Horses and abuse - can we help the horse to get over it?

There are so many different kind of abuse and lots of them makes life difficult and sometimes unbearable. Lots of horses and other animals has suffered some kind of abuse, which complecates or makes some things not possible. We are so often told that abuse creates scars and behaviour that cannot be erased or changed. What if it is possible not only to deal with the abuse, but also to get over it and get to function as if nothing ever happened? Lots of people get dogs from shelters or rescued horses. What do you then do? We will be talking about how abuse affects us or the animals and how to deal with it.