Latest / The Touch of a Mustang / Why Equine Therapy Works When Other Programs Fail Veterans with David Vieira | Episode 71

Transcript

Why Equine Therapy Works When Other Programs Fail Veterans with David Vieira | Episode 71 · The Touch of a Mustang

• 0:00
  Like I was surprised to find out that no one really focused on
• 0:02
  the animals. It just kind of became a part of
• 0:05
  daily operating budget for organizations that cost is
• 0:08
  exorbitant. A lot of cases that it takes
• 0:10
  away from their time and their mission, which is to help
• 0:13
  veterans, right, to provide these programs to be able to
• 0:16
  offer them for free for veterans hypothetically, right, you're,
• 0:19
  you're getting a dog because you have an issue that requires you
• 0:22
  to have the dog. And that issue a lot of times
• 0:24
  leads to the veteran not being able to maybe work at their full
• 0:28
  capacity work at all. And now they're relying now they
• 0:31
  have this, this, you know, $20,000 dog that they've become
• 0:35
  reliant on that state that could have saved their life that, you
• 0:38
  know, it has a huge impact on the quality of their life.
• 0:40
  He broke down on the phone call and they like, because he was
• 0:42
  like, I don't know, I'm going to Max on my personal credit card
• 0:45
  because I have no money left in the organization at the moment
• 0:47
  because of this $3000 expense yesterday.
• 0:50
  And we were able to just call ahead to the place and pay the
• 0:52
  bill. There's a guy in Alabama.
• 0:55
  He started a program down there because, like, horses save his
• 1:00
  life. He was a veteran that suffered
• 1:02
  through some terrible PTSD. And when he got out of the
• 1:06
  military and he was finding his way and he got to the point of,
• 1:09
  you know, kind of the end of his rope, and he had this special
• 1:13
  interaction with a horse that literally saved his life.
• 1:17
  There are healers on this planet with the power to soften the
• 1:20
  suffering of mankind, yet they have remained in the recesses of
• 1:24
  the world, abused, discarded and labeled as trash.
• 1:28
  This is the touch. Of a Mustang.
• 1:30
  I am your host, Shalise. Clough and I'm here.
• 1:33
  To tell the story of wild horses, Mustangs and the humans
• 1:37
  who are discovering and sharing their gifts while working to
• 1:40
  protect their well-being and preserve their spirit so this
• 1:44
  divine power won't be lost. Join us on this quest with the
• 1:49
  Wild Mustang. My name is Dave Vieira.
• 1:57
  I'm an Army Afghanistan veteran, and I'm the founder and
• 2:01
  president of Veterans K9 Equine Alliance.
• 2:05
  So prior to starting this organization, I had the
• 2:09
  privilege of leading an organization that built the
• 2:12
  first monument in the state of Connecticut for Afghanistan and
• 2:14
  Iraq veterans, the veterans, the Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans
• 2:19
  War Memorial. It's in Danbury, CT And after
• 2:22
  that project was complete, I was trying to kind of figure out
• 2:26
  what I could do next. I want to continue giving back.
• 2:29
  You know, I think a lot of veterans, including myself,
• 2:32
  obviously that once we get out, we kind of try to redirect our
• 2:36
  focus and into a new mission. And that's definitely been
• 2:39
  something that's helpful for me. So when I started looking at how
• 2:42
  I can continue to give back, I, I knew a little bit about the
• 2:45
  service dog world because I knew veterans that had service dogs
• 2:48
  and I had had a little experience on that quine side.
• 2:51
  I'd gone to a session just to kind of see what it was all
• 2:55
  about and start looking into who was supporting those types of
• 2:58
  organizations and who was specifically focusing on helping
• 3:00
  the animals. So I was surprised to find out
• 3:04
  that no one really focused on the animals.
• 3:06
  It just kind of became a part of daily operating budget for
• 3:09
  organizations and they spent so much time fundraising focusing
• 3:13
  on that because especially on that Quine side, you know, the
• 3:16
  cost is exorbitant. A lot of cases that it takes
• 3:19
  away from their time and their mission, which is to help
• 3:22
  veterans, right, to provide these programs to be able to
• 3:25
  offer them for free for veterans.
• 3:26
  So I decided to create this Veterans Canine Equine Alliance
• 3:31
  and our sole focus is just on covering those expenses
• 3:35
  associated directly with the animals.
• 3:37
  So whether it's buying hay or feed or paying for the farrier
• 3:40
  costs or veterinarian bills or, you know, what, whatever,
• 3:43
  whatever expenses they have that are associated with the animals.
• 3:46
  We've even done, you know, helping by shelter and putting
• 3:49
  up new fencing to help them expand their areas where they
• 3:52
  can hold sessions, things like that.
• 3:55
  I got new like new dirt for an arena.
• 3:58
  And so I think it's just directly related to the animals
• 4:01
  themselves and to alleviate that expense for them.
• 4:03
  So they can just now focus on a little bit more on helping
• 4:07
  veterans and, and on their programs specifically.
• 4:10
  So, and it's been, it's been great coming on two years doing
• 4:15
  this and it's just, it's, it's growing fast and as as I kind of
• 4:21
  expected it would. I mean, I'm an organization,
• 4:23
  right, that's reaching out to these organizations that are
• 4:26
  doing this work all across the country.
• 4:27
  And I'm like, Hey, how can I give you money by helping take
• 4:31
  care of your horses and your dogs.
• 4:33
  So everyone for the most part is in a position where they could
• 4:36
  use that help. So I don't go daily, weekly is,
• 4:40
  you know, relying on an amazing team of volunteers that we have
• 4:43
  here is just trying to come up with fundraising ideas, have
• 4:47
  events, be at every local community event where I can set
• 4:50
  up a table and sell a shirt and tell our story kind of thing.
• 4:54
  Just so that we're always in a place that, you know, maybe I
• 4:56
  can buy $10,000 worth of hay for somebody.
• 4:58
  But if they ask them they're in need, I can contribute somehow
• 5:01
  to what they need. So, you know, it's kind of what
• 5:05
  I lose a little bit of sleep about sometimes, just always
• 5:07
  trying to be in a place where I'm never going to have to say
• 5:10
  no to somebody. We have over 50 partners now in
• 5:14
  28 states. So like I said, we're just kind
• 5:17
  of growing exponentially. And, you know, hopefully some
• 5:22
  organizations will see this interview and, and find us and
• 5:25
  kind of see we'll learn what we're about and, and you know,
• 5:27
  we'll, we'll gain some new, some new partners.
• 5:28
  So but, but I love the mission. It's, it's definitely like a
• 5:32
  passion project. I did a tour across the southern
• 5:35
  part of the country last year. Yeah, last year.
• 5:38
  And so I visited partners in from Nevada all the way across
• 5:41
  the South and in, in Kentucky and kind of to see, I tell, I
• 5:47
  tell everybody when I partner with them that because
• 5:49
  everything's always in our e-mail phone.
• 5:51
  Sometimes we'll do Teams call or Zoom call, whatever.
• 5:54
  But, you know, I take everyone's word for it.
• 5:57
  But I'm going to come see you one day.
• 5:59
  So that was kind of part of part of that promise last year was
• 6:03
  going to see we saw I visited 12 organizations last year and this
• 6:06
  year I have a plan to do the northern route.
• 6:08
  So we'll go across the northern part of the country and visit
• 6:10
  our partners across the north. But anyway, to see first hand
• 6:15
  the impact that we've had was was pretty special.
• 6:17
  And to meet the leaders of these organizations in person, get to
• 6:20
  shake their hand and see the animals, you know, live and in
• 6:24
  in in action, you know, with working with the veteran.
• 6:26
  Some of them were just in sessions with veterans, some of
• 6:28
  them were we just went to an off day to their to their farm and
• 6:31
  met met their animals. So it was really cool to see
• 6:35
  first hand how, you know, they showed us, here's the the hay
• 6:38
  you guys bought us and you know, here's the horse that you you
• 6:41
  paid the vet bill. They were sick and now they're
• 6:42
  better. And you know, so it was really
• 6:44
  cool to see that first hand and you know, definitely drives my
• 6:48
  mission personally. And I know it does the entire
• 6:50
  organization just kind of seeing that direct help that we're
• 6:55
  providing. And you know, being that we're
• 6:57
  small and volunteer run, it keeps us real nimble.
• 7:00
  So, you know, I never wanted to, and I said this to everybody
• 7:03
  that joined this organization to start, I never, I don't care if
• 7:07
  we become like $100 million organization.
• 7:09
  I never want to have like this overcomplicated process to
• 7:12
  request help because any time I asked for money when I was doing
• 7:16
  the miner project or even through this effort and I'm
• 7:18
  trying to get, you know, trying to get grants or donations,
• 7:21
  stuff like that. So many corporations and, and I
• 7:23
  guess, you know, obviously there's a reason for it to a
• 7:25
  certain extent to have a very in depth, lengthy process of
• 7:29
  applying for help. And I think that that definitely
• 7:33
  negatively effects, especially some of the newer, you know, a
• 7:35
  newer organization doesn't have 10 years of tax returns to, to
• 7:37
  start out with, but those are the ones I think really need the
• 7:40
  help. So, you know, being the small
• 7:43
  volunteer organization, we're able to stay super nimble and
• 7:46
  that we can, you know, respond to an e-mail on a weekend where
• 7:49
  a guy's, you know, he's got five horses and he runs a weekend
• 7:52
  program and he's, you know, he's really struggling.
• 7:54
  He's paying out of his own pocket work in a second job to
• 7:57
  keep their animals healthy. And they woke up this morning
• 7:59
  and the horses got a cut on the side.
• 8:01
  They don't know how now that that's got to come out and
• 8:03
  here's $100 visit. And, you know, so being able to
• 8:06
  to respond to those things, it's how I want this to operate
• 8:09
  forever. So hopefully we'll be in a place
• 8:11
  where we can provide bigger amounts of support.
• 8:14
  But I always want to be that guy that you can kind of call in the
• 8:16
  middle of the night and be like, hey, this is what's going on.
• 8:19
  And we need, we need help and, and, you know, we can be there
• 8:21
  for them. So, you know, it kind of all
• 8:24
  ties into the overall mission, but just something that's unique
• 8:27
  to what we do and how we operate so that we can, you know, we can
• 8:31
  be there for those, for the little guys and the big guys and
• 8:33
  be, you know, be someone that you can rely on.
• 8:38
  So, yeah, I mean that's kind of the overall, the overall mission
• 8:43
  we've been, you know, on the on the canine side, it's been fewer
• 8:46
  organizations that we've had an opportunity to partner with so
• 8:49
  far. I think I found partially it's
• 8:52
  because a lot of them have been around for a really long time.
• 8:54
  And I think the canine world gets a lot more attention than
• 8:57
  the equine side does, being that equine therapy is more of a
• 9:00
  newer type of therapy that's been recognized like more
• 9:03
  officially in recent years than the canine side.
• 9:07
  So a lot of them have like big corporate sponsors and they
• 9:10
  don't need this little kind of stuff that I do.
• 9:12
  But we have a few partners that we've, we've been fortunate to
• 9:16
  connect with that we've paid, you know, dogs that are coming
• 9:19
  into the program to get trained. You know, we're covering all
• 9:20
  their vet bills, like they're, you know, neutering, spading,
• 9:23
  you know, all their food while they're going through training.
• 9:25
  That kind of stuff is kind of where we've been out on the
• 9:27
  canine side. But, you know, we look forward
• 9:29
  to growing that side too. So if we, you know, any partners
• 9:31
  in the canine world that are working with veterans, hear this
• 9:34
  and find us, we want to, you know, run out the conversation,
• 9:37
  see how we can support their mission as well.
• 9:40
  But yeah, I mean, it's, it's I love doing it.
• 9:43
  It's like my second full time job that I get that I don't get
• 9:45
  paid for, but it but you know, I get paid in, in the, I don't
• 9:51
  know, to feel good part of it, you know, that we're having a
• 9:53
  real impact. And some of the organizations
• 9:56
  that we've partnered with are veteran run, the combat vets,
• 9:59
  you know, Afghanistan, Iraq vets.
• 10:01
  And so I was really cool to connect with them and, you know,
• 10:03
  really be able to, you know, we kind of speak the same language.
• 10:06
  And it's exciting to see them making, taking that initiative
• 10:09
  and putting their time and sweat equity into, you know, using a
• 10:12
  lot of them have farms they grew up on or family farms.
• 10:14
  And they just expanded to this new mission.
• 10:16
  And they're having a great impact on their local veteran
• 10:20
  community. And I think it's a lot easier
• 10:22
  for us to connect in our own little community when it comes
• 10:25
  to therapy stuff. So they're having a real impact
• 10:29
  on the people in their community and getting these guys out to
• 10:32
  try it out even, you know, at least, whereas I don't think
• 10:35
  they might have done that otherwise.
• 10:37
  So I hope that helping us create a larger alliance of these
• 10:41
  organizations will encourage other veterans who may be in a
• 10:44
  position to do something or start a program like that to
• 10:47
  also do that. Knowing that, you know, that we
• 10:49
  they have us in their corner and other veterans that are out
• 10:52
  there and showing they're sharing their success stories
• 10:54
  and in, you know, helping the veteran community.
• 10:57
  So, yeah, I mean, that's a really long answer to your
• 11:00
  question, but yeah. No, that's great.
• 11:03
  That's kind of what we're all about, you know?
• 11:06
  Yeah. So how is this kind of the thing
• 11:08
  that you chose to put so much time and energy into,
• 11:12
  especially? It's not, I would imagine, very
• 11:15
  exciting to be like, here's a check for the vet bill that you
• 11:18
  just had on the back end, you know, and it's very behind the
• 11:23
  scenes. No one sees it.
• 11:25
  But what was your motivation for choosing this and what has it
• 11:30
  meant to you in your life to be able to contribute in this way?
• 11:35
  Well, I'm in, I guess I'm an animal person, right?
• 11:37
  So I have two dogs and a cat and I've always grown up with pets.
• 11:40
  And, and I think just seeing like the impact that it's having
• 11:45
  on the veteran community, just hearing the stories, like I said
• 11:48
  earlier, I know veterans who have service dogs and I know a
• 11:52
  lot of them have struggled with the care.
• 11:54
  And that's another thing I learned about the service dog
• 11:57
  world when I was starting this organization.
• 12:00
  And a lot of organizations or programs will provide a service
• 12:05
  dog to a veteran, but then it's on the veteran to take care of
• 12:10
  that animal for the rest of the animal's life, right?
• 12:12
  And it kind of blew my mind in that, that they provide no like
• 12:15
  help in food or vet bills for the dog because I mean,
• 12:19
  hypothetically, right, you're, you're getting a dog because you
• 12:22
  have an issue that requires you to have the dog.
• 12:25
  And that issue a lot of times leads to the veteran not being
• 12:28
  able to maybe work at their full capacity work at all.
• 12:31
  And now they're relying now they have this, this, you know,
• 12:34
  $20,000 dog that they become reliant on that state that could
• 12:39
  have saved their life that, you know, it has a huge impact on
• 12:41
  the quality of their life. So you have this, this, this
• 12:44
  relationship that they don't want to let this dog down.
• 12:47
  And God forbid something happens, they may not have the
• 12:49
  financial means to now pay for this emergency vet bill or buy
• 12:52
  the special $250 a month dog food that they have to get now
• 12:56
  because the dog has some issue that they didn't know about and
• 12:59
  there's nobody there to to help them out.
• 13:01
  So, you know, that was something that drove me to to, to do it
• 13:05
  working on the canine side. But yeah, I mean, yeah, we are
• 13:10
  behind the scenes, but we know the impact that we have, you
• 13:13
  know, and sharing the story with the world through social media
• 13:17
  and our website and, you know, these conversations with, you
• 13:20
  know, with folks like yourself. And, you know, that's kind of
• 13:23
  all the recognition that we need.
• 13:24
  You know, we know we know the good that we're doing.
• 13:26
  And like I said earlier, it's kind of that feel good.
• 13:30
  You know, you get paid through the thank you's and the seeing
• 13:34
  the stories and you're talking to the veteran and talking to
• 13:37
  the the farm owner and, you know, talking to the people that
• 13:40
  that are that are doing the work and that those thank yous is the
• 13:44
  recognition that we need. And that's what it's all about.
• 13:46
  And we know that this has a such a a compounding impact on the
• 13:51
  veteran community. You know, if our goal is to get
• 13:54
  partners in every state and we have 203 hundred partners, I
• 13:57
  mean, if even if our hay purchase helped them maybe tree
• 14:00
  one more veteran, it times up by 100.
• 14:02
  Nice talking about you. You helped 100 veterans go
• 14:04
  through a program that they might not have been able to go
• 14:06
  through because that organization might not have had
• 14:09
  the money free to provide that service for free.
• 14:12
  So there's lots of little ways I think like that that are kind of
• 14:15
  behind the scenes that, you know, maybe people will never
• 14:18
  know about. But we know.
• 14:20
  And that's what that's what drives us to keep moving
• 14:22
  forward. Yeah.
• 14:24
  And it is so valuable because when you have those unexpected
• 14:27
  expenses, it can almost be enough to break you when you're
• 14:30
  already doing all this hard work.
• 14:32
  And then it's like one more thing on top of it.
• 14:34
  So I imagine that is so valuable for the organizations to know,
• 14:38
  like if I need to, you know, I can give David a call and he'll
• 14:42
  probably be able to help us out. Yeah, it's been and like I said,
• 14:46
  I had a newer partner recently that called me like on the way
• 14:50
  to pick up hay where he was going to like Max out his credit
• 14:53
  card because he had to pay for course had some infection that
• 14:58
  he had to like 8 up his whole budget at the vet.
• 15:01
  So we want to pick up this a order and he's like, I mean it's
• 15:04
  not like earth shattering money. He's like, it's going to be
• 15:06
  $800.00 for this bi weekly hay order or whatever.
• 15:09
  But like he broke down on the phone call and me like, because
• 15:13
  he was like, I don't know, I'm going to Max on my personal
• 15:15
  credit card because I have no money left in the organization
• 15:17
  at the moment because of this $3000 expense yesterday.
• 15:20
  And we were able to just call ahead to the place and pay the
• 15:23
  bill. So he got there, he picked up.
• 15:25
  So I wrote the kind of stories. Those are the kind of things out
• 15:27
  that happened that that you know, that they're like
• 15:31
  inspiring to me. Like, you know, this guy's out
• 15:33
  there, you know, spending all his personal money to make sure
• 15:36
  these sources are taken care of to, to run this program that no
• 15:40
  one is making him do. And you know, so and no one's
• 15:45
  out there to, you know, no one's available for him to reach out
• 15:47
  to until he found us. And now, you know, now we're
• 15:49
  that person for them. And he'll be able to have, he'll
• 15:52
  be able to have his sessions like planned and hope, you know,
• 15:54
  it's, it's just going to be able to allow him to continue his
• 15:57
  mission, like you said, and not one day wake up and be like, I
• 16:00
  can't do this anymore. I'm just done.
• 16:01
  I have to shut this thing down. And whether that affects 30
• 16:04
  veterans in a program or one, it's that's too many.
• 16:06
  You know, there's so many people are in need of help that maybe
• 16:09
  you don't even really know it yet.
• 16:10
  And to not have those available to them is not acceptable.
• 16:14
  So. Yeah.
• 16:16
  And I think something a lot of people don't realize is that a
• 16:19
  lot of people are financing these programs out of their own
• 16:21
  pocket a lot of the time. They sometimes get donors, but
• 16:24
  when it comes down to it to keep it running, they might be
• 16:27
  working other jobs. Like I know several people who
• 16:30
  are running veteran programs and they also work another job.
• 16:33
  It's not like this is their full time job.
• 16:36
  So yeah, to just be able to have some support is incredible.
• 16:41
  And I, I don't know if a lot of people realize that, that, you
• 16:44
  know, where are these being financed because they are
• 16:47
  incredible programs, but they are like you say, very costly
• 16:50
  and can become very costly very quickly, even if you have a
• 16:54
  budget planned out when you have something unexpected like that.
• 16:57
  Absolutely. And I mean, there's, there are a
• 16:59
  few that have been established for a while that have gotten
• 17:01
  into the grand world and they get their annual grant for here
• 17:03
  or there. But even those organizations, I
• 17:05
  mean, as they grow, right, they're spent, their operating
• 17:07
  budget grows and their operating expenses grow.
• 17:10
  So maybe they do get, you know, I have an organization that
• 17:12
  gets, you know, $500,000 a year from a grant, but, but their,
• 17:17
  their expenses are $50,000 a month because they have, you
• 17:19
  know, 3050 acres and they, they run, you know, 6 consecutive
• 17:24
  programs. So, you know, so they, those
• 17:28
  organizations even still run into sometimes like, oh shit,
• 17:30
  like how am I going to pay for this?
• 17:32
  Maybe their hay orders and $800, maybe the hay orders $4000.
• 17:36
  But like they run into walls too, where they had this budget
• 17:39
  and, you know, horse got injured or got sick or whatever and it
• 17:43
  just it didn't wasn't what they budgeted for that year.
• 17:45
  And so, you know, we've we've come to the, you know, sort of
• 17:48
  speak rescue in some of those situations too for the bigger
• 17:50
  organizations. But yeah, I mean, I just, I hope
• 17:53
  that, you know, our overall mission and, and creating this
• 17:57
  alliance of organizations is to, one, help them connect with each
• 18:01
  other, right? So there are a lot of
• 18:03
  organizations that have been doing it for a really long time
• 18:05
  and they have a lot of experience from the trial and
• 18:07
  error, right? Or they've gone this, they've
• 18:09
  learned this approach and you've learned that approach and I've
• 18:12
  learned this approach. And then you got new
• 18:14
  organizations that are coming out there and they're still,
• 18:16
  they're just figuring this stuff out and they're trying this
• 18:18
  approach and that approach. But, you know, it's just kind
• 18:22
  of, it's crazy to me that, you know, when you want all that
• 18:24
  information kind of centrally located so that the new guy
• 18:27
  isn't trying something that these other guys did 50 times
• 18:30
  already and realized didn't work.
• 18:32
  Like save them that time, effort and money, you know, and
• 18:35
  creating this alliance, not only bringing awareness to these
• 18:37
  types of programs, but also hopefully connecting them in a
• 18:40
  way that they can support one another.
• 18:42
  I think there's like the stigma in the nonprofit world.
• 18:44
  And I see it myself, you know, when I was doing the minor
• 18:46
  project and this project, everyone's always fighting for
• 18:48
  the same money, so to speak, right?
• 18:50
  Everyone's like looking for that same donor.
• 18:52
  And there's only so many donors out there.
• 18:55
  But you know, overall that it's the greater good in, in, in the
• 18:58
  mission overall, you know, in helping veterans.
• 19:00
  And I think there's a way to work together.
• 19:03
  And still everyone gets what they need.
• 19:05
  You know, there's enough money out there for that to, for that
• 19:08
  to work. So, you know, this is, I'm
• 19:10
  talking, you know, down the road in our, in our, our plan as an
• 19:15
  organization. But it's something that we, we
• 19:18
  make we make decisions in with that in mind as far as wanting
• 19:22
  to connect these organizations and kind of the bigger overall
• 19:24
  picture of, you know, how we can all work together and creating a
• 19:28
  support system for new and existing organizations so that
• 19:31
  they just can be here forever and be available forever for
• 19:35
  veterans who want to experience that type of healing.
• 19:37
  So. Yeah, I think that's incredible
• 19:40
  because a lot of times there is some infighting about that
• 19:43
  because people feel threatened. That's definitely something that
• 19:46
  happens in the Mustang world too, where, you know, people
• 19:50
  think they should be wild or whatever and forget that the
• 19:52
  Mustangs that are going to programs like these, those are
• 19:55
  some of the horses that are going to be safe and cared for
• 19:57
  and in one of the best situations that wild horses who
• 20:00
  have been gathered can be in. Tell me about some of the most
• 20:05
  impactful stories that you've heard of how the programs you
• 20:09
  work with have helped other people.
• 20:11
  Let's. See, so there's a guy in
• 20:17
  Alabama, he, he started a program down there because like
• 20:23
  horses save his life. He was a veteran that suffered
• 20:26
  through some terrible PTSD and when he got out of the military
• 20:31
  and he was finding his way and he got to the point of, you
• 20:33
  know, kind of the end of his rope.
• 20:34
  And he had this special interaction with a horse that
• 20:39
  literally saved his life. And he found it as like, you
• 20:43
  know, he's, he's a very religious person and he found it
• 20:45
  as this call from God to kind of refocus his his life and, and to
• 20:51
  bring this type of connection to other veterans.
• 20:54
  And he's just been exponentially growing his mission down there
• 20:58
  and getting so many veterans involved that didn't know
• 21:01
  anything about it. And he's having huge success
• 21:03
  with it. And so, you know, that story
• 21:06
  like that is, is kind of what this is all about for me.
• 21:09
  Like those are like the real, you know, it got me.
• 21:11
  Like, you know, it gets you in the fields.
• 21:12
  When he first told me that I was down there on his farm and he
• 21:14
  was telling me the story of how he started this mission.
• 21:17
  And so, you know, that story definitely stands out to me as
• 21:22
  one that that, you know, it was impactful and kind of, you know,
• 21:27
  inspires me to keep helping and helping people like him, you
• 21:30
  know, follow their this this new calling in life as a veteran and
• 21:34
  after the military. I don't know.
• 21:37
  I mean, overall, there's just so many good stories, like every
• 21:40
  every person I talked to when I did this tour.
• 21:43
  I mean, there's a newer organization in Texas that I
• 21:46
  have that all veteran run veteran volunteers.
• 21:50
  They're all they're the I was telling mentioned earlier about
• 21:52
  the Afghanistan, Iraq veterans and they all in their own way
• 21:57
  had this a similar story where they kind of were lost when they
• 22:00
  came home and they just tried it out at a farm kind of thing.
• 22:05
  And it it's just like completely what they put their 180 in their
• 22:09
  life and new focus, new mission. And they're like just on such a
• 22:12
  great path now, like just doing great things for the community,
• 22:16
  feeling better, like it's improved their home life,
• 22:18
  improved their work life. So, yeah, it's, it's just, I
• 22:22
  don't know, there hasn't been like a bad story.
• 22:24
  I, you know, I could probably tell you a story from every
• 22:26
  partner that we have. That's just been so awesome to
• 22:30
  hear. Like, you know, and like I
• 22:31
  mentioned earlier, it's not like something I have this in depth
• 22:34
  personal experience with courses where I can say I've been there,
• 22:37
  done that. I know what you mean.
• 22:40
  So hearing it from them first hand and them all these amazing
• 22:44
  stories, you know, it's kind of that little bit that I got from
• 22:49
  the session that I tried just like, wow, it's like it's way
• 22:52
  better and better than I ever thought it could be.
• 22:55
  And here's, you know, here's a proof in that talking to these
• 22:57
  guys that don't know me from hole in the wall.
• 22:59
  I don't know them, but they all have these super personal
• 23:02
  intimate stories that, you know, where they really had life
• 23:04
  changing moments with with horses.
• 23:06
  And you know, and you know, like I said, I keep saying it, but
• 23:10
  it's just it's just something that drives me as a human being
• 23:13
  and and, you know, in our mission as as a veteran's
• 23:16
  canine, I point alliance. So.
• 23:19
  Yeah. And one thing you mentioned is
• 23:20
  how it almost creates a sense of community for veterans.
• 23:23
  How important do you think that is in part of it being part of
• 23:27
  it? Huge part of it, I mean, I
• 23:28
  experienced that myself when I got out.
• 23:30
  You know, you lose that like keep that sense of community
• 23:33
  that you become like brothers and sisters with is like
• 23:35
  literally gone overnight. You, you, you sign your
• 23:38
  paperwork and the next morning it's just gone.
• 23:41
  So that's definitely, I think I think that most veterans
• 23:44
  struggle with or have a hard time with when they get out.
• 23:47
  So yeah, these and and that's and that's kind of, I think one
• 23:50
  of the concepts of the organization in Texas that I
• 23:54
  mentioned that why they've had a lot of success with bringing
• 23:56
  veterans into their mission as their approach is, is is like as
• 24:02
  least formal as it could possibly be.
• 24:04
  It's more about that community, the brotherhood and just being
• 24:07
  around the horses. You want to ride the horse, ride
• 24:08
  the horse, you want to just brush the horse brush where you
• 24:11
  come up the saws and put hay out.
• 24:12
  Like that's what you can do. It's just more about the
• 24:14
  community aspect of it. And in that community and in
• 24:18
  that time they spend together, they find paths to healing and
• 24:21
  connect with horses and each other.
• 24:23
  And I think have the same, if not better in some cases,
• 24:26
  outcome to more formal programs where they're out there with a
• 24:29
  psychiatrist or therapist with the horse and they're doing it.
• 24:32
  You know, I think there's value in all approaches.
• 24:34
  And that's something I've learned through this mission and
• 24:37
  seeing the different ways that organizations are working with
• 24:40
  veterans and horses and how they all all work and find ways to to
• 24:44
  help one another. But community aspect is
• 24:46
  definitely a huge part of it. It's super important.
• 24:48
  And I think that when a veteran finds that community after their
• 24:52
  time in the service, it's like definitely, if not the first
• 24:57
  step, it's a step to finding that new path as a civilian
• 25:01
  because it's something that it's something that has just a huge
• 25:04
  negative impact when you lose it.
• 25:06
  And being able to find it out here is super special.
• 25:09
  So hopefully these organizations understand that across the
• 25:13
  country that are doing this work and make that a focus in, in how
• 25:17
  they may, you know, how they approach this type of work with
• 25:18
  veterans, because I think they'll all have much greater
• 25:21
  success with the veteran community if they find that and,
• 25:24
  you know, implement that and how they help people.
• 25:28
  Yeah. From the stories you've seen and
• 25:31
  heard, what are some of the differences that take place with
• 25:35
  either the canines or the horses that is different from a lot of
• 25:39
  the traditional mental health practices that are pushed a
• 25:42
  little heavier, less available? How are these programs different
• 25:46
  that seem to be able to help veterans and some veterans who
• 25:49
  maybe those traditional methods didn't work so well with?
• 25:55
  I mean, from my personal experience and people that I
• 25:57
  served with and I know and that I've met along the way, there's
• 26:02
  a stigma and there's a stigma because it exists, right?
• 26:05
  So that the V as approach to mental health has been, and as
• 26:09
  far as I know, less than they exchanged and no one's told me.
• 26:12
  A lot of it's been just medicine focused, right?
• 26:14
  We want to identify a problem in one session and here's two
• 26:18
  different medicines that are supposed to supposed to fix
• 26:21
  that. And unfortunately most of the
• 26:23
  time it doesn't work. A lot of times come with side.
• 26:26
  Effects. Yeah, most of.
• 26:28
  Them do yeah that affect negatively other aspects of your
• 26:31
  life that weren't maybe affected by the original problem.
• 26:34
  So it kind of just kind of and then you know you you say triad
• 26:39
  doesn't work and you you go back and it's just like the cyclical
• 26:43
  shit show and and on top of all that, the turnover rate is so
• 26:48
  terrible at the VA that you're asked to tell a story that's
• 26:51
  maybe like the most terrible story that you've ever told
• 26:53
  somebody. And then you go back to the next
• 26:55
  time and you're telling it to a brand new person because this
• 26:58
  has changed or the psychiatrist has changed.
• 27:00
  So I think any veteran that's had that experience it's it's
• 27:04
  becomes just an instant deterrent to ever even try that
• 27:06
  again. So they continue in this bad
• 27:08
  cycle of just not being right, not feeling well, and it affects
• 27:12
  work and life at home and everything else.
• 27:15
  And then, I don't know, I just feel like that story becomes
• 27:22
  like the the reality for veterans, right?
• 27:25
  So even if you are somebody who maybe you'd fall in the 5% of
• 27:29
  people with that medicine might have worked or that that type of
• 27:32
  therapy might have worked, the veteran community understands it
• 27:34
  as one way. And we don't then we're like,
• 27:36
  yeah, we're not, I'm not doing that.
• 27:37
  Like, you know, Joe and Bill and John, they all went through that
• 27:40
  and nothing worked. Now they have all these other
• 27:42
  issues and you know, they, they've had to go through this
• 27:45
  trauma like 6 times telling the same story to six different
• 27:47
  people and I'm not even going to try it.
• 27:49
  So like now they're stuck in this like terrible place worth
• 27:52
  no outlet, no way to help. So having this alternative way
• 27:57
  where they can find the community like you mentioned.
• 28:00
  And then being around horses and, or service dog programs or
• 28:04
  if they receive a service dog, just like being able to kind of
• 28:08
  heal in their own, in their own space in, in like a safe
• 28:11
  environment where I think that you can kind of work at your own
• 28:14
  pace. Like you can heal at your own
• 28:16
  face. You're on the farm.
• 28:17
  Like you could be as involved and as connected with the
• 28:20
  program or the horse as you want to be today or maybe tomorrow or
• 28:24
  maybe 3 weeks from now. It maybe takes you 6 months to
• 28:26
  get to the point where you're like comfortable enough to do
• 28:30
  have that conversation, whether it's, you know, with the veteran
• 28:33
  or therapist or whatever, or be with that animal who maybe you
• 28:38
  were uncomfortable in a situation because you're alone
• 28:40
  and you don't have that community.
• 28:42
  You don't have that sense of security.
• 28:43
  And now you have this animal that's you can rely on, that's
• 28:46
  going to be with you by your side, maybe starts to give you a
• 28:48
  sense of comfort that you were missing.
• 28:50
  That helps you expand your world and get back out into the
• 28:53
  community and reconnect with people in ways that you've lost
• 28:56
  since you've been out and weren't feeling right.
• 28:58
  So, you know, I think there's, there's so much value in that
• 29:01
  human animal connection and when they're in these different types
• 29:04
  of programs that traditional therapy and medicine just
• 29:07
  doesn't work for a lot of people, especially for people
• 29:11
  who just aren't willing to try it because they've heard all the
• 29:13
  terrible stories and they don't, it's not worth the risk.
• 29:15
  It's like, why would I want to risk compounding what I'm
• 29:18
  already experiencing? What's terrible?
• 29:20
  And then they end up getting stuck and suffering through it
• 29:23
  for years. So that's that's even worse,
• 29:25
  right. So hopefully this alliance and
• 29:28
  the expansion of the equine therapy world and the programs
• 29:33
  that exist and the, the, the publicity it's getting now and
• 29:38
  then, you know, encouraging people in all different parts of
• 29:40
  the country to, to try it. If they have the ability to, if
• 29:43
  they have horses, they have land to have the money to do it, to
• 29:46
  start these kinds of projects so that they have, they're
• 29:48
  available for, for veterans in the community.
• 29:50
  Because a lot of these organizations are super rural
• 29:52
  because they're, that's where the farmland is and that's where
• 29:54
  they have the horses are. So a lot of veterans are kind of
• 29:57
  cut out of it or don't learn about it because it's, you know,
• 30:00
  50 miles away at a farm. So, you know, hopefully this,
• 30:03
  the notoriety of it and the, the publicity and these
• 30:06
  conversations we have, we'll encourage people to get into it
• 30:08
  in, in more areas across the country to make it more
• 30:10
  available so that more veterans can try it.
• 30:13
  Because I really believe that it's it'll have just an overall
• 30:16
  positive impact on the veteran community and maybe help get
• 30:19
  away from some of that traditional medicine pills for
• 30:22
  everything concept that we're we've kind of been so used to.
• 30:27
  Yeah, I mean. Absolutely.
• 30:28
  I think that is always the go to go talk to a therapist, call a
• 30:31
  therapist or go see a doctor, get some medication.
• 30:35
  And like we really aren't seeing results that you would think we
• 30:39
  should see with as hard as it's being pushed.
• 30:42
  How impactful do you think it is for a veteran to go into one of
• 30:46
  these programs that is then run by other veterans who have
• 30:50
  probably had not the same experience, but similar
• 30:52
  experiences versus, you know, like you say, going into the VA
• 30:57
  where you're just talking to some person trained through
• 31:00
  universities that has not had that same experience, has maybe
• 31:04
  never been in a situation where it is the life and death
• 31:07
  experience or upfront trauma, things like that?
• 31:12
  Yeah. I mean, it's a.
• 31:12
  Huge difference, you know, being able to connect with somebody
• 31:16
  who you know, understands you and then you're not going to get
• 31:19
  you're not worried about how they're going to react to it
• 31:21
  because they've kind of been there, done that.
• 31:23
  That definitely makes it much easier to have the conversation
• 31:25
  and to if you're ever going to have the conversation, that's
• 31:27
  going to be probably the person you'd have it with.
• 31:29
  Yeah, I mean, that's definitely a problem in the the formal,
• 31:33
  traditional therapy therapy sense.
• 31:36
  You know, there are some therapists that I think make the
• 31:39
  effort to better understand the veteran community and I think
• 31:42
  they have much more success. You know, I know people
• 31:44
  personally in the therapeutic world that do that and have a
• 31:48
  lot of success with veterans, but that's the by far the
• 31:51
  minority of the population in that, in that field.
• 31:54
  And you know, it's, it's it's like it's hard enough to connect
• 31:59
  with the civilian world as veteran, right?
• 32:02
  And then to have to share stories that, you know, 100%
• 32:05
  they're not going to understand or they're going to understand
• 32:07
  in a way that it's not really the way it is.
• 32:10
  It happened. It's not really the way it
• 32:12
  impacted you because, you know, book said that that's what it's
• 32:15
  supposed to have done to me. It just makes it harder to to
• 32:19
  find common ground and to trust the person really, right?
• 32:21
  You have to be able to trust the people that you want to share
• 32:25
  those stories with that you who might be able to help you and to
• 32:28
  take advice from somebody. You need to be able to trust
• 32:30
  them that the advice they're giving is from a place of
• 32:32
  understanding and experience. And I just don't think you have
• 32:35
  that in a lot of cases in the traditional world.
• 32:37
  And the other side of it is a lot of vendors unfortunately
• 32:39
  don't have private insurance access, right?
• 32:42
  And therapy is expensive. So no, the Hell's got $250 a
• 32:46
  week out of their own pocket or $150.00 a week to go pay
• 32:48
  somebody cash. And even if you have a insurance
• 32:52
  program, maybe you don't have the right therapist who who
• 32:54
  would understand, or maybe it's a therapist that's close enough
• 32:57
  by that you can get to on a weekly basis or whatever.
• 33:00
  So, you know, there's a lot, there are a lot of, you know,
• 33:03
  roadblocks on the way to getting it, even if you want to go the
• 33:06
  traditional route for a lot of veterans who just don't have
• 33:09
  those that kind of coverage or financial ability, you know, to
• 33:13
  to be able to get in sort of find these other programs, non
• 33:16
  traditional through equine and canine services were typically.
• 33:20
  And my goal is to hopefully make the help them all be free.
• 33:23
  You know, for veterans to attend.
• 33:25
  It's like there's what is stopping you now, right, Like,
• 33:27
  because, you know, as a veteran to another veteran, I would call
• 33:29
  them out on it. Like, why would you go to that?
• 33:31
  Like, oh, it's close enough or I'll drive you like it's free.
• 33:35
  You don't need insurance thing. It's going to take you an hour.
• 33:38
  You're not talking to anybody that doesn't understand you, you
• 33:40
  know, so to remove those roadblocks and the conversation
• 33:42
  from a veteran is is helpful in getting them to find a way to
• 33:46
  have a cut that conversation that they might need to have.
• 33:48
  So, yeah, I mean, I think I answered your question right.
• 33:52
  Yeah, yeah. And it is pretty.
• 33:54
  Amazing that a lot of these programs really are working to
• 33:57
  have these services for free because they're not cheap, but
• 34:01
  the idea to be able to like go to this program, it's free.
• 34:04
  So just try it out versus you're going to pay this much for
• 34:06
  therapy. You don't have insurance, you
• 34:08
  don't know if you're even going to like the therapist.
• 34:10
  And if you don't, then you're going to have to find another
• 34:11
  one and go back. And so I think it does really
• 34:14
  remove a lot of the barriers that are like, I mean, you know,
• 34:18
  just give it a try. Maybe it works, maybe it
• 34:20
  doesn't, but you know, maybe it will.
• 34:23
  You talked a little bit about the compounding effect and how a
• 34:27
  lot of these veterans, which I have also seen, go through a
• 34:30
  program and then they go on and create a program themselves
• 34:32
  because it's been so meaningful to them.
• 34:36
  Have you seen that compounding effect also go into families?
• 34:41
  Because for every veteran that is struggling, like there is
• 34:44
  often a wife and children and mothers and fathers, a whole
• 34:48
  family surrounding that person that's going to be part of that
• 34:51
  experience. Yeah.
• 34:53
  I mean, it definitely I I think that from a few like people that
• 34:58
  I know that have gone through in the story I was telling them
• 35:00
  earlier about a couple of guys. Yeah.
• 35:03
  I mean, it's obviously it's, it's had a huge positive impact
• 35:05
  on their home life and they're spouses have been super
• 35:11
  supportive of it. I think that they're so shocked
• 35:14
  by the positive impact it's had in their veterans life and how
• 35:18
  that's now translated into the home life being better that
• 35:22
  they're, they know they become a part of the new mission.
• 35:25
  They become support sports as some of them work and volunteer
• 35:29
  and help take care of the horses and cook at these events and,
• 35:32
  you know, become a part of the, the, the mission that and that
• 35:35
  only strengthens obviously the, you know, the family bond.
• 35:38
  And then they're bringing their kids to these events.
• 35:41
  And that's something I've, I've seen a lot on the the veteran
• 35:45
  run programs is to focus on the family, you know, having these
• 35:49
  like, you know, so you have to have their there's, I hate to
• 35:52
  call them like sessions because not really session like you
• 35:53
  said, they're more like loosely gatherings, you know, around the
• 35:58
  horses. OK.
• 35:59
  Yeah, yeah. But they have dedicated time.
• 36:00
  For for veterans that only that are going to be there and
• 36:03
  participate and do what they do, but they all focus and create
• 36:06
  time, whether it's weekly, monthly, quarterly, where it's
• 36:09
  family. They want like everyone, if
• 36:11
  you're coming to these to these programs, like you're bringing
• 36:13
  your family to this event, like we want everyone to interact and
• 36:15
  meet each other. And then the family start to
• 36:17
  share their stories, right, what they experience with their
• 36:19
  veteran, because like you said, and we talk about it a lot as
• 36:22
  veterans is like the family serves when a veteran serves
• 36:26
  right? When, when I went away, my
• 36:29
  family was impacted by that, right?
• 36:32
  And and so every other veteran, like whether it be you can send
• 36:35
  their parents would be their spouse, their children, whatever
• 36:37
  it is. So, you know, I think that they
• 36:39
  have a lot to process and deal with.
• 36:41
  And then having, you know, us come back and have other issues
• 36:45
  that they didn't sign up for when we, we, they got married or
• 36:48
  when they, when it first went away.
• 36:49
  It's kind of like, Hey, what about what about me?
• 36:53
  You know, and that's an understand, I understand that.
• 36:55
  So I think that, you know, having that these these programs
• 36:58
  focus on or at least pay attention to that fact only
• 37:02
  strengthens their program. It only ensures that there those
• 37:05
  veterans continue to come to these programs.
• 37:07
  Because if you have your family at home supporting you, that's
• 37:10
  like I said, back to the roadblocks, right?
• 37:12
  I'm not going to have the excuse anymore that Oh, my wife doesn't
• 37:14
  want me to go to these anymore. You know, I got to do this with
• 37:16
  the kids or ever if this house is supporting them, they're just
• 37:19
  going to be more involved and continue down that journey and
• 37:22
  then the right path to obviously what's having a positive impact
• 37:25
  if their family supporting that. So, yeah, I mean, it's important
• 37:30
  for the families to be involved in it.
• 37:31
  It's important for the families to support the veterans through
• 37:34
  that. And I think only everyone
• 37:35
  benefits from it. And I think that it's important
• 37:38
  that for the programs to understand that and to to bring
• 37:41
  families as a whole into the mix when they when they can, you
• 37:45
  know, whether it be occasionally or whatever, just so that they
• 37:47
  can see first hand what their veterans were doing when they
• 37:50
  were there and away from home for these things.
• 37:52
  And you know, and can be have some sense of, I think, you
• 37:56
  know, involvement in it. Like, you know, it's kind of the
• 37:58
  more that you're hands on something, the more you're
• 38:00
  committed to it, the more you're willing to continue to do it.
• 38:02
  Right? Yeah.
• 38:04
  And really another piece that like you don't usually bring
• 38:07
  your family to therapy with you. I mean maybe sometimes other
• 38:10
  times like. You're probably not.
• 38:11
  Going to want to share with your kids some of the horrible things
• 38:14
  you saw or the, you know, terrible feelings or thoughts
• 38:17
  you've had. So yeah, what a beautiful thing
• 38:20
  that it's like a place where you can go as a whole family.
• 38:23
  And yeah, really awesome that the programs are recognizing
• 38:28
  like this is this is something that can help the entire family
• 38:34
  and like the stories you've heard and just your experiences.
• 38:37
  How much does hope and hopelessness play a role in the
• 38:44
  veteran crisis? And how, if you've seen that, do
• 38:47
  these programs step in to maybe renew some hope?
• 38:52
  Yeah. I mean, I think it's, I think
• 38:54
  it's kind of a part whether, you know, to a different extent and
• 38:57
  maybe for everybody, right. But I think that's a part of
• 39:00
  where a lot of veterans end up because of all the things that
• 39:04
  they've experienced, the struggles and the disconnection
• 39:07
  from that family that they left behind in the military.
• 39:10
  I'm trying to reconnect to a civilian world that feels
• 39:12
  different, that does doesn't understand you, the new you and
• 39:19
  not having access to the tools that you need to get back on
• 39:24
  track, right? Whether it be like we talked
• 39:26
  about therapy, medicine, whatever it might be, right?
• 39:28
  Or or access to a farm or canine program, whatever.
• 39:32
  So I think the end result of all that, that natural progression
• 39:37
  is to hopelessness, right? If you're just a normal human
• 39:39
  being, I think we all would end up there.
• 39:42
  So finding these programs and connecting with these programs
• 39:47
  is, I mean, a huge off switch to that.
• 39:50
  I think, you know, it's a complete turn around.
• 39:53
  And I think and talking to veterans that have gone through
• 39:55
  it and hearing their stories, it's like it's clear and without
• 40:00
  saying it, it's it's it's. It's clear that they no longer
• 40:04
  feel that way. Like, you know, this it's, it's
• 40:07
  redirected their attention and it's refocused them and it's
• 40:11
  provided them an outlet that they can see like, well, there
• 40:14
  is a future beyond how I'm feeling at the moment.
• 40:16
  Because every time I go to this, every time I participate in
• 40:18
  these things, I feel a little bit better.
• 40:21
  Whereas like before, I never never changed.
• 40:23
  It just always felt like shit. So to have this day on the in
• 40:27
  with a horse or, you know, being being around these dogs, they
• 40:32
  even if they feel like a tiny bit better, I think it's it
• 40:34
  starts to they start to understand.
• 40:36
  We all start to understand that it's not hopeless.
• 40:39
  Maybe, you know, like, let me give this another shot.
• 40:42
  So, you know, all tying in with hope, making these programs of,
• 40:45
  you know, available to everyone so that everyone can kind of
• 40:48
  experience that and see that just start it like just give it
• 40:52
  a chance. You know, we one in one of the
• 40:55
  places, their motto is when they try to get veterans to come out,
• 40:58
  just give us 20 minutes. Like that's the whole thing.
• 41:00
  They don't sell it. They don't talk about the
• 41:01
  programs, they don't talk about anything.
• 41:03
  Just we have a farm, here's some pictures of our horses.
• 41:07
  Give us 20 minutes. And like, I'd say 999% of the
• 41:11
  time they're like kicking the people out because like their
• 41:14
  experience is so great. Like they never want to leave.
• 41:18
  I love it. It's kind of like it just kind
• 41:20
  of I think goes to the point of what I'm trying to say is just
• 41:22
  like, if you just get started, give it a try, that hopelessness
• 41:27
  feeling will you just can't. It's like hard to feel that way
• 41:31
  when you're around those animals, like when you're in
• 41:33
  that environment with your when you're reconnecting with those
• 41:35
  people who, you know, understand you and are willing to give you
• 41:38
  some of their time and their their that peace, right?
• 41:42
  So, yeah, it's a huge part of what veterans suffer through.
• 41:47
  And I think that these programs are vital to redirecting that
• 41:52
  and correcting that. Yeah, and I think sometimes that
• 41:56
  first step can be the hardest step to take.
• 41:59
  And how different if it's like, just give us 20 minutes to like
• 42:02
  come hang out with an animal that's not going to bug you
• 42:04
  about what happened during your time at war versus OK, let's go
• 42:09
  into a therapist. Let's rehash all the worst
• 42:11
  things that have happened to you and all the symptoms and side
• 42:13
  effects that you're having beside of it.
• 42:15
  I mean, totally different experience.
• 42:17
  And especially if you're in a low place to just be like, OK,
• 42:20
  well, I can go sit with an animal for 20 minutes versus I
• 42:23
  don't want to go back there. Like I don't don't want to be
• 42:25
  there anymore. That's part of why I'm so
• 42:27
  tortured right now. Oh yeah.
• 42:29
  Allowing it to not kind of happen naturally.
• 42:31
  And then obviously I think the outdoors is a huge factor.
• 42:34
  I can't be ignored. The fact that you're in a field,
• 42:37
  you're outside, you're at a park, whatever.
• 42:39
  Like, you know, all these types of therapy are done or supported
• 42:43
  done outside. So like you never like I hated
• 42:46
  the feeling of being in the office, like in an office with
• 42:50
  an unfamiliar place, with an unfamiliar person, asking shitty
• 42:54
  questions. And like, you know, it's just
• 42:56
  the whole environment is different.
• 42:59
  And I think you have such a higher chance of success with
• 43:03
  these other programs being outside because we don't like to
• 43:06
  be trapped. We don't like to be in unknown
• 43:08
  environments. We don't like to be in a in a
• 43:11
  room we don't know with a person we don't know.
• 43:13
  So I think, you know, that's a huge factor that that has led to
• 43:17
  a lot of success in in those programs.
• 43:19
  It's just simple fact of being outside, you know, and you said,
• 43:23
  give me 20 minutes, right? So they don't think you said, I
• 43:26
  come there to to share, to pour their heart out, to tell their
• 43:29
  deep, dark secrets. They're not, they're not going
• 43:31
  into an office. They don't know.
• 43:32
  They're not going to talk to somebody that they know doesn't
• 43:35
  know anything about them or what they've experienced.
• 43:37
  And they're just going to hang out with this horse or this dog
• 43:39
  and they're going to be outside in the field and beautiful
• 43:41
  nature. You know what, you know, So
• 43:43
  there's just so many aspects of it that are impactful that, you
• 43:47
  know, lead to successful outcomes and get people really
• 43:50
  involved in it and, and redirect that, that energy and that
• 43:54
  hopelessness and those negative feelings to, you know, a better
• 43:58
  place on a, on a better path. Yeah.
• 44:01
  How beneficial have you seen just in the stories you've heard
• 44:04
  or personal experience, is it to have that mission?
• 44:07
  Because from what I've heard, I don't know much.
• 44:10
  I never served or anything, but you guys do have a really
• 44:13
  strong, clear mission when you're in the Armed Services.
• 44:17
  And then you come home and and like you said, it's like you
• 44:20
  sign a paper and then they throw you back into this world that's
• 44:23
  totally different from when you left.
• 44:25
  Yeah, it's a huge part. Of it, I mean, we even joke
• 44:28
  about it, but like, even the simple mission of like, so you
• 44:31
  have the overall mission of the military, right, is to, you
• 44:33
  know, protect the United States, protect the citizens, you know,
• 44:36
  to to be a good positive force in the world.
• 44:39
  And that's kind of why we all join, right.
• 44:40
  I joined after 911. I wanted to to give back and go
• 44:44
  fight for our country and, you know, right the wrongs done to
• 44:46
  us. And but even through the
• 44:50
  mundaneness of being in the military, it's not like all the
• 44:53
  movies were here in combat and there's all these crazy things
• 44:56
  24/7. Yeah.
• 44:58
  That's that's the tiniest. Part of all of it, but even the
• 45:01
  even the mission of, you know, being here at a certain time,
• 45:05
  doing a certain thing, whether it's making your bed the right
• 45:07
  way, folding your clothes are right away marching the right
• 45:09
  way, wearing you from the right. Those are all missions, right?
• 45:12
  So you're always your your brain is always focused on an
• 45:16
  accomplished a task that can be accomplished and that you're and
• 45:19
  that they train you to do right or you learn through experience.
• 45:22
  When you come home like you don't have any of those
• 45:24
  expectations, right those I mean you have the cares if you make
• 45:27
  your bed or. Not you have the overarching.
• 45:29
  Expectation of being like a good person and not committing a
• 45:31
  crime and paying your bills, right.
• 45:33
  But outside of that, like it's just there's a lot of time where
• 45:37
  there's nothing to do essentially, right, unless you
• 45:39
  choose to do something. But no one's guiding you, no
• 45:42
  one's keeping you on the rails to, to so that you're focused on
• 45:45
  something. So I think that allows for a lot
• 45:47
  of those things to come up that maybe you didn't have time to
• 45:50
  think of before, right? So that leads us to all those
• 45:54
  things, those those down some bad roads sometimes.
• 45:58
  So, you know, when I, when I came home and I connected with
• 46:03
  veterans who had just gotten out around the same time, who had
• 46:05
  gone to Iraq and Afghanistan, and when I came home, I didn't
• 46:08
  have that community. And soon as I found it, it was
• 46:12
  like you locked right onto it and it, and it became it, it I
• 46:17
  kind of helped you reconnect to the rest of the world because
• 46:20
  like you now you have this anchor of familiarity and
• 46:23
  they're going through the same things you've gone through and
• 46:26
  that you're experiencing now being home.
• 46:27
  So you have that person to rely on a talk to and understand you
• 46:30
  and you can complain about the same things and the same help
• 46:33
  maybe understand the troubleshooting, some of the
• 46:36
  civilian aspects that you maybe forgot about or are different
• 46:39
  now from when you first went in to when you got out.
• 46:42
  So I mean, provide I was lucky that I had there's a VFW in in
• 46:46
  my community that I had driven by a million times that I always
• 46:49
  thought was just Vietnam Veterans that went to it.
• 46:51
  And when I first went there that pretty much what it was.
• 46:55
  But I there's one other veteran that was happened to be stopping
• 46:57
  there at the same time and they kind of put us together like,
• 47:00
  oh, here's another, there's the old guys were like, hey, here's
• 47:02
  another Afghanistan Iraqibvet talk to him.
• 47:05
  So we started talking and then we ended up joining and then we
• 47:08
  ended up growing the post and it's now one of the biggest post
• 47:11
  911 veteran posts in the state. So like, because we understood
• 47:16
  then to, to your point of your question, we understood that
• 47:18
  everyone like us is looking for that.
• 47:20
  Like we're we're all out there kind of floating around alone,
• 47:24
  missing that connection in that community.
• 47:26
  So like all we had to do is tell everybody that we're here, like,
• 47:28
  hey, there's a place that exists where we're at that you can come
• 47:32
  be a part of and reconnect in the way that that we all know
• 47:35
  you're missing because we were missing it too.
• 47:38
  So these programs, these these equine programs and canine
• 47:41
  programs are another Ave. like a VFW or an American Legion or any
• 47:45
  of these other veteran programs that provide that sense of
• 47:49
  community and connection and safe space, you know, so to
• 47:52
  speak, 2026 speak, but it's, it's, it's super important.
• 47:57
  It's vital, I think to everyone's kind of road to
• 48:00
  normal, the new normal that is post service time, you know,
• 48:04
  civilian time. And I think it only, it only
• 48:07
  enhances your life overall, giving your, your family
• 48:11
  community. These organizations give back to
• 48:14
  the veteran community and the community that they operate in.
• 48:16
  So you, we, I think a lot of us, I, I can't speak for all of us,
• 48:20
  but I think the majority of us have that drive to give back to,
• 48:24
  to, to connect with the community and to give back and
• 48:26
  help people. And right, the overall mission
• 48:29
  of the military is to help people and to be a good, to be a
• 48:33
  good force in, in the community in the world.
• 48:35
  So like on a smaller scale, you're now given the
• 48:37
  opportunity. Well, even if it's just
• 48:38
  volunteering once the once in a blue moon or if you want to go
• 48:41
  every day, you can give back to, you can go to the school and
• 48:44
  volunteer there. You can go to the ceremony and
• 48:46
  you can make sure that you're, you know, you're other veterans
• 48:49
  from other wars are honored by going to a ceremony or you can
• 48:52
  do a, a food drive or, you know, I'm saying there's just, it
• 48:55
  gives you opens up the opportunity.
• 48:56
  Whereas me by myself out there doing my 9:00 to 5:00, never
• 48:59
  would have done that on my own. So there's so many different
• 49:03
  aspects of it that kind of reconnect you to that community
• 49:06
  that you've lost and provide other opportunities to connect
• 49:09
  the new ways that only have, I think, a positive impact on the
• 49:11
  veteran community. And I find they're super
• 49:13
  important. And unfortunately, a lot of
• 49:14
  those institutional organizations like the VFW and
• 49:17
  Legion are kind of falling by the wayside.
• 49:19
  A lot of them haven't been able to change the times that new
• 49:24
  younger generation veterans are looking for.
• 49:29
  So they're closing because they're not getting the
• 49:31
  membership. So I hope that they don't go
• 49:35
  disappear completely because I think there's a lot of value
• 49:37
  there. But I hope that our mission will
• 49:40
  help redirect veterans to other, other ways that they can connect
• 49:44
  in that in that familiar way, like these programs and stuff.
• 49:48
  Yeah, I mean, it's pretty. Shocking that the government
• 49:51
  doesn't have a way to funnel all these people into programs like
• 49:54
  this because it does seem such a huge part of the struggle that
• 49:59
  veterans face when they come home.
• 50:00
  So sad that. Yeah, hopefully.
• 50:03
  Yeah, I would love that. And you know, use all the
• 50:05
  Mustangs you have in holding and use them for these guys that
• 50:08
  have done so much for our country and girls.
• 50:10
  And yeah, and the Mustangs are I.
• 50:12
  Just got into that recently where a couple of organizations
• 50:15
  have started taking in Mustangs yeah and super challenging, but
• 50:21
  super unique, super unique in the way that.
• 50:23
  So my experience with, with these org partners, a lot of the
• 50:27
  veterans will find the horse that kind of their horse, right?
• 50:29
  Like they, every time they go, they, they like this horse, they
• 50:32
  go see Johnny Ike, whatever, you know, they, they find that's
• 50:34
  kind of their horse and that's what they connect with and their
• 50:37
  horse connects with them, right? But on the Mustang side, it's
• 50:41
  been unique to see veterans connect who connect to the
• 50:44
  Mustang, who now it becomes their mission, right?
• 50:46
  We go back to this talk and we always recircle back to the
• 50:49
  mission talk. This Mustang becomes like their
• 50:51
  mission. So now every time they go, they
• 50:53
  want to be there all the time because they want to help this
• 50:56
  Mustang. They want to connect with this
• 50:57
  Mustang. And the Mustang?
• 50:58
  It's also probably struggling. In this world that they've been
• 51:00
  thrown into, Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
• 51:02
  So it's been really cool to. See how some veterans have like
• 51:04
  really connected to that new mission of working with a
• 51:07
  Mustang versus any other horse. And it really has, it's really
• 51:11
  turn them around in a special way.
• 51:12
  And they've become like super passionate about it.
• 51:14
  Now they want to only want to work with Mustangs.
• 51:16
  And it's really cool though, because I like I said, I never
• 51:18
  really experienced that. And now some of these new, some
• 51:21
  of these partners have brought in Mustangs and to see how
• 51:23
  they're interacting with some of the veterans and their programs
• 51:26
  has been cool and how they've become like this really super
• 51:29
  mission focused on this Mustang. And they want to, you know, and
• 51:32
  every, every part of the journey is like a huge accomplishment
• 51:36
  that they celebrate. Like whether it's like getting
• 51:38
  to touch the Mustang, like, you know, it's like it didn't look
• 51:40
  away from. Me.
• 51:41
  Yeah, it's cool to see. So I think there's a lot of
• 51:44
  like, you know, you obviously know more than I do, but it's,
• 51:46
  it's a lot. There's a lot in that
• 51:47
  opportunity there, right? Prisons have been doing it with
• 51:50
  Mustangs right there. That's back to a 30 year bring
• 51:53
  Mustangs to prisons and the prisoners work with Mustangs and
• 51:56
  get them ready to be used in different services.
• 51:59
  So like you're going to apply that on a larger scale in the
• 52:01
  veteran community. I mean, I think the there's only
• 52:05
  only good things can come from that.
• 52:07
  Yeah, I think there's a lot. Of potential if we can keep
• 52:10
  getting more and more people to see it and work towards that
• 52:13
  cause yeah, it's pretty incredible to see.
• 52:16
  Tell us a little bit more if you have anything from the tour you
• 52:20
  went on when you went to see the organizations that you provided
• 52:24
  funds for. I do think that's something so
• 52:26
  important, like if you're giving funds to an organization, be
• 52:29
  involved with them, like know what they're doing and hold them
• 52:32
  a little bit accountable because people are trying to do good
• 52:35
  things that can get overwhelming quickly.
• 52:37
  I know I've heard of organizations who just get in
• 52:40
  over their head. So I love the accountability
• 52:42
  piece and then also the support piece to help them keep from
• 52:46
  getting in over their head. But yeah, tell us about a little
• 52:49
  bit about what you saw when you went to visit some of your
• 52:52
  partners. So we started in Nevada and kind
• 52:56
  of worked our way down through Oklahoma and with the Colorado,
• 53:00
  Oklahoma, Texas and across. But yeah, I mean, it was, it was
• 53:04
  cool to see the different scales of the organizations, the
• 53:07
  different people, as well as who they are as human beings and
• 53:11
  their and their story and how they got involved in running
• 53:14
  these programs, creating these programs and why they continue
• 53:17
  to volunteer and put themselves through sometimes some trying
• 53:19
  times and keeping them going and a lot of stress.
• 53:23
  Yeah, and seeing. Some, you know, some
• 53:24
  organizations are on 2 acres with a couple of horses and
• 53:28
  somewhere on 150 acres with 40 horses.
• 53:31
  You know, so seeing all the differences there was, was
• 53:34
  special. Yeah.
• 53:35
  But I'm, I kind of, I'm kind of call myself like an old.
• 53:39
  So like I like, I like the in person, like shake the hand kind
• 53:43
  of thing when I, when I deal with people, this, all this
• 53:46
  technology stuff is awesome and I use the hell out of it because
• 53:48
  it's how we operate in the world.
• 53:49
  But I'm more of like, if I could do this full time, I would all I
• 53:54
  would do is like live on the road and just travel to all the
• 53:56
  different partners, like just from one partner to another
• 53:58
  partner and just like hand deliver checks to the hey guy to
• 54:01
  the ferry or to the veterinarian.
• 54:03
  And, you know, just do that and, you know, show them that we're
• 54:06
  that we're here and we're real and that, you know, we're
• 54:08
  available and when we want to and we're supporting what they,
• 54:10
  what they we believe in what they're doing.
• 54:13
  Because, you know, you mentioned earlier how a lot of times it
• 54:16
  doesn't get recognition. I think that goes for those
• 54:19
  people who are putting in their sweat equity and their money
• 54:22
  into these these programs on their farms where the community
• 54:27
  doesn't really understand it maybe or doesn't isn't isn't it
• 54:30
  a place to help them And they're really on their own doing it.
• 54:33
  And you know, they have veterans that participate and they see
• 54:35
  that and hopefully they gain from that depreciation and they
• 54:39
  see the impact they're having. And that's what they continue to
• 54:41
  continue to drive them. But I think it's important that
• 54:44
  other people recognize it too, right?
• 54:46
  So I'm nobody, I'm just, you know, Dave with like a little
• 54:50
  tiny organization, I just do my thing.
• 54:51
  But I I feel like I I want to be that person that says like, Hey,
• 54:54
  you, what you're doing here is outstanding.
• 54:56
  You know, we're going to be there for you.
• 54:57
  I love what you're doing, the horses, the people, the things.
• 55:00
  And I want to plan to be there cheerleader.
• 55:02
  And part of our mission actually as an organization is to promote
• 55:05
  other organizations. So, you know, we will share
• 55:07
  their stories on social media. I shot film and every
• 55:11
  organization I stopped at and I create a YouTube series that let
• 55:14
  them tell their story and kind of have a direct ask to other
• 55:18
  people that support us. Like so, you know, somebody
• 55:19
  needed a new truck. And so I wanted them to, you
• 55:21
  know, back to the story about how people are always fighting
• 55:24
  for money and for things as nonprofits.
• 55:28
  I wanted them to just directly ask the people that follow us
• 55:30
  and that support us that maybe live in their area of the
• 55:33
  country, like ask them directly for what you need.
• 55:35
  You know, I'll, I'll help you how I can, but like it.
• 55:37
  Maybe somebody has a truck or a trailer, this or that or, you
• 55:41
  know, whatever. So, you know, I'll continue to
• 55:44
  do that as we visit these organizations, you know, year
• 55:46
  after year. Let them have the opportunity to
• 55:48
  share their story, who they are, you know, ask what for what they
• 55:51
  need from the community. And there's the state and the
• 55:53
  area they live in and, you know, allow me to promote them and
• 55:56
  what they're doing and be a part of their mission by helping them
• 55:59
  connect with the greater veteran community and maybe the
• 56:02
  industries, businesses and people that don't know they
• 56:04
  exist. Maybe by some chance somebody
• 56:07
  will connect through me to them and and then that's a win for
• 56:10
  everybody, right? So, yeah.
• 56:13
  So it's, you know, it's, it's, it's exciting.
• 56:16
  It's cool to go out and see them.
• 56:17
  It's it's great to meet the people to.
• 56:19
  There's a lot of salt of the earth people that are just
• 56:22
  really trying to do a good thing.
• 56:24
  And a lot of them learned like just did it from scratch and
• 56:26
  just figured it out as they went just trial and tribulation for
• 56:30
  years till they finally got to the place that they're at.
• 56:32
  And it's cool to see a lot of organizations that have a lot of
• 56:35
  local support, you know, a lot of businesses and other veteran
• 56:38
  organizations that are rallying around them because they've,
• 56:41
  they've found the value and what they're doing and they want to
• 56:42
  be there to make sure that they are around for a really long
• 56:45
  time. So it's cool to see that that's
• 56:47
  happening in different parts of the country.
• 56:49
  And there's ones that are just starting and they, they're just
• 56:51
  struggling and they, and they're trying to do the right thing.
• 56:54
  And, you know, and we're, we're there for them too.
• 56:56
  And, and we're going to make sure, hopefully we'll do a
• 56:58
  weekend so that they're around and they become one of those
• 57:01
  established organizations in their community for years to
• 57:04
  come. So it's cool to see all the
• 57:05
  whole spectrum, the whole range of size, the whole range of
• 57:09
  approaches to different locations and the farms and
• 57:13
  mountains and fields and rivers. And you know, we would come,
• 57:16
  they're all over the place. And to see how they're making it
• 57:18
  work in their own unique way. It's inspiring and hopefully
• 57:22
  those stories to shine, those stories will inspire other
• 57:24
  people to do what they're doing in their part of the country.
• 57:27
  Yeah. I love that.
• 57:28
  And that is really cool to hear that, you know, you don't
• 57:31
  necessarily have to have a huge family ranch you've inherited,
• 57:34
  like, yeah, buy a couple acres, get a couple of Mustangs, you
• 57:39
  know, at. Least a little bit like.
• 57:40
  You know, other horses. But yeah, just the possibilities
• 57:43
  there are for just so many ways people can be involved, from
• 57:47
  financially contributing to volunteering at one of these
• 57:51
  organizations to potentially starting something for your
• 57:54
  community. That's neat to see.
• 57:56
  Definitely. Yeah.
• 57:56
  And they have. The volunteers they have are
• 57:58
  pretty amazing too. Just the people have the amount
• 57:59
  of time they put in to help. It's pretty cool.
• 58:02
  And and I have to say to your point about knowing a little,
• 58:04
  knowing a little bit about what the what they do with the
• 58:06
  horses, they all have some experience.
• 58:07
  They all like we're riders. They grew up on farms.
• 58:11
  I was like a retired veterinarian.
• 58:14
  And if they don't, if they aren't like 100% confident, I
• 58:18
  think when they first started, they've definitely surrounded
• 58:21
  themselves with people who are like, I've been treating, I've
• 58:23
  been riding horse for 30 years. I, I grew up in a front like.
• 58:26
  So they got this community that they built around has kind of
• 58:29
  brought them as helping them get up to speed if they don't, if
• 58:30
  they're not there already, and provides the, the environment
• 58:34
  that you need to one, keep the horses safe, right?
• 58:37
  And then to keep the people safe and to allow them connect, to
• 58:40
  connect like in a real setting that they need to be in to, to
• 58:43
  be, for it to be successful. So they've done it the right way
• 58:47
  and they just have all done it in different ways.
• 58:48
  And it's cool to see the ingenuity and the the time and
• 58:53
  effort that they've put into making these programs
• 58:55
  successful. Yeah.
• 58:57
  And I mean it's. Definitely something anyone can
• 58:59
  learn or do if that's you know what you feel, where you feel
• 59:03
  like you should contribute. To wrap up, talk a little bit
• 59:08
  about, let's first talk about Horses for Mental Health, which
• 59:14
  is a campaign that we're both participating in through
• 59:17
  Samson's Sustainable Veterans Project.
• 59:21
  Maybe give a little plug for that.
• 59:23
  Then talk about a little bit about your fundraiser, how
• 59:25
  people can support your organization.
• 59:28
  Sure. So.
• 59:29
  I mean, the horses for mental health, it's something I learned
• 59:31
  about just last year and talking to to Kathy down there at SSSVP,
• 59:37
  like she asked you to help them bring awareness to that program.
• 59:42
  You know, they, I know they were part of it last year and they
• 59:44
  had a lot of success. And it's become a big fundraiser
• 59:46
  for their efforts down there. And they're doing incredible
• 59:49
  things. Talk about doing an operation on
• 59:51
  scale. They're they're, they're,
• 59:52
  they're unbelievable what they're building down there.
• 59:56
  So yeah, I'm excited to be, you know, help them share the story.
• 59:58
  As I mentioned, part of our mission as an organization is to
• 1:00:01
  promote our partners. They are a partner of ours.
• 1:00:04
  They were one of our earliest ones.
• 1:00:06
  And we've been there to help them with hay and feed and
• 1:00:09
  medicine and things for the horses.
• 1:00:12
  They were, they were, they were one of the stops I made when I
• 1:00:14
  was traveling last year. So I got to see you first hand
• 1:00:17
  and meet them, shake their hands and see all the great things
• 1:00:19
  they're doing down there. So, yeah, I'm excited to, you
• 1:00:21
  know, to be there as part of this this effort and to help
• 1:00:25
  bring awareness to courses for mental health and, and, and
• 1:00:29
  their mission specifically and, and, and just generally
• 1:00:31
  speaking, to bring awareness to the overall mission of how
• 1:00:36
  horses have a positive impact on people and hopefully help others
• 1:00:39
  look into that and discover it on their own in their own way.
• 1:00:43
  Tell us about. The music that you've been
• 1:00:45
  doing. Started like summer of last
• 1:00:49
  year, so I always kind of jotted stuff down and I'm not like a
• 1:00:53
  musical person. I don't play instruments, I'm
• 1:00:55
  not a singer and nobody wants to hear me sing.
• 1:00:58
  But I, you know, and it's controversial, I guess to a
• 1:01:01
  certain extent with the AI music world.
• 1:01:03
  So anyway, I, I, I've written like a poem, essentially a
• 1:01:08
  story. And I, I was fell one night just
• 1:01:11
  to like, let me see if anybody would want to single, like make
• 1:01:14
  this song, make this into a song.
• 1:01:16
  And I found a, a producer in Florida and just like just
• 1:01:20
  thought about on a whim, I emailed him.
• 1:01:21
  I said, Hey, would you be interested in like reading a
• 1:01:23
  song that I wrote and maybe like putting it to music, whatever.
• 1:01:27
  And his Southern Line Records in Florida.
• 1:01:29
  And he's like, yeah, send it to me.
• 1:01:30
  I'll take a look. And he loved it.
• 1:01:32
  And the song is called Still Fighting Home.
• 1:01:35
  And so he produced it. So it was the first song that we
• 1:01:39
  created. And the whole purpose of the
• 1:01:41
  songs are so first of all, that the the guess, I guess consider
• 1:01:46
  like a self, a ghost rider. So the name of the artist is
• 1:01:48
  Wyatt Strother. And that was in honor of a guy,
• 1:01:51
  a friend of mine that I served with that that died in a
• 1:01:54
  training accident. But name was Strother.
• 1:01:56
  And so, and he was into music and he played, he loved to play
• 1:02:00
  it. And it was, it was just an
• 1:02:01
  awesome human being that although he was in my life for a
• 1:02:03
  short amount of time, he had a huge impact.
• 1:02:05
  And I wanted to honor him in, in in some way.
• 1:02:07
  And so why Struther was the name that I that I created for this,
• 1:02:12
  this effort. And part of the mission of this
• 1:02:14
  music for me is 1 to share some of my stories, to share stories
• 1:02:19
  of veterans that that I've served with, that I've met along
• 1:02:22
  the way, you know, that met throughout life and who have had
• 1:02:25
  things to say that didn't have a way to say it and to bring
• 1:02:28
  awareness to our mission at Canine Equine Alliance.
• 1:02:31
  And hopefully, you know, somebody might hear the song.
• 1:02:33
  And then I put our logo on all the song covers and hopefully
• 1:02:35
  maybe they'll they'll find us and become a part of our mission
• 1:02:39
  in some way, or rather it be directly or indirectly.
• 1:02:42
  And so, yeah, it's been fun. I just been, you know,
• 1:02:45
  originally a lot of the songs I wrote were just like very
• 1:02:48
  military specific from my experience and those experiences
• 1:02:51
  of others. And I've kind of expanded a
• 1:02:53
  little bit into writing more about life in general and life
• 1:02:57
  experiences and relationship experiences and things like
• 1:02:59
  that. And I'm having a lot of fun
• 1:03:01
  doing it. I, I actually use the technology
• 1:03:04
  now to produce my own songs. So I, I create the music and the
• 1:03:08
  vocals and, and, and write them, write the lyrics to it.
• 1:03:11
  So, yeah. So it's on all the streaming
• 1:03:15
  platforms. I I try to put a song out like
• 1:03:17
  every other week if I can, depending how much time I have
• 1:03:19
  to write. But it's been fun.
• 1:03:22
  It's it's been a little nerve wracking because you're sharing
• 1:03:26
  this with other people and I don't know how you don't know
• 1:03:29
  how anyone's going to react to it.
• 1:03:30
  You know, my family has been, my wife Katie's been super
• 1:03:33
  supportive of it and my family's been supportive of it.
• 1:03:35
  And they, they tell me they like it.
• 1:03:36
  They're either really good liars or they like it.
• 1:03:37
  But either way I take it. Yeah, it's.
• 1:03:40
  Fun doing it, I'll continue to do it.
• 1:03:41
  Until I guess maybe people stop listening to it all together.
• 1:03:44
  But I'm hoping one day. My ultimate goal of my dream, I
• 1:03:47
  guess, would be that if someone like a big artist that that we
• 1:03:51
  all know and love, you know, comes across one one day and
• 1:03:53
  says, hey, I want I love the lyrics.
• 1:03:54
  Let me do my rendition of that and.
• 1:03:58
  Share our story of. Our mission and what we've
• 1:04:00
  talked about today. So yeah, that says it's wide
• 1:04:03
  Strother and we're on it's on on all the streaming, all your
• 1:04:06
  favorite streaming platforms and it's a new song coming out this
• 1:04:08
  week. But like I said, it's, it's fun
• 1:04:11
  and I like to do and, you know, if any veterans have stories
• 1:04:14
  they want to tell and they want to reach out to me, you know,
• 1:04:16
  help try to tell their story for them, you know, I wouldn't mind
• 1:04:20
  doing that. Yeah.
• 1:04:20
  So, yeah, it's, it's cool. I'm enjoying it.
• 1:04:23
  It's music has been something that's really, I think it's like
• 1:04:26
  a therapeutic thing for me. I love to listen to it.
• 1:04:28
  I I find stories you could connect to.
• 1:04:31
  I just not very good at doing it myself.
• 1:04:33
  So I have now an Ave. to to make music in this new way and to
• 1:04:37
  share these stories and short stories of others has been
• 1:04:40
  pretty cool. And I'm excited to see kind of
• 1:04:42
  where it might go one day. Yeah.
• 1:04:45
  That's neat and I I think that's true.
• 1:04:47
  It can be really nerve wracking to put something out that you
• 1:04:49
  kind of wrote from, you know, some deeper emotional feelings.
• 1:04:54
  But a lot of times like you do that and you realize like other
• 1:04:56
  people have also also felt this. So I'm sure that is going to
• 1:05:00
  connect with a lot of people who've have been in similar
• 1:05:03
  situations that most people e-mail me to that.
• 1:05:05
  Point saying that like they shared it at a veterans group
• 1:05:08
  meeting or they professor shared it in the class about veterans
• 1:05:12
  like to kind of break it down and talk about different aspects
• 1:05:15
  of it and how it really, I don't know.
• 1:05:16
  So it's been cool to have some people reach out and talk about
• 1:05:19
  how they've used it and interpreted it and how it's kind
• 1:05:22
  of affected them. So to your point, yeah, it's
• 1:05:23
  been, it's neat. And to see how people are
• 1:05:27
  connected to it and what I thought people would.
• 1:05:29
  First of all, I wouldn't listen to it unless I send it to them
• 1:05:30
  directly and they know me. But it's been kind of growing on
• 1:05:33
  its own organically. And like I said, hopefully one
• 1:05:35
  day catches on to get some notoriety and some attention to
• 1:05:40
  this mission and the mission that we're all here supporting.
• 1:05:43
  So, yeah, and. Maybe another plug for just
• 1:05:46
  alternative therapies like writing something I've also
• 1:05:49
  found very powerful and times that are dark and hard.
• 1:05:54
  Definitely something that can be a really powerful outlet for
• 1:05:57
  people who, yeah, maybe traditional talk therapy and
• 1:06:01
  medications aren't working for you.
• 1:06:03
  It's good to know. Like, there's a lot of other,
• 1:06:05
  other avenues that you can explore.
• 1:06:07
  All right, don't give up. And now tell.
• 1:06:10
  Us a little bit about more about how people can support you guys
• 1:06:14
  who are going out and giving a little bit of financial help or
• 1:06:18
  a lot of financial help when these organizations big checks
• 1:06:20
  and little checks. On our website, we have K9
• 1:06:25
  Equine alliance.org, so you can donate there.
• 1:06:28
  I on social media, we're always running a campaign.
• 1:06:31
  I have I have my what I do the dollar mission or I got a little
• 1:06:34
  teased about that, but we've had a lot of success with it.
• 1:06:36
  Just ask everybody just to give a dollar, you know, and to share
• 1:06:39
  with your friends. You know, we get a million
• 1:06:40
  people to give a dollar, right? It's $1,000,000.
• 1:06:42
  So we're running that. And then we have a lot of stuff
• 1:06:45
  locally in Connecticut and the New York area and that's where I
• 1:06:48
  live. So that's where we're at of.
• 1:06:49
  But we have our annual gala coming up.
• 1:06:53
  So I started this gala when I was doing the minor project and
• 1:06:56
  we had a lot of success with it. And our the volunteers that I
• 1:06:59
  have had with the minor project, a lot of them came with me to
• 1:07:02
  this and we decided to continue to do this with this new
• 1:07:04
  organization. So this will be our second year
• 1:07:06
  for our Heroes Gala. It's it's in June, on June 13th.
• 1:07:10
  So we're always looking for sponsors or people to purchase
• 1:07:13
  ads in the, the gala event book or to attend, You know, anybody
• 1:07:18
  wants to come. It's a great time.
• 1:07:20
  People love it. They, we have everyone that
• 1:07:22
  comes, comes next year. They always look forward to it.
• 1:07:24
  We had actually, we're having it again this year.
• 1:07:27
  Horses are going to come from one of our partner programs.
• 1:07:30
  We'll be there during the cocktail hours.
• 1:07:31
  So you get to go out and meet and interact with the horses
• 1:07:34
  cocktail hour. And I always tell everybody it's
• 1:07:35
  like worth the price of the mission right there.
• 1:07:37
  What other party can you get dressed up for, have great food
• 1:07:40
  and drinks to get to go hang out with horses, right.
• 1:07:42
  So, yeah, so we'll have that again this year.
• 1:07:45
  So, yeah, we're just looking, you know, if you can't make it,
• 1:07:47
  if you can donate towards it, if you can sponsor it, if you can
• 1:07:50
  share with people that you know, that live in Connecticut or New
• 1:07:52
  York or the New England area that might want to participate
• 1:07:55
  or, or support it, you know, it's always appreciated.
• 1:07:58
  And, or just getting on our website and making a donation or
• 1:08:01
  just to my point, really sharing our on our home pages, our
• 1:08:05
  partners. So they're all over the country.
• 1:08:07
  So look, look, check out our partner page.
• 1:08:09
  If you find, maybe you'll find somebody who's in your area that
• 1:08:12
  you can support directly if you want, or you can participate in
• 1:08:15
  the program or maybe, you know, a veteran who might be, you
• 1:08:18
  know, it might find value in participating in those programs.
• 1:08:20
  So, you know, search out our website and check out our
• 1:08:22
  partners and see who's in your area and how you might be able
• 1:08:25
  to help. If you don't want to help us
• 1:08:26
  directly, I don't care. Overall, the mission is to help
• 1:08:30
  the horses and the dogs, and if you want to do it in a different
• 1:08:34
  way, then that's fine too. But you know, we wanted to make
• 1:08:37
  sure that these programs exist, continue to exist and grow, and
• 1:08:40
  we connect as many veterans with them as possible.
• 1:08:42
  Awesome. Anything.
• 1:08:43
  Else you would like any the audience to know before we close
• 1:08:47
  out. I don't think so.
• 1:08:50
  I appreciate you taking your time to to have me on here.
• 1:08:53
  And I I said I'm beginning the interview, that I told her that
• 1:08:55
  I work in American Hour and we made it out.
• 1:08:58
  I guess I couldn't show up today.
• 1:08:59
  So it's yeah, no, it gets pretty.
• 1:09:00
  Easy. Most people are like, I don't
• 1:09:02
  know what I'm doing. I'm like, if you can just talk
• 1:09:04
  about what you love doing that has brought you here, like it's
• 1:09:07
  usually usually pretty easy. But yeah, thank you so much for
• 1:09:10
  being here and for the work you do.
• 1:09:13
  I think your mission is so needed.
• 1:09:15
  A lot of times we do forget about the animals that are
• 1:09:18
  behind the programs. When we hear these stories of
• 1:09:21
  incredible things, certainly they take care and attention and
• 1:09:25
  a lot of money. And I also love your approach to
• 1:09:28
  bringing everybody together. I think that is so beneficial
• 1:09:32
  that if we can realize, like if we can all join together in this
• 1:09:35
  mission and this thing that we have seen work, which is why
• 1:09:38
  we're here talking about it, doing it, it just makes us that
• 1:09:43
  much more power to help others see that there's this resource
• 1:09:47
  out for them. So thank you so much for the
• 1:09:50
  work you do and for being here today and talking about it and
• 1:09:53
  sharing your experiences and the stories that you've heard.
• 1:09:56
  Awesome. Thank you so much.
• 1:09:57
  I. Appreciate it.
• 1:09:58
  Thank you for joining. Us and learning about horses
• 1:10:01
  that heal and the humans who help them.
• 1:10:03
  We hope you'll continue with us on this journey.
• 1:10:06
  We'd love for you to subscribe on your favorite platform and
• 1:10:08
  follow the touch of a Mustang on any of the major social media
• 1:10:12
  outlets. Please share with your friends
• 1:10:14
  anyone who loves horses or anyone who might be struggling
• 1:10:17
  and could benefit from this message.
• 1:10:19
  If you have felt the healing power of horses or help them in
• 1:10:23
  their divinely appointed mission, please reach out.
• 1:10:25
  We want to hear your story. As we say goodbye, always
• 1:10:29
  remember that the horse is always there to help you heal.