Therapy Horse Helps Police Officer Deal With His Emotions

Prinz Harry is a truly amazing horse with a gift for working magic with people in different circumstances. He lives at a farm called the Mane Intent in Indian River, Ontario. He's part of a herd of ten horses who help teach leadership, bonding, self-learning, and healing. He's been working with people from all walks of life but one of his true gifts is helping first responders and veterans who have suffered from trauma or who struggle with difficult experiences. His gentle soul and playful nature make it easy for people to connect with him and to see different ways of looking at what they are dealing with. Harry was about to meet somebody who badly needed his influence but just didn't yet realize it yet.

Dave had been a police officer for almost thirty years. Dave simply loves animals and was drawn to a donated "horse experience" being raffled for a charity auction. He was the winning bidder and couldn't have been happier that he was going to spend some time with magnificent horses on this gorgeous farm. But Dave had no idea that something was about to happen that would change his life, and his outlook, drastically.

Dave arrived at the farm, eager to meet the herd, and find the horse that he would work with. Jennifer, the owner of the farm, said it would be an introduction session to show what the horses do and what people can experience. Dave met each of the horses one by one and found them all very appealing, but it was Harry in the last stall who captured his heart instantly. Harry stuck his massive head out of the stall, hooked his chin on Dave's shoulder and pulled him up against the door. He put a giant nostril on Dave's ear as if he was about to let him in on some horse secret. After standing for a minute or two with Harry's hot breath in his ear, Dave couldn't help but laugh and realize that Harry had chosen him for the session, not the other way around.

But things turned from jovial to serious in the next few moments as Jennifer got Harry out of the stall and told Dave his story. Harry had lived in the UK and had come to Canada to be a racehorse. He was racing with other thoroughbreds until a heart condition, cardiac arrhythmia, caused him to collapse on the track. In that moment, his career as a racehorse was over. Jennifer found him and brought him to the Mane Intent for a more relaxed life. It was here that he found what would be his true purpose and a higher calling. Harry is now helping people in ways that have to be seen to be believed.

Even Harry seemed to recognize the surprise on Dave's face as he stood listening in disbelief to what was so much more than a coincidence. Dave suffered from the exact same heart condition and had been defibrillated (electric cardio version) the day before he and Harry met. Dave had undergone heart surgery two weeks earlier and had been defibrillated 11 times in the year leading up to this day. Correcting the problem was difficult and Dave was struggling to accept how this condition would change the way he lived, and possibly his career. With the prospect of retirement from policing just over one year away, it could also affect how Dave's career would come to a close. Thirty years of service was not supposed come to an end due to a health condition.

The similarities in their situation were shocking. Out of ten horses that Dave could have ended up with, it was Harry who made such a strong impression and almost demanded that it was he who would be Dave's partner that day. And for Dave, the fact that it worked out this way changed everything.

Dave and Harry worked together and bonded that day in a way that Dave didn't expect. Harry was gentle, affectionate, and playful and the interaction was very emotional for Dave. He couldn't help but compare their lives and the struggles that they both shared. It was hard to believe that Harry wasn't somehow aware of their similarities. But for Dave, the true realization sank in the very next day when he was looking at pictures of their time together. Harry had faced a sudden obstacle that stopped him in his tracks and redirected him to a much better life where he was doing something with an even greater purpose. Dave began to understand that his own situation needed to be viewed the same way. Retirement and lifestyle change might not be the obstacle that stopped him. Instead, they might be the change to a new path towards something even better.

Dave visits Harry occasionally and he is convinced that Harry somehow understands his gratitude for this incredible lesson that made his situation so much easier and taught him a better way to look at everything.