Henry’s Home: Conroe sanctuary building friendships between veterans and horses
CONROE, Texas (KTRK) — It’s a unique program that builds friendships between veterans and first responders with horses. It’s helping them cope with issues like PTSD.
HHELP: Horses & Heroes Equine Learning Program
This program offers a Retreat into nature, volunteering at our sanctuary with horse-care chores, spending as much time as you want with our rescued horses and other farm animals. You can Help us with the horses on the ground, learning to care for them, and you can learn to ride, or ride better, with a professional instructor if you would like, with lessons always at No Cost to you. Those lessons can be private, peer group with other veterans, or family lessons if you would like to get your family involved. Your family members can do almost everything with you except ground training and riding lessons under most circumstances. Those are available only for you.
The Purpose of this program is to promote a healthy therapeutic learning environment in which to learn new coping, communication and healing skills. Absolutely no horse experience needed to get started. Horses are the very best therapists and teachers when it comes to dealing with trauma, anxiety, depression, anger, loneliness, addiction recovery: results often magnified in those professions that serve at their own risk.
Horses & Heroes Ranch Life Mentoring Program
This program is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for Veterans and First Responders, and their families, through promoting a Healthy Therapeutic Cost-Free teaching and learning environment. We offer mentoring opportunities in simple carpentry, electrical, plumbing, welding, metal work, gardening, ranch cooking, horse hoof trimming [farrier], animal husbandry, pasture and pond maintenance, and more.
This program provides a basic understanding of the materials, tools, machinery and processes used by those working and running a small ranch, all while working with volunteer mentors on real-life projects, side-by-side with peers and civilians, here at the sanctuary. Veterans and First Responders have the opportunity to become a mentor, or learn from one, depending on your level of expertise and experience. No licenses, certifications or formal scheduled curriculum classes are being offered . . . just hands-on, one-on-one or group, lessons as the projects come up. These lessons offer an opportunity for all our volunteers to learn new skills, build confidence and enjoy the comradery of others while participating in building out the sanctuary property and lands.
