A legend in the world of Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies, Octavia Brown got in on the ground floor of this significant movement, becoming a visionary instrumental in its growth. And at age 78, the Gladstone resident is still just as committed to continuing that evolution.
“Octavia has dedicated her professional life to improving the lives of others, and her passion and expertise have touched everyone and every aspect of the industry,” said Kathy Alm, CEO of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH International).
“We’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who has served on more committees and work groups for the association.”
Yet it all began simply enough, as often is the case with so many important things. It happened that Octavia was a horse person in the right place at the right time, which was 1967. She was dating a man who worked at the McLean psychiatric hospital, which had a farm in Belmont, Mass. A horse-owning co-worker came up with the idea of bringing in horses as therapy for the patients.
It seemed a novel notion, but soon grew into a worthy one. When the horse owner moved on, the project needed someone to continue the program. Octavia, an immigrant from Great Britain with an equestrian background, was the perfect candidate to take over.
Four horses became part of what was called “activities therapy” and “I was `the horse lady,’ ” reminisced Octavia, who had ridden since she was eight.
McLean patients would come with an orderly to the barn or a walled, enclosed locked area (“so they couldn’t run away”).
Some were dealing with schizophrenia; others experienced psychotic episodes or were depressed. When they walked out of their wards, Octavia recalled, they “looked like the shutters were down on the windows.”
Yet after entering the barn, “all of a sudden, those eyes would come to life and we would be horse people together. It was a perfectly normal activity that could take place in this stressful environment,” she said.
“They would always go back in a better frame of mind than they came, and everyone would see that.” It quickly became evident to Octavia that when they spent time with the horses, “It was a skill they were learning and improving at, and I think that’s what got me hooked.”
For the patients, she realized, the horses were a slice of normal life, like music and art sessions, because “you could use your own talents, nobody was trying to analyze you.”
The program was created by Octavia and a colleague, Helga Haendel from Germany, the art therapist at McLean, who had heard a little something about equine therapy in Europe.
But “There was no training, nobody to tell you what to do,” recalled Octavia.
“I essentially learned on the job and took a lot of seminars and learned a lot about mental health and observed what people did with the horses. I taught horsemanship, and people responded,” she said.
Little did she realize, however, that an opportunity for someone who was “just a good horse person” could become a key component of what would develop into a respected mode of therapy. Eventually, it spread across the country as the concept grew around the world.
Octavia is the consummate teacher.
By 1969, people were getting together to create NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association, PATH’s predecessor) and they organized a meeting in New York City of those who were interested in furthering the work. Octavia attended and found that at age 28, she was the youngest person in the room.
“They said, `We need a board of directors, who’s willing?’ We all put up our hands. So I was on the founding board from that moment.” She is the only person who remains from that original panel.
Octavia was asked to write about the program for an in-house seminar at McLean and produced a 15-page paper on psychiatric theory in connection with how people related to the horses.
“No one had a theory about what was happening and I created my own theory,” she said, explaining it had roots in activities therapy, which also included drama, music and art for psychiatric purposes Although Octavia had received an excellent secondary education in England, she didn’t have a college degree.
To fill that gap a year later, she enrolled in Harvard University’s school of education, seeking a master’s degree in Education for General Purposes, submitting the paper as part of her application.
She continued her understanding of therapeutic riding with a course at the Cheff Center in Michigan, where she earned a certificate and learned about the physical aspects of therapy and how it could be used with multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and stroke. Octavia presented an innovative international paper about teaching someone with cerebral palsy how to post to the trot, a technique that “was entirely my own invention” she said, confiding its origins involved the way she learned to post without stirrups.
“I discovered if you lift your chest, your chin and your pelvis forward and up, essentially you lighten up your seatbones and you can, in fact, post and you don’t have to grip like fury with your legs to get yourself unweighted,” she explained.
“Someone with spasticity can’t really use their legs and seats to push off of…but they can use their upper body to move with the horse and give that little upward push.”
By the time Octavia married and moved to New Jersey in 1971, she said, “I pretty much had it all under my belt.” When she founded the pioneering Somerset Hills Handicapped Riding program, it took off quickly.
After an article about her interest in starting a therapeutic program appeared in a local paper, a physical therapist from the Easter Seals therapy center in Morristown contacted Octavia, asking to work with her on getting a program going with her patients. An important piece of the puzzle was missing, however. So Octavia went to the Somerset Hills Pony Club, saying, “I need horses, can you help?” And they did,
Other people got involved. The Roser family, who had an indoor ring, hosted the program once a week. Octavia’s friend, Naomi Lorch, a psychologist and physical therapist who was working with Easter Seals at that time, referred people. The late Helen Gordon, who was active with the U.S. Equestrian Team, got on board. With the agreement of Octavia’s husband, Truman, for which she was grateful, the program moved to the couple’s Crossroads Farm in Bedminster in 1975, where it remained until the early 1990s. In that decade, it moved to Oldwick and eventually became Mane Stream.
“This Somerset Hills areas embraced me with both hands I never had any trouble fundraising,” Octavia said. The Essex Foxhounds were helpful as was Jack Fritz, then executive director of the USET. Although she and her husband are divorced, she emphasized how supportive he was of her project. For Octavia, it was gratifying that so many took to the concept.
“It became a thing that everyone was aware of, and we benefited from that. It seemed like once you tell horse people what you want to do, it’s almost a given they will get on board,” she observed.
“I think as it grew, it was self-evident to a whole bunch of people that this should be a good thing,” said Octavia.
“When I get on a beloved horse and go for a trail ride, I know what that means to me, so you have to extrapolate that to anybody with any type of challenge. It just is a natural sell.”
Octavia still enjoys riding.
Naomi Lorch noted that while there had been a focus on “the impairments of the body, getting people to move better,” beyond that what was important for clients involved “getting into real activities and being part of the world and doing what other people do, and not just being this kid with a disability who goes to therapy and doesn’t do much else. There was a sense that doing something that was fun would be good for kids.”
Octavia, she noted, “adapted to their levels and introduced the challenge of doing more and more based on their abilities, rather than a passive pony ride.”
Tracy Cole, who became one of Octavia’s first students in 1972, has gone on to be an instructor of therapeutic riding at Centenary University and mentor other instructors in training.
She got involved at age seven when the doctor at Easter Seals asked if she wanted to swim or ride for her therapy.
“I had wanted a horse my entire life,” said Tracy, so the choice was easy and Naomi connected her with Octavia.
The ability to ride horses has been life-changing for Tracy, who has cerebral palsy.
“They give me a chance to do things I can’t do on my own two feet, to go places, see things and compete,” said the Randolph resident, who uses a rolling walker to get around when she’s on the ground.
She took to Octavia immediately when they met.
“I was a little kid and she was going to teach me how to ride, and it was a dream come true. So she was the best person I ever knew,” said Tracy.
Octavia also has been active in the worldwide therapeutic movement, serving for three years as president of Federation Riding for the Disabled International. Europe, she pointed out, had been ahead of the U.S. in the 1960s in instituting therapy using equines in response to the polio epidemic. The Germans invented hippotherapy, in which a therapist uses the movement of the horse for therapeutic purposes.
Now the really good riders and trainers are seeing the value of going above and beyond and teaching someone to get into the Paralympics, she commented.
Octavia Brown
When Octavia moved on from Mane Stream, she went to work in higher education as she and Karen Bocksel co-founded Therapeutic Riding at Centenary (TRAC) in 2003. She also taught a course at Centenary on therapeutic riding and became the Gates Ferry Lecturer in 1993-94. She went full-time at the school in 1997, teaching a leadership and basic riding skills, as well as leadership and other thought-provoking courses. Centenary recognized her achievements by awarding her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
Although she retired this year, she still is involved with TRAC, now run by Karen Brittle.
“It has been a daunting but exciting prospect to steward the program forward, following Octavia’s impressive tenure,” stated Karen.
“In every way, Octavia strove to be supportive and generous towards me as we transitioned the TRAC program to new leadership, and this has afforded me the wonderful opportunity to get to know Octavia and to better understand her immense contribution to the EAAT industry as a whole. We are looking forward to next steps for the TRAC program and our EAAT industry training courses, while honoring the traditions of inclusion, vision, excellence in service and community that she established.”
Octavia’s influence is wide-ranging. She was involved with establishing Operation Centaur, Centenary’s therapeutic riding program for veterans now run by George Paffendorf. She’s still on a committee to further research the horse/human bond with the Horses and Humans Research Foundation, and consults with the Center for Therapeutic Riding of the East End on Long Island.
Despite all she has done, she sees more that should be accomplished.
Octavia hopes at some point insurance companies will cover therapeutic riding. They are “highly resistant to paying for anything that has to do with a horse, because by definition, they think it’s sport,” she explained.
“For physical, psychological and psychiatric reasons, it needs to be documented and researched as thoroughly as can be,” said Octavia.
While Octavia has no intention of ending her involvement, there now are many others who will pay forward what she did for them. As Tracy put it, “She was one of the reasons I became an instructor. I wanted to give someone else the opportunity she gave me:”
Reflecting on her career, Octavia said, “I truly do think I was exceptionally lucky. But also I realize that when a door opened, I went charging through – and perhaps that’s the legacy I’d most like to pass on to my students and riders.The truism is that if one door closes, seek another one that will open.”
