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Location
Located on the Turquoise Trail National Scenic Byway at the Crossed Arrows Ranch, Santa Fe, NM.
Contact us at: 505.798.2535 or e-mail us: info@horsesforheroes.org
About US
Horses For Heroes - New Mexico, Inc. is a non-profit corporation. Cowboy Up! is a horse therapy wellness program based in Santa Fe, NM free to Veterans and active military who have sustained physical injuries or combat trauma (PTSD) during their time serving our country. From day one Veterans are hands on with our horses beginning with groundwork and progressing to riding, as well as participating in other aspects of ranch life, including working cattle and more importantly experiencing the camaraderie with cowboys who are Veterans themselves.
Mission
To provide a unique environment and opportunity in which OIF and OEF (Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan) Veterans can Recuperate, Recreate and Reintegrate into society and give them a new perspective so that they can reach their life goals.
Sharing our experience, our strengths and hopes, we work together creating a new path to peace and balance.
Here at the ranch we offer a calm and supportive atmosphere for both women and men Veterans. Our program is tailored to each individual participant - The skies the limit to those who wish to carry on with the cowboy culture and pursue other aspects of ranching, or just come to be in the beauty of nature, bond with a magnificent creature and find that quiet place within.
"Quiet isn't defined as a lack of sound, but an awakening to a rhythm that's based in the natural world."
~ From Cowboys & Buckaroos by Tim O'Byrne
Ultimately this program will be self-sustaining by the Veteran participants themselves as they complete the skills required for the different phases of the Cowboy Up! Program. This will allow Veterans to become program instructors and under the volunteer mentor-ship of working ranch cowboys raise and train the horses that will become program horses for future Veterans coming in to the program.
A Little Horse Wellness History
Utilized in Germany and the United Kingdom in the rehabilitation of World War II veterans, therapeutic riding gained momentum in the U.K. and the United States following the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games when, despite having paralysis form polio, Liz Hartel of Denmark won the silver medal for dressage. This great achievement caused medical and equine professionals to take notice of the physical and emotional benefits of horseback riding for rehabilitation. Some of the benefits noted:
- Builds self-esteem, empathy, and a sense of responsibility through the relationship with the horse.
- Improves posture, balance, symmetry and muscle control through the rhythmic movement of the horse which naturally stimulates the way humans walk.
- Gives riders self-confidence through the leadership they exhibit with their mount
- Encourages a new visual perspective of independence
There is something about the outside of a horse that
is good for the
inside of a man.
~ Winston Churchill
"Working with horses helps Veterans to get back in touch with humanity
again, Touching another life form that is an American Icon, representing
Power, Strength and Nobility - to make friends with that develops
self-esteem where the Veteran can go to touching a horse to shaking
hands with another Veteran in that combat trust bond and from there then
they an move into other areas of life - Reintegration." ~ Sgt.Brandi, USMC
Where in the wide world can man find
Nobility without pride,
Friendship without envy
Or Beauty without vanity?
Here, where grace is laced with muscle,
And Strength by gentleness confined.
He serves without servility,
He has fought without enmity.
There is nothing so powerful,
Nothing less violent; there is nothing
So quick, nothing more patient.
All of our past has been borne on his back.
All our history is his industry,
We are his heirs, he our inheritance.
Ladies and Gentlemen –
The Horse.
~ Ronald Duncan
