Andrew's mom was exhausted from trying to reach her depressed son. All of the mental health experts she had taken him to had given up on him.
"It was just like he was dead on the inside. I had just reached a point of desperation," his mother says. The specialists regarded Andrew as one of the most complicated cases they had ever seen.
"It was hard to get him out of the house. It was hard to get him out of his bed," she says. But there was one place that wasn't ready to give up on Andrew: Spirit Reins Equine Center.
"I had a lot of trouble with depression and anxiety. I was just really withdrawn," Andrew says. Then he met Joey, a wild horse — the most difficult horse they had to train.
"Whatever happened in Joey's life has made him real anxious about being involved with anyone," said trainer Tim Jobe.
Andrew worked with Joey for months. The two boys were working out their anxieties together, sometimes literally by walking in circles around each other.
The process looks so banal, so ordinary, but there was more going on beneath the surface of the two creatures than anyone could see. It's no wonder horses are used to rehabilitate prisoners.
"I am just so grateful to have not given up and to have found people who would not give up on Andrew. I really credit his experience here with having saved his life," his mother says.
See the amazing and healing friendship in the video below.
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