I’ve been a cop for 24 years; my industry just began talking about stress and PTSD in the last five. It’s odd because very few of us think of the things we see as anything other than work. We move from accidents, fights, domestic violence, murders, and death, day in and day out for decades, without really thinking about the impact it can have on our minds. The experience of dealing with these images can impact our marriages, friendships, and relationships with our children. It surfaces in aggression, drinking, drug use, bad decision making, and other counter-productive traits and yet most continue to move through their lives and careers without even taking a minute to slow down and identify what’s behind it.
Day one at Saddles In Service was a reminder to do just that. Meeting up with Tammy and Mike and having them introduce me to Samantha, my Wrangler, was a calming experience. I was learning something I knew nothing about, and Samantha was there to guide me through the whole experience patiently. Her smile alone brought me peace and solitude, throw in the fact that she’s willing to volunteer to share years of hard-earned experience with horses, and I knew I met someone special.
Then I met “my” horse, Splash. She was rescued from an “auction” where horses are often euthanized for their meat. I could feel, through running a brush through her coat, that this is an animal that’s been through a lot but still has a willingness to love and trust. Who wouldn’t stand in awe for a moment when they saw this animal’s ability to forgive and trust?
Tammy told me about the instinctual predator and prey relationship that horses (prey) have to sift through to trust a human (predator). The horse is literally fighting millennia of instinct to trust us, yet they will as long as you’re willing to do your part and trust them. With a commitment like that, who wouldn’t do their part?
The experiences, the knowledge I gain about horsemanship, the connection of meeting new people and horses, are indeed experiences I will never forget. The best part, it’s all on my terms and at my pace. The impact this has on my psyche and my peace positively changes all the other days when I’m not working with the people and horses at Saddles In Service.
Jason Deaner
