PETERSBURG — “I don’t believe in coincidences,” Claire Galiano, executive director of the Coalition Against Rape and Abuse (CARA), said April 12 when talking about A&M Equine Therapy Stables.
A&M, which plans to provide horse-assisted psychotherapy to juvenile trauma victims and multiple others throughout the county got good news April 11 when the Upper Township Zoning Board granted unanimous approval to a use variance, allowing the horse farm at Steelmantown Church to operate as a therapy center.
Galiano said she and therapist Julia Sangillo, who is certified in pet therapy, had been seriously discussing pursuing horse-assisted services last fall and Sangillo was in the process of getting certified for that specialty when horse farm owner Ed Bixby called about two months ago and offered his property and animals, asking if she knew of anyone interested in providing the service.
“We are very excited for this program to get up and running,” said Galiano, who has led the organization for the past seven years.
She said equine therapy will be another of the “exciting new programs we are implementing,” noting Sangillo’s success with their therapy dog Daisy.
The property, at 340 Steelmantown Road, is in the F25 zone where equestrian and trails are not a permitted use.
Variance relief was also granted for the existing accessory structures, which were deficient for side yard setback (47.7 feet where 50 feet is required), rear yard setback (44.4 feet/50 feet), distance between buildings (8.9 feet/20 feet), building height (21.8 feet/20 feet), accessory building coverage (1.7 percent existing, 1.46 proposed, .5 percent allowed) and to permit the existing accessory buildings without a principal structure.
Bixby said the 4-acre horse farm in Steelmantown is adjacent to the 25,000-acre Belleplain State Forest and in close proximity to miles of woodland riding trails.
The organization’s mission is to provide therapeutic services to the residents of Cape May and Atlantic counties in collaboration with local wellness centers.
“Clients can engage in the grooming, feeding, leading and riding of our trained horses in the presence of mental health counselors,” Bixby stated in prepared materials. “In collaboration with local wellness centers, we wish to provide unique outdoor mental health services that assist individuals through their emotional and physical challenges.”
Reached following the approval, Bixby said “the stars kind of aligned,” allowing for the therapy service to operate.
“The horse farm has been in the family a long time. I travel a lot and am not around and would prefer to see it be used and benefit the community,” Bixby said. “It’s like a shining star for Upper Township and all of Cape May County, but also Atlantic and Cumberland.”
Bixby said Nichole Tanghare, a Cape May County Sheriff’s Officer, would be overseeing operations.
Tanghare said the program would accept clients, mostly children but adults as well, who have suffered trauma.
“Adding a horse to the therapy adds an extra element to any kind of therapeutic intervention,” said Tanghare, a lifelong horse rider and owner. “When you incorporate a horse into therapy sessions, patients are learning how to redevelop a healthy relationship.”
She said horses have the ability to adjust their heart rate to match that of a human, which in turn can help the person regulate their own heart rhythm. They also can help people calm their central nervous system, which she said could benefit trauma victims.
“Working with horses will bring them back to homeostasis,” she said, noting they would learn to move slowly and carefully and without even realizing it, start to redevelopment relationships, with the animals at first but then projecting that onto humans.
Tanghare said her introduction to Bixby was equally as enigmatic.
She had long been interested in employing horses in recovery efforts and often comes into contact with trauma victims through her work in the Sheriff’s Department’s community outreach unit, through which she works hand in hand with agencies such as CARA, CARES and Cape Assist.
“When I developed a relationship with Cape Assist, Ed came in with a flier and said he was thinking about running this program. Cape Assist called immediately and said to give this guy a call and chat with him. That’s how I got involved,” she said.
Tanghare said county agencies would recommend individuals to the nonprofit A&M program, which would collect a small fee to maintain care of the animals.
She said there would be an intake procedure and then a plan would be designed specifically for each individual and their needs to “get them back into a healthy mental mindset.”
“It will be a great program. I believe there is going to be a lot of positive feedback,” she said.
Galiano said when CARA needs something, “we put it out there and it finds us.”
“Sometimes things come together and you have additional gifts,” she said. “Ed picking up the phone was the miracle and Ms. Tanghare is the angel to that miracle.”
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff