OUR MISSION
Healing Across Lineages & Species
EQUINE LINEAGE HEALING
Horses have played a fundamental role in the development of humanity for thousands of years. They have built our cities, our economies, our industries; they have carried us into battles and across wild and uncharted territories. They have endured the countless roles that we have required them to fill; all the while, they’ve been silent healers in our midst.
Within their very nature, horses are healers. However, we cannot and will not allow their partnership in therapeutic contexts to be yet another form of use and abuse. We are dedicated to ensuring the horses that come into the care of the CRM® Foundation receive the highest level of respect and support in their own physical, emotional and spiritual healing before, during and after they enter the programs we offer to people.
Our approach considers as primary the trauma history and consent of the horse. We incorporate guidelines developed by Sarah Schlote into the EQUUS paradigm of conceptualization and practice. We hold deep appreciation for the way in which she clearly supports and articulates how to work with the horses in a manner that offers them the same level of safety and avoidance of re-traumatization during the sessions as is provided for the humans we assist. You can learn more about Sarah Schlote's work in the link below:
Our Equine Rehabilitation & Care Program
The focus of our equine rehabilitation program is the rescue of retired/off-the track racehorses. In October of 2023, we chose to adopt two thoroughbreds who were discarded after their racing careers came to an end.
A registered 10 year old Thoroughbred, and a direct descendant of legendary Triple Crown winners Secretariat and Seattle Slew, and the prolific Alydar, this is Paranoia (her racing name) and the condition she was in the day we brought her into our lives.
Paranoia, October 2023
Paranoia was raced consistently in Florida, New York and Pennsylvania from 2017 through 2022, winning high stakes races often. Her value – primarily as a commodity to generate income and prestige for her human owners because of her illustrious blood lines and athletic abilities – catalyzed a life of wounding and instability; in effect compromising a joyful connection to others, human or equine. She was sold 13 times in those 6 years.
Her gentle sweetness is palpable despite the inherently traumatic experiences of a racing life, while her authentic, firey nature is finally encouraged to just Be. Undoubtedly, she is on her path to healing; being set free through this year of rehabilitation and TLC, while growing into her chosen “barn name” of Rasha. She is already willing to connect authentically with humans, and the exchange of healing energy between us. She has stepped into her true personality and power with the herd she is now a part of, and has become one of Lisa's most wrathfully compassionate healers and teachers throughout her own personal "inner" work.
Rasha, June 2024
A registered Thoroughbred, this is Archo. Archo, also 10 years old, raced under the name Shower the People. He worked on the track for 6 years, also winning for his owners and sold to us directly from the track stable in October of 2023 immediately after indicating that he no longer had the heart for racing. Throughout his first 9 years of life, he was out of a stall and experienced grazing in a pasture for one month. Otherwise his existence was either racing or living in a stall. He was presented and sold to us in a significantly drugged state which camouflaged his baseline condition of fear and high anxiety as well as significantly deteriorated hoof health.
Shower The People, October 2023
Over this last year he has blossomed into a kind, playful, big-hearted boy whose desire to please and bring true joy to all he meets is his true nature. He is a favorite in the barn with humans and horses alike, and we honor his blacksmith, Chris Calcek, for his extraordinary patience, kindness, and creativity in facilitating seemingly miraculous hoof and leg healing.
Being with Archo, you can feel the depth of his wholehearted presence and deep connection to our hearts. Archo is still learning his way in the “real world” but already loves to run free in the pastures each morning and to spend the days with the herd. He is our "sweet brown bear" and is a natural healer in his own right.
Archo, June 2024
HUMAN LINEAGE HEALING:
Repair work with First Responders, Veterans & their families, and Racehorses
The Warrior Context
Based on epigenetic research, sociology, and over 40 years of combined case studies, it is our belief that generational trauma is the origin and root of patterns, templates and symptoms in this lifetime as well as the source of obstacles to comprehensive healing of those symptoms.
Generational trauma, combined with present-day emotional and physical wounding experienced in childhood, creates a state of vulnerability that contributes to the life-interfering effects of post-traumatic stress disorder in adulthood.
The goal of this work includes the simultaneous healing of:
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Military and First Responder PTSD;
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The vast array of childhood trauma that underlies PTSD, which often begins with severed, insecure attachment to a caregiver; and
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Preventing the inherited transmission of trauma and less than beneficial coping behaviors to our children.
In addition to unresolved ancestral trauma and present-day trauma inherent in the “warrior” occupations functioning in our “military industrial complex,” many of our societal and present-day familial structures and dynamics create fundamental barriers for parents to nurture healthy attachment with their children from the moment of conception and throughout child-rearing stages.
As a result, parents often must fold to the pressure of these barriers rather than following their intuitive pull to nurture. This fundamental severing of the natural attachment process often leaves humans feeling isolated, under-resourced and more vulnerable to adapt through unhealthy or even harmful coping mechanisms such as addictions, aggression and self-harm. As a result, they end up passing these down to their children and necessitating spouses and partners to manage their own trauma-based responses to the situation over many years.
The Racehorse Context
Despite the external image of prestige and power, racehorses are a particularly vulnerable population of horses within the “equine industrial complex.” These horses are weaned exceptionally young (often between 4-6 months) and are started under saddle (sometimes as young as 18 months old). Many begin their racing careers as young as 2 years old, years before their bodies have fully physically developed (which is around 6 years old).
They endure incredible stress loads of unnatural physical and psychological conditioning to perform and are often discarded as soon as they decline in their ability to win or experience a career-threatening or ending injury.
As is the case with many humans, their instinctual drive for healthy, secure attachment to their mother or even a loving human caretaker is often severely compromised if not totally absent in their development and adult lives. Due to the unique stress load these horses learn to cope with, they are often unsuitable for an average rider or inexperienced equestrian, and therefore they can be challenging to re-home. Their recovery from track-life often requires intentionally tending to not only their physical trauma, but to their spiritual and emotional wounds as well.
