A new documentary premiering next week in Riverhead tells the story of how horse therapy can help veterans cope with trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.
That theme is at the heart of the Calverton-based Warrior Ranch Foundation, whose president and founder, Eileen Shanahan, produced the film. The documentary’s goal is to raise money for the nonprofit, which hopes to expand its mission of rehabilitating troubled horses, and supporting veterans and first responders with equine-assisted therapy.
“I come from a military and first-responder family, so I’ve always been taught to give back, and I’ve been giving back and volunteering my entire life,” Shanahan said. “And I somehow wanted to combine my love of country with my passion for horses — and that’s how this ended up beginning.”
Titled “Warrior: A Battle Against Trauma, Learning to Love and Trust Again,” the documentary debuts at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Suffolk Theater. The 50-minute film is produced by Shanahan and Warrior Ranch’s media specialist, Danielle Altebrando. Tickets can be purchased here.
The film tells the story of veterans who use equine-assisted therapy to cope with their post-traumatic stress disorder, Shanahan said. The documentary also explores the science behind equine-assisted therapy.
“The veterans explain their own stories. They all explain their own traumas. They trusted us enough to open up about it,” Altebrando said.
Those personal accounts are interwoven with the story of Warrior — the namesake of the ranch and Shanahan’s first rescue — who died in 2021. Like the veterans, Warrior endured his own trauma; he survived the 1995 wildfire in Westhampton and the neglect of a former owner, Shanahan said. Warrior learned to cope with his trauma and help people heal through theirs.
Shanahan and Altebrando worked on the documentary part-time over the past five years. Both have careers in film production and met while working together at Cablevision.
“It’s been a process. It’s been a labor of love,” Shanahan said. “And there were times we had to take a break because it’s a very serious topic, and it’s pretty draining when you start to really think about what’s going on in the heads of people — that they want to die.”
The problem of veteran suicidality is not discussed enough, Shanahan and Altebrando said, and they hope the film helps change that. According to the most recent study by the Department of Veteran Affairs, an average of 17.6 veterans die by suicide every day, accounting for roughly 13% of all suicides in the U.S.
“We want to get the message out because we don’t believe it’s in the forefront of the American people,” Shanahan said. “People need to understand what our veterans and first responders go through because — let’s be honest — we kind of take it for granted.”
Filming the documentary was “intense,” Shanahan said. Altebrando recalls crying behind the camera while a veteran shared his trauma.
Proceeds from the premiere will help Warrior Ranch expand its operations. Right now, it’s open part-time, but Shanahan wants veterans and first responders to “be able to walk through that gate anytime they want to come in,” she said. The ranch also needs a new irrigation system and plans to expand its small indoor arena, Shanahan said.
“Media has a responsibility to get a message out there, right?” Altebrando said. “If this does hit in the way that we hope that it does, it will hopefully have a ripple effect… Ultimately, it’d be great to be able to spread warrior ranch to other places, so that other people — veterans, first responders — have a place to go.”
Shanahan and Altebrando said they are exploring avenues to distribute the film to a wider audience but have not found an outlet yet. They have entered the documentary in film festivals and hope the exposure could attract the ranch’s “angel donor.”
“We’re hoping that the more people that see it, the more people that we can connect to,” Altbrando said.
The Warrior Ranch Foundation began in Shanahan’s backyard in 2016. It was a “lottery dream” for her, she said. In 2019, Warrior Ranch moved to the former Beagle Club property, owned by Suffolk County, on Edwards Avenue in Calverton. More than 400 veterans and first responders have visited Warrior Ranch to participate in non-riding activities — such as grooming, feeding and leading horses— to help themselves and rehabilitate horses for adoption, Shanahan said.
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