Filmmaker Nick Barkla watched in astonishment at the changes he saw over the course of four years.
Veterans, often homeless and with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) gradually found peace and relief through an unlikely helper with four legs.
The program is the Thoroughbred and Veteran Welfare Alliance and it is the brainchild of retired mounted police officer and horse trainer Scott Brodie.
"A friend had written an article about Scott and the work he was doing, getting traumatised veterans to help retrain traumatised ex-racehorses," Barkla said.
"Scott wanted someone to film it to show how effective it was and I thought there was potentially a really nice story there, so off we went to film it."
He intended to stay for the duration of the five-day course to make a 10-minute film, but ended up following a number of the participants on a four-year journey.
The end product is the documentary The Healing, which will be screened in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs in Canberra on November 21.
Horses and veterans share bond
Scott Brodie has now expanded his equine therapy program to include first responders.
It is held on peaceful properties in Helensburgh and Kangaroo Valley and he believes it is successful because the horses and participants share a bond.
"The main problems for ex-racehorses when they come off the track are not that different to the PTSD suffered by some of the soldiers," he said.
"When they come out of the service they can no longer walk out on to the street and just be normal people because they've been highly trained, they're over-alert, angry, aggressive and struggle with real life, so they just fall in a screaming heap.
"People don't understand that they can both be fixed."
Documentary highlights alternative therapy
Barkla said the program was particularly helpful for veterans who had tried other treatment options for their mental health without success.
"They were looking for alternative-type therapies and there are veterans falling through gaps of support services," he said.
"The [conventional] treatments work for some, but there's a lot it doesn't work for."
By screening the documentary at Parliament House, he hopes to bring about awareness and change in the treatment of PTSD.
"We wanted to get it in front of politicians, senators, MPs and staff," Barkla said.
"It raises important issues about areas that people like Veterans Affairs and Defence could look at doing better to support veterans, and [the need is] evidenced in the high suicide rate of veterans."
A number of the participants from the original week Barkla intended to document stayed on to volunteer on the properties.
The documentary follows their journeys.
"You see profound changes in people where they were really stuck," he said.
"You see some enormous shifts and that's exciting for an audience to see because you're seeing the change in front of your eyes."
