First-of-its-kind Canadian study looked at how horses can help first responders heal.

Study says working closely with horses soothes a wounded soul faster than PTSD therapy alone.

Katie Gordon is a police officer in London, Ont., who participated in equine therapy. 'I think if you spoke to the members of my family, they would certainly say that after last summer I became a different person,' she said. (Colin Butler/CBC News)

Katie Gordon always thought she was pretty good at hiding her post-traumatic stress disorder, but last summer she quickly learned you can't fool a horse. 

"The horses sense everything whether you want them to or not," she said. "I didn't fool them and that was a real eye opener for me." 

Horses are extremely perceptive. They seem to know what we're feeling, even when we don't. 

According to the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for PTSD, the syndrome causes something called hypervigilance, a tendency to feel amped up all the time, as if danger were to strike at any moment. The disorder also makes people emotionally numb and socially withdrawn, unable to feel anything but anger and sadness. 

“Horses do not see us as our collective stories but simply as we are standing in front of them. The horse brings its uncanny ability to peel our egos back, to strip the layers away like an onion, until we find ourselves awkwardly naked and vulnerable. But the horse also shows us the joy that comes from living with the bare truth of ourselves. What a gift that is.”

 Dr. Allan Hamilton, author Zen Mind Zen Horse… The Science and Spirituality of Working with Horses