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When almost all methods had failed to stop a debilitating mental health issue from overtaking Canadian Forces veteran Ken Carpenter’s life, he stepped inside Serenity Acres Family Ranch arena to find healing with rescued horses that went beyond words.
“Our job was to dismantle the barricades and remove any threats on the disputed land. It was a tense situation, and tough to handle,” says Carpenter, honestly and briefly, not wanting to relive the experience that kicked off his PTSD. He patrolled the Buffer Zone or Green Line, ensuring the Turkish and Greek communities facing political instability didn’t clash after much conflict and violence."There’s always that ‘what if’ at the back of your mind. So, when you return from deployment, there’s an imposed shutdown to recover, about a month or so. In that downtime, you’re trying to shake off the stress and pressure, so you visit bars and drink.
But his final deployment, aged 20, with the 2nd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment to Bosnia, is still too painful to share – despite being 30 years later.“When I returned home, I struggled because those images play on your mind.”Carpenter went on to become a truck driver, isolated from human connection other than brief encounters when dropping off deliveries.“Back then, in my generation, we called it shellshock or combat fatigue.
“One time, I was having a rough day, and one horse at the ranch named Buddy came up and started to groom the top of my head to let me know things were OK, and he was there for me, and it grounded me,” says Carpenter, who notes the ranch environment is one likened to that of a “family.”“All the volunteers behind the scenes at the ranch suffer from an injury, so we all get each other, help each other, pull each other through.
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