At New Buck, we don’t just do chimneys. It is our goal to help provide knowledge, services, and products that will help our friends and neighbors stay safe and warm each winter. This is our job and pleasure. In addition to to our work with chimney science and safety, we also care about people, which shows in our work with Warrior Horse, our newly launched equine-therapy program that helps military veterans.
Warriors and Horses
We are proud to live in America where we are offered freedoms not afforded in other parts of the world, but we know these freedoms come at a price. Thousands of military veterans return from duty each year with diagnosed anxiety disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, and suicidal thoughts. It’s our mission and passion to help these veterans return to normalcy through our own talents and survive the mental turmoil that affects them every day after their duty and trauma.
We have found a purposeful use for our love of horses here at New Buck and have launched a program that utilizes the knowledge and training of horses and equine therapies that we’ve cultivated for years. We rescue retired race horses, discarded after body-breaking efforts and training, much like the veterans we’re looking to serve. Now we are ready to serve the Americans most affected by wars, past and recent, and put these old horses back to work in the process.
The Program
At Warrior Horse, veterans will be thoughtfully paired with a horse to match their temperament and ability. Through a “bonding process” the pair can work together to build trust, confidence, find healing, and take a new step toward recovery.
Warrior Horse is a three-day program in which the veterans are trained in safety and basic equestrian knowledge, then walked through the bonding process with their hand-picked horse. This unique bonding interaction transforms the veteran’s psyche, relieves deep-seated stress, and produces the catalyst for continued change and recovery. This program is perfect for veterans who have reached the end of their rope with psychiatrists, support groups, and medications. When you’ve hit a brick wall, pick up the reins and bond with a horse. It’s our highest honor to help veterans find their way back, and to serve those who have served.
The Cost
Freedom isn’t free, and although Warrior Horse isn’t free either, it is free to the veterans whom we serve. We are a non-profit and depend on the donations of others to provide these services to veterans and to care for the retired thoroughbreds that make this program a success.
Interested in helping with Warrior Horse? You can follow us on Facebook, share our news, interact with our members, and check out our media appearances to learn more about us.
While you’re thinking of your annual holiday donations, consider Warrior Horse. Our first program dates are set for January 2019!