A Veteran's Story

As an officer in the Army, Pat* had served his country with pride. While on his third deployment, Pat’s Humvee was struck by an IED. Miraculously, Pat came out of the explosion with minimal physical injuries. Many of Pat’s soldiers did not. Despite having ended his service two years ago, Pat struggled to feel at home back with his wife and three children. Pat and his wife fought constantly and he had difficulty connecting with his children. He became more and more isolated, assuming that it would be better to just stay away from everyone rather than risk getting angry and making things worse. The more time he spent alone, the more Pat felt depressed and guilty for the loss of his soldiers. On the brink of divorce, Pat initiated counseling.

By the end of the first appointment, Pat appeared happier and felt more like himself again. In the tranquility of the pasture, he felt accepted by the herd of horses. He was especially intrigued by Bandit, an older horse the color of a copper penny. As the weeks progressed, Pat began to look forward to his time with Bandit. Despite the stresses of his day-to-day life, Pat’s worry and guilt faded away in Bandit’s presence. With Bandit, Pat felt accepted for who he was and started to feel less overwhelmed. As their relationship progressed, Pat began to talk about wanting to feel with people the way he felt with Bandit. He started sharing some of his struggles with his wife and found that his relationships with his wife and children improved.

Pat’s story is like the stories of millions of Veterans haunted by emotional trauma. As many as 30% of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans suffer from posttraumatic stress, depression, or traumatic brain injury. Furthermore, Veterans commit suicide at an alarming rate of nearly 22 each day. Many of these individuals go untreated, avoid traditional therapies, or drop out of treatment prematurely.

With an improvement rate of 82% and a dropout rate of only 11%, our evidence-informed model demonstrates a higher improvement rate and lower dropout rate for Veterans with posttraumatic stress as compared to other traditional office-based therapies. For this reason, access to viable and proven therapy options are crucial to reconnecting Veterans with their communities, their families, and themselves. 

This holiday season you can make sure that military Veterans like Pat can get their lives back. By donating to the STEPS Angel Fund, you can give a Veteran the gift of healing through horses.

Donate Today!

*Client names and details have been changed to protect client privacy.