SAINT LEONARD, Md. — When therapist and horse lover Christi Doyle began searching for the perfect place to open an equine therapy center, she wasn’t just looking for a great piece of land or strong economic base. She was looking for a sanctuary.
Still Waters Refuge is a new facility in Saint Leonard, Maryland, that offers a wide range of equine therapy options. Doyle’s seven horses — Maggie, Charlie, Penny, Grape, Pepper, Buddy and Rosie — work alongside her to provide therapeutic services for those with cognitive or physical disabilities or a diagnosed mental illness. In her 16 years in equine therapy, she’s witnessed incredible success stories and powerful, personal moments between the horses, her clients and the families who pour everything into helping them.
“I’ve seen so many miracles over the years,” Doyle said, her voice catching, as she described the moment when a nonverbal 10-year-old child said her first words while riding a horse. “It’s been such an incredible lifelong experience for me to watch those transformations.”
The unique success of equine therapy is in part due to the horse’s movements. According to Doyle, both horses and humans have three-dimensional movement — that is, front, back and side to side. Riding a horse helps mimic that movement for humans in a way that’s beneficial for those with disabilities.
Doyle used crawling as an example. If she puts a client into a crawl position on horseback, they can get the range of motion and practice muscle movements without the stiffness or pain that sometimes accompanies traditional physical therapy.
“It’s hard to recreate three-dimensional movement artificially,” Doyle said. “But with a horse, they already have that. So you can get the benefits of moving with them.”
This goes for cognitive disabilities as well — movement helps create the neuropathways that develop language skills. She can also teach sign language specific to horse riding and care that helps clients learn to communicate better overall.
As for the mental health component, Doyle says her practice has welcomed people, mostly women, addressing trauma like domestic abuse, sexual abuse and trafficking, who see the horse as a safe place to process difficult feelings. Through the horse, they learn to set boundaries, gain confidence and develop a partnership with a large animal.
“Watching people develop into who they want to be is incredible. We see people have a vision for who they are, and come here to find their best self. Incorporating a relationship and the movement of the horse is a beautiful way to let people achieve those goals.”
Doyle carefully considers the needs of each client — she matches them with the right horse and builds and updates their treatment plan. Listening to her describe the offerings (which were, in short, anything you could think of that would require a horse) showcased her intense commitment to her clients and the depth of her knowledge on what’s possible when humans and horses work together.
“We have everything a client will need,” Doyle said. “One of our horses has such a smooth ride, it’s like sitting on a couch. Another one has a lot of pep in his step. All clients are different and so are all horses, so we match to what they need.”
The Doyles bought the farm in April and have been busy preparing it. Right now, they’re training volunteers and just beginning to take on clients. They’ll also offer horse boarding in their large facility, but Doyle is clear that Still Waters is not a training facility. It’s a place of safety, sanctuary and healing.
Doyle grew up on a farm and has worked with horses her entire life. She’s seen firsthand the differences horses make in people’s lives, and knows how much they’ve impacted her own. This facility has been a long time coming, a lifelong journey in the making as Doyle raised a family, got her master’s in family and marriage therapy and ran a different equine therapy center. And the location sealed the deal — Southern Maryland was special.
“It’s so beautiful,” Doyle said. “The people’s hearts are just good here.”
She knew it was the right place when she first visited and saw the property, surrounded by water. It fit the name she’d had in her head for many years. Surrounded by nature and calm, she knew this was more than a business venture or a farm. It was a calling. And it was time.
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