Mane Focus: Helping Parents and Students in the Harrisonburg City Schools
Breaking Free's Maybelle talks with Mane Focus participants before agreeing to dance with them.
With the assistance of the Harrisonburg public schools, Breaking Free is offering a pilot program for families. We are providing support for parents and for teens, adolescents and children through this program. We are very excited by how much we are learning, and the faces of our families tell the rest of the story! Visit our Facebook page for a photo album of the Mane Focus experience.
Horses Healing Heroes: Our Veterans Tell us What It's Like
Brooke's daughter gets acquainted with Breezy.
This is the only place I feel like I'm processing anything. It's about my life; being a veteran is entwined with everything else. In the army I was in charge. I exuded confidence but the fear was underneath. And the horses know it is still there. The horses don't judge and they don't find me weak. It gets right into whatever is hurting me. I'm learning to set boundaries for the first time in my life. I love it out here.
Brooke, deployed to Iraq
Working with horses has helped me understand more about the difference between being passive,
aggressive and assertive. It has helped me learn to stay focused on the here and now. I've spent a long time looking in the rear-view mirror, staying stuck in the past. Now I know I can move forward. I've always been a "hands on" kind of learner and working with the horses is certainly that. Now I feel like I can celebrate, "I'm still here!"
Michael, Marine veteran who served in Vietnam
While deployed I developed a sense of futility. It all became pointless, senseless. I lost faith in myself and now I'm working
on finding my skills/talents again. It's like I get to push my re-set button. I spend a lot of time at home "escaping" and being with the horses brings me back to the present and a commitment to my recovery. The horses don't have any expectation of me. They accept me where I am. I feel like I have found a place where I fit, a starting point, a new
direction and the freedom to explore my potential.
Andrea, Aero-medical evacuation technician, deployed to Afghanistan
Brooke, deployed to Iraq
Working with horses has helped me understand more about the difference between being passive,
aggressive and assertive. It has helped me learn to stay focused on the here and now. I've spent a long time looking in the rear-view mirror, staying stuck in the past. Now I know I can move forward. I've always been a "hands on" kind of learner and working with the horses is certainly that. Now I feel like I can celebrate, "I'm still here!"
Michael, Marine veteran who served in Vietnam
While deployed I developed a sense of futility. It all became pointless, senseless. I lost faith in myself and now I'm working
on finding my skills/talents again. It's like I get to push my re-set button. I spend a lot of time at home "escaping" and being with the horses brings me back to the present and a commitment to my recovery. The horses don't have any expectation of me. They accept me where I am. I feel like I have found a place where I fit, a starting point, a new
direction and the freedom to explore my potential.
Andrea, Aero-medical evacuation technician, deployed to Afghanistan
Our veterans volunteer at The Saddle Doctor. Here they are showing a safe way to escort a young bareback rider. (Third person is hidden!)
