Bob Nevins was a combat medevac helicopter pilot in Vietnam. He came home from war wounded, shot down by enemy fire, highly decorated for bravery in action. Like so many of his fellow vets, he was a hero with unseen wounds, silent scars. Twenty years later Nevins stepped away early from his established career as a commercial airline Captain to follow a passion and to fulfill a calling to which he felt drawn since his days in Vietnam. He founded, initially funded and continues to be personally involved on a daily basis with the profoundly life-impacting veterans’ program, Saratoga WarHorse – a nonprofit organization that assists veterans who suffer from the devastating yet invisible psychological wounds of war. Highly confidential, peer-to-peer and equine-based, the program is all about taking action, making connections and changing lives.
Nevins was barely in his 20s when he was a medevac pilot for the 101st Airborne serving in Vietnam during one of its most confusing and frustrated periods – 1970 and ‘71. He airlifted hundreds of wounded and broken soldiers from the midst of dozens of battles. Nevins survived the fiery crash of his own helicopter, shot down during one impossible rescue attempt. Severely wounded himself, surrounded by flames and debris and voices calling out for help, he pulled and dragged and carried men to safety through the smoke, muck, wreckage and enemy fire. When he was discharged and sent home – highly decorated for his actions, still healing and with the rank of Chief Warrant Officer – the term “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” (PTSD) did not yet exist. It would not be named until almost a decade later.
PTSD: An Assault to the Human Soul
This little-understood assault to the human soul has claimed far too many of America’s best and bravest. Although not officially owned or recognized with accurate nomenclature by the military medical community until 1980, a staggering number of such casualties have been noted from more than 2,000 years of war. And it continues to grow in frequency. Today, it is called one of the “signature wounds” of Iraq and Afghanistan. But even without a name, with all its invisibility and deniability and culpability, Nevins knew PTSD existed. He knew it intimately.
Nevins returned from Vietnam with the Soldier’s Medal for his life-saving actions in the field, three Distinguished Flying Crosses for heroism, Purple Heart for his wounds and multiple Air Medals. He was named New York State’s Vietnam Veteran of the Year in 1978. And he had his own, private, post-traumatic shadows. But Nevins was able to find peace with his experiences and created a successful post-combat life for himself – one that gave his inherent instincts a chance to be present and purposeful. He was a helicopter pilot for New York State’s Army National Guard for 10 years. And, for almost 25 years, he was a pilot for American Eagle Airlines, where he kept thousands of lives safe in his hands once again on a daily basis. Nevins was even in the air on 9-11; he carried the last flight out of Boston safely to Canada.
Throughout those years, however, Nevins had been quietly, yet consciously, witnessing the suffering of thousands of his brothers- and sisters-in-arms. Citing the 58,000 names on the Vietnam Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., he is achingly aware that that number is surpassed by the veterans who have subsequently taken their own lives. And thousands more are surviving in silent suffering.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and other knowledgeable sources are reporting this type of post-war casualty at an alarmingly increasing rate. Depression, substance abuse, hopelessness, self-destructive behavior, severe anxiety and social isolation are, in truth, part of a thickening, blackened cauldron of post-traumatic stress – boiling over and misunderstood, with years of good intentions and missed opportunities. A stagnation as well as a stigma. It is a deep, raw wound in desperate need of being let loose to the forefront of enlightenment.
Horses & Healing: An Authentic Connection
Nevins happens to live near the historic Saratoga Springs area of New York, a town steeped in the tradition of horses and healing. Not surprisingly, nor coincidentally, he was drawn to the culture of the horse – in particular, to the lives of retired racehorses. In them, he recognized the striking similarity between the struggles they experience coming down off the track and those he had endured coming down out of war. He acquainted himself with the concept of “natural horsemanship” and was intrigued with learning more about the language of the horse. He studied the philosophies and techniques, the approach and understanding necessary to connect with horses. And then he had the life-changing experience of making such a connection with a horse himself. With that unspoken, profoundly impacting encounter, he felt the significance of what had happened, not simply relative to the healing of a horse, but the healing of a man.
With this experience and not much more than his natural instincts, Nevins began to consider how this understanding might have the potential to somehow alleviate the alienation and pain of PTSD – the possibilities it might hold for other veterans – those still struggling with the hidden wounds and desperation that trailed them home from combat. He envisioned the basis for the Saratoga WarHorse program. But it wasn’t until he was introduced to equine specialist Melody Squier that his observations and roughly honed strategy gradually came into focus. Squier had a life-long experience with horses and was involved with in-depth studies involving wild, or feral, American Mustangs as well as highly trained thoroughbred race horses. She spent years delving into all aspects of the culture and body language of the horse.
The nature of the horse is dissimilar to other “companion” animals in that the horse is a prey animal, instinctively flight vs. fight. Trust is not inherent. To be trusted by a horse, one must be worthy. But once that trust is established – a sensory determination by the horse – authentic connections can be made. And during those moments of connection, a tremendous exchange takes place. Not easily understood, impossible to explain, it must simply be experienced. This is the core of what has become the Saratoga WarHorse program.
By 2011, Nevins decided to rely on his instincts again, took early retirement from the ranks of airline captain and began focusing his life entirely on what he had done all through his military career – saving soldiers’ lives.
Saratoga WarHorse: A Transformative Experience
Veterans who attend Saratoga WarHorse must come to the program on their own volition. Nevins speaks to each individually before he or she is even brought to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., for the three-day encounter, and he meets them as they arrive. Their first evening on-site is spent simply getting acquainted. They learn that they are surrounded by kindred spirits. They come to know that Nevins, himself, has been where they are, felt what they are feeling. He has gone through the darkness and has come out the other side.
The next morning they regroup. The first part of the day is spent in a small, private classroom setting in the Saratoga Springs area with Squier instructing them on the basic language of the horse and its natural instincts. The afternoon is dedicated to making the connection with the horse. Squier’s coaching is kind and patient, reassuring and non-judgmental. She tells each one what they will be asked to do and teaches them how to do it – how to address a horse in its own body language, how to establish leadership with the animal during the encounter, how to move and where to look. But she never tells them what to expect. Each encounter between veteran and horse is individual, personal and private within their own souls.
One at a time, each veteran is matched with a single horse. During their encounter, the rest of the world seems to slowly subside; nothing and no one exists for the vet except the horse, Squier’s voice and the truth. When it is time, the veteran invites the horse into the relationship to make the connection. As clearly as if there are lines of energy or some other physical yet unseen filament flowing between them, the horse signals acceptance by its physical gestures and seeks to come to the veteran’s side. This is when the mutual, transformative, primal connection is made. Typically, it is an inexplicable moment of complete emotional and physical release for the veteran. It has been called chemical, biological, psychological and spiritual. And it is, indeed, all of these things. Most participants weep openly for the relief of it – into the neck of the horse, the shoulder of a waiting Nevins, the arms of the other participants and into their own hearts. The effect is undeniable.
The veterans return to the classroom setting again for a debriefing, a sharing of their own personal experiences with each other, Nevins and Squier. It is then that Nevins reinforces with them what he strongly believes. In his words, he and the others of the program are just the facilitators; the horses are the means. But it is the veterans themselves who make the connections. It is they who have found what was needed to break through their pain and memories, barriers and brokenness, to begin to heal and move forward.
Viability & Repeatability: A Testament to Effectiveness
After a remarkably short period in existence, the profound effectiveness and impact of Saratoga WarHorse has found supporters beyond the Saratoga Springs area. Since its founding just a few years ago, it has been the subject of several national print media feature stories and televised programs, including PBS specials and an Emmy-nominated HRTV documentary. Nevins himself was awarded a prestigious national Jefferson Award in 2013 in recognition of this program.
Due to significant demand, Saratoga WarHorse now has a satellite location in Aiken, S.C., with its own dedicated facilities, veteran facilitators, equine experts and volunteers. At the Aiken site, the horses involved in the program bring an added meaning and poignancy to it all, as they are primarily ex-racehorses with uncertain futures. Most have been abandoned by a small segment of the racing industry or surrendered by desperate former owners, and the horses’ heroic survival and salvation stories are no less impactful than the military veterans they encounter.
But, most importantly, the program has now graduated more than 768 individuals between the two locations. More than 768 lives changed. More than 768 souls brought back from the edge. More than 768 families impacted. Nevins acknowledges the program’s improbable start: new, untried, untested, unknown. But day-by-day, veteran-by-veteran, horse-by-horse, it has proven itself over and over again. Today, Saratoga WarHorse is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization. A foundation is in place to direct much of its overall development, and there are program coordinators, equine specialists, and volunteers at each location. Nevins continues to be its hands-on, personally involved Director of Veterans at the Saratoga Springs site.
A testament to its effectiveness and impact on society, the program is supported entirely by donations and sponsorships – and tremendous generosity from the thoroughbred industry itself – but without any government funding. There is absolutely no cost to a participating veteran at any time, which includes transportation to and from one of the sites, all lodging and meals. Most come to the program through word-of-mouth, especially from those who have gone through the program themselves. It is an experience that is shared with passion.
In an effort to integrate the innovative Saratoga WarHorse program as an adjunct to traditional approaches to PTSD, studies are underway to more fully quantify and document the science behind it all, studies that explain and explore and validate the repeatability and viability of it.
Nevins is the first to emphasize that the Saratoga WarHorse program is not a therapy or cure or pill or platitude. In the end, however, there is unquestionable success and renewed hope and redirected lives. And there are lives saved – both human and equine. And this is the sort of thing for which Bob Nevins has always had an undeniable instinct.
For more information about Saratoga WarHorse, please go to www.SaratogaWarHorse.org, call 518.744.3600 or write Saratoga WarHorse Foundation, P.O. Box 461, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. If you are, or someone you know is, a veteran who is struggling, please do not hesitate to contact Bob@SaratogaWarHorse.org or Janelle@SaratogaWarHorse.org.
Copyright © Marti Healy 2017
