MT VERNON, Maine — Nellie the horse was dealt a tough hand by the humans that used to own her.
Her previous owner surrendered her in 2021 to the Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals, after the horse was tied to a post on an eight-foot rope for about one year, according to the MSSPA's Jeff Greenleaf.
"She kind of had a blank look of giving up on life," Greenleaf said of the day he brought Nellie to the nonprofit's Windham farm.
When asked if he resented the people from whom he takes animals, he said the words he wished to use would not be suitable for public consumption.
Once Greenleaf's team took care of the palomino's immediate needs, they sent her to Horses with Hope, where Amy Libby helped train her and get her used to human interaction and direction once more.
"You've put your time in; you've done your job; and now they're ready to go be a solid citizen out in the world," Libby smiled while holding Nellie's lead during a Monday interview.
Now, Nellie appears to be living her best life on Janet McIver's Mt. Vernon farm.
"I feel like this is the last stop for her, and I get emotional when I talk about her," McIver welled up.
The 20-year-old horse calmly walked alongside Janet, who leaned in and kissed her adopted horse on the muzzle when she raised it and nudged McIver's shoulder.
Citizen Nellie has not only found a home, but a purpose. The following week, McIver planned to host her 40th group of veterans and first responder "students" from the Travis Mills Foundation—nearly 300 students to date.
Instructor Gary Wright—a longtime state trooper himself before retirement—explained how he taught his men and women what he called post-traumatic growth, replacing the oft-used post-traumatic stress. Instead of residing oneself to live with some permanent burden of past traumas, he said, the program teaches them how to use it as an advantage.
Since her adoption in October, Nellie has been an invaluable part of the program.
"We can tell them all week long how important being connected to others is," Wright said. "When you put them in front of the horses and they start working with them, and they recognize that they have the ability to actually establish a relationship with an animal, they can carry that back home with them and start reconnecting, not just to themselves, but to the people in their lives."
The horse who pushed through her past is helping warriors push through theirs.
"It gives them hope because they see what she's been able to overcome," Wright said.
And there's no shortage of love along the way.
"She's been through a lot and I want her to be happy," McIver said. "And she's giving back to others, and that makes me happy."