COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Service and sacrifice aren’t unfamiliar concepts in the Pikes Peak region.
Roughly 17 percent of Colorado Springs’ population are active or former military.
But as the saying goes: “All gave some …” Many of those carry with them wounds from their time in the service — and not all of those wounds or visible.
For nearly 20 years, a program in north Colorado Springs has been helping these warriors heal from their trauma — one horse at a time.
“They were all farm- and ranch-background kids originally that had left the farm and ranch to go into the Army. And then when they’re struggling with their PTSD, they came back to that farm and ranch environment. And we would hear from them is, you know, ‘My nightmares have stopped. I’m not as angry or as anxious as much.’
“… I’d worked with handicapped children for about 15 years. And, so, watching this healing capability of horses, and then what was going on with these soldiers coming out there gave us the impetus to offer something in the form of a more permanent program.”
The Remount Foundation was officially founded in 2009 and operates on AFA grounds. At the Remount Foundation, “Remount” isn’t just part of the name. It’s the mission. And over the last 17 years, it has helped thousands of service members heal through horses.
“So many times, veterans think they’re broken. They’re told they can’t do this,” said Gillian, who has been a part of Remount for nearly 10 years. “And the horse look at you and say, ‘Yes, you can.’ Frankie, my horse, when I say I can’t, he stands right there and allows me to breathe and then walk and then try to mount him again. He won’t let me give up.”
Gillian’s story is not unusual at the Remount Foundation.
“I’m a four-year Navy veteran,” she told me. “I’m a military sexual trauma survivor. I also have post-traumatic stress from that. And I also have a traumatic brain injury. … I also did drugs and alcohol and isolated quite a bit.
“I had tried every kind of therapy there is. And finally, I just wanted to be outside. And I had seen something on horse therapy. And so, I looked online and found Remount and called Jeanne. And Jeanne invited me down. It wasn’t until I walked through the gelding area and the third stall in. There was a beautiful gypsy banner with crystal blue eyes. We looked at each other. And from that day on, I haven’t drank. I haven’t used. And that was nine years ago.”
Through just a few hours a day interacting with the program’s horses, Jeanne has seen service members who came to her feeling broken — start putting themselves back together.
“I had a recent warrior that stated something in a beautiful way. That, for him, what he was dealing with was so big, you know, it was so overwhelming for him. … He said it felt like the size of the horse — they were able to actually assist him in carrying that burden,” Jeanne said.
Jeanne tells me the benefits of equine therapy are rooted in science.
“Horses affect us both behaviorally and physiologically,” she said, explaining that horses can sense people’s emotions. “The physiology behind the work with horses is very powerful. They’re very aware of our internal emotional climate. Literally, Literally, when we’re with them and near them. Particularly when we’re grooming them. We tend to become very calm and grounded. When people can do that on a repetitive basis, it’s like mindfulness-based stress reduction. They find that calm and peace. They actually can engage their prefrontal cortex and think more clearly.”
Interaction could be anything from grooming the horse to riding it. Some participants enjoy just sitting on the sidelines, outside in the Colorado sunshine, watching the herd.
“This beautiful old historic horse ranch with some stone buildings and, you know, some white fencing and red barns and then the foothills, you know, the view of the mountains. It’s just very peaceful. It’s very, very peaceful to be there,” Jeanne said.
Over the years, she’s watched countless warriors return to themselves, return to their loved ones. She’s seen men and women who have struggled with connections build bonds with a horse.
“I am working currently with an active-duty soldier. He’s struggled with his post-traumatic stress. He said, ‘You know, I struggle with connection.’ That is a very common answer with post-traumatic stress, inability to connect. And he said, ‘I feel like I’ve built a relationship with Sweetie [his horse]. And I’d like to continue working with her.’ It was a beautiful moment for me.”
And she has seen lives saved. Since 2009, the foundation says it has served over 22,000 people. Many came to them suffering suicidal thoughts.
“The primary goal with Remount Foundation is deterring suicide,” Jeanne told me. “And suicide is such a massive issue in the military community.
Gillian says she was one of those people before she came to the Remount Foundation.
“These horses can tell when someone is struggling. They come in as far as half a mile and will rest their head on your shoulder.
Gillian wants her fellow warriors to know that the healing process, even through equine therapy, isn’t going to happen overnight. For her, it took a few years of regular sessions with the Remount Foundation. She now serves as a volunteer with the program, giving back to others starting the journey she was on.
“It has saved my life. And being able to use my story and seeing the light bulbs go off in women’s minds. Because we have a lot of military sexual trauma survivors in our groups. And just to see them smile and come back … it warms my heart, it fills me up.”
Along with the horses, that kind of mentorship is a crucial component to the program.
“We’re a peer-mentor program. It’s all volunteer,” Jeanne explained. “They’re being mentored by people who’ve walked the walk they’ve walked. People who understand their stories. People who’ve lived, maybe not the same story, but still the similar impact of post-traumatic stress on their lives. And so, being in that safe, comfortable environment, you know, with someone who can hear their story and empathize and have no judgment. And horses, who have no judgment anyway.” All of the work the Remount Foundation does is at no cost to its participants.
That makes fundraising events critical for the foundation to continue its mission of serving those who gave so much to us.
One of those events is happening Saturday. “So the Pull for Warriors Sporting Clays fundraiser will be on the 16th of May,” said Michael Springer, Jeanne’s husband and the chairman of the event. “What people need to understand is the warriors and family members that come to the program don’t pay anything. They don’t charge insurance any money. They don’t charge anybody else any money. The Remount Foundation only gets funding from grants and from donations and fundraisers. And so we’re putting this fundraiser on to help keep the program going.”
The event will be held at the Pikes Peak Gun Club and is open to the public.
“They’re a lot of fun,” Michael said. “It’s just a lot of camaraderie. There’s four to five people on a team, you’re at a station, you get different presentations of the clays representing either different type of animals or birds.”
He says food will be provided, including a breakfast at 8 a.m. before the pull starts at 9. Information on the event, including how to register, can be found here.
“The biggest reason to come out and support the foundation is to help provide funding. What Remount Foundation is really all about is helping warriors in their deepest, darkest moments.
“I’m very proud of her,” he said of his wife. “She’s a wonderful person. We had one service member call her ‘The Mother Teresa of Healing.’ It’s through her kind heart and all of her volunteers that people get to heal. I honestly believe there would not be as many warriors here.”
Gillian says she would be one of them, without the Remount Foundation.
“I started on 16 different medications. Now I’m down to two.
“And one’s my horse.”
_________________
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, help is available. Call the Suicide and Crisis Hotline at 988. Someone is there for you 24/7.
Copyright 2026 KKTV. All rights reserved.
