t report the sexual assault because she hoped to successfully continue her career in the Army.

She turned to drinking or the anxiety medication prescribed to her to cope with post traumatic stress, while she waited to get into therapy through the Department of Veterans Affairs. That led to a substance-abuse problem and legal troubles.

After a seven-month wait for treatment at the VA, a counselor connected her with H3.

Gibson’s role is to help veterans like Landanger feel comfortable and gain confidence as they work with the horses, some of whom haven’t spent much time around them before.

She stood outside the stall and guided Landanger through an exercise in controlling the mustang, who’s “kind of like a young man who doesn’t know his boundaries yet.”

Landanger established her own space, only allowing Aiden to come as close as she was comfortable. She told the mustang to move out of her area instead getting out of his way. When she wanted the horse to come close, she initiated contact.

When Landanger needs to have a good cry, she spends time with Skeeter, a 19-year-old Arabian horse. He sets his white head on her shoulder.

“If there’s feelings that need to be felt they can be, but nothing has to be said,” Landanger said.

Since starting horse therapy a year ago, Landanger said, she has learned more healthy coping skills and has less anxiety. She’s stopped drinking.

“I have a safe place I can go to if I have a trigger,” she said. “I can close my eyes and put myself back with the horses. It’s calming.”

Once she’s recovered, Landanger wants to become a licensed clinical social worker so she can help others who have served. She said professionals who haven’t been in the military don’t understand the unique stress that comes with the job.

Gibson, a retired advocate for the elderly, founded H3 in 2012 to help veterans like Landanger. Many who have served their country suffer from traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma and post traumatic stress disorder, better known as PTSD.

Gibson isn’t a therapist but the equine specialist has been through her share of trauma and her horses have helped her through it.

Gibson works for free with veterans. H3 also has a mental-health counselor and that treatment is covered by the VA. Those who haven’t served can pay for horse therapy.

Gibson decided to start the nonprofit after a friend who is a Gulf War veteran came to stay with her during a rough time in his life. He turned to drinking, drugs and self-harm to cope.

“He didn’t think he should live when all his buddies died,” Gibson said.

Eventually, after working with the horses a while, he started talking about what happened and things started to improve, Gibson said.

The problems veterans face weigh heavy on her heart because she comes from a military family. Her uncle was a major in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in Vietnam. Her father was a Navy submariner in World War II.

“He had what they considered shellshock,” she said. It affected the entire family.

Now Gibson wants to alleviate the pain for other families of those who served. She recently built a cabin so soldiers and sailors can stay to do therapy and get away. She hopes to build several more in the future.

For more information, go to horseshealingheros.com.

Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.