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Four years ago, graphic designer Kimberly Mendoza was surfing the
Internet looking for horse products when she came across an article
that would change her life.
"I was really burned out with the deadlines for the design work
and wanting to play hooky with my horses," she said. "I ran
across this article on careers with horses and EAP (equine-assisted
psychotherapy)."
Further research yielded information on an upcoming training session,
which Mendoza attended.
After her initial training, she wasn't sure what she was going to
do with it, until someone suggested that she call Dr. Roger Cadwalder,
who has an inpatient facility for eating disorders and substance abuse
in Tomball.
Mendoza, 47, said she already had the number for Cadwalder Behavioral
Clinics on her desk for a while, and when she finally called, she discovered
that their EAP specialist had resigned that day.
"So I went up there and worked with leaders in the field and
just fell in love with it even more," she said.
Mendoza moved from Friendswood to Tomball and used her horses in Cadwalder's
program.
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"I really liked making a difference; it's so neat," she
said. "The kids would come in there and say, 'Right, a horse is
going to help me — whatever.' Then they leave and they say, 'You
know, the horses have helped me more than anything.' "
Mendoza later returned to Friendswood and founded Stable-Spirit.
A year later, she moved to her present location in Alvin, where she
lives and works. Stable-Spirit is a nonprofit organization whose mission
is to bring together youths and adults experiencing mental health crises
with horses rescued from abusive circumstances, or adopted from situations
where their quality of life was declining.
Through the use of tasks tailored to individual needs, Mendoza, a
certified equine specialist, and her staff help both clients and horses
find healing.
Mendoza and Katie Durio, a licensed social worker, are Stable-Spirit's
primary treatment team.
"She's wonderful; she really likes working with kids and she's
a horse person, so we make a really good team," Mendoza said.
The activities during a therapy session are designed to require clients
apply certain skills, and also provide opportunities for justify
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transference and empowerment, Mendoza said.
"It's really very powerful because the client's real issues come
up and it breaks down their defense barriers and forces them to be real,"
she said. "It's uncanny how the horses pick up on what's going
on with the client. They're prey animals, so they're wired to read the
intentions of other animals. So they're real in tune with what we're
feeling a lot of times when we don't even know what it is."
Stable-Spirit also offers EED — equine experiential development
— for companies, groups, individuals and schools. The program uses
horses in team-building, leadership and communication skills exercises.
Funds generated from it help provide EAP services to clients needing
assistance.
Mendoza is divorced and lives with her daughter, Elena, 10. Another
daughter, Tara, 19, lives in Nacogdoches.
Mendoza said her love of horses began when she lived in Colorado Springs
as a child.
"I was so lucky," she said. "That was when they didn't
have fencing and I could just ride all over the garden of the gods all
day, all summer."
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