Meet Michelle Kaye of Operation Equine in Front Range

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Kaye.

Michelle, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m going to start off my story with a bold statement: Horses save lives. They always have. And although this may sound like a simple and obvious statement: our Warriors and Protectors – those who fight for our country and protect and serve our communities – they also save lives. Personally speaking: my life has been saved, repeatedly, both by horses, as well as by our Warriors and Protectors. As a young girl with divorced parents growing up in the suburbs where I didn’t seem to fit in, I yearned for the summertime when I would get to not only spend time with horses but I would also get to spend time with the wranglers: the people who worked with and understood the power of relationship with horses.

I learned how to understand what I was observing in the horses, and my curiosity was voracious: I couldn’t get enough time with these 4-legged teachers who were compassionate, funny, wise, patient, and forgiving…who communicated directly with what was working in our relationship – and what was not. As I got older, I earned my way into the role of Summer Wrangler and continued to learn, to observe, to better understand the nature of horses and why they are such impactful creatures. I started working with “youth at risk” when I was one, myself, and the two things that “saved’ me were the horses…and the performing arts (sounds strange, I know, two entirely different things and they have both been equally positively impactful throughout my entire life). The mentors, teachers, role models and friends that showed up for me in both of these arenas shaped who I am today – and have shaped the foundation of why I am so passionate about serving our Warriors and Protectors and their families through Operation Equine.

So: how did Veterans and Emergency Responders come into this picture? The “short” answer: through my high school art teacher, Mr. Crawford, and through Officer Star of the Fairway, Kansas Police Department. Mr. Crawford was a Vietnam Veteran, a fellow red-head, and even though I had zero talent in art class (I was a theater and dance person, he was the jewelry and pottery teacher), we “got” each other. He had a salty sense of humor, was patient with my lack of jewelry-making skills, knew that I was ultimately a “good kid” who was just SO ready to get out of high school and move on to the next chapter and saved me from going nuts in my senior year.

Officer Star was our Friendly Neighborhood Cop who checked in on my mom and my sister and me when it was just us in the house, especially on Saturday nights when my sister would have her teenage friends to come over and hang out, Officer Star made sure that everyone stayed “cool,” sober, and respectful. He would drop in to make sure we were doing ok, and we always knew that we could call him in a sketchy situation, if necessary. He was a part of our neighborhood Tribe. We even continued to invite him to our holiday parties when we came home from college.

Fast-forward about 20 years. I had been working with “at-risk” youth as an educator and then as a counselor and an administrator with kids who had learning differences, and severe anxiety about school, teens who were homeless and wanted a high school diploma when DPS didn’t know what to do with them and just wanted them out with their GEDs, with Teen Moms and former gang members, you get the idea. I was getting burned out by overwork and compassion fatigue, and it was the horses that called me back…horses and veterans.

So that the story doesn’t go on too long, I’ll “bottom line” the rest of it, to the best of my ability. In 2011 I knew that something had to change. I started hearing about something called “Equine Assisted Therapy” and I thought: this is an official “thing” now?! People are making counseling and coaching and teaching programs out of what I’ve known about my entire life?! I must know more. Even while I was still counseling at the school, I started reading and starting to take workshops from Linda Kohanov through Epona, and through EAGALA (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Activities), and starting to look for opportunities to get back into the barn, and back into the horses.

I knew how good it made me feel to be around the horses, and the equine work with Veterans was just starting to become a seriously-considered topic when working to combat the symptoms of PTS/D, veterans who had brain injuries, therapeutic riding for veterans who had lost limbs, addressing suicidal ideation, depression, grief and loss, moral injury…Every cell in my body was telling me that it was time to bring together my skills of counseling and teaching, and my experience with and love of horses to be of service to the men and women and families who were sacrificing their lives in service of our country.

I started through my counseling experience: serving military adults, children, and families through the MFLC program (Military Family and Life Counseling); through counseling military and veteran families at Project Sanctuary; through facilitating grief and loss camps at T.A.P.S.; volunteering as often as I could with other military and veteran organizations, and adding in my equine experience (and continuing to learn increasingly more) to be able to best serve these men and women and families who I had fallen in love with. There was no looking back.

Operation Equine – through a process of starts and stops, successes and failures – has finally come together as a 501 c(3) organization, dedicated to helping Military, Veteran, and Emergency Responder individuals and their families, caregivers, and supporters heal and (re) connect through the power of Equine Assisted Therapies (addressing both mental health and physical health, which are really inseparable, when you think about it). And because of my education background, the Training aspect of our Train, Counsel, Educate pillars is just as important as the counseling aspect of what we do.

The Equine Experiential Military Cultural Competence Trainings that we created, address the civilian health care providers (both physical health and mental health) who feel the call and the desire to work with our Warriors and Protectors, but who don’t know how yet (Equine Experiential Emergency Responder Cultural Competency Training being developed now, to be launched in summer 2020). The ever-increasing suicide rates of our Warriors and Protectors AND of their caregivers and children is tragic AND preventable. I believe that we CAN reverse that trend, with a concerted effort by professionals (both military/veteran and civilian) who are not only passionate about helping and serving but also who are committed to serving with excellence and training from the most ethical and educated foundation. Our men and women who serve our country and our communities do so with excellence in their training: why wouldn’t we serve and protect them now with that same commitment?

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Have you ever heard the expression: “building the plane while flying it?” Yep, that’s how it’s been. Starting one’s own 501 c(3) is not an easy thing to do, and I had gone back and forth about the decision for years until I made the decision that it was either time to go BIG or time to go home. It has been (and continues to be) a huge learning curve and exercise in trust and faith.

Also, in addition to being the Executive Director, Founder, Lead Therapist, Grant Writer, Marketing Person, etc. etc. etc. I am also a caregiver for my 81-year-old father who has Alzheimer’s, which is no small task. We are keeping him in Independent Living with additional, part-time caregiving help for as long as we can, but that gets costly, so I am doing as much as I can, with assistance, because besides the doctor’s appointments and planning for his care on a daily basis, there is the emotional challenge that accompanies the caregiving, for sure, so working on my own self-care has been a process, for sure!

I feel blessed to have a small but mighty working Board of Directors (am looking to add people this year: a marketing/outreach person and a fundraising/grant writer person: know anyone?), a wonderful Advisory Board (they are my Subject Matter Experts that I can go to for specific questions/areas of expertise), and a very supportive family. That being said, I have been utilizing my own personal funds and savings and borrowing from my future” while we are working on getting grants and income to keep Operation Equine moving forward, so it is a huge leap of faith!

Although there are also additional struggles because of what we do, how we do it, who we serve, and how it all gets funded, I do my best to stay focused on the positive growth of Operation Equine, celebrating our “micro-wins” (gratitude and credit for that term goes to Lisa Nichols of “Motivating the Masses/Abundance Now!”), and on staying creative and forward-thinking so that the challenges and enormity and constancy of the work doesn’t bog me down for too long.

To be fully transparent: I have my challenging moments and my days just like everyone else, but I am determined to stay as positive and centered and grounded as I can…Grateful for my “highs” and Graceful with my “lows.” On my rough days, my therapy includes time with the horses, dancing, spending time in nature – especially with my Special Fella – talking it out with my dearest girlfriends, laughing over silly YouTube videos, dark chocolate…and (if I’m totally honest) a really good, juicy cheeseburger every now and again.

Operation Equine – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
What makes Operation Equine unique from all of the other Equine Therapy programs – successful, effective, and well-funded as they might be – is 3-fold:

1. Our unshakeable commitment to Military/Veteran and/or Emergency Responder cultural competency for all of our staff, volunteers, and Board of Directors/Advisory board. Other Equine Therapy programs may offer services to Military/Veteran and/or Emergency Responder clients, but not all of their people have the training, understanding, or experience working with them. Just like any ethical practitioner would do his or her due diligence in training/education with a population that he or she hasn’t worked with before (eg: refugees, LGBTQ population, adopted kids, sex trafficking survivors, etc.), I believe that it is essential to have some training, knowledge, and education/experience in working with our Military/Veteran and Emergency Responder families to be able to serve them in the highest capacity of excellence.

2. Many programs serve only the Service Member, Veteran, or Emergency Responder; we include their families (however it is that THEY DEFINE family), and their civilian allies and practitioners. In addition, our pillars are to Train, Counsel, and Educate. These pillars expand to include the family members, caregivers, and supporters, as well as the Service Member, Veteran and/or Emergency Responder, themselves.

3. Operation Equine is creating a team of “Superfriends,” a Hall of Justice, if you will, to bring together the BEST OF THE BEST in Equine Assisted Therapies. For instance, there are a handful of modalities in this work in which one can be trained, for different reasons, with different goals: Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Learning through EAGALA (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Activities); PATH, International (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship); EGE (Equine Guided Education); EGC (Equine Gestalt Coaching); GEP (Gestalt Equine, Psychotherapy); EFMH/L (Equine Facilitated Mental Health and Learning); and EponaQuest, just to name a few of the main programs offering various certification programs.

As in any kind of healing modality, each program tends to believe that theirs is the best, most efficacious, most successful, most impactful way to serve people. At Operation Equine, we quote one of my advisory board members – Izzy Abbass (who is Mr. All Things Denver Veteran, as I call him and feel unbelievably blessed to have his presence and expertise in our corner) – “there are no ‘silver bullets,’ but we do have a quiver of ‘golden arrows'” in what works with our Military Service Members, Veterans, and Emergency Responders.

In other words: what works for one person may not work for another person, and it can take a variety of therapeutic options over a course of time to truly help someone heal at a deep level. Additionally, a person may not be ready for Therapeutic Riding until they have gone through an Equine Assisted mental health program on the ground; or they might need to start with art therapy, yoga therapy, EMDR, CBT, etc. before they are ready for any kind of equine work, at all.

Operation Equine is different because we operate beyond the notion of “competition” between organizations and programs, endeavoring to take the professionals who are at the Top of Their Game in whatever their (very reputable and professionally vetted) chosen modality is, who are the most credentialed, licensed and/or certified in their field, and who are either already trained in Military/Veteran/Emergency Responder cultural competency, or who are willing to go All-in and receive the caliber of training that our Warriors and Protectors and their families deserve.

I am most proud of the fact that, as the Leader of this organization, that I have not only a breadth of experience when it comes to therapeutic work (ie: background in working with youth at risk, the arts, experience in traditional therapies such as CBT and Solution-Focused Therapy as well as complementary therapies such as neurofeedback, EAGALA, and EGE), but also that I have the depth of experience of over eight years of working almost exclusively with Military and Veteran families (both nationally and internationally), and additionally with Emergency Responders and their families for the past three years. And because of that experience, I am unflinching in my determination to contract, hire, and recruit other professionals and volunteers who are equally passionate, dedicated and committed to serving and operating with excellence, as well.

I am also most proud of the fact that I am able to utilize my own “Superpowers” of curriculum creation and development, being a powerful Connector, and an experienced educator, counselor, and trainer in the service of our men and women and families who serve our country and our communities. It is our turn to give back to our Warriors and Protectors in gratitude for how they have served and continue to serve us in keeping our county and our communities as safe and healthy as they can, and it gives me immense joy and pleasure in creating a unique organization that is dedicated to providing that excellence of service.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
The markers of success I am looking out for:

– Are our programs helping to positively address and improve the challenges that Military/Veteran and Emergency Responder individuals and families encounter? eg: Learning self-regulation skills to address anger management, anxiety, and hypervigilance; symptoms of PTS/D working towards Post-Traumatic Growth; grief and loss; survivor’s guilt; moral injury; depression and anxiety; struggling with post-service (re) integration; Family conflict; communication challenges; substance abuse (not an exhaustive list), etc.?

– Are the staff and volunteers of Operation Equine feeling effective, well-trained, appropriately remunerated, and that they have a voice and the best tools to work with our clients?

– Are we receiving the grants, donations, and funding necessary to not only serve our clients well but also to thrive as an organization, rather than simply survive?

– Is our reputation strong and effective within the Military/Veteran, and Emergency Responder community? (hugely important) Would our clients recommend us to their battle buddies and colleagues?

– Do we have a Board and volunteers dedicated to assisting with the work necessary to make this organization run at the top of its game?

– Are our horses healthy, balanced in their work rather than over-worked, are they well-fed and well-cared for physically, mentally, and emotionally?

– In short: are people FEELING BETTER by their work with Operation Equine, and are they finding more joy, more equanimity, feeling more authentically themselves in their own skin, as well as in their relationships? do they have more capacity for enjoying their lives, overall?

Pricing:

• An individual equine therapy session is $150/hour. For a family, it runs $175/hour.
• Groups can be less expensive to run, but still need to cover costs of the horses, the facility, and the facilitators, so it can still run at least $50/per person.
• Because we are a 501 c(3) non-profit organization, our goal is to only ask participants to pay a small percentage of the fees that it actually costs to run the counseling program, so that they have some “skin in the game.”  So even though sessions generally cost $150-$175 for an individual or family, the group sessions also cost a fee to run, and we want to make it affordable for people to attend consistently and regularly.  Many Military/Veteran/ER programs offer their services entirely for free, which is admirable, but not only is that not sustainable as an organization, but also our Veterans often report that they “don’t want to be a charity case,” and they tend to value a service more that they are required to pay even a small fee for so that they have some accountability to follow through.
• Therefore, what we spend a lot of time and energy doing is raising funds to enable us to sponsor the cost of the counseling. Through grant writing, talking with corporate giving programs, hosting fundraiser events, working through donation platforms such as Facebook, Paypal, and Benevity., we are requesting funds to support the cost of the counseling so that the entire family can afford to consistently attend sessions as often as they can.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.OperationEquine.org
• Phone: (720) 588-3035
• Email: Michelle@OperationEquine.org
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OperationEquine

Image Credit:
Andy Winn: Winn Photography

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