What happens when a person living with dementia leans their heart against a horse’s neck — and what does the science say about why it works? Paula Hertel and Nancy Schier Anzelmo of Connected Horse are featured on an episode of Equine Assisted World with Rupert Isaacson. HeartMath-certified trainer Kansas Carradine joins to bring the science of heart coherence and entrainment.
Connected Horse’s pilot studies at Stanford and UC Davis recorded statistically significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and caregiver burden in 15 hours — with 100% participant return at a six-month booster. People who arrive withdrawn, fearful, or aphasic regularly leave walking horses, speaking in sentences, and feeling activated to live again.
For practitioners in equine-assisted therapy, therapeutic horsemanship, and senior care, this episode makes the case for why the field must expand to serve aging populations — and what that looks like in practice.
