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Senior equine trainer Barzan gently held Sapphire, a young horse he’s nurtured, while 27-year-old Hadia smiled as she stood beside a chestnut-colored foal. She placed one hand on the horse’s back and softly stroked his neck with the other. Hadia and Barzan are both Yazidi, a Kurdish-speaking ethnic and religious minority. They also survived being captured by the Islamic State militant group. But Hadia’s interactions with animals at the Horses for Hope project have helped her and other Yazidis affected by conflict and displacement to overcome their trauma.
Originally from Sinjar, Hadia’s life—like those of some 400,000 Yazidis in northwestern Iraq—was torn apart when ISIS seized control of their district in August 2014. While women and children were enslaved by the extremists, many boys were forced to join their ranks as child soldiers or else be killed. The United Nations estimated that more than 5,000 Yazidis were killed and 7,000 girls and women were forced into sex slavery.
After Hadia fled Syria, where she had been held captive, in 2019, she settled in Shariya, a tent village near Mosul that is now home to 18,000 displaced Yazidis. An additional 20,000 live in tents haphazardly scattered around the village. Close by is the Horses for Hope ranch.
Hadia’s stories of captivity and escape are harrowing. But over the past two-and-a-half years, under the leadership of trainer Barzan and director Daoud, Horses for Hope has helped approximately 4,000 people like her. With six horses, the project offers equine-assisted learning and psychological therapy to survivors of ISIS captivity, as well as orphans, youths at risk, people with physical and mental disabilities and others affected by war. The project also teaches discipline, patience and persistence, while building confidence, self-esteem and empathy.
