VETERANS AND MUSTANGS — Dale and Renee Lackey are owners of the DLR Mustang Ranch in Salineville, where area veterans and first responders can come and train with wild mustangs as a way to help with the anxiety and PTSD. -- Julie Stenger

WINTERSVILLE — Bettering the lives of veterans who return home from the military and are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was the focus of the Wintersville Woman’s Club’s October meeting.

Members gathered at the St. Florian Event Center where they heard from the afternoon’s guest speaker, Dale Lackey, who along with his wife, Renee, began the DLR Mustang Ranch in Salineville. Lackey began the program in 2019, a year after he, himself, was in a similar program a year prior in Texas.

Lackey explained the importance of being able to offer these services to veterans and first responders, declaring that the ranch is a space where these men and women who once served in the military can heal by building a relationship with mustangs.

“By building a relationship with the mustang, the veteran can learn new ways to communicate and overcome obstacles they face daily,” Lackey began. “Wild mustangs in holding have been displaced and are no longer in control. Everything is unfamiliar to them as they are out of their element. Veterans can often relate to what a mustang is going through, as they have a difficult time assimilating into society after their time of service to our country.”

“The relationship and trust the mustangs and veterans develop breaks down walls and teaches veterans how to communicate without words,” Lackey told his audience. “A wild mustang is a mirror-image of the veteran and forces them to control their emotions and be aware of their body language. They often have a switch and working with mustangs will turn that switch to a dial to control their thoughts and emotions. It gives them an alternative way to deal with stress.”

Lackey, an Army veteran and paramedic, joined the military after high school, serving 10 years. He found a Texas program to attend, where he was paired with an untouched wild horse, having to get that horse to earn his trust. Having to learn to communicate with this horse in its language.

Lackey said 85 percent is about gestures — how humans carry their shoulders, roll their eyes, are filled with heartbreak. Horses sense those things through these types of body language, Lackey explained, saying they base their approach to us off of that. That, in turn, teaches us how to control ourselves, he noted. Lackey brought that program back to Ohio and started a ranch with his wife.

The ranch is open to the public to view how the program works and to meet with some of the animals, including Sadie, one of 42 horses Lackey has at his home.

The Christian-based organization is free of charge to veterans and first responders who are struggling with anxiety and PTSD. This is where God wants Lackey to be at this point in time, the ranch owner stated, adding he relies on God for everything.

He noted he makes $18 an hour at his job, which certainly is not enough to fund an entire ranch and program. But it works. He stated he had COVID and was hospitalized for 45 days, with doctors saying he was supposed to die following 15 days being hooked up to a ventilator.

“God had other plans for me,” Lackey stated. “He keeps pushing me forward.” He noted he had cancer and there wasn’t much hope for a future. So he underwent surgery. He was told he wouldn’t return to work after his surgery. Somehow, he proved both of those theories wrong. He even beat those odds eight months ahead of schedule, he said. The Lackeys are even taking part in getting miniature horses to become service animals, as he announced to club members they are part of a study being done at the University of Alabama.

Lackey explained there were 500 applicants for the Texas program he took part in. Only five spots were available. All of the positions were filled when he applied, he continued. The last applicant was taken out of the program and Lackey was put in his place. Again, Lackey stated, God was putting him where he was supposed to be.

As for the man who was taken out of the program which made room for Lackey … he was given the first spot in Lackey’s program when it first started the following year.

“We have all kinds of therapy animals at our ranch,” he concluded. He listed turkeys, chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, cats and dogs as some of the animals housed at their home.

Those interested in learning more about the ranch or who would like to apply to be a part of the program, can contact the couple by calling (740) 491-7427 or by e-mail at dlrmustangs@gmail.com

Visit the ranch’s Facebook page at DLR Mustang Ranch.