August 2020 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN August 2020 Page 9 The news East Coast horse owners need to know Remember...tell our advertisers you found them in East Coast Equestrian! By Suzanne Bush “All of a sudden,” Saly Glassman says, “we are horses.” She’s explaining how the convergence of COVID 19 and the consequent strictures squeezing people’s lives today have profoundly altered the way people see the world. “But what is most interesting about it to me is that if you think about the world of the horse—the horse is a prey animal. Every moment there’s danger. ‘That paper bag could kill me, why did you move that trash can? Now my whole world is different, and I have to memorize everything again!’ This is the world of the horse, and the horse has learned to be vigilant.” She says that people deal with all sorts of emotional and psychological issues even when there’s no menacing virus haunting their homes, workplaces and the stores where they shop. COVID 19, though, has made it harder for people to ignore these issues. “It’s creating in and of itself a series of mental health challenges that were disguised before” by the daily routines of commuting, working, stopping after work to pick up dinner, Sean Homsher with Alibi, one of his favorite therapy partners at Blue Bell Equine Assisted Therapy on Saly Glassman’s Kindle Hill Farm. Photo by Leslie Molinari For Mental Health Therapy, Just Add a Horse etc. And people have had to be vigilant--like horses--in all sorts of places they once believed to be safe. Horses have been part of Glassman’s life since she was a child, and she has competed— and won—at the top amateur levels. After a successful career in the financial services industry, Glassman decided to invest her time and resources into projects that could help people. Given her history, she knew horses would somehow be part of her plan. Whether foxhunting or just riding the trails around her farm in Blue Bell, PA she says she has learned a lot about life from horses. After months of discus- sions and strategizing, Glass- man’s Kindle Hill Foundation teamed up with Leslie Molinari, another life-long equestrian, and Molinari’s husband Sean Homsher, a licensed counselor and therapist. They envisioned a place where people could find help with issues ranging from PTSD to anxiety and depression in a safe, albeit non-traditional setting. Molinari and Homsher opened Blue Bell Equine Assisted (Continued on page 19)