Triple Creek's Horses Honoring Heroes program was born from the vision of Triple Creek Ranch owners Cindy and Wyatt Long. Wyatt is a Navy Veteran and he and Cindy share a love of honoring and supporting United States Veterans
Cindy and Wyatt share their 40-acre North Texas ranch with two amazing horses, Hank and Tripp. As a Certified Brain Injury Specialist working in neurological rehabilitation, Cindy first began bringing Hank and Tripp to work with her in 2008 when they were quite young and she was working with several United States Veteran clients at the center. It was through this work that Cindy discovered a particularly special and impactful bond form between Hank and Tripp and her clients who were Veterans.
In 2021, as the world continued to battle the Covid-19 pandemic and many people felt isolated and discouraged, Cindy and Wyatt found themselves wanting to show their support of the Veteran community more than ever before. In typical family business form, Cindy’s brother, Doug Shackelford, eagerly hopped on board to help. As calls were made to potential ceremony participants, including the American Legion, local military leaders, Veterans and musicians, the Horses Honoring Heroes team received overwhelming support. The first ceremony presented by Horses Honoring Heroes occurred on November 11, 2021 in honor of Veterans Day and was attended by Veterans from World War II to present day as well as North Texas military and community leaders and local residents.
Following the success and support of the event in 2021, as well as the positive feedback received from the Veteran community, the Horses Honoring Heroes team immediately began planning a Memorial Day ceremony for May 30, 2022 at Myers Park and Event Center in McKinney, Texas. All team members donate their time, making the Horses Honoring Heroes team a 100% volunteer effort!
Horses Honoring Heroes ceremonies have included Presentation of the Colors by the Color Guard from Plano American Legion Post 321 as well as a Flag Folding Ceremony with narration, explaining the meaning behind each of the 13 flag folds. The horses are dressed each with garland swags, one with black roses and boots turned backwards in the stirrups representing the Fallen Veteran who will fight no more, and the other with red, white and blue roses to represent and honor living Veterans. The horses bow to honor the flag as "Taps" is played and military leaders lead the Pledge of Allegiance and read a poem about the Fallen Veteran from the horse’s perspective. Musical tributes are shared by world-class musicians such as Singer-Songwriter Dave Walser who has performed, “I Will Stand."
