Veterans Equine Alliance

Two hearts connect. It’s been a long journey. And they know.

Horses have been there. They’ve been separated from family, served in foreign lands, and left forgotten. Your walk is one that’s all too familiar to them, and they can relate to you where others can’t. Enter a space where words are not necessary, yet you’re fully understood.

Veterans Equine Alliance (VEA) is a 501c3 nonprofit providing spiritual healing through partnership with horses for military veterans and their families. We are veteran-owned, located in southeastern Wisconsin.

Our Vision
We restore confidence, clarity and purpose for life with veterans and their families

Our Mission
We provide partnerships with horses in a safe, trusted space.

Our Values
We act on the following statements.

Military service is an honor and those who serve are worthy of our highest respect.
The transition to civilian life can take time. Few know of the life you’re leaving let alone how to help you find solid ground in your new life.
We learn best in a community of support. VEA provides a safe place for veterans to explore their own transition and focus on the new mission — living with confidence, clarity and purpose for life. In your work, life and relationships.
Everyone feels lost and uncertain at times in our lives; the experience is normal.
It is absolutely possible to move through difficulty to a stronger, more whole place.
Horses get you without the explanation; they are judgement free, powerful teachers.
What seems most immovable in us is what moves the most in the end.

Our Vision
We restore confidence, clarity and purpose for life with veterans and their families

Our Mission
We provide partnerships with horses in a safe, trusted space.

Our Values
We act on the following statements:

Military service is an honor and those who serve are worthy of our highest respect.
The transition to civilian life can take time. Few know of the life you’re leaving let alone how to help you find solid ground in your new life.
We learn best in a community of support. VEA provides a safe place for veterans to explore their own transition and focus on the new mission — living with confidence, clarity and purpose for life. In your work, life and relationships.
Everyone feels lost and uncertain at times in our lives; the experience is normal.
It is absolutely possible to move through difficulty to a stronger, more whole place.
Horses get you without the explanation; they are judgement free, powerful teachers.
What seems most immovable in us is what moves the most in the end.

Horses & Veterans — A Long, Shared History

Consider — Both are taken away from family and support systems, transferred to places often far away and subjected to conditions and treatment with no choice but to endure (sometimes positive, sometimes not). Horses and vets are sometimes required to act in ways that may violate who they really are, injuring both. When it is decided the time of service has ended, both are sent back or simply discarded. All the while horses and vets are expected to continually adjust, learn and find new ways to stay alive.

Explaining this to most civilians doesn’t work. Horses get you without the explanation. Even when you may feel torn between two worlds and belong to neither.

Horses as Teachers and Healers

Horses have an amazing ability to sense where you are whole and where you are wounded, not yet whole. They can read your heart. It’s how they have stayed alive for thousands of years. They meet you without judgement or demands. Their presence gives you space to become who you actually are, and help you return to wholeness. They seek transparency and trust; when they find it in you, you have a strong, wise and patient friend and teacher.

Horses as Teachers and Healers

What Happens at a Horse Session?

We are a non-riding program. Our ground-based offerings include:

Everything from half day sessions to multi-day sessions over an extended time period.
Quiet reflective times with horses where you groom or simply ‘be’ with them.
More active times include hand-walking your horse, leading your horse through opportunity (obstacle) courses.
No prior horse experience is necessary.

What Happens at a Horse Session?

We are a non-riding program. Our ground-based offerings include:

Everything from half day sessions to multi-day sessions over an extended time period.
Quiet reflective times with horses where you groom or simply ‘be’ with them.
More active times include hand-walking your horse, leading your horse through opportunity (obstacle) courses.
No prior horse experience is necessary.

‘…Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.’

From For A New Beginning
by John O’Donohue