Jul 16, 2008 7:12 pm US/Eastern
NYC's Finest: Veterans Turn To Horses For Therapy
Seaside Therapeutic Riding In Brooklyn Helps Veterans, Disabled Heal From Mental And Emotional Wounds
Reporting
Cindy Hsu
BROOKLYN (CBS) ―
You don't usually think of horses in Brooklyn. But they're there, and they're helping humans; from local soldiers returning from war to disabled adults and children.
Judy Bernstein has always dreamed of riding a horse, thanks to Dan Cutler and Seaside Therapeutic Riding in Jamaica Bay, Wednesday her dream came true.
"It was profound...it was very nice," said Berstein.
Mary Hurley has cerebral palsy, and she started riding a month ago.
"It means a lot because as someone with a disability, it helps us to know that there are other things out there," said Hurley.
Cutler and his volunteers help people with disabilities as young as 14-months-old. He considers them his children.
"You take a child...3, 4, 5 years of age, and put them on a 1,000 pound horse. The child makes the horse go, the horse stop. They start to develop a self-confidence nobody can take away from them," said Cutler.
Seaside has helped hundreds of young people, and beginning this week, they're starting "Horses for Heroes," to help local soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Cutler is a Vietnam veteran and says this program helps service men and women get their lives back.
"We saw a young man with one leg amputated and schrapnel in his other leg, we saw one young man with his face half-missing," said Cutler, "we put them on horses and they sat up straight and they felt alive and exciting."
Arthur Faiella served in Vietnam and was diagnosed with post traumatic stress 30 years after the way.
"You don't see the emotional scars...you don't see the mental scars. But it's there and for someone to offer their time, it's a nice feeling," said Vietnam Veteran Arthur Faiella.
The program is free for veterans. Cutler says his fellow soldiers have already paid too much. Seaside Therapeutic Riding is a non-profit organization, and Cutler says to keep the programs going, he needs more volunteers and more horses.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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