HORSE AND HEALING. Toni Mattson recently published her first book, describing some stories she has heard over fifteen years of working with veterans. (Submitted Photos)

When veterans begin the journey of reacclimating to civilian life, they’re often met with a variety of challenges, including navigating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and connecting with the people in their lives. Toni Mattson of the Trinity Equestrian Center (S5300 Highway 37, Eau Claire) has over 15 years of experience working with veterans and recently released her first book, Unlikely Recruits, filled with stories of the very people she has worked with.

The idea to write a book about her work with veterans came four years ago when Mattson was a keynote speaker at a women-focused conference out of town and was approached by a Christian book agent, who wanted to work with Mattson. She then spoke with some of the veterans she has worked with and asked permission to share their real, raw stories about serving in the military and afterward. She changed all identifying information like names, ranks, branches of service, and even the identity of the horses they worked with at Trinity, to respect those who granted her permission to share their experiences.

“I didn’t pull any punches. This is very real. It’s very raw. This is what these individuals live through and what they're struggling with... and sometimes it's not very pretty.”

TONI MATTSON

AUTHOR

Unlikely Recruits depicts about 20 different stories with heavy, emotionally vulnerable subjects depicted, including suicide, sexual trauma, substance abuse, and PTSD.

“I didn’t pull any punches,” Mattson said. “This is very real. It’s very raw. This is what these individuals live through and what they’re struggling with ... and sometimes it’s not very pretty.”

Mattson’s history with veterans spans her whole life since both of her parents, her husband, brothers, uncles, and many cousins are veterans. Her father struggled with PTSD from serving in World War II, but it was a taboo thing to admit at the time. Mattson decided to combine her love for horses and her passion for working with veterans to create Trinity’s Veteran Wellness Program, pairing up vets with a horse companion.

“Horses have an innate desire to make a connection: They’re just wired that way,” Mattson explained. “They deeply pursue a connection with people in general. After working with vets for 15 years, whether they’re mildly struggling with reintegration or they’ve attempted suicide, all are struggling with connections because in order to connect with someone or something you have to trust them.”

“Horses don’t lie,” Mattson continued. “They don’t manipulate. What you see is what you get and that is something so valuable to an untrusting veteran and quite honestly, the human team takes a backseat for quite a long time in that process. It is strictly between the horse and the veteran and then once that connection is made with them, then that spills over to the human team, but it’s really about the connection that the horse pursues.”

The work Trinity does with veterans always has been and always will be free, and Mattson aims to make sure that every single veteran who needs care can access it. They also work with families of veterans since, as Mattson puts it, PTSD is not a singular condition.

Any veteran or any family member or friend of a vet who wants more insight into veteran stories will likely appreciate Unlikely Recruits, as the main goal for Mattson in writing the book was to give veterans hope.

“I wanted to give them a voice because many of them felt unheard,” Mattson said. “They felt that they just weren’t understood, that they were looked at as monsters and dangerous, and that broke their heart. I wanted them to have a voice to be able to tell their story and to be able to be better understood by those they encountered in their world. And then of course I wanted to give proof because the stories are proof that good, solid healing and transformations do happen.”

You can learn more about Trinity’s Veteran services at trinity-ec.com/veterans and more about Mattson and Unlikely Recruits at tonimattson.com. Unlikely Recruits can be purchased on Amazon and through Mattson’s website.