How animals are changing mental health care for some in Singapore

It is part of a fast-growing type of therapy known as animal-assisted intervention, where dogs and horses are trained to help people manage stress, trauma and anxiety.

Healing Horses Singapore, which for the past 11 years has provided therapeutic horse riding services for youths and others like Wei Hao, has seen demand soar by about 70 per cent over the past two years, largely due to increased mental health awareness. 

“It’s not like a regular therapy in an indoor setting. We are always outdoors interacting with animals,” the organisation’s director Chithra Rogers, told CNA. 

“Kids, even with the most aggressive behaviour … are very calm when they are mingling with the horses,” she added. 

This is because the animals are taught to adapt to sudden movements or outbursts. Each horse also gets at least an hour of rest between sessions to safeguard its welfare, Ms Rogers said. 

Some parents still worry about safety, especially if their children are hard to handle, she added. To address these concerns, each therapy session has a team of three to four trained staff overseeing it.