Bill Mize and his wife, DaLue, are on a mission to help veterans overcome the effects of trauma they’ve experienced during and after their service as members of the armed services.
20 veterans commit suicide each day.
The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that each day, 20 veterans and active service members commit suicide. Bill Mize and his wife, DaLue, are on a mission to help vets – especially those with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) – live the lives God has given them.
“A lot of veterans come back from the service with PTSD. My wife and I are building a rustic retreat to provide veterans and active duty service members a quiet guest ranch experience utilizing equine therapy methods and scenic beauty to soothe the soul.
I fought in Desert Storm and did two tours in the Middle East. Getting back into to civilian life is interesting to say the least. One day you’re in charge of $40,000,000 aircraft, then the next you can’t find a job.
Bill’s Divine Appointment
After I got out of the service, I met someone through what I’m sure was a divine appointment.
I work in law enforcement and happened to take a call from trustees of an 80-acre property in the Gila National Forest. I knew where it was because my wife, DaLue, and I had ridden horses out there. In fact, we had a plan in mind for the property. Six months before the trustees called, I had written the property owners and told them about our plan. I took the trustees out to the property and described what we wanted to do. They were 100% behind us and gave us a lease on the property that same day.
Helping vets deal with PTSD
Our plan is to develop it into a rustic retreat center for veterans and active service members to help them deal with PTSD. And our plan is becoming a reality.
The 3-Day Effect
This property is called ‘Indian Springs’ because it has Indian ruins from 650 A.D. and a natural spring. We’ve set up a camp, Indian Springs Ranch. We take vets out, provide equine therapy, and introduce them to the Lord. We use the ‘3-Day Effect.’ [Editor’s note: search online for ‘3-day effect’ for info and articles like this one.]
We bring vets into the woods where there’s no phone, no TV, no cell reception. Being out in nature for just three days can profoundly change how people think. That’s our program: introduction to the Lord, provide equine therapy, and rely on the ‘3-day effect.’ You can read about what we’re doing on the front page of our town’s local newsletter.
Wound tighter than an 8-day clock
We’ve seen what we’re doing can be very effective. I think of one vet who came to us after 11 tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was wound tighter than an 8-day clock. We helped him decompress by getting him on a horse and into equine therapy – horses can sense what’s going on with someone. They can read people like a book.
On day one, this vet was really amped up, nervous, anxious, and depressed. On day 2, he started to relax. On day 3, he and his horse had what you might call ‘one mind.’ Our vet had become well-grounded and cried when he left. He told us he didn’t know what happened here but that it was exactly what he needed.
Helping vets peer-to-peer
A lot of the help our guests get is one-on-one, peer-to-peer conversation and community, gathered around the campfire we have every night. Of course riding horses is very powerful therapy, and we do a lot of prayer and scripture reading. After they leave, our guests can still work on their horsemanship back home and we hope they’ll go to church.
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Vets stay free
Vets stay here at no charge though we do ask for donations as a non-profit organization. We take civilian guests, too, but only vets stay free. And all our guests are welcome to come back any time.
Like it says on our website and our Facebook page, we’ve started this endeavor pretty recently but we plan to be around for a long time. We have many things to do. Right now, our guests stay in canvas tents heated with wood stoves and sleep on army cots. But we do have a rustic outhouse! And we’re busy building more buildings.
80 acres and a TimberKing sawmill
That’s where our new TimberKing sawmill comes in. This 80-acre property is overgrown with ponderosa pine, black walnut, oak, and more. We’re cutting trees and skidding them out with a tractor, then sawing them into lumber.
I looked into sawmills and got introduced to TimberKing. I liked the 4-post head construction. Once you get the mill all leveled and set up, the cutting head cuts straight and true. We check alignment all the time and rarely have to make any adjustments. The lumber we saw is better quality than you can get a Home Depot or Lowe’s.
Pavilion’s built, bath house next
Both DaLue and I work full-time jobs, then we spend probably another 30 hours a week sawing lumber. We’ve built a pavilion already and our next project is building a bathhouse with our own 2 x 6 lumber.
I priced out mills and the TimberKing 1400 looked very reasonable. I think it’s very affordable for what you get. We didn’t have a tractor at the time and I liked that the 1400 had a winch-assisted log lifting system. It’ll saw logs up to 20’ long and 34” diameter.
On-site sawmill setup and training
The folks at TimberKing have been great and very accommodating. Shipping and delivery were fast and they gave me on-site setup and training on how to use it. It’s working great and I’m glad I went with TimberKing. Because I work in law enforcement, and because our goal is to help veterans, TimberKing gave us 24 free blades – 12 for softwoods and 12 for hardwoods.
If you’re thinking of getting a sawmill, I recommend TimberKing 100 times over. In-house financing’s available and their service and reliability can’t be beat. Don’t hesitate!”
— Bill and DaLue Mize, TimberKing 1400 owners, Indian Springs Ranch, Mimbres NM
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