War Horse Creek is an immersive transition training program using rescued wild mustangs to assist veterans as they adjust to civilian life.
War Horse Creek, an initiative of Living Free Animal Sanctuary, is a program by veterans, for veterans, assisting with the transition from military to civilian life.
Currently offering 3-day sessions, veterans make their way up the beautiful San Jacinto Mountains to participate in a program based around the “Collaborative Horsemanship” modality. This approach gives veterans the opportunity to master skills that often go dormant during their military tenure – empathy, patience, understanding, kindness and compassion. Once these skills are mastered with the mustangs, they will be ingrained as adaptive habits that can be transferred to family, friends and society.
In addition to Collaborative Horsemanship, veterans receive life skills training through one-on-one access to professionals from various fields around topics such as; financial literacy, interview and job retention skills, career consulting, conflict resolution, higher education and trade school guidance, and wellness and nutrition advice. Gaining these skills will help to improve outcomes for veterans and their families.
Veterans will also be able to enjoy the many recreational activities on the Living Free property, including hiking, fishing, kayaking, yoga and more. Living Free is home to a large cat and dog rescue, and veterans will have the opportunity to connect with the many rescue animals on property, in addition to helping with any ongoing maintenance and construction projects.
Most importantly, veterans will have plenty of down time to relax in the shade of our thousands of pine trees, or around a campfire under the stars, enjoying the company of other veterans like themselves.
Ultimately, the goal of War Horse Creek is to inspire a sea of change in the way we, as a society, welcome our warriors home, and reduce the cost of military service on veterans and their families.
June 2023 Women’s Workshop
Our workshop on June 8th-11th was very successful! We had [...]
May 2023 Women’s Workshop
On May 18, 2023, we welcomed 4 female veterans to [...]
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“Commissioners agreed that a cross-cutting range of improvements are needed, but most importantly that the VA must transform its delivery model to one that is person-centered, relationship-based, and focused on veterans’ whole health.”
— Creating Options for Veterans Expedited Recovery (COVER) Commission Report, Introduction, 24 February 2020.
VETERANS IN CRISIS
It’s no secret many veterans struggle upon their return to civilian life. Despite billions of dollars in increased spending on veterans’ mental health issues, suicide rates are on the rise, particularly among 18-29 year olds.
The Veterans Administration and Department of Defense generally provide “talk therapies” and medication. But many veterans are reluctant to engage in talk therapies, and pharmaceuticals have their limits, including risk of addiction.
What is needed is a way to get to the root causes of the problems and avoid the alienation and downward spiral that so many veterans experience when they come home.
PLIGHT OF THE MUSTANGS
Mustangs are under siege across the West. Currently about 45,000 wild horses have been rounded up from public lands and now languish in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) pens. Recently, an advisory board to the BLM recommended all horses be sold off or destroyed. They rejected the recommendation, for now, but the clock is ticking.
Mustangs are ideal for equine-assisted reintegration training. They are, in effect, highly sensitive 1,200-pound biofeedback mechanisms. Horses respond to a person’s intentions and physicality, mirroring subconscious issues so they may be identified and addressed within oneself.
A SYMBOLIC BOND
Many mustangs were descended from horses bred for the military, and where then turned out when they were no longer needed. Only the strongest survived, due to their strength, resourcefulness and hyper-vigilance – characteristics they share with our veterans.
These traits can create a connection between veteran and horse, often leading to a marked transformation for each.
We want our program to change the public perception of wild mustangs from tragic burden to highly valuable resource. And we believe it is fitting that descendants of the horses which carried our forefathers into battle will now help bring our warfighters home.
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“Commissioners agreed that a cross-cutting range of improvements are needed, but most importantly that the VA must transform its delivery model to one that is person- centered, relationship-based, and focused on veterans’ whole health.”
— Creating Options for Veterans Expedited Recovery (COVER) Commission Report, Introduction, 24 February 2020.
VETERANS IN CRISIS
It’s no secret many veterans struggle upon their return to civilian life. Despite billions of dollars in increased spending on veterans’ mental health issues, suicide rates are on the rise, particularly among 18-29 year olds.
The Veterans Administration and Department of Defense generally provide “talk therapies” and medication. But many veterans are reluctant to engage in talk therapies, and pharmaceuticals have their limits, including risk of addiction.
What is needed is a way to get to the root causes of the problems and avoid the alienation and downward spiral that so many veterans experience when they come home.
PLIGHT OF THE MUSTANGS
Mustangs are under siege across the West. Currently about 45,000 wild horses have been rounded up from public lands and now languish in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) pens. Recently, an advisory board to the BLM recommended all horses be sold off or destroyed. They rejected the recommendation, for now, but the clock is ticking.
Mustangs are ideal for equine-assisted reintegration training. They are, in effect, highly sensitive 1,200-pound biofeedback mechanisms. Horses respond to a person’s intentions and physicality, mirroring subconscious issues so they may be identified and addressed within oneself.
A SYMBOLIC BOND
Many mustangs were descended from horses bred for the military, and where then turned out when they were no longer needed. Only the strongest survived, due to their strength, resourcefulness and hyper-vigilance – characteristics they share with our veterans.
These traits can create a connection between veteran and horse, often leading to a marked transformation for each.
We want our program to change the public perception of wild mustangs from tragic burden to highly valuable resource. And we believe it is fitting that descendants of the horses which carried our forefathers into battle will now help bring our warfighters home.
“
The suicide rate for veterans ages 18-29 was 86 per 100,000… almost twice as high as other age groups.
— Dr. David Shulkin, M.D., Under Secretary of Health, U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs. New York Times, July 7, 2016
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The suicide rate for veterans ages 18-29 was 86 per 100,000… almost twice as high as other age groups.
— Dr. David Shulkin, M.D., Under Secretary of Health, U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs. New York Times, July 7, 2016
Collaborative
Horsemanship
With Rescued Mustangs
The heart of War Horse Creek is the mustangs.
We have developed a groundwork-focused training program, which we call Collaborative Horsemanship, from which veterans will emerge as trained horsemen.
In order to accomplish this, veterans will have the opportunity to master skills that often go dormant in the military – empathy, patience, understanding, kindness and compassion. Once these skills are mastered with mustangs they will be ingrained as adaptive habits that can be transferred to family, friends, and society in general.
In addition, providing situational awareness of the civilian world will help prepare vets for the challenges of transitioning. Life skills training will include topics such as; financial literacy, relationship dynamics, modification of military skills for civilian purposes, conflict resolution, navigating educational and occupational environments, and guidance on benefits and how to acquire. Gaining these skills will help to improve outcomes for veterans and their families.
Many veterans are reluctant to engage in traditional “talk therapies” for a variety of reasons. It simply goes against the warfighter grain. Stepping into a ring with a wild horse is an entirely different experience, and a challenge well suited to veterans.
Collaborative Horsemanship is a physiological experience, not an analytical one. Veterans are accustomed to learning through deep practice, repetition, conditioning, and integrated physiology – they’ve been training that way in the military for years. War Horse Creek takes a page from the military training playbook to help improve outcomes for veterans.
IN HONOR
We work diligently to drive forward our mission in honor of the late Randall Harris.