'There is always hope': A daughter's memory honoured through equine-therapy program

When 25-year-old Alison Walsh ended her life four years ago, her family and friends in the local horseback riding community wanted her legacy to live on by centring an equine-therapy program on her horse, Tinker.

Four years to the painful anniversary of her death, her family gathered in Portugal Cove-St. Philip's for the grand opening of Hope Arena, an indoor facility to house that therapy program no matter what the weather brings.

"Alison had a dream of her own, among many dreams, to have this kind of facility, an equine-therapy program, that would help people with emotional issues. Young people like herself, really," her mother, Mary Walsh, said just outside the arena on Saturday.

"And to have this keeping her memory alive, and her name is being spoken, and that is so important to us as a family. It's just wonderful."

Hope Arena Opening

7 years ago

Duration 1:29

Indoor facility for Spirit Horse mental health therapy program opens in Portugal Cove.

Walsh and her husband, Fred, said it helps in their grieving process. And they want anyone living with mental illness to hear a message.

"There is always hope. No matter how bad your day is today," Walsh said.

"I think if things hadn't happened the way they did that day, [Alison] may have lived to fight on. So people really, that are suffering, if they could only know that there is so much help available, stuff like this with the Spirit Horse program."

"I certainly feel for anybody who is suffering, and I feel for the families, I really do," she said.

'Peaceful, safe space'

Walsh said Alison would be very proud of the Spirit Horse program, and grateful to Erin Gallant a friend through the local horse community taking care of her horse, Tinker.

"Hope Arena is a very peaceful, safe space where people can come in and they can express themselves, be themselves, learn about themselves through the use of horses," Gallant said.

The indoor facility is thanks to her hard work, raising and borrowing the money to build the arena on Indian Meal Linein just under a year.

Gallant realizedhow many people were benefiting from the equine-therapy program, but was only really able to offer it when the weather was nice enough to be outside.

Now she has about 20 people a week come for sessions, some through Eastern Health and some paying for their own time. She said they rely on fundraising to keep costs low.

"Because there's not much point in having a service that's too expensive for people to do," Gallant said.

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She started the Spirit Horse program with Tinker after Alison diedbecause she wanted to do something for the young woman and her "wonderful family."

"I felt close to how she passed away, and just to the fact that I have mental illness too and she had mental illness and that we were connected by horses."