Once in a great while, you get to be a part of something kind of spectacular – from the ground up.
For a great many years, I’ve written about the bond between horses and military. What began as a local story, turned into a Leatherneck Magazine article and then a VFW Magazine article. That one assignment developed in me a lifelong passion of supporting veterans and working with numerous veteran organizations. It changed me just as much as it impacted those I’ve written about.
Several years ago, I was introduced to Operation Wild Horse in Bull Valley, Illinois. I followed them to the Midwest Horse Fair in Madison just to meet them. When I did, I was introduced to an incredible team – Patti Gruber and Jimmy Welch. Welch, a US Marine Corps veteran, and Gruber, a passionate supporter of veterans, were touching lives. Together, they had begun a grassroots program pairing wild horses and veterans in what Gruber describes as a, “structured unstructured program.”
The benefit of this design is that the veterans – mission-oriented men and women – have the ability to design their plan, and Gruber, an experienced horsewoman, helps them achieve it.
I’ve watched what they’ve done for a few years now – photographing them at events and writing about them locally. Three years ago, someone else noticed them, too.
Director Steven Latham – Steven Latham Productions – was filming a documentary about wild horses in peril under the Bureau of Land Management’s herd management program: The Mustangs: America's Wild Horses. At the Mustang Makeover in Fort Worth, he noticed Gruber taking copious notes. Intrigued, he spoke with her, asked if he could film her, and, essentially walked the process with her as she bid on Pearl Harbor (formerly known as Pearl Snap) and, eventually, brought him home.
The film then seems to hinge on the powerful relationship between horse and human – particularly between a horse and a veteran. U.S. Marine Corps veteran Sgt. Ryan Bentele shares his experience with the renowned Mad Ghosts 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines. The Mad Ghosts would lose seven men in the infamous Triangle of Death south of Baghdad, with the entire battalion losing a total of 16 men.
The loss was great, and, after many years of trying to bury the pain, Ryan found Operation Wild Horse and solace in the comfort of an unlikely companion – a wild mustang named Phoenix.
To understand that bond, one needs only to watch The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses. As a seasoned military writer who has often explored the relationship between veterans and horses, I thought I understood. But Latham and his team opened my eyes in a way no one else has.
I knew horses mirrored emotion and helped calm veterans because they could read anxiety and help a human self-regulate. I knew horse people were rescuing mustangs, but why, exactly? Why did they need rescue? Is taking them out of element cruel? What are kill pens? Why can’t the BLM take care of them? And, why, specifically, are mustangs such a perfect match for places like Operation Wild Horse.
The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses told me.
As I sat in the movie theater with tears rolling out of my eyes … I understood. These majestic creatures – these powerful mission-oriented equines, are suffering. The land they have been given is now unable to sustain the number of wild horses that populate it. These mustangs – the embodiment of American freedom – are starving to death. I saw emaciated, skeletal horses searching for water and nourishment, and my heart ached. They are fighting for survival.
And then, my heart knew. The American veteran knows that fight. They fight for survival in boot camp. They fight for survival in unknown lands. And they fight for survival when they return home and attempt to deal with the visible and invisible wounds of war.
Trauma does not tread lightly. It burrows deep into the soul, often hiding out for a time, but, it always pierces through, begging to be acknowledged, clamoring to be understood, lashing out in ways one never expects.
And there, in the darkness of the theater, watching the movie with the very men and women who were featured on the silver screen – who shared their stories without fear, I understood – perhaps more in that hour-and-a-half – why. Veterans like Bentele endured the unimaginable … but so have these mustangs.
They are a refuge for one other – each taking on a new mission, learning to open their hearts to trust again.
Powerful.
Robert Redford, Patti Scialfa Springsteen, and Jessica Springsteen signed on as executive producers, and songs by Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, and Willie Nelson along with an original song written by Diane Warren and performed by Blanco Brown completes the package.
Go see it in theaters now – or stream it soon. You won’t regret it.
And, if you are as moved by the film as I was, you can help Operation Wild Horse by donating here.
Oh, and, you can read Variety Magazine’s article here – and see one of my photos in the article. I’ve been blessed to have been documenting this organization for a while now, and I’m thankful my photos can help tell a story about an organization that Latham has described as a “model for veteran organizations” across the country. How cool is that?
Tears often water the seeds of joy. When you are kind, you attract kindness.
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| When you are kind ... you attract kindness. |
