{"id":41042,"date":"2018-12-17T22:16:09","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T22:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/17\/wounded-horses-veterans-work-together-to-heal\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:10:14","slug":"wounded-horses-veterans-work-together-to-heal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/veterans\/2018\/12\/17\/wounded-horses-veterans-work-together-to-heal\/","title":{"rendered":"Wounded horses, veterans work together to heal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ST. CHARLES, Iowa \u2014 Cody Miller often forgot to breathe. A hundred firefights in Afghanistan will do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You hold your breath a lot, his wife said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller, 33, got on a horse bareback a year ago. Nothing to keep him on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He held his breath. The horse lowered his head, and Miller could feel its breathing and heartbeat quicken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He didn&#8217;t harass the horse with lingering battlefield anger. The veteran from Murray in southern Iowa took a deep breath and felt a calmness surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHis head came up, and I felt that horse\u2019s heartbeat slow,\u201d he told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.desmoinesregister.com\/story\/news\/2018\/12\/04\/equine-therapy-iowa-veterans-ptsd-wildwood-hills-ranch-st-charles-ia\/2082216002\/\" target=_blank>the Des Moines Register<\/a>. \u201cI was there, connected to that horse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2018\/03\/07\/veterans-with-ptsd-are-turning-to-horses-for-healing\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Scott_image_cover.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Veterans with PTSD are turning to horses for healing<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">As health care professionals seek innovative ways to heal veterans struggling with PTSD, equine therapy has been growing in popularity.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller and three other military veterans mount horses in an indoor horse arena at Wildwood Hills Ranch of Iowa near St. Charles, under the direction of Lynn Winkelmann.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Winkelmann is all hat and all cowboy. He is 70, and has a chiseled, sun-dried face and a chipped-tooth grin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Sergeant, what are you gonna do about that horse?&#8221; he called out to one of the men whose horse veered out of formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This isn&#8217;t the military, so no force or punishment will make it happen. It&#8217;s more about working with the animal. It&#8217;s trust and, well, feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The vets come here for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/health-care\/2014\/12\/15\/kevlar-for-the-mind-horses-can-enrich-therapy\/\" target=_blank>equine assisted therapy<\/a>, though they don\u2019t often use those fancy words to describe it. Mental health experts will say it builds social and communication skills and reduces anger and aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is no ruminating or fuming on top of a horse. The horse will feel it and react.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is just this moment. No words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Horse&#8217;s breath smells like baby breath,&#8221; said Hippie, a former Marine helicopter crew chief in the late 1970s whose nickname came from his mom, who said his adolescent long hair made him look like one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like the others, Carroll &#8220;Hippie&#8221; Waser had some issues. Before he came here he asked God to take his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I felt myself going in the wrong direction, heading in the direction of alcohol. I feel this keeps me from it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Horses don&#8217;t judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;This is Danny,&#8221; he said, rubbing the horse&#8217;s neck. &#8220;Nothing fancy. Neither one of us are.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780881948.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74649\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780881948.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780881948.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780881948.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780881948.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In this Nov. 15, 2018, photo, Carroll &#8220;Hippie&#8221; Waser, a Marine veteran, spends time with Danny, one of the horses at Wildwood Hills Ranch of Iowa near St. Charles, Iowa. (Kelsey Kremer\/The Des Moines Register via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The veterans say these old horses, picked by Winkelmann because they also suffer from past traumas, have saved them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;My opinion? Horses are the greatest gift God gave us,&#8221; Winkelmann said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;They are prey animals and we are predators. They should have nothing to do with us. Yet they let us on their backs. No way they should do that.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller joined the Army in 2006 and was never coming back to the family farm near Thayer. A war was on, he wanted to help with it, but he also wanted to escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three years later he&#8217;s in Kherwar, Afghanistan, working in intelligence and &#8220;in 100 firefights in a year,&#8221; he said. He&#8217;d already had a close buddy die and then a fellow intelligence officer took enemy fire to the head and somehow survived, only to have little left but being able to write &#8220;beer&#8221; on a notepad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That hit him hard. Any minute, that could happen to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was left off a mission by chance and the truck blew up, killing the men he had vowed to die for, if it came to it. &#8220;Survivor&#8217;s guilt,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I came back different from what I saw there,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I was angry and didn&#8217;t know it. I just knew I wanted to change.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780882676.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74653\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780882676.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780882676.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780882676.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780882676.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In this Nov. 27, 2018, photo, Cody Miller, 33, looks out the window of his home outside of Murray  in southern Iowa. Miller, a veteran, says he can find peace while working with horses. (Kelsey Kremer\/The Des Moines Register via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But what he found upon his return was a stifling loneliness and quiet, interrupted by intense moments of fear. One time an unexpected noise led him to tackle his brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He had post-traumatic stress syndrome, and some relatives asked him when he would get over it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By 2014, he was divorced, unable to find any job in the quiet of rural Iowa but those for &#8220;10 bucks an hour staring at a wall.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Why wasn&#8217;t it getting better? I probably wasn&#8217;t going to commit suicide, but I had thoughts. What&#8217;s the point?&#8221; Miller said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He began to drink heavily. He blacked out and thought he was going to die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But one day he saw a brochure for Wildwood Hills Ranch while at the VA, where he finally sought treatment, and recalled a moment in the Army when he felt peace. He was in counter-espionage training in Arizona, when he found a ranch to do some part-time work and get out to the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They jumped on horses and rode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We were not looking for anything. Just peace,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the horse sensed a lingering tension and veered to the nearest tree to knock Miller off on a branch. Miller&#8217;s reaction was to struggle, put all his stress and anxiety into action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;But the horse just wanted to find a spot of peace,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Humans tend to go through mental hoops.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He worked and worked the horse, who circled, until Miller found his own calm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I found it, giving that horse peace,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780969007.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74655\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780969007.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780969007.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780969007.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18346780969007.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In this Nov. 15, 2018, photo, a group of military veterans, under the direction of Lynn Winkelmann, ride horses in the arena at Wildwood Hills Ranch of Iowa, near St. Charles, Iowa. (Kelsey Kremer\/The Des Moines Register via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Researchers are focusing on the mental benefits of <a href=\"https:\/\/rebootcamp.militarytimes.com\/education-transition\/2017\/06\/17\/nebraska-veterans-turn-to-horse-assisted-therapy\/\" target=_blank>equine assisted therapy<\/a> here. Livingston is gauging improvements among Wildwood participants and the data are analyzed by researchers at Drake University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bob Stensrud, a Drake professor of counselor education, said talk therapy is difficult for many who face significant trauma. The non-verbal empathy that comes from a horse has shown to raise the veteran&#8217;s &#8220;mindfulness scores.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller is getting better. He got remarried in October. He&#8217;s studying to be a diesel mechanic while farming 120 acres. He bought his own white horse two years ago, one he named Moon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;They are like people. You always remember how they make you feel. This horse lets you know,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The horses have taught him &#8220;to live from the inside out,&#8221; exactly the opposite of reacting on a battlefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;You can&#8217;t control that outside; you can control you,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When you do that, you can handle the outside influences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGet on a horse and all the stresses go away, and you just enjoy the horse. No matter what horse I ride, I want to give them peace. It\u2019s only fair. That\u2019s what they gave me. Peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cody Miller often forgot to breathe. A hundred firefights in Afghanistan will do that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":74641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":21,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,70,14,16,26,17,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[6208],"class_list":["post-41042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-military-culture","category-military-honor","category-news","category-newsletters","category-off-duty","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VTY2VTDWDVF43MPQDA32JKYN6M","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2018\/12\/17\/wounded-horses-veterans-work-together-to-heal\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wounded horses, veterans work together to heal - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cody Miller often forgot to breathe. 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