Dan Jobin served his upstate New York community as a Firefighter, EMT, and Paramedic. Over the 11 years he spent with Bushnell’s Basin FD, and the 17 years he spent serving various agencies around the Rochester area, Dan was a dedicated active Firefighter and Paramedic he wanted to do more, reconnect with his love of horses and start an Equine Therapeutic Program for First Responders and Veterans. On Sept 9th, 2019 while riding his motorcycle to BBFD to set up for the Laddermen’s MC annual 9/11 charity ride, Dan was cut off by a distracted driver and crashed.

The accident caused injuries requiring extensive surgeries to restore his body’s integrity. Dan lives with with permanent health issues due to the Traumatic Brain Injury he sustained. This accident, and the long convalescence after, ended his career as a first responder, but rekindled a love of horses deeply ingrained in him since childhood.

Dan came to a decision to bring horses back into his life, while serving the community he had spent decades protecting. He conceived of his Equine Therapy Program for Veterans and First responders. It wasn’t long before he found the ideal venue to host it.

Dan has seen first-hand the healing power he always knew horses possessed. Studies have shown that working with horses increases feelings of connection and personal efficacy in adults with psychiatric disorders . Pilot studies are currently being conducted on the effects of Equine therapy programs on adults with motor pathologies and have found beneficial increases in motor function, cognitive reasoning, emotional processing and social awareness. Equine therapy is expected to grow as more non-pharmeceutical based approaches to treating Post-Traumatic Stress increase in demand.

CONTINUED SERVICE

Our mission is to help our heroes––the men and women who give so much of themselves to keep our community and loved ones safe—heal from Post-Traumatic Stress through the power of horses and nature.

Before the Last Call was founded as an Equine Therapy program committed to providing therapeutic horsemanship to our community’s first responders and veterans. Participants and their families are welcomed, free of charge, to visit our ranch located just 30 minutes west of Rochester, NY.

Working with horses provides participants the opportunity to discover new ways to process overwhelming sensory and emotional experiences, control reactivity, form healthy boundaries, alleviate anxiety and stress, and build self-confidence. This process also allows our horses to teach our participants to be present, and builds a cohesive relationships allowing barriers to break and trust to grow.

FREE Therapeutic Horsemanship sessions are offered daily. Staffed by volunteer First Responders and Veterans, the program provides a variety of non-traditional forms of therapy. Participants have access to riding lessons, trail rides and a recently kicked off Music Therapy program. Employment Assistance Program (EAP) is also available to all participants. Thanks to the sponsorship of Salvatore’s Saloon we are able to provide a “Healing with a Slice” to provide participants the program in a social gathering.

Our unique program is becoming a One Stop Shop for our heroes to find nontraditional forms of therapy run by fellow First Responders and Veterans.