Healthy Veteran Highlights • August 2026

Early in the history of Valor Farm, we met a volunteer named Robert. He was a quiet Marine who rarely shared the details of his traumatic past but kept showing up like clockwork to care for the horses, clean the barn, and make any needed repairs. His steady and unflappable presence gave him a unique ability to handle even the most anxious and aggressive horses as if they were small children. They fed off his quiet confidence and seemed to melt in his presence. What we didn’trealize until years later is what was happening inside Robert during that time. Being around the horses brought him so much peace and caring for them brought him much needed purpose. He also found community with the staff and other veterans in the NCHV family and, as his healing progressed, he began to take on more responsibilities to further the mission to save other veterans from depression and suicide. Many of you know Robert better as Master Guns – or simply “Gunny.” He became an integral part of our construction team during the early construction of Village One and later came on staff as our Construction Foreman – and continues to ensure quality progress as we build the infrastructure that is so vital to our mission.  

But it all started in the barn. 

Like many things at NCHV, the base function of the barn is only the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to its total purpose. Yes, a barn houses our horses that require additional shelter, provides working spaces for staff, and storage for equipment and supplies. It is a piece of the production puzzle that will help drive sustainable revenue to support the program, but it is so much more than that. 

Prior to the tragic fire in November of 2024, the barn was a focal point of life at Valor Farm. It was a place of peace where staff would come to interact with the horses, where we would walk and work with Patriots, and where we all learned valuable lessons about ourselves, life, respect for others and self, and how God loves us.  

You see, when we work with our Patriots in the barn it condenses horse care to a very measurable level, and we do our best to maintain a high standard of care for our equine partners. When training new Patriots how to clean a stall we often ask, “Would you want to sleep there?” Often, they are reminded of living conditions they have experienced and ensuring clean areas for the horses helps them develop more respect for themselves. Assisting staff and fellow Patriots with tasks outside their own assignments builds teamwork and situational awareness, while the daily movement of horses in and out of the stalls provides goal-focused interaction and a chance to practice behavior management – for the horses and the Patriots. Like Robert, they learn to lead with quiet confidence and clear directions – giving the horses that sense of quiet security that we feel when we draw near and listen to the voice of our Heavenly Father. 

Winston Churchill famously said that, “The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man.” Old Winston didn’t know anything about electromagnetism around a horse’s heart having positive effects on heart rate, respiration, anxiety, or blood pressure, but I doubt he’d be surprised. God chose to have His Son ride into the most challenging week of his life on a donkey, and He will come again in victory riding a white horse. He created them to be so much more than simple beasts of burden and the daily interactions with them that occur in barn life allow us to capitalize on so many of those “fringe benefits.” 

Many have remarked that our new barn looks like a chapel, and in some ways it is. Jesus promised that, “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I with them.” (Matt 18:20 NIV), and – for many of our Patriots, Staff, and Volunteers – it is in the barn that we truly feel His Presence and Peace.