The horses at Horses Healing Humans in Stonington had just returned to work after a two-week holiday break, but even the sound of the heat kicking on in the barn wasn't enough to take them out of their zone during an EquiZen session Jan. 5. Their ears briefly flicked in response to the rumble of the furnace as it turned on for the first time in the winter session, but they stayed still as riders practiced stretches and poses on their backs.

EquiZen, a horseback yoga program, is one of many offerings at Horses Healing Humans, which was founded in Voluntown in 2011 and moved to its current location in Stonington in 2012. Executive director Lee Paradis said she has had horses her whole life, and she benefited greatly from an equine therapy program after a car crash.

"A lot of people go to physical therapists, they go to occupational therapists, they go to a mental therapist. Those are all separate appointments working on separate things," she said. "We're working on all of those things at the same time, and it's fun."

She continues to participate in the EquiZen program, which was led that day by volunteer coordinator Kristin LeClair, because it promotes both physical and emotional well-being. In addition to the benefits of yoga, riders develop a connection with their horses and learn to be more aware of their behaviors.

The facility offers horse-based psychotherapy and vocational skills training as well as therapeutic riding, including EquiZen. Paradis said many programs are developed by Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International, but some are adjusted or created on-site to cater to specific needs, such as breast cancer survivors or seniors with memory loss.

For 2017, Horses Healing Humans is opening a new therapy space in the administration building on the campus after about a year of work. Paradis said it will be used to incorporate physical and occupational therapy into the programming. Some people who come in for therapeutic riding need to stretch and get loose before they can sit on a horse properly.

"They would come up here to the therapy space first, and then once they're all massaged or stretched or whatever it is that they need, then they would go down to the barn and be able to have their full lesson on the horse," she said.

The new therapy space will have dedicated offices for mental health services and for the physical and occupational therapists hired by Horses Healing Humans to work part-time. Paradis said the physical and occupational therapists also will be able to advise other staff on appropriate exercises and activities, and if they are certified in hippotherapy (which is the use of horseback riding as a therapeutic or rehabilitative treatment), they can work one-on-one with their patients during their therapeutic riding lessons.

Horses Healing Humans recently welcomed Lulu, a 13-year-old miniature horse, as part of its Ambassadorable outreach program. Paradis said Lulu will help introduce the organization to the public through visits, including to the Avery Point campus of the University of Connecticut and StoneRidge in Mystic. She will also participate in programs on-site.

The facility's programming for veterans, which was started in 2012, also will expand in 2017 to include monthly "mini retreats" to introduce them to equine therapy. They watch a film about equine therapy for veterans and go to the barn to meet the horses.

"Invariably, the horse that they need to be working with is the horse that chooses them, and usually that's the one they have an affinity for as well," Paradis said. "There's this energetic magic that happens between the veterans and the horses, and they always end up with the horse that brings them what they need at that time."

a.hutchinson@theday.com