Equine-assisted psychotherapy available to Plum, Murrysville communities at Bella Terra Stables

While much in the world was on the verge of collapsing during the height of the covid-19 pandemic, something special was being built on Logan Ferry Road near the Plum/Murrysville border.

Amber Power and Ilse Eisele spent much of 2020 working with their families to construct stables and turn Power’s family-owned land into a premier place for equine-assisted psychotherapy, or therapy with horses.

With mental health becoming a more and more relevant topic in the world, equine-assisted psychotherapy has become a better-understood topic. Now, the Plum-Murrysville community has a new place to go get the help they might need.

The land that Bella Terra Stables sits on in Murrysville has been in Power’s family for three generations. Power and Eisele met in Washington, D.C., while they were working with horses at Rock Creek Park Horse Center, the commonwealth’s only public horse stable.

Power was the general manager there while Eisele, who originally came to America from Australia, was a photographer who boarded her horse at the center. The two struck up a friendship and eventually came up with the idea to start their own equine-assisted psychotherapy center.

“During that time, I taught people how to ride horses,” Power said. “What I found was that being close to a horse was just as therapeutic, if not more. Just having that connection, that companionship. I’ve had parents come back and say to me, ‘This place saved my kid’ or I’ve had individuals come back and say, ‘This horse saved my life.’”

Power became a certified Equine Specialist through the Equine Assisted Growth And Learning Association (EAGALA) in 2018 while Eisele went back to school to earn a master’s degree in professional counseling psychology. She became a licensed professional therapist and a certified grief counselor specialist. Early in 2019, she was certified as a Mental Health Professional with EAGALA.

Their organization recently became a certified nonprofit, which allows Bella Terra Stables to lower the typically expensive costs of equine-assisted psychotherapy for their clients.

They have “six and a half” horses they work with. The “half” refers to their miniature horse, LittleBit.

LittleBit is one of the most recent members to join the team, as she was brought in by a family member who found her being neglected at her previous home. LittleBit’s hooves were so bad that they started to curl up, which made walking difficult for her. Now, she’s well cared for and a key member of the team.

Alongside LittleBit are six other horses who have overcome obstacles in their own lives. The oldest – by a large margin – is Country, who is 41. The average horse’s lifespan is 25-30 years. While Country has diabetes, cushings and no teeth, he still whines like a schoolboy every time his fellow horses are allowed in the field to graze while he has to wait.

Joey, the lead therapist horse, also has no teeth due to a rare disease. Another, Max, has asthma and had to leave the riding programs he was in.

Della lost her public trail job when the covid-19 pandemic hit. Fiona, the youngest member and a therapist horse-in-training, used to compete at shows in Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and Virginia.

Lastly, there’s Cei Cei, a sweet horse who was found abandoned and abused. She was particularly terrified of men in baseball caps. After months of training, she was able to become the lead horse in a therapeutic riding program before the pandemic shut it down.

Power and Eisele shared a story of a man wearing a baseball cap that didn’t want to visit horse stables but was forced to. They said he was miserable.

Eventually, the man found his way to Cei Cei. Slowly, Cei Cei stepped forward before the two touched heads. It was a beautiful moment of understanding, they said.

That man later became a regular volunteer at the stables.

Power and Eisele insist that horses have an understanding nature and that any amount of research would prove that to be the case.

So, what is it about horses?

“They are very big,” Power said. “You cannot check out in a session.”

“You’re present,” Eisele agreed. “You’re there. You’re paying attention. You’re fully aware of what you’re doing, where your buddies are.”

The bond between humans and horses is unique, and it’s what makes a horse great for therapy.

But not just any horse can be a therapy horse.

“They have to have that special mindset,” Eisele said.

After finding their “six and a half” horses and spending almost all of 2020 rebuilding a forgotten family stable into a livable area for humans and horses alike, Bella Terra Stables is now open to the public.

They host several events, including photoshoots with the horses, demonstrations of equine-assisted psychotherapy, meditation with horses and a chance for children to read their favorite book to a horse.

The biggest event is coming up Oct. 30, when Bella Terra Stables will host a festival of sorts to help raise money for the therapy and horses. More details will be made available online at bellaterrastables.org.