Ranch helps vets with post-traumatic stress get back in the saddle

Wildcatter Ranch helps war veterans ease post-traumatic pains

Ranch helps vets with post-traumatic stress get back in the saddle


09:01 PM CST on Wednesday, February 20, 2008
By MICHAEL E. YOUNG / The Dallas Morning News
myoung@dallasnews.com

GRAHAM, Texas – For Ian Anderson, a few seconds on the back of a startled cow on Wednesday summed up three days of a special gathering for U.S. veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"We'd never ridden a cow before," said the fresh-faced 27-year-old from Spokane, Wash., who was shot five times in combat in Iraq. "So I rode a cow. And it was fun."

And that was one of the key points of Project Odyssey, a fledgling program organized by the Wounded Warrior Project in association with the Department of Veterans Affairs and other veterans organizations.

Twenty-one vets from around the country came together this week at the Wildcatter Ranch, a spectacular resort atop a ridge overlooking the Brazos River in Young County, about 120 miles northwest of Dallas.

The ranch's owners, Anne and Mike Skipper, closed their business for four days to cater to the visitors.

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