Memorial Day: wild Mustangs help veterans to heal through the Wyoming Ranch program

Jay em, wyo. – While the memorial day is a time of memory, it can also be a difficult period for many veterans, especially those who fight with mental health.

A program in Wyoming is helping to face these challenges by combining veterans with wild Mustangs in a unique healing approach.

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According to data from the United States Veterans Department from 2001 to 2022, veterans are more likely to diagnose PTSD, depression and anxiety than civilians. Every year, approximately 6,000 veterans die from suicide.

At some point in their life, 7 out of 100 veterans (or 7%) will experience PTSD, according to the Department of Affairs of Veterans in the United States.

To the small town of Jay Em, WyomingA non -profit called Operation Remount Corporation offers a form of equine therapy that serves not only veterans and first ones who respond, but also Mustangs, many of which come from traumatic origins.

Karen Alexander, a co -founder of Remount, says some Mustangs also experience trauma and anxiety, which makes the program a form of reciprocal healing.

“These are Mustangs who went through three adoptions and were not accepted or not adopted,” Alexander said. “When the Mustangs come for the first time, they are very afraid of humans. It is really orderly to see when this animal finally says that I can trust you.”

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Veteran Sean Walker is one of the participants this year in Operation Remount. He says that joining the program and finding his horse, nicknamed Spirit, was necessary after serving in the army.

Walker, who completed two tours in Iraq and one in Bosnia with the Kansas National Guard, says that a few weeks with his horse, Spirit, has already had a significant impact.

“We call it a winding spirit,” Walker said. “He probably taught me more than he could have taught.”

After retiring from the military, Walker said that the reintegration of civilian life was difficult. Like many other veterans, he experienced mental health challenges.

The program recently added a new red cabin to the house participants during the six -week course. It was built in honor of Marine Corps SGT. BJ Shepperson, who served two deployments and fought with the transition to civilian life in Wyoming.

Shepperson said his brother BJ loved horses and would really have appreciated what this program is doing to help other veterans.

“After two deployments and returning to Wyoming, he had difficulty adjusting again,” said his brother Baxter Shepperson.

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The program leaders say they are working to build more cabins, allowing additional veterans and the first to respond during the night during the program, as they experience the therapeutic bond with a horse.

“It’s like when you found a connection you lost,” Walker said. “Allows you to have this reconnection and the spirit has been that.”

Operation Remount allows veterans and the first to respond to keep the wild horse after completing the six -week course. The non -profit maintains sessions in both spring and autumn.

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The Operation Remount team is now working to build an interior installation so that they can offer the program throughout the year, even during the hard Wyoming winter months.