LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – At a ranch on the outskirts of North Las Vegas, Ponies North helps veterans and local, wild Mustangs.
They do this by teaching veterans to train the horses.
“It’s a big deal when you get one of these guys to trust you,” said Marc Marrone, a trainer at Ponies North.
Marrone was the Executive Chef at Tao Las Vegas when the restaurant was considered one of the best in the country. Now you’ll find him working with horses and helping the veterans.
Veterans who come to the ranch learn how to care for the horses, then train them.
“We’ve created an opportunity where we adopt these wild mustangs, we train them and get them ready to trail ride,” said Marrone.
It works, according to Bill Emmel, a military vet with more than 20 years of service.
“It keeps me calm,” he said.
Emmel has experience working with people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
He runs 22 Warriors, a nonprofit dedicated to ending military suicides. At Ponies North, the veterans and the wild horses learn to feed off each other and develop a strong trust.
Some of the adopted horses and veterans are setting out on a trail ride from North Las Vegas to the Montana-Canadian border after Memorial Day. Marrone says they have had tremendous success not only with the veterans but with the horses as well.
“You can really tell when these guys get excited, and one of the veterans comes to the pen and they are excited to see them,” he explained. “That, to me, is something special. It means we did the right thing.”
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