Saratoga Warhorse: My Experiences

Early on after returning from New York I thought that writing a blog about this would take away from the experience, but truthfully not doing the blog has taken away from not allowing others to understand what transpired during my time out there. Tonight I'm going to take you on an adventure and share with you my experiences. There is a lot of information and hopefully I can put it all into words for you so you will have an understanding of what happened.

Just picture a three day weekend vacation and that's what this was like, but instead of relaxing you work with horses. In the process of working with these amazing creatures you begin to realize parts of you that were dead are now they are coming to life.

Well I hoped that grabbed your attention because that's just the beginning. It all started for me by a text message from an Army brother who I served with in Iraq and he said, " You need to check this program out." Within a couple of days I had already made contact with the head of the program Bob Nevins and we had talked at length about what the program was all about and what it's designed to do. Honestly there was a some hesitation on my part, but I still said yes and agreed to come out for the weekend. As the time came closer I began to prepare for my adventure and the traveling not fully knowing what was in store for me. My flight left Minneapolis at like 7:30am on Friday morning and I had a connecting flight in Philadelphia to finally get to Albany, New York. When I finally arrived in Albany I was met by Brian who was a Marine Platoon Leader in Vietnam. I'll never forget his first words to me in his New York accent was, "Do you need to use the powder room?" I laughed inside hard about that one for a while and even now I get a smile out of those words. We jumped in his car and made the drive up to Saratoga Springs minus a pit stop at Chili's for an excellent lunch!

We finally arrived at the hotel where I would be staying and from there I met a few of the other vets I would be working with along with Bob and Sharon who's the on staff nurse practitioner. After a quick meet and greet with everyone I did an interview with Sharon which as probably of some my readers can imagine is quite intrusive if you know what I mean. Poking, prodding, and lots of questions coupled with comments about your experiences during your time overseas along with what you've done for healing, counseling, and therapy. Sharon is quick to the point or at least that's what I recall about my interview and I found it very easy to talk to her. From there we all headed out to the farm where the horses are and to meet the rest of the staff that we would be working with. There's Melody and Val who are the horse managers and instructors.....both were a pleasure to work with and laugh with(we did a lot of that Saturday night!).
There's Janelle who handles what it seemed everything and anything that needed taken care of and simply put a joy to work with also be around. The vets included Shane, Gordy, myself, Jason, and Roman. We all have our own experiences from our time in the military along with our deployments in our respective theaters ranging from Iraq to Afghanistan and probably other places. Out of this crowd Gordy quickly took the roll of class clown and had us laughing within minutes of meeting him. Jason was the quieter one of the crowd while Shane, Roman, and myself were all quick to make conversations with everyone around us or so it appeared to me at least.

After mingling around for a few minutes the itinerary was explained and how things would go from here on out and a few more brief introductions then we were on are way looking around the barn at some of the horses. After spending a few more minutes at the farm we were all headed back to the hotel for a relaxing evening. For me I surfed the web and pumped out another journal entry along with a blog post. Remembering that tomorrow was going to be an early morning I decided it was time for bed and that was probably one of the more restful nights I had during that time. Saturday morning started off with breakfast and to top it off it was free so we all chowed down as much as we could. Then it was off to the farm for classes on horse interaction within the herds they live in along with a fair amount of horse psychology as well.
There was a bit of hands on training that went with this as well which for me helped a lot as that is how I learn primarily and when power point presentations hit part of my brain shuts down as I've seen enough to last a lifetime.

We breaked for lunch which was very tasty, but unfortunately for yours truly most of it was vegetarian lol! Thank goodness there was other foods that I could eat or who knows I might of wasted away lol!! A lot of the guys and myself included talked about past deployments or listened to Gordy crack more jokes about anything and everything the man could think of. After lunch more hands on training followed till about 3:30 or 4pm. During that time frame we were introduced to some of the horses which we would be working with later on in our one on one sessions where the connection is made with that specific horse which is picked for us as individuals. We took a short break for some pictures and those who needed to use the restroom also for the smokers in the group which was pretty much all the vets lol!! We came back into the barn and began to prepare for our time with our horses in the round pen. Bare with me as I can't recall the exact order of who went first, but what I do remember is Roman and Gordy worked with Whiskey, Shane was paired with Kismet, and Jason with Traffic Chief, then me with Butter or Three Lions. For each person the connection with their horse is unique and is truly something beyond words can describe.

My time spent with Budder or Three Lions (same horse) was probably one of the most unique experiences that I have had the pleasure of and he is truly unique in his own rights. It's funny because at the beginning of my time in the round pen with him as I began to rub his head, he dipped it and we all had a good chuckle with the comments everyone made. We spent probably close to 11 minutes in the pen together working on building a connection, trust, and allowing me to lead him. At one point he kicked up his hind legs which doesn't usually happen as he's typically low energy when working with vets and people. I would suggest watching the videos as they are just a small picture of what happens when the connection is made between horse and veteran. Butter and I had a wonderful time in the round pen together and it taught me a lot about myself. I will never forget the peace I felt working with that amazing horse and the time spent out there. If you do decide to watch the video of Butter and me one thing you will not see is after we exit the pen at which point I've still got the rope in hand talking with other veterans and staff. Butter decides that he's not close enough to me and puts his head between my arm and body. At this point I could of died a happy man honestly, to feel that horse, that amazing animal put his head and neck right next me.  All I could is laugh with a giant smile on my face. WOW! Who knew ?!?! Horses are truly amazing animals!! Butter holds a special place in my heart honestly and that place will never be taken by another animal.

We walked the horses back to their stales and from there back to the hotel we went to get ready for our dinner at a local bed and breakfast. It was a husband and wife who ran it, cooked our dinner, and prepared everything for us. The food was amazing and it was just a hoot! It wasn't soon that jokes started coming out and then the laughter broke out in floods and man it was good time had by all!! At one point I was up against a post laughing so hard and there was not a placid face in the room, they were either laughing along or smiling so hard the could barely contain it lol! I believe that was the first time "The Laugh" was recorded via video and I made one request that it not make it to the internet lol!

If you're a veteran and been struggling with readjusting after deploying then I would highly recommend you look up this group called Saratoga Warhorse and give Bob Nevins a call. Tell him you I sent you and get ready to awaken to a self. Because I promise you this that you will not walk away unchanged, they have something that works and it does! Don't delay people, this is one of the best things you can do for yourself and those who care about you! I can't tell you the difference it's made in my life or the lives of others which I know. Take care and God bless!!

© Nathan Fahlin