Warrior Ranch: How Equine Therapy Serves Veterans and First Responders

Can equine therapy help veterans and first responders with PTSD and stress? Emerging programs like Warrior Ranch in Calverton, New York, suggest that structured equine-assisted activities — built around trust, groundwork, and mutual rehabilitation — offer measurable stress reduction and meaningful psychological support for those who serve.

TL;DR

• Warrior Ranch pairs rescue horses with veterans and first responders, using natural horsemanship — not passive riding, but active trust-building and leadership work with animals that also need rehabilitation.
• Research from institutions like Tufts University indicates that equine-assisted therapy can significantly reduce PTSD symptoms, with documented biological effects including oxytocin release and cortisol reduction.
• The "mutual rescue" model — where participants rehabilitate the horse while the horse facilitates their own recovery — addresses a common barrier: the reluctance of service populations to seek traditional talk-based therapy.
• Programs like this represent one piece of a broader gap in accessible, non-clinical recovery options for first responders, healthcare workers, and veterans across the country.

---

A veteran of the Army National Guard, first deployed to Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, later serves in Iraq and Afghanistan, spends 18 years with the NYPD — and then finds himself standing in a dirt ring on Long Island, learning how to read a horse's body language. That trajectory does not fit neatly into a clinical intake form. It does, however, fit the pattern of what recovery actually looks like for many people who have spent careers in high-exposure service roles. Warrior Ranch, a nonprofit in Calverton, New York, operates on a premise that is simple but structurally different from most mental health interventions aimed at veterans and first responders: the participants are not patients. They are helpers. And the mechanism is not conversation on a couch — it is physical, relational work with rescue horses that need rehabilitation themselves. That distinction matters. The populations served by programs like this — veterans, law enforcement, firefighters, EMS providers — consistently underutilize traditional mental health services. The reasons are well-documented: stigma, identity conflict, distrust of clinical settings. When the entry point shifts from "you need help" to "this horse needs help," participation changes.

What Happened: Warrior Ranch's Model After 10 Years

Warrior Ranch was founded a decade ago by Eileen Shanahan and operates on 6 acres of a 150-acre Suffolk County–owned property in Calverton, New York. The property formerly housed a Beagle breeding farm before county preservation. Since signing a lease in 2019, the organization has cleared the site, repurposed existing structures with the help of veteran organizations and local unions, and served more than 500 veterans and first responders to date. The program centers on "natural horsemanship" — a discipline that involves mimicking equine body language to build trust. Participants work through groundwork exercises: grooming, leading, boundary-setting, directional guidance. All of this happens with rescue horses that themselves require rehabilitation before they are suitable for adoption. The work is led by Shanahan, head trainer Gina Lamb, trainer Jennifer Riggs, and a volunteer team. Riggs, whose father was a New York City firefighter killed in the September 11 attacks and whose brother served as a gunner in the Marine Corps, describes the mechanism directly: "When a 1,200-pound animal puts its head in your lap and takes a deep breath... it eases them. It gets them in the frame of mind where they realize, Okay, I can take a deep breath, too." Martin Wicklow, the ranch's chaplain — the same veteran who went from Ground Zero to Iraq to Afghanistan to the NYPD — frames the horse dynamic in operational terms: "A dog, you can exert control over. With a horse, you have to earn it. You either cooperate with the horse, or that's the end of your relationship."

Why Do Equine-Assisted Programs Matter for First Responders and Veterans?

The biological case is documented. Companionship with horses has been shown to lower stress hormones and trigger oxytocin release. Research from institutions like Tufts University indicates that equine-assisted therapy can significantly reduce PTSD symptoms. These are not abstract wellness claims — they represent measurable physiological changes in populations carrying high allostatic load from years of operational stress. But the psychological architecture is where this model diverges most sharply from conventional approaches. First responders and veterans carry a deeply embedded identity as helpers. When the therapeutic framing positions them as the one being helped, it conflicts with that identity. Programs that reframe the relationship — placing the participant in the role of caregiver for an animal that has also experienced neglect or trauma — bypass that resistance. As Shanahan describes the philosophy: "They don't want to sit on a couch and talk to someone. I tell them, 'No, you're coming here to help.'" Wicklow, who came to the ranch initially for his own recovery, describes a common observation: "The people who come here are helpers; they can't not help because that's their nature. You can watch the switch being thrown. It may present as crying or just an experience of authenticity where they talk about things they otherwise wouldn't." This is where the system breaks down in most traditional settings. The populations that carry the highest exposure to critical incidents — EMS providers, law enforcement, firefighters, combat veterans — are often the same populations least likely to engage with clinical mental health services. Access is only part of the problem. The framework itself frequently does not match the identity structure of the person it is trying to serve. Education on topics like this is part of the broader work being developed through Code 3 Academy and its nonprofit partner, Emergency Services Outreach.

How Does Equine Therapy Differ from Other Animal-Assisted Approaches?

Wicklow's distinction between horses and other therapy animals is operationally significant. Dogs, by nature and by training, are generally compliant. The therapeutic relationship with a dog is built on the animal's willingness to follow. With horses, the dynamic inverts. A horse responds to body language, emotional state, and spatial awareness in real time. Anxiety, frustration, or inconsistency in the handler are immediately reflected in the horse's behavior. One common pattern seen in the field: a participant attempts to lead a horse through an obstacle course. The horse crowds the handler's personal space or pushes ahead. The exercise stops. The pair backs up. They start again. That cycle — disruption, reset, re-engagement — mirrors the nonlinear process of recovery itself. As the source reporting describes, the work between Damien Capone and the horse named Chevy was "a slow, intentional process — neither linear nor circular." This feedback loop demands presence. Providers frequently encounter veterans and first responders who describe difficulty being present — hypervigilance, rumination, emotional numbing are common. The horse requires the handler's full attention, not as a therapeutic instruction but as a practical necessity. The 1,200-pound animal does not respond to distraction.

What Gaps Do Programs Like Warrior Ranch Reveal?

Warrior Ranch has served more than 500 participants in its decade of operation. That number reflects demand. It also reflects a gap. For every program that exists, there are regions and populations with no access to this kind of structured, non-clinical recovery option. The VA reports an average of 22 veteran suicides per day — a figure cited by Shanahan and widely referenced in veteran services literature. First responder suicide data, while less centralized, consistently indicates rates that exceed general population averages. The common thread across these populations is not a lack of awareness that something is wrong. It is a lack of pathways that match how these individuals actually process stress, grief, and moral injury. Programs built around physical work, outdoor environments, and animal interaction represent one category of those pathways. They are not replacements for clinical care. They are access points — often the first point of engagement for someone who would not otherwise seek help. Resources are being developed through initiatives like Ranchito de la Redención, designed to create space for recovery and long-term resilience for first responders, healthcare workers, and veterans.

What Should Leaders in Public Safety and Veteran Services Know?

1. Non-clinical options increase total engagement. Equine-assisted programs, outdoor recovery initiatives, and peer-adjacent models reach people who will not engage with traditional therapy. Adding these to a department's resource list expands the actual — not theoretical — support footprint.
2. The "helper identity" is a design constraint, not a barrier. Programs that position participants as contributors rather than patients align with the identity structure of service populations. This is not a workaround. It is responsive design.
3. Biological mechanisms are documented. Oxytocin release, cortisol reduction, and PTSD symptom improvement associated with equine-assisted activities are supported by institutional research. These are not anecdotal wellness claims.
4. Mutual rescue models address sustainability. Programs that rehabilitate rescue animals while serving human participants create dual impact and often generate the kind of purpose-driven engagement that sustains long-term participation.
5. Proximity matters. Warrior Ranch serves Long Island. Most regions do not have an equivalent. Identifying, supporting, or building local access points for non-clinical recovery is an operational priority, not a luxury.

Bottom Line

The next time a department or organization updates its resource list, the question worth asking is not whether clinical services are included — it is whether anything on that list matches how the people it serves actually seek help.

References

• Riley, C. (2025, April 15). The Language of Trust: How Warrior Ranch Uses Horse Rescue To Help Veterans and First Responders Heal. 27east.com. https://www.27east.com/expressmagazine/outdoors-recreation/article_83f5e004-aa47-4e56-8817-4b124148f34d.html

Emergency Services Outreach, Inc. is a non-profit dedicated to education, awareness, and long-term support for first responders, healthcare workers, and veterans. ESO operates Ranchito de la Redencion.