Phantom Blooper
02-13-14, 06:39 PM
Combat Boots to Cowboy Boots By Carlos E. Medina
Correspondent
Published: Thursday, February 13, 2014 at 6:53 p.m.
<!--articlepicture101.pbo--> http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=OS&Date=20140213&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=140219817&Ref=AR&imageVersion=Teaser&MaxW=250&border=0 Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Star-Banner
J.T., a U.S. Army veteran who served in Operation Enduring Freedom, talks with Syddon, a 22-year-old Morgan mare rescue while working at Sugar Plum Ranch in Ocklawaha, Fla. on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014.
In 2010, while serving in Afghanistan, J.T. was in a military vehicle hit by a roadside bomb. He was nearly knocked out. The vehicle’s driver lost part of his arm. Despite it all, J.T. applied a tourniquet to the injured soldier.
J.T.’s time in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan has left lasting effects. He doesn’t want his full name used because he fears reprisals from that same unseen enemy who set the roadside bomb years ago.
“There’s still a war on. It probably will go on for years. Once your name gets out to the (terrorists,) you never know,” he said.
But the effects of war are eased when J.T. is around horses. In October, he was among the first graduates of a program called Combat Boots to Cowboy Boots. The program is the brainchild of Jennifer Elliott and is based on her 17-acre Sugar Plum Ranch near Ocklawaha.
“Horses are hypervigilant, combat veterans are hypervigilant. Both don’t like to be cornered. They can read body language, and both work in herds,” Elliott said. “I can use the strengths that they (combat vets) bring back from the war to make them great horse people.”
The five-week program is run under Elliott’s Horse in Miracles nonprofit organization and is free to veterans. The goal is to give them the skills they need to work on horse farms. Elliott works with several area farms to place her students.
The students learn everything from cleaning stalls to operating common farm machinery. The psychology of the horse is a big part of the program.
“As they bond with the horse, they are healing themselves,” Elliott said.
For Perry Davis, a U.S. Navy veteran, the program has eased his troubles.
“It’s very therapeutic, especially being a deployed veteran. I have a lot of anxiety and depression. I’m going through a divorce. I come here,” Davis said, “and it goes away.”
Davis, a graduate of Forest High School, said part of his Navy career included serving on a ship that bombed Iraq during the early part of the war.
“I’m taking care of something else again using my skills. It fills that gap deep down,” he said.
W.J., who also did not want his full name used for similar reasons as J.T., was in the U.S. Army and parachuted into Iraq at the onset of the war. For him, the program has helped him see life’s shades of gray.
“I’ve always been a black-and-white kind of guy. This has helped me relax more. It helps you find that kid in you again,” he said, adding that he has enjoyed his hands-on work with the horses the most.
“I’ve found out they all have different personalities, especially being rescue horses. They are almost like someone who comes back from war and have been run through the wringer.”
Barb Hall, who helps teach the students, is amazed at how well the program works.
“They’re so pleased with what they are learning. They just kind of melt here and everything is good,” she said. “I get more out of it than the boys do.”
For J.T., life is more stable. He works at two horse farms and helps with the program in his spare time.
“I’ve come to like horses better than people. There’s no lying in them,” he said.
Correspondent
Published: Thursday, February 13, 2014 at 6:53 p.m.
<!--articlepicture101.pbo--> http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=OS&Date=20140213&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=140219817&Ref=AR&imageVersion=Teaser&MaxW=250&border=0 Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Star-Banner
J.T., a U.S. Army veteran who served in Operation Enduring Freedom, talks with Syddon, a 22-year-old Morgan mare rescue while working at Sugar Plum Ranch in Ocklawaha, Fla. on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014.
In 2010, while serving in Afghanistan, J.T. was in a military vehicle hit by a roadside bomb. He was nearly knocked out. The vehicle’s driver lost part of his arm. Despite it all, J.T. applied a tourniquet to the injured soldier.
J.T.’s time in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan has left lasting effects. He doesn’t want his full name used because he fears reprisals from that same unseen enemy who set the roadside bomb years ago.
“There’s still a war on. It probably will go on for years. Once your name gets out to the (terrorists,) you never know,” he said.
But the effects of war are eased when J.T. is around horses. In October, he was among the first graduates of a program called Combat Boots to Cowboy Boots. The program is the brainchild of Jennifer Elliott and is based on her 17-acre Sugar Plum Ranch near Ocklawaha.
“Horses are hypervigilant, combat veterans are hypervigilant. Both don’t like to be cornered. They can read body language, and both work in herds,” Elliott said. “I can use the strengths that they (combat vets) bring back from the war to make them great horse people.”
The five-week program is run under Elliott’s Horse in Miracles nonprofit organization and is free to veterans. The goal is to give them the skills they need to work on horse farms. Elliott works with several area farms to place her students.
The students learn everything from cleaning stalls to operating common farm machinery. The psychology of the horse is a big part of the program.
“As they bond with the horse, they are healing themselves,” Elliott said.
For Perry Davis, a U.S. Navy veteran, the program has eased his troubles.
“It’s very therapeutic, especially being a deployed veteran. I have a lot of anxiety and depression. I’m going through a divorce. I come here,” Davis said, “and it goes away.”
Davis, a graduate of Forest High School, said part of his Navy career included serving on a ship that bombed Iraq during the early part of the war.
“I’m taking care of something else again using my skills. It fills that gap deep down,” he said.
W.J., who also did not want his full name used for similar reasons as J.T., was in the U.S. Army and parachuted into Iraq at the onset of the war. For him, the program has helped him see life’s shades of gray.
“I’ve always been a black-and-white kind of guy. This has helped me relax more. It helps you find that kid in you again,” he said, adding that he has enjoyed his hands-on work with the horses the most.
“I’ve found out they all have different personalities, especially being rescue horses. They are almost like someone who comes back from war and have been run through the wringer.”
Barb Hall, who helps teach the students, is amazed at how well the program works.
“They’re so pleased with what they are learning. They just kind of melt here and everything is good,” she said. “I get more out of it than the boys do.”
For J.T., life is more stable. He works at two horse farms and helps with the program in his spare time.
“I’ve come to like horses better than people. There’s no lying in them,” he said.