Jock Hutchinson, a disgraced former Royal Marine, describes his work with horses to help army veterans feel whole again as “magic in action.” The 63-year-old Stetson-wearing equestrian and his wife, Emma, run HorseBack UK, a charity on a remote Scottish farm that uses horsemanship to support military veterans with PTSD and life-changing injuries, as well as disengaged youth and community groups.
Hutchinson, who was “taught manners” by a bolshy Shetland pony as a child, turned to horses for salvation after a series of knocks left his life in ruins. He says: “When I was at my lowest ebb, salvation came in four legged form. I was kicked out of the Marines for smoking drugs, then suffered a breakdown and lost everything. But I found hope, purpose - and indeed my future - in the horses I’d loved as a child.”
Early Life and the Horses That Shaped Him
Growing up in Dunfermline, Scotland, Hutchinson says: “My father was a carter, a horse and cart man, and my mother was from farming stock. Horses were my first friends, I’ve always loved them. I rode at two or three years old.” Childhood was turbulent; he got his first pony, a Shetland called Star, aged 10. He says: “I would ride it when I needed to leave the house. My mother had bipolar depression, which is a horrible illness, and had an impact on the whole family.” Star was a forceful character, and he says: “I was taught manners by a Shetland pony.”
His dad bought his next horse in the pub when Jock was 13. He says: “I couldn't catch him at first - he was wild. I'd run around the field going, ‘Billy, you b******, come here.’ Thus he was christened Billy the B******. I had to work it out all by myself and spent a huge amount of time lying on grass looking up at the stars going, ‘God damn, that hurts.’ He was not an easy fellow. But we became great friends.” Hutchinson has broken bones to show for his early ‘trial and error’ approach to taming horses. He says: “All my ribs are plated on the left side. I've got two vertebrae plated. My pelvis is plated. I'm not leaving my body to science, I'm leaving it to Meccano.”
From Marines to Breakdown
At 22, Hutchinson joined the Royal Marines, which he loved, saying: “It gave me an identity and a purpose in life that I hadn’t had before. It made me proud of myself and proud of being in a team.” After a year as a troop commander, he worked training recruits before becoming a helicopter pilot, for which a childhood spent with horses came in handy. He says: “A helicopter really responds to what you do. And if you over control it, you'll fall out of the sky. You've got to manage the tension, especially when things are getting a bit hairy. That's exactly the same as a horse.”
Going on to fly operationally for the Army, Navy and Marines, his career ended abruptly. He explains: “I got kicked out for smoking marijuana when I was 30. Telling my father was the hardest thing I’ve done, but he was so supportive.” Now branded a drug user, he continues: “It was extremely painful because I lost my job, my identity, my pride, my confidence, everything in one go.” At first, he sold Christmas trees, before starting his own security business. But when he was 45, he suffered a stress-related breakdown. He says: “I completely spiralled. I was sleeping under my desk, out of my mind with stress. Everything got too much, and I had a breakdown. I folded the business and went from having everything, to almost nothing. But the worst thing that ever happened to me led to the very best.”
Birth of HorseBack UK
Deeply depressed, Hutchinson turned to a tried and tested tonic, buying himself a horse. He says: “I’d ride and ride, and piece by piece, I put myself back together.” Living with wife Emma, 38, a former police officer, in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, in the Scottish Highlands, they started a business breeding horses. Then a dilapidated farm caught their eye. Jock says: “It was a wreck. Then, a visit from some military friends recently back from Afghanistan gave me an idea. Could other injured military personnel benefit from being at the farm among the horses? On a bit of a whim, we rented this place, even though it was a pile of rubble.”
Jock, whose three daughters with Emma were born on the farm, continues: “Word of my plan spread, and I was introduced to 15 young ex-service men who were recovering from life-changing injuries nearby. We invited them up to the farm for a day out. Something clicked. It was magic in action.” Soon he realised the healing powers of his ‘Scottish ranch.’ He explains: “These guys were getting the best medical care and they were extracted from the battlefield in seconds. They got the prosthetics, they got compensation, but they had no future. Their mental health was shot, they had PTSD. They had no community to go to and I knew I had the chance to change that.”
When Jock’s father died in 2009, he left them the money to start the charity. He says: “We couldn't afford contractors, so we just did it all ourselves. Before long, we had somewhere that veterans could come and spend time with the horses. HorseBack UK was born. We help to heal physical and mental injuries, manage post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and ease the transition back into civilian life.” HorseBack UK now has 40 horses, many of them, including seven ex race horses, were rescued by the couple. Last year the charity hosted 600 people. In 2015, Princess Anne opened one of its rehabilitation arenas. Jock says: “My life was saved by horses over and over. Now, not only are we saving humans, but we’re saving horses… and then they're kind of saving each other. Horses are the best teachers in the world.”
A Veteran's Story
Veteran Jason Hare, 45, the course director and one of the lead instructors at HorseBack UK, says: “Back in 2010, I was in one of the first groups of injured troops that came to Jock’s place. I’d sustained life changing injuries on my third combat tour of Afghanistan. I stepped on an improvised explosive device while leading my team and lost my left leg below the knee, had digits blown off my right hand, and my face was degloved. I had 11 operations over the following six years to be rebuilt. I learned to walk and adjust to my new body, but rehabilitation is tough, especially mentally - and I needed a break. I’ve always loved horses, so when Jock invited the injured recovery troop, I accepted. And something magical happened.”
Hare adds: “A horse has empathy and a personality. Being around these sentient beings, learning how they behave and how you need to communicate with them, took me out of myself. There was a calmness, a certainty to them. On site, the veterans would work with them on the ground, and we learned to ride. Winston Churchill said, ‘There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man,’ and it’s absolutely true. When Jock asked if I wanted to work with him at HorseBack UK, I jumped at the chance. When I first sustained my injuries I didn’t want to be here. Now I know my purpose is to help other veterans who need horse power too. What happens on Jock's ranch saves lives.”
