Meet Dixie Rose
Peace Mountain Ranch is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Dixie Rose, a 20 year-old American Paint, who will bring beauty, wisdom, and experience to the budding horse population. Up until now, Riella has been the only horse available to Veterans coming to Peace Mountain Ranch and while she is a welcome part of our program, she is still in recovery herself (See our blog entitled: Riella, The Rescue Horse) and is still in the early stages of learning to trust a rider again.
Horses are social animals who need companionship. Many horses thrive through human contact and others are able to have their herding instincts met through sharing space with other large animals, like cattle. However, Riella doesn’t see the calves as companions, and while she loves the attention she receives from Chaplain Macklin, the Peace Mountain Ranch volunteers, crew, and visiting Veterans, she still acts out once in a while. Having a more experienced horse, like Dixie Rose, here to bond with Riella and be her companion, may enable Riella to become more relaxed as she spends time with, and learns from her.
In addition to the wonderful companionship she will provide to Riella, Dixie Rose is also well trained in trail riding and general horsemanship. She has a reputation of being good with children, being described as being patient, kind, and gentle. Dixie Rose seems to have the ability to sense the apprehension of her young handlers, and quietly waits for them to accomplish their tasks, whether it be combing her mane, leading her in the ring, or going on that first horse ride. Such a gentle, well-mannered horse will help us to begin to develop and expand our equine program as we are sure she will be as good with Veterans as she is with kids.
As Peace Mountain Ranch grows, we also want to expand our offerings to the Veterans looking to discover new purpose for their lives. From learning to care for horses, to learning to ride, to even going on a trail ride or two, Dixie Rose will help hurting Veterans learn to trust again. Often the negative experiences of combat cause Veterans to become hypervigilant; which makes it difficult for them to trust their surroundings and other people. While Peace Mountain Ranch is a calming environment, bathed in the peace of the Holy Spirit, and Chaplain Macklin has a knack for connecting with Veterans, horses provide another avenue for building trust. They are often accepting, patient, and gentle around hurting people, allowing hurting Veterans to relax in their presence, learn to interact and build trust with a large, yet gentle creature. This can lead to discovering peace, hope, and eventually healing.
While all of the arrangements have been made for Dixie Rose to join us, she is currently still in Minnesota with her previous owner. We are expecting her to make the trip to Northeastern Tennessee in the Fall of this year.
