Scroll Down To Watch Our Award-Winning Documentary!
YOU DON’T HAVE TO CARRY IT ALONE ANYMORE.
H.O.O.V.E.S. provides fully funded, 5-day, non-clinical, horse-guided Healing Intensives for veterans, first responders, and their families to restore peace of mind, rebuild trust, and empower the path forward. Always free. Always transformative.
FOR VETERANS &
FIRST RESPONDERS
No cost. No diagnosis or referral required. Find a session that fits your schedule.
FOR DONORS &
SUPPORTERS
Your gift makes every Healing Intensive free.
See the impact.
2026 HEALING INTENSIVES
Due to the deep, personalized nature of these sessions, spots fill quickly. Join a waitlist below to get first priority for openings and secure your spot at the front of the line for our 2027 sessions.
PEER-REVIEWED · PUBLISHED RESEARCH
THE SCIENCE IS REAL.
THE RESULTS LAST.
This is not a feel-good horse program. It is a clinically measured nervous system reset—and the only equine-assisted program of its kind with published outcome data proving the results hold long after participants go home.
SEVERITY OF PTSD SYMPTOMS (PCL-5)
Clinical PTSD threshold is 33
55
SCORE AFTER 5 DAYS
Significantly below the PTSD clinical cutoff
25
SCORE 120 DAYS LATER (STILL IMPROVING)
Lasting relief—below PTSD cutoff.
21
92%
Reduction in
suicidal ideation
53%
No longer met criteria
for PTSD after 5 days
68%
Reduction in
substance coping
100%
Free to every veteran &
first responder
SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT ACTUALLY WORKS.
Words can only describe what happens in a Healing Intensive. Film can show it.
We made a documentary so you could see for yourself — the horses, the people, the moments that don't fit into statistics.
If you've ever wondered whether this is real, watch it. Then decide.
Cinematography by Josh Nagel Productions in association with H.O.O.V.E.S.
Parental Warning: This film contains graphic war footage and strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.
SHE DIDN'T SET OUT TO BUILD A NONPROFIT.
SHE SET OUT TO SURVIVE.
Years ago, Amanda Held was relying on daily medication just to function. Nothing was working — not the prescriptions, not the programs, not the clinical approaches that told her something was wrong with her but couldn't fix it.
Then she met Shelby. A wild Mustang who couldn't be caught, couldn't be touched, had no reason to trust anyone. Amanda spent weeks just sitting near her. Learning to be still. Learning what it felt like to regulate her own nervous system instead of medicate it.
It changed everything. Not because horses are magic, but because Shelby responded to exactly what Amanda was actually feeling, not what Amanda was pretending to feel. You can't perform okay around a horse. They know.
H.O.O.V.E.S. was built on that discovery. Fifteen years, 850+ participants, and a peer-reviewed VA study later — the proof is in the data. But the reason it works is still the same thing Amanda learned in that field with Shelby: healing begins when you stop hiding.
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"I founded H.O.O.V.E.S. to share this with others especially those who have tried everything else and been told they just have to live with it. You don't."
EVERY HORSE HERE IS A RESCUE.
They came to us broken, untrusting, and written off. So did many of the people they've since helped heal. That's not a coincidence — it's the whole point.
Every horse in our herd has a name, a rescue story, and a track record of helping veterans, first responders, families, and caregivers find their way back to themselves.
34+
Rescued Horses
850+
Participants Helped
15+
Years of Impact
"I had given up. I was at the end of the road and couldn't see a way forward. H.O.O.V.E.S. invested in me and in my healing, my journey, and my future. Because of that belief, the road ahead is now paved with clear intent and purpose."
CLARK SABO, U.S. Marine Veteran
