Shownotes Transcript
In the concluding episode of her story, ex-Army medic and East Timor veteran Kate McDougal chats a bit of horse sense.Horses have held a special place in Kate’s heart. She begins with needing some horse love and intended to get one after helping Mum and Dad with renovations but this particular day the urge was great and she was drawn to the Gympie sale yard. Stopping to pat some horses she soon found herself captivated by a pushy but quirky thoroughbred who seemed equally attracted to her in a nuisance kind of way. The auction started and after winning the bid, the next thought was “oh no, that’s the renovations money!”So she went home 5 years ago with a no name, no history skinny thoroughbred she named Buster. Intrigued, Andy asked how that equine thing began to develop after that.
Kate picked up her story. Before having a total breakdown she worked with kids in care. It was a specialised Trauma pilot program then she realised “hang on” I’ve got a lot of similar things as these kids. It made her think about her Dad, Veterans and the things popping up for her.
Returning to the Buster story. Kate subsequently found out her rescue was actually well bred and had a story. Andy agreed he was indeed quite beautiful and remarked that 5 years later she now has 3 horses. Each of the horses has a rescue story and Kate shares April No 2 and Bomber Boy No 3 and how she came to get them.
Andy reflected about the poor condition of each of the horses in the beginning and Kates ability to turn that around. In doing so the horses were saving her by giving her purpose and she was sharing this with others.
Kate’s interest in alternative medicines led her to dabble with holistic equine therapy, looking into the scientific theory of the gut being a second brain. Andy agreed with that theory regarding humans mental health and PTSD. Kate added that she had recently tried a similar approach on herself embarking on experiments for her own health.
This time you are here on the veterans retreat as a team member but did you have anxiety coming up here the first time? Yes, Kate replied for the first woman’s retreat it was huge for her and explained why. Kate’s advice is push through discomfort because on the other side, it’s greater than where you were
They agreed yesterday they had seen first hand Kates horses at work when a fellow veteran became quite stressed from a situation. Kate quietly bought the horses to introduce to him and he calmed down. It’s a welcome intrusion into a different headspace.
Contact - Kate McDougalWebsite: https://www.veteransretreat.org.au/)**Help Lines *Open Arms (VVCS))* | Lifeline) | **RedSix app)"RESPECT, NO POLITICS, WE'RE VOLUNTEERS"Disclaimer: The accounts and stories are "Real lived experiences" of our guests some of the content may trigger Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) symptoms in some of our audience. Feedback regarding other organisations, courses and initiatives remains largely unsensored. Whether its good or bad they remain the OPINION of our guests and their experiences it is important in building an accurate statistic on what really happens. During the course of our conversations sometimes sensitive information may be accidentally mentioned, as such, Invisible Injuries respects the law and sensors any information that may breach Operational Security OPSEC
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