BOONE, N.C. — Johnnie Longo is a Vietnam veteran. He was in the special forces and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

What You Need To Know

  • A nonprofit in Ashe County is working to make a peaceful place for veterans

  • They have found a way to use horses to heal

  • They also plan to use this project to help people suffering from trauma

"When I was 18 in Vietnam, that's what it was about seven days a week," Longo said. "My body beat up, I know that, but we gotta keep walking it out one step, one moment at a time."

That isn't stopping him from standing in Ashe County and mucking out a new location. It may not look like much now, but this will be the spot for a new idea from Musicians Mission of Mercy. It's called Ridge Riders, and it will be a place for anyone with trauma and veterans like Longo to visit.

"I'm 70 years old. I'm above ground and footloose. Body is beat up, but I'm free," Longo said.

The nonprofit came from an idea by Musicians Mission of Mercy Founder Catherine Steele Massey. The group invites veterans and others suffering from trauma to work with horses on the farm to help them heal. 

"We were working on fences, and Dreamer came up and put its nose on Johnnie's shoulder and just kept it there when he was working on the fences," Massey said.

It was that moment that made her realize what horses could do.

For the past several years Massey has been organizing food boxes to be dropped off at several locations throughout the High Country for people to pick up anonymously. She said she was a single mother. Her kids always ate, but she didn't, and she didn't want that for anyone else.

She wants to do more, and after a chance meeting with a woman at CVS who had 12 horses and needed help purchasing feed, she felt the connection to help everyone come together.

"We're closing in the front of the barn. This was all open. This was built by someone who paid to build the whole barn, but they built the frame and left town," Massey said.

They are helping build her barn and get it ready for winter for free. Once it's ready, the program can begin.

She wants the program to be a place for children with autism too. She said everyone needs a little help.

Massey is also looking to open a coffee shop for people to work and learn trades as well as start an autistic sensory garden on other land that was donated to them.

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