Ledyard — Veteran’s Equine Therapeutic Services has relocated here and is offering new programming to the current and former military members it serves.
The new location, Leaning Birch Equestrian Center at 463 Pumpkin Hill Road, will allow the organization to continue its therapeutic programming to veterans, after losing use of the Stonington property it had used for more than a decade.
V.E.T.S. is a nonprofit organization that uses free, hands-on programming to help veterans deal with the challenges of life during and after military service.
The group had used the Lighthouse Homestead on New London Turnpike, owned by Lighthouse Voc-Ed Center, as well as three of the facility’s six horses to provide therapeutic services to veterans since its inception in 2014.
The sale of the property earlier this year left the organization scrambling to find a new home for the program, which has served more than 1,000 veterans and active-duty service members in the past 10 years.
Instructor, curriculum developer, and co-founder Thor Torgersen said the new location offers the opportunity to continue working with participants struggling with reintegration or adjustment issues after deployment, transitioning to civilian life, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
He said Leaning Birch is a larger facility which has the space to potentially expand programming beyond the currently offered introductory equine program and riding program and boasts 12 horses veterans can work with.
Torgersen said that, despite the changes in structure and location the organization has undergone since the death of co-founder and Executive Director Craig McAlister a little more than a year ago, V.E.T.S. is still going strong, and in fact is growing.
The organization recently partnered with another farm in Ledyard, Heritage Hill Farm at 10 Pleasant View, where it will introduce new programs.“They have 30 miniature donkeys and six horses, so we’re working on developing programming around that, because it’s just a very different kind of experience that we can offer,” he said.Torgersen said within the next several weeks, the organization will begin to bring participants out to experience what he described as a “quiet, meditative space,” and “boundless, unconditional love,” as the donkeys rush up to visitors, competing for […]
Veterans equine organization finds new home and new opportunities in Ledyard
