Located ten minutes North of Langdon, Lasting Strides Equine helps troubled youth by partnering them with horses.
“That horse is going to tell me more about you than you ever want anyone to know,” said Lasting Strides Owner Jade Demers.
At Lasting Strides, Demers teaches Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) and Equine Assisted Personal Development (EAPD).
These programs use horses to teach life skills as clients work through specific issues they are struggling with in their life.
By working with the horses, clients are equipped to better face future challenges.
Many of the kids she works with have anxiety disorders.
“That’s what I really love helping people with,” said Demers who has a history of depression and anxiety.
“Horses really helped me get through my anxiety and my depression,” she said.
“I’ve learned so much about how to cope with it through working with horses,” said Demers.
Other clients who really benefit from working with the horses include; autism, ADHD, OCD and other mental health issues.
“My main goal is to help people with mental health issues and behavioral learning disabilities,” said Demers.
By watching the partnership between a client and one of her horses and how that horse responds, Demers can learn a lot about how a person is feeling without a word being spoken.
“They’re going to judge your character immediately,” she said, “They’re going to tell me exactly how your feeling, whether your anxious or scared or angry.”
The horse’s behavior will mirror how its handler is feeling.
From this point, Demers job is to guide her client through a process of self-discovery.
“My job is to explain the mirror and relate it to their lives,” she said “and then show them how to work through it with the horse.”
One of Demers success stories is sixteen-year-old Camryn Dyck.
A former student and now Demers assistant at Lasting Strides Equine, Dyck first came to the program two years ago.
“I found my purpose through working with the horses,” said Dyck.
Since she was eleven-year-old Dyck has struggled with self-harm and suicidal thoughts.
“It gave me a reason to actually live a good life and to make an effort for that,” she said.
Working with the horses Dyck found the process to have its good and bad days but by working with the horse the good days outnumbered the bad.
“It took time for me to realize what I was being taught and how I could apply that to my life,” she said.
Even when she was having a bad day, coming out to see the horses was always the best part of her week.
Dyck still has her struggles but it is easier to handle them now.
“It’s stuff I can work through applying what I’ve learned with Jade’s help,”
Through the program, Dyck has learned many coping skills including self-confidence and patience.
“They’re big powerful animals…who could just run you through if you don’t know how to handle them,” she said.
In her life away from horses, Dyck now has the confidence to speak out and ask for help when she needs it.
She also has more patience in all aspects of her life.
“Patience with myself, patience with other people, patience with work that I’m doing,” said Dyck.
Demers said that most of her clients are typical of Dyck’s experience. They are equipped with the tools to handle the challenges in their lives.
“I really love helping people get…to the place in their life they need to be in order to move past the darkest part of their struggle,” said Demers.
