Saluting Arizona Veterans Memorial

One Man's Journey: Out of the Darkness

Having the privledge of servering in the U.S. Miltary as well as the Arizona Department of Corrections, it does have it conquences.  For those that share our lives, they have but a glimpse of the experiences of we have gone through, and in some cases, still do.  It is a very hard life (mentally and physically) that we proudly endure to make sure that our loved ones are safe and can sleep at night, knowing that "we have the watch"!   While I usually don't like sharing personal stories, this one I have a desire to have too, maybe because I have found a glimpse of light "Out of the Darkness".

Background Information

It started a long time about with my admiration of a mythical creature known as a Pegasus (winged divine horse). The Pegasus which was notoriously wild and free-roaming was once tamed by a Greek hero: Bellerophon. While a little out of context, I have lived my life by the belief that a magical (i.e., personality, ethics, etc.) being would come into my life and be the woman of my dreams.

But there is also another meaning to this admiration, and that is the magic that horses have, believing they are descendants of the Pegasus. While I have never lived on a farm, never really been around horses or never trained them; however, I have a certain belief that horses can sense certain things in people. I had signed up for a program for First Responders at a place called HUNKAPI [hun-kah-pee] Farms, located in Scottsdale, AZ, run by the founder, Terra Schaad (I love her spirit for the animals).

Now getting back to my testimonial: on the 2nd day of visiting, I walked by the arena, and this horse came over and made this "knicker sound". She then brushed up against the gate where I was at and allowed me to pet her neck. As I love watching horses, this was awesome! Come to find out her name was "Dolly" and she wasn’t afraid of me. Later on, I was able to go into the arena, where she was unbridled, she came over to say hi, again, allowing me to pet her. I don't know which event it was, but something in my heart was stirring and I haven't felt that way in a very long time.

On a different day, I was allowed to go by myself to say hello to her, as I stopped to say hello to another horse “Sunshine” (and was talking to her), I heard a sound what I thought was like a whinny (if that is the right term), like she was calling out to me. When I looked down the stalls (about 50-60 feet), low and behold, there was Dolly with her head sticking out looking at me. Now I don't know if this is normal, but I will admit, I got choked up, and I would swear that this beautiful creature, somehow knew I was coming to see her, and she wanted me to!

For some of you, this might not be a big deal, but for this guy (and many other Veterans/First Responders), I see/seen (and deal with) a lot of suffering/death. To believe that this 1000 lb. animal might recognize me was overwhelming, for Dolly had done something that most people cannot, and it started with trust.

Going Forward!

While my time is short with both Dolly and Hunkapi Farms (and I will be very sad to leave), if it's the last thing I can do, I can share my story about this incredible horse and the farm.

You should understand, I don't normally promote other Non-profits; however, Hunkapi Farms does some great things, working with all kinds of people with physical mental illness. I couldn't do it justice, so I would say, check out their website at https://www.hunkapi.org, read about them, call Terra for information.

AND, IF ANY OF MY STORY TOUCHES YOUR HEART, please help them out and donate (just use the button below).

HOWEVER, if you want to say thank you to Dolly for possibly saving this man's life, help SPONSOR DOLLY (using the other button below). HINT! HINT!

Thank you for taking the time to hear my testimonial about Dolly and Hunkapi Farms!