JUDEAN HILLS, Israel — Near the ancient road where locals say the Good Samaritan traveled, horses are helping heal the invisible wounds of war. One Israeli rancher is restoring hope to trauma survivors with the help of Christian friends and American cowboys.
Just east of Jerusalem, overlooking the road that has connected Jericho and Jerusalem for thousands of years, sits a place dedicated to healing.
Many believe this is the area where Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, a parable of compassion for the wounded.
Today, those same themes come to life at Ruthy’s Ranch.
Ruthy Mann greeted us upon our arrival and showed us her new horse.
When we asked about him, she replied, “We brought a new horse, and actually he’s a very young horse, and we don’t bring a new horse every day.”
“Hi, new guy…ha ha…” she said as he was led out of the trailer.
She explained, “He’s young, and he’s well trained for extreme cowboy competition that we are starting to do now with the soldiers.”
For Mann, horses have always been part of her story. As a child, she dreamed of one day having a ranch of her own.
She recalled, “I was like five years old, and I asked my dad every ranch, ‘Stop. I want to do a ride.’ Since every year like this, and yeah, it was my dream.”
Ruthy’s Ranch serves more than 350 children facing trauma. After October 7th, 2023, soldiers began arriving as well, including a former student who was severely wounded when his tank came under attack during the war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in the north.
“And one of the kids, raised by me since he was seven years old, he (was) wounded badly in the tank,” she explained. “The whole crew of the tank was killed, and he was (unconscious) for a month.”
She continued, “And the first thing he did after he came back home…he came here to the ranch. And he’s still getting treatment every week. It was nearly two years now.”
Soldiers can have unseen wounds, and for many, the horses became central to their healing. Ruthy remembered, “I first (got) him to the arena with the horses, he was so aggressive…but the horse reacted. I’m not saying anything, but he sees the horse, like running crazy, and he said, ‘Whoa, whoa, what’s going on?’ because this is the best mirror for him.”
The horses responded to the soldiers’ stress. “And now we can take this scene and start working, and say, ‘Okay, let’s start to get ourselves calmed down,'” Ruthy said of the healing process.
For security reasons, we concealed another soldier’s identity and will call him Soldier 1. After years of service in an elite intelligence unit, he began struggling with the trauma of war.
When we spoke with him, we observed that he must have seen a lot.
“Yeah,” he answered. He recounted, “I started having a panic attack and a nightmare…like, it’s very funny. But like, when some (children) are riding on a skateboard, you know, it reminds (me of) the sound of the missiles…like the whoosh.”
I asked him, “So, what would happen to you physically?” He answered, “I lose almost six or eight kilos (18 pounds). You (don’t ) sleep much. You (don’t) eat. You’re feeling tired. Yeah. You don’t want to get off the bed. But this is behind me,” he said.
We asked why he was able to put it behind him.
He answered, “I think that most of the credit needs to go to Ruthy.
Working with horses at the ranch helped Soldier 1 regain something he thought he had lost.
“So something about being here just calms you down,” he reflected. “Everything with horses is about feeling.”
After multiple deployments following October 7th, Lieutenant Commander Elia found refuge at the ranch.
Elia told CBN News, “Without this place, I don’t know what, what I was going to do.”
Standing among the horses and overlooking the Judean wilderness, he believes the ranch offers something desperately needed by him and by other soldiers.
This place is medicine for us,” Elia insisted.
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Today, one cowgirl’s dream is bringing volunteers from around the world to the Judean Hills to serve Israel’s soldiers.
As the need grew, help arrived from an unexpected place: Christian cowboys from America.
The cowboys arrived at the ranch during our visit, exchanging hugs with the people.
We asked the organizer for the cowboys, Joshua Waller, about what prompted him to act in the wake of the October 7th, 2023, massacre and kidnappings by Hamas in Gaza.
“We didn’t know what was going to happen next. But these guys…I’d known them from 20 years ago. And then I called Charlie, who I’d just met. … And I said, ‘Guys, hey, because Charlie’s hardcore. … ‘And I said, ‘Guys, hey, would you come? And they all dropped everything they were doing.”
When Cowboy Charlie was asked what makes him hardcore, he responded, “That’s a good question.”
Perhaps it was because these cowboys made headlines. When others were fleeing the war, they were headed in to help.
Charlie recalled, “We were the only non-Jewish people in that line waiting for security. … And lo and behold, I guess she got a picture of us. Well, it goes out on some social media. And by the time we landed in Tel Aviv, we had people walking up, shaking our hands…”
COWBOY CHARLIE: We were the only non-Jewish people in that line waiting for security. … And lo and behold, I guess she (Ruthy) got a picture of us. Well, it goes out on some social media. And by the time we landed in Tel Aviv, we had people walking up, shaking our hands…”
After arriving at Ruthy’s Ranch, they found more than just a construction project.
Charlie observed, “This is like, probably the most special thing I’ll do in my lifetime…we turned into a family, like instantly, almost.”
Together, they began building a resilience center for Israel Defense Forces soldiers. They used stones gathered from the surrounding hills.
As an additional touch, they graced the building with a Star of David.
Waller confirmed that all the stones were collected from the Judean land: “All straight from here.”
Charlie added, “You got a little John Deere gator (tractor).”
We asked Waller what makes the place so special. He replied, “We’ve helped to build over 100-something farms. And I think this is probably one of the most spectacular pieces. This is really special in that it’s helping heal…that’s why we did this.”
IDF soldier Elia told us, “It’s so good when someone from another country comes here and says, ‘I appreciate you.’ That’s a huge thing. That’s a huge thing. It just fills the heart.” For Ruthy’s husband, Chaim, the ranch’s connection to a famous biblical story isn’t a coincidence, but a sign.
He explained, “And actually, the road that you see over here is Route number 1 that connects Jericho to Jerusalem…and actually, the story of the Good Samaritan happened just here.”
For Chaim Mann, it’s about helping warriors move from survival mode back to life.
When we told him we felt something special about the place, Mann replied, “I can tell you that it’s not us. This is the Guy up there (pointing skyward). God really did something special in this place.
More than two thousand years after Jesus told the story of a stranger caring for the wounded, that same spirit of compassion is alive here. At Ruthy’s Ranch, soldiers are finding healing as strangers from around the world become family.
