One soldier holds the paws of a tousled brown dog. Others stroke the cat and tickle a big sheepdog under the chin.
Then the troops in small groups mount the horses and ride in circles with helpers beside them, trying to relax their legs and gradually raising their arms to waist and shoulder level and then above their head.
Then they are told to lie forward and clasp the horses round the neck, stroking them.
"Don't forget to breathe. Relax," repeats the trainer, Galyna.
They finally learn to take the reins and briefly break into a trot.
"For me, today's session had a calming effect. What feelings I'll have later, in the evening, I'll see," says one of the older men, whose call sign is Ded or Granddad.
The wiry 51-year-old in a green fleece with deep shadows under his eyes smiles broadly as he rides, something he last did as a boy.
"You get exercise and some kind of psychological unburdening from horses because a horse is a healer," he says.
'Lowering that stress'
Burago says the soldiers she works with are taking a break from the front in Kyiv and will return there.
"They've seen a lot of things that may have caused them post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We don't diagnose them here but their psycho-emotional state is very complicated," she says.
PTSD can affect people who have been in conflict situations, causing them to involuntarily relive moments of emotional stress.
Simply being with animals gives them a chance to see and think about something else.
"Our work is focused on lowering that stress, so that the person can relax and so that something else can enter the brain and create a new perception of reality," Burago says.
"It's a completely different atmosphere -- the contact with the animals, you talk about yourself, you share your emotions, your experiences. It's pretty cool and it recharges you for the future," says Oleg, 35, whose call sign is Dyadya or Uncle.
Dyadya says he is on his second visit and has brought along two soldiers from his unit after recommending it to them.
He says that he keeps busy when not at the front to avoid painful thoughts.
"When you're not on the front line, you try to entertain yourself, do something all the time," he says.
"While you're doing that, the thoughts and anxieties you might have experienced over there directly while you were doing combat missions, don't torture you."
