Devon James Asmus

Grant Type

Dissertation Fieldwork Grant

Institutional Affiliation

New York, Buffalo, State U. of

Grant number

Gr. 10490

Approve Date

April 6, 2023

Project Title

Asmus, Devon (New York, Buffalo, State U. of) "Equine Assisted Therapy for Veterans and the Politics of Post-War Embodiment in the United States"

DEVON ASMUS, then a graduate student at State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, was awarded funding in April 2023 to aid research on “Equine Assisted Therapy for Veterans and the Politics of Post-War Embodiment in the United States,” supervised by Dr. Fredrick Klaits. This project explored how U.S. veterans and therapists participated in animal therapy programs to address human and non-human mental health conditions in the aftermath of war and suffering. Over a 12-month period at several Western New York Equine Therapy Programs, the grantee conducted research including interviews with veterans, equine therapists, barn hands, daily observations of care for both veterans and horses, and even participated in the therapeutic encounters themselves. As conducted, each program was documented as to how it sought to change how veterans think about human and animal suffering as they interact in intimate encounters across species lines. Further, the project explored how these healing practices inform contestations over care and intimacy in multiple therapeutic environments, including how veterans continue the practices they have learned beyond therapeutic encounters. In doing so, this research shows how the therapeutic approaches taken by the equine therapy program may more accurately be portrayed as a form of charismatic healing that is deeply influenced by political and social understandings of suffering for both veterans and horses. Further veterans utilize the bodily techniques and practices learned in each space and extend them to other practices and people through the use of art, music, poetry, and other forms of expression.