ISAAC Adams is a true testament that when faced with adversity, sometimes the best option is to get back on the horse. 

Following a challenging time with his mental health and a struggle with substance abuse, the Ipswich man turned to retraining retired racehorses to cope. 

Now he’s showing other community members how to do the same. 

In 2008, 18-year-old Isaac followed in his father, grandfather and uncles’ footsteps by joining the Army. 

“I served five and a half years in the Australian Army and I served on two operations - one was in the Torres Strait and the other one was in Afghanistan,” he said. 

“I loved my time in the Army, I was promoted quite young [at 22] and I loved everything about service. 

“I have a long line of military service on both sides of my family.” 

 But things changed when Isaac returned from Afghanistan. 

“When I got back I started to suffer from hypervigilance, I was unpredictable and quite hot headed, very aggressive,” he said. 

“And then that started to manifest into anxiety and depression I started having issues adjusting to life after Afghanistan.” 

He voluntarily discharged in 2013 and hoped leaving the Army would alleviate some of his problems. 

But Isaac said he found himself in trouble, spiralling into ‘maladaptive behaviours’. 

“I went and got a job in the mines, and I got myself involved in drugs [steroids] and was charged with drug possession,” he said. 

“The Gold Coast Bulletin did a story on me which was so humiliating and I felt shameful for my actions. 

“I went through a pretty dark time in my life, I was pretty lost.

“I really thought I was going to prison.”   

 Isaac said he tried a psychologist and other mental health therapies but felt his progress on improving his mental well-being was slow. 

It wasn’t until he was put in contact with trainer Scott Brodie when he lived in Sydney that he was introduced to horsemanship – it changed his life forever. 

“I’m a massive animal lover so when I found out about horse therapy then I moved towards that,” he said. 

“I worked with Scott and retrained thoroughbreds off the track. 

“The training and working with the horses just resonated with me and helped me so much through my therapies and doing therapy with a psychologist.” 

Just like Isaac was adjusting to life after being in a fast paced, high stake environment like Afghanistan, he was helping the horses to adjust to life outside the race track. 

“I found a lot of parallels between psychology and the way that I was training and re-educating the horses” he said. 

“These thoroughbreds were used to going flat out all the time and being hyper sensitive to their environment. 

“And the same methods, techniques and ideologies I was using to teach these horses, I was getting the same feedback from my psychologist about myself.” 

Sharing his passion to heal others 

Now Isaac is on a journey to help others in Ipswich and the surrounding areas, offering a chance to ‘Heal through Horsemanship’.

“After Sydney I moved back to Ipswich to a property and I’ve started working with the Ipswich RSL to offer the program to Veterans,” he said. 

“I see about 12 to 15 veterans every weekend.

But it’s not just Veterans, Isaac is also sharing his knowledge with members of the NDIS as well as Ipswich school students. 

“I have a program at the moment with students from Bremer State High and I see 10 students every term, for eight weeks consecutively,” he said. 

“So, I think I’ve seen about 40 students from Bremer State High.  

“And I see a handful of NDIS patients as well.”

This week marks the end of Mental Health Week and the beginning of Veterans’ Health Week. 

Isaac said he hoped other veterans and members of the community could find a way to put their ‘mental load down’.  

“My advice would be, to not put off attending to your mental health,” he said. 

“At the darkest, worst time of my mental health experiences, I never imagined I’d be where I am now. Everyone deserves to live a healthy and happy life.

“I really encourage people to engage with mental health professionals as well as finding a meaningful activity that they can pair with that.”