Empowering Families … one horseback ride at a time!
Horses4Heroes, Inc. is a non-profit, discount horseback riding program for the families of military personnel (active duty and veterans), law enforcement officers, firefighters and EMTs, pediatric, critical care and hospice nurses, and special needs school teachers. In addition, our program is for families who have a family member with a disability or serious illness. While our program is not able to serve the needs of the developmentally disabled or those with serious or terminal illnesses, we invite the other family members to enjoy the distractions that a Day at the Ranch offers.
Throughout the country, there are thousands of families whose parents are putting their lives on the line for us, including men and women in the military who are serving in dangerous areas throughout the world. According to the June 15, 2009 issue of Newsweek, more than “a million kids have had a parent deployed since 9/11.”
The article, “Children of Conflict,” reports that these children know firsthand the sadness and worry that comes with repeated deployments. “In effect, an essential piece of those kids lives … and their childhoods …have been sent off to war … The personal sacrifices of military kids can go unnoticed amid the grown-ups’ struggles, in part because the scars they may sustain aren’t necessarily the visible kind. But they are real and long-lasting, and they are not diminished by the fact that levels of violence in Iraq have dropped or that U.S. troops are no longer taking the lead in combat operations there.”
In the article, Dr. Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, director of the Military Family Research Institute, notes that the “signs of trouble among the troops’ children appear to be growing. Childhood depression is a particular concern, although no one has solid statistics on its rise. People who are clinically depressed often become suicidal.”
The following anonymous email was sent to Horses4Heroes when our program was first announced in 2006:
“Children that have parents deployed might need a friend. There are some good friends and there are bad friends but the best friend in the world is a horse. Horses can listen to you and really make you happy if you are down. Some kids may have a hole in their heart where the parents are and the horse could fill that hole with the horse’s love. You may not know it but this organization means more to these kids than you may think.
“Now for the parents who are deployed. Some parents might not worry about their kids because they are so worried about getting killed and some parents worry about their kids and how they are doing and if they are being taken care of. For the parents that worry about their kids this organization may help. They will know that their kids are enjoying themselves and maybe aren’t thinking about the war and the welfare of their parents. Since they are worrying less about their kids it will help them fight better and give them a better chance at staying alive.”
“Now H4H is helping protect our country!”
~ Anonymous
