Column: Shorelines

Michelle Holling-Brooks

The arena Sue Halterman donated is named after her and will allow Unbridled Change to help clients year-round.

Michelle Holling-Brooks

Working with horses seems to help children deal with stressful situations, according to Michelle Holling-Brooks.

Some describe it as fate. Others call it is serendipity, and still others will say it was actions guided by angels. It does not really matter what you call it, the end result of Sue Halterman and Michelle Holling-Brooks' meeting will benefit hundreds of victims of domestic violence.

This month, Unbridled Change, a nonprofit that uses horses to help women and children deal with abuse, is celebrating its first anniversary. On Sunday, Oct.18, Unbridled Change will welcome members of the community to an open house and give them a glimpse of its new indoor riding arena.

Unbridled Change uses equine-assisted therapy to provide mental health and educational learning therapies.

"We have been operating with an outdoor arena," said Holling-Brooks, founder and executive director of Unbridled Change. "We were given a donation of an indoor arena, and we're almost complete with that. Once it's finished, we'll be able to run sessions year-round, which is very important to the people we serve."

Turn back the clock and that's where the fate, serendipity and/or the angels come into play.

One Sunday, Holling-Brooks picked up The Roanoke Times and a classified ad caught her eye. Halterman had decided to sell her indoor arena and placed a one-day ad that Holling-Brooks saw.

"When Michelle called me and told me about her organization and what its purpose was, I knew that this was the reason why I had transported the indoor arena five hours down the highway to here," recalled Halterman. "I knew then it was meant to be."

Halterman, a survivor of domestic violence, fled south with her two daughters a little more than two years ago. Halterman had worked three jobs for six years to support her family and save money to buy property and the perfect indoor arena.

When she decided to get out of an abusive marriage, she sold everything but their clothes, their horses and the indoor arena.

The family relocated to Dublin. Halterman had decided to sell the arena to help ay her daughters' college tuitions, but when she met Holling-Brook, she knew she had to help others who had been in the same situation as she had.

"If it wasn't for the love my horses gave me, I don't think I would be here," explained Halterman. "So that totally is the reason why I gave the indoor arena to Unbridled Change. It was something I could do to give back for all that others have given me to try to help me and my children from a situation that would have probably led to our deaths."

Halterman said she was married to an abusive alcoholic for 19 years.

"I was a very proud person," said Halterman. "I didn't want to ask people for help. I have a Ph.D. I teach at medical schools," she said. "I'm a national speaker, and if it can happen to me, it can happen to anybody. I want the people [who are being abused] reading this story to know they are not alone."

Halterman sold Unbridled Change the arena for less than half of its value.

"Through her help and donations from other local families and business women, we have been able to construct the arena," said Holling-Brooks. "We are now in the process of raising the remaining $5,000 it will take to complete the arena with lighting, footing and gates."

The idea for Unbridled Change first came to Holling-Brooks when she worked at a shelter for victims of domestic violence. She was in charge of the children's program, but was having a hard time reaching them. As a child, she had personally benefited from equine-assisted physical therapy and thought horses might be able to help the children in the shelter deal with their issues.

"I started to teach them how to groom the horses, how to lead them," recalled Holling-Brooks. "What I found is while they were grooming the horses and learning to lead them, they became more self-confident. They were also willing to talk about their issues and their problems."

When people watch a horse run, there is a sense of freedom in their stride, according to Holling-Brooks. Up close, their soulful eyes draw you in so healing can take place.

The therapeutic horses Holling-Brooks uses have been rescued from bad situations and rehabilitated to work in the therapeutic situations.

"The horses just innately know that the kids have been injured, and the kids innately know that the horses have had something bad happen to them."

Halterman credits her horse of 25 years of seeing her through her abusive marriage. She urges anyone who is being abused to seek help.

"People don't think they can get out; I'm living proof they can," she said.

Saturday, Oct. 24 is national Make a Difference Day. Unbridled Change will sponsor a large-scale service project to build the day paddocks and fences for the horses around the indoor site, plant landscaping, and construct the riding ramp that will allow riders to mount the horses.

Unbridled Change: outdoor arena: 919 White Oak Road; indoor arena: 1176 White Oak Road, Boones Mill. 719-2171, www.unbridledchange.org