This Conroe horse sanctuary is helping more than horses

How Henry's Home is rescuing horses, veterans and first responders.

HOUSTON — Henry’s Home in Conroe takes in horses that have been rescued or surrendered, but it’s so much more than a sanctuary for the beautiful beasts. It’s giving new life to veterans and first responders.

At Henry’s Home Horse and Human Sanctuary, there are 28 equine residents.

“They carry their own baggage when they come in, like we all do,” said program director Krista Venezia.

Admiral, a gentle giant, served in the Houston Police Department’s mounted patrol.

“He’s very young to retire, but he was going blind in his right eye.”

Henry, the sanctuary’s namesake, was found abandoned and dying of starvation.

At the time, the Houston SPCA told Donna Stedman, the sanctuary’s executive director, it was the worst case of animal abuse it had seen. These days, it’s Henry who does the saving, working with Marine Corp. veteran Sgt. Carlos Santoya.

“It helps me unwind and let go,” Santoya said.

Santoya served in the Vietnam War and said more than 50 years later, the PTSD and anxiety never faded.

“When I first came out, I tried suicide,” Santoya said. “I was a mess.”

Where medication and therapy hit their limits, Santoya said spending time at Henry’s Home offered rehabilitation and hope.

“Horses are herd animals and prey animals, so they are in a hypervigilant state all the time,” Venezia said. “And we find our veterans sometimes come in, in that state.”

Venezia said the goal is for veterans and first responders to learn new communication and coping skills.

No horse experience is needed to get started. The program, which is completely run by volunteers, helps visitors understand how to work with and care for horses and shows them how a small ranch operates. Henry’s Home has had a profound impact on Navy veteran Traci Stahl.

“The trauma that I have is not from my time in the military. It’s from my son’s time in the military,” Stahl said.

Stahl is a full-time caregiver to her son, a disabled veteran. She said the stress of it all finally began to lift when she began visiting Henry’s Home a few years ago.

“I come out here and spend hours picking up horse poop, throwing hay bales, and just go home – and I’m finally able to sleep because I’m exhausted,” Stahl said.

She spends her day with Fey, a Percheron who worked as a carriage horse before being put out to pasture.

“When I leave here I feel like Traci, and for a long time I didn’t know who that was,” she said.

Henry’s Home is run by volunteers and works solely on donations. It’s open to veterans and first responders. Click here to learn more.

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