Horses For Heroes - New Mexico, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
Cowboy Up! is a unique horsemanship, wellness and skill-set restructuring 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.
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.
Horses for Heroes offer a calm and supportive atmosphere for both women and men Veterans. The 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."
Ultimately the 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 allows 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.
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:
* 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
~ Winston Churchill
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