Someone with a resume that includes paramedic, coroner investigator, and military veteran would seem to have an unbreakable spirit and impenetrable mind. Having faced some of the worst sights and experiences possible while walking tall and powerful through it all–a persona forged in fire, coming out seemingly indestructible on the other side.

But unseen wounds and pain are the reality such individuals live with day in and day out. This resume looks impeccable on paper. But each day of resilience and strength on the job slowly tears away at the spirit, piece by piece, as each new horror is faced. Often those facing such devastating events are never given the skills to effectively cope with the experiences they have endured. That trauma wears on them day after day.

This is Dale’s resume.

Like many others, Dale didn’t truly understand the toll his experiences had taken on his well-being until he entered an unlikely program that would change the course of his life. In doing so, he would find his life’s purpose.

Dale, previously employed with a number of high-intensity jobs left that world behind. He now worked at a 4,000-acre Christian camp and riding stable for kids. After working there for about four years he had plans to take over the horse training program, but there was one caveat. He would first have to become a certified trainer to move forward with the position on the ranch.

With the intention of qualifying himself for the position, Dale found a training program with the Mustang Heritage Foundation. It was geared towards veterans. He would be taught while training a wild horse and it would allow him to acquire his horse training certificate. It was just what he needed to obtain the position he was working towards at the Christian camp.

The training certificate seemed to merely be a hoop the ranch was forcing him to jump through. He felt he had rubbed too many people the wrong way with his straightforward, non-nonsense, honest opinion on the state of things.

In the end, the experience turned into much more than the acquisition of a required certificate.

This annoying requirement changed his life.

In Granger, TX, the Mustang Heritage Foundation’s (MHF) program helped veterans work to overcome challenges associated with PTSD and military service with the help of wild, untouched mustangs.

When Dale applied to the program, he knew little of the program’s mission. He knew it would allow him to become nationally certified as a horse trainer and that’s what he was concerned with at the time. As a bonus, in the process, he would be getting a free horse, as long as he successfully completed the program and had the means to care for it. A win-win.

When Dale entered the program, he was struggling with a great deal of anger.

He would find himself getting short tempered with friends and family, as well as on the job. At the time, he was under a lot of stress, which would elicit nightmares from his previous jobs. The nightmares made it difficult for him to sleep and get the rest he needed.

Trust was also an issue. Civilian life was different from the military world. The life or death trust you placed in the hands of the other men and women in your unit was no longer there. “You didn’t discuss things that were bothering you with someone that had no idea what you had been though, had not experienced it themselves. You just knew they didn’t understand.”

Though he often felt alone, he was not the only one facing such struggles.

Upon entering the program, he met four men and one woman, all facing similar challenges in their post-military life. Over the course of the program, they became a close-knit community, a family, fighting against a seemingly invisible, yet no less tangible, enemy of the mind.

When the group of six arrived at the program, the first item of business was to attend an adoption event for untouched BLM mustangs in Belton, TX. Six horses would be selected to come back and work with the veterans in the program.

Sixty wild mustangs were up for adoption at the event, and the group got to pick the horse of their choice. Seemingly led by a more knowledgeable, divine hand, each member of the group chose the horse they needed to learn with through the program, or maybe the horse chose them. The way Dale sees it, “God put us with the horse we needed to have.”

After eagerly and excitedly selecting their horses the group was left to wait.

The facility where the horses were kept for the program was closed for the weekend. After choosing their horses, it was three days before they would see them again.

Finally, after sitting in class all morning, the time arrived to begin the real fun–working with the mustangs.

Brent was the youngest in the group, so it was determined he would go first. He walked into the pen with his horse—a wild, untouched mustang. He turned his back on the mustang to close the gate behind him. When he turned back around, the horse was there, waiting for him.

It was astonishing to witness.

Brent was strongly encouraged to participate in the program by both his wife Monica, and the training instructor Katie Ketterhagen. They were hopeful the program would help Brent work through the extreme anxiety which occurred whenever he rode.

Brent suffered from both Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). When Brent did not have complete control of a situation while riding, it would send him into a cold sweat. His heart would begin to race as panic and anxiety set in.

These episodes were so upsetting that Brent would be left in tears by the end. More than anything he wanted to be out riding with his wife as it was something they could enjoy together. Brent loved animals and had been around horses growing up when he would ride with his neighbors.

He knew how to ride, but as soon as he got in the saddle his riding experience all disappeared. Brent tried different strategies and rode different horses. He hoped he might find a horse he would have more of a connection with that could help him work through his issues.

As with all the horses before, when he took his first step into the pen with his ungentled mustang, Dakoda, a cold sweat began.

His anxiety had set in.

After he entered the pen and turned back around from closing the gate, Dakoda was stand just a few feet away. Brent took a step back and Koda walked up to him and placed her head on his chest. A rush of emotion blew through him and tears started to set in. He had found the connection he had been looking for.

The moment that wild mustang laid her head on Brett’s chest, the world of horses changed for him.

Dale, seeing Brent’s success was ready to take on the seemingly not-so-challenging wild horses, just as Brent had. He let the crew know that he was next in line.

Dale’s experience proved to be much different.

Like Brent, Dale entered the corral and turned to close the gate.

When Dale turned back around, the dapple gray mare he had chosen was ready to strike–rearing, with her mouth open and pinned.

She very literally looked ready to kill Dale.

He had no idea, the gray mare, who would come to be known as Sadie, would react like this. In his previous observations of her, she looked demure and resigned. She walked around with her head down.

While the other horses were exploding and full of tension from all the new experiences, she didn’t seem to care about anything.

One of the Wranglers who had helped load the horses when they were adopted told Dale he thought he would be riding her in 2 or 3 days.

With Mustangs, the path forward often seems unexpected but divinely forged. Dale entered the program with severe anger issues. He was frustrated and needed to find peace in his mind. Sadie taught him that he had to learn to control his emotions and improve his communication.

Dale served in the military for 10 years.

When he entered the military, like every other service member, he was first torn down to nothing. Then he was carefully built back up to a strong unbeatable, nearly invincible soldier. He, like his fellow soldiers, was trained to always be ready to fight.

A big challenge with veterans is that when they leave the military, they are never taught new methods of being which are more compatible with living a healthy life in the civilian world. They are taught how to put up an impenetrable, seemingly indestructible defense, but never taught how to take that wall back down.

Dale quickly realized if he went into the pen with Sadie with his soldier stature–strong and immovable with a loud commanding voice and an angry face, ready to fight–it was a battle he would lose.

He had to learn how to take the wall down, piece by piece, in order to build a relationship with Sadie and gain her trust.

He learned to make his appearance movement and voice softer when he worked with Sadie and she responded accordingly.

In turn, he learned how to approach everyone else in the same manner. It was a transformative breakthrough. Not only did it change Dale’s life, but it led him to provide resources to other veterans with experiences similar to his own, providing tools veterans could use to change their lives.

Dale now runs an equine program that caters to the healing of veterans, first responders, and others facing devastating challenges of the mind and soul. There are no counselors or psychiatrists at DLR Mustang Ranch. People in this state of mind need help from someone who can relate, someone who has walked that walk. A lot of veterans won’t talk to or open up to a counselor or psychiatrist because of trust issues. The Ranch uses mustangs, pigs, chickens, and goats as well as other veterans to help rebuild trust and gain desperately needed skills to live a life of emotional peace and health.

They have found that different animals work for different people, but there is one thing in common.

With willing and forgiving animals, veterans learn how to temper and refine their reactions.

They gain an understanding of the needed tools for civilian life, which they were never given when they left military service.

Those who enter Dale’s ranch seldom trust others. They feel a sense of wrongness in their head, but they don’t know how to fix it. At DLR Mustang Ranch, Dale is a listening ear—someone who has been in a similar situation and understands the feelings they are experiencing and the pain and distress they are going through.

This empathy allows storms in their souls to soften and opens up the ability for learning another way.

Dale is not a combat veteran, but his experiences were traumatic, nonetheless. His first encounter with death was dragging the bodies of two small children and their parents, out of a car that had been demolished while he was on duty in Germany.

His mind would not forget the terrible experience and PTSD kicked in as a protective mechanism for Dale’s functioning as he faced similar challenges day after day for years on end.

In his military service, Dale eventually became responsible for the access switch sending warheads into combat to kill people. Although he never had to flip the switch, the responsibility and act weighed heavy on his mind, not just during his service but long afterward.

The stress was intense.

As a paramedic and a coroner investigator, Dale experienced the consequences of every unimaginable act one person could do to another. The results were devastating.

It left a terrifying and debilitating imprint in his mind. In what is familiar terms to many in positions like his,  it “really messed his head up.”

It was mustangs and communicating with others who had been through the experiences he had, that helped him overcome the damage left by these traumatic experiences. He learned how to gain control of his life and his mind and now he uses mustangs to teach others to do the same.

Dale and his wife pay for the majority of the expenses at the ranch. It is no small task providing for 20 mustangs and the programs for veterans. While they receive occasional donations, the program is free to veterans—a true not-for profit. (You can make a donation to DLR Mustang Ranch, here.)

They make this sacrifice because they understand there is a connection forged when you take a mustang and bring it into your world. When you take the time to understand a wild horse and its way of living. When you allow them to also bring you into their world, it changes your perspective in life.

The stories sound magical.

And at the conclusion, they are. But the process is intense. It is difficult. It takes tremendous personal growth and insight as well as a will to continue on despite constant setbacks.

Dale did not instantly change his approach and find an immediate connection with Sadie. It was a gradual process.

There was, however, a turning point when Dale recognized he had found a better way to approach the world and handle difficulties in his path.

Two weeks into the program with the Mustang Heritage Foundation, Sadie and Dale were doing well. Dale was able to pet Sadie’s entire body. He could halter her and lead her around. Then a short time later, Dale turned his back on Sadie to get a lead rope.

When he did, Sadie attacked him.

It was a profound lesson.

Sadie was willing to cooperate and comply, but she still did not trust Dale. He was still a being that was activating Sadie’s fight or flight response. He was a threat.

When Sadie attacked Dale, she managed to get his elbow in her mouth.  It felt like she was crushing it with her powerful jaw. Elbow in mouth, she dragged him across the pen until Dale was able to smack Sadie’s nose and convince her to release him.

She let go of her grip and backed into a corner.

A common response to such behavior and one Dale perhaps would have defaulted to previously was to teach the horse their behavior was wrong. It’s a common saying that you have to teach a horse “who is boss” and often this is done through force and cruelty. Human training methods often focus on teaching horses that we are the crueler partner who must be obeyed at all costs.

But Dale had learned and instead of reacting in that way, he went to Sadie.

When he reached her, he began petting and scratching her all over. He was determined to show her nothing but kindness. She, after all, was only following her instinct to protect herself from a perceived threat.

Dale showed her that he was no threat to her safety or well-being. He was on her side.

After that incident, Sadie changed. She was able to put her instincts aside and accept Dale as a life partner. A protector.

Her eyes changed, from concerned and wary to comfortable and relaxed with Dale. That was in October of 2018.

When the program ended Sadie went home with Dale. She is with him still today. When Dale calls Sadie from anywhere in the fields, she will come to him.

It is a tremendous act of trust for these mustangs to accept a human as part of their herd, someone who will support and protect them.

When they come in from the wild, humans are seen as predators.

Our forward-facing eyes are typical of the predator and vary from the prey animal whose eyes are on the side of their head allowing them to see all around them.

The hands we reach out to touch horses with, are seen by mustangs as an immediate and life-threatening appendage, much as humans might see a bear claw lurching for us.

To mustangs, humans are simply one more predator that wants to kill and eat them.

All these instincts must be set aside for these horses to accept humans as their best friends. And when you have built that relationship of trust with a mustang, through continual kindness and protection of their well-being, you will have a trustworthy companion, who will reciprocate that care and protection.

Now when Dale is with Sadie in a herd of horses, Sadie will chase the other horses away to protect Dale.

Dale has found that mustangs and veterans are replete with shared experiences.

Gathered mustangs have their former life ripped from them. In an instant, much like with the young man or woman who enters the military, their whole world changes.

With assistance from cowboys on the ground, mustangs are herded by helicopters or other vehicles into a trap.

They are held in a pen until they are transferred and processed.

The experience has some variance, but all mustangs are run into a shoot that holds them while they receive vaccines deemed necessary for domestic life and a brand that will forever mark them as a once-wild horse.

Stallions that come in from the wild are gelded. Many of the horses have their hooves trimmed. In order to do so, they are put in a shoot. They are unable to move and then turned upside down.

Their world is turned upside down in more than just that one way.

Their former life is destroyed.

It is not dissimilar from the veteran, pulled from civilized life. As part of their training, they learn to kill without hesitation. Year after year, they are told when, where, and what to do sometimes in life and death situations. Then they are expected to seamlessly return to society. They are expected to function effectively in a life that has been destroyed and redefined for them.

Both the mustang and the veteran must at some point learn to trust in order to mitigate the heightened emotional state their previous lives demanded of them.

It is this mutual need that brings the veteran and the mustang together.

It allows mustangs to be the greatest teachers mankind may ever encounter. Both parties are provided with life-saving relationships. Mere words cannot describe the bond created during this process. It is a soul-deep partnership one must experience to truly understand.

“DLR Mustang Ranch is owned and operated by Dale and Renee Lackey. It is a
training center where mustangs will be calmed and trained by both
Veterans and youth trainers. Creating new partnerships and sharing
friendship.”

Find them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DLRMustangRanch/

To learn more about how mustangs help heal humans visit The Touch of A Mustang.