Yes, not for the reason that it once was, but yes, it is still worth it. We strive to preserve and promote several strains of nearly extinct Colonial Spanish horses, most of all the Corollas and the Choctaws. There was a time that that was enough reason to get up every morning. Go to our website at www.millswampindianhorses.com to learn more about our preservation efforts.
But I am older than that now. Now, as Lydia once said to me, "The people matter more than the horses."
When you go to our website check out the tab that is labeled "News". Look at those TV clips and newspaper articles about our program. It will help you begin to understand why we run a program of this scope and why we are willing to do it with no paid staff.
I got a great note this morning from my youngest daughter, Ashley. (If you have not checked out the tv and newspaper stories about Ashley that are on our website you really need to stop what you are doing and look at them now and then return to reading this post.)
Ashley told me that she will again be speaking to criminology classes at Virginia Commonwealth University this semester. During the question and answer session at her last appearance she was asked how she was able to discuss the horror that she had been through. She was asked about whether the presentations that she gives cause nightmares.
She responded with precision. She said that, yes, the presentations can cause nightmares, but that she "gets nightmares so other people won't have to have as many nightmares."
Our program helps make it so other people won't have to have so many nightmares.
This morning I got to do one of the most important things that I ever do. I responded to a gentleman in Texas who was seeking my advice on how to develop a program like ours. I am always available to answer those questions. Nothing would make me happier than to see a program like ours spread all over the nation. Of course, we don't charge for assisting in the development of such programs. We are not selling anything. We are not seeking to license anything. We are not franchising anything.
Most of the advice that I give covers the nuts and bolts of running a program, but one thing that I urge anyone thinking having an equine program with meaning to do might come as a surprise. Of course, one must know natural horsemanship inside and out, but equally important one must know the effects of trauma on human behavior inside and out.
Without being trauma informed one can have a well intentioned program. Becoming completely trauma informed will allow one to have a well intentioned program that changes people's lives.
It's worth it to watch people ride horses out of Hell.
I am one of those people riding a horse out of hell. Looking back at the way my Complex PTSD has creshendoed over the last several years, I don't know how I would have gotten through it otherwise. You have given me a safe space to work through deep wounds that are still in the healing process, and I have gained tools that no other form of therapy or medicine has given.
ReplyDeleteI've had so few men to look up to in my life, and now I give thanks for you daily. It was nothing short of a miracle that I came to be a part of the Mill Swamp family and when I am struggling, all I have to do is think of the joy that being there adds to my life. With no steady income, and a lack of family support and understanding, Depression and feelings of worthlessness are always chasing me. Mill Swamp is a haven that restores me, body, mind, and soul.