After 20 years of serving as a combat soldier in the undercover unit, Haim Hadad decided to retire from the service due to his post-traumatic stress disorder. To help others who are suffering like him, he decided to open a therapeutic horse farm in Moshav Zimrat near Gaza – which is now in danger of being closed due to the Iron Swords War, so they are asking for the public's help to prevent this from happening.
"Haim saw that horses were very calming for him, so after he retired he decided that his mission in life would be to help trauma victims, especially the children of the Gaza envelope and nearby cities who have been dealing for so many years with rocket fire and sirens," Livnat Hadad, Haim's wife, told Israel Hayom. "People don't understand the emotional damage these children suffer. They scream at night, don't control their sphincters, suffer from attention deficit problems, become violent and a host of other problems that are a result of the security situation."
A boy and a horse at Haim's Farm, photo: Yosef Abergel
The Haddads invested all their money in establishing and operating the farm, and indeed – it opened about six months ago with 14 horses that help the many children who come to them to cope with the trauma. "As soon as we opened, we started treating 100 children," Haddad added. "They really bonded with the horses and their families waited every week to come with the children to the farm, because caring for the horses and riding them helped them a lot. A community arose here that included the parents and siblings of those children. Everyone would come together, take care of the horses, clean the stables and really live with us."
But the war made it impossible to maintain the dream – and it even reached almost to them, since the two men read the Hamas terrorists on the farm's security cameras, allowing them to flee the scene in time. "The farm has been closed since the beginning of the war, and according to what we're told, we may not be active at all in the coming year," Haddad says with great pain. "We have expenses that we can't afford. The horses need to be fed, cared for, cared for – and that doesn't include those horses who themselves are traumatized by the sirens and falls. Some have even been injured and need treatment themselves."
Many fragments around the place. "Haim's Farm", Photo: Yosef Abergel
Livnat and Haim were evacuated from their home to Eilat, from where Haim travels to the moshav twice a week to take care of the horses and maintain the farm, but the damage there is huge. "We have to filter our sand from the parts of the missiles that were intercepted over the farm, which also hit the stables and various horse installations, and even the solar panels that we installed above our house," she continued. "We transferred some of the horses to a similar farm in Moshav Nir Israel of Shimon Galam, who enlisted to help us. Haim's parents are helping us, but we can't bring in any other helpers because the place is designated a closed military zone."
Haddad also said that the new situation has led them to be unable to pay the expenses of the farm, which they say will contribute greatly to the children who will come there after the current war ends. "Holding, caring for and feeding horses is costly, and due to the situation, we started a crowdfunding project in order to have the funds that come through it help us maintain the farm," Haddad concluded. "This farm will be consumed many times more after the war, because the damage from it will be many times greater than what the children of the area experience even in normal times. It is clear to us that there will be an ocean of calls to the farm and that we will have to help a lot of children. You should know that the appointment for a regular treatment experience takes more than a year, so we will be very necessary. For that to happen, we have to survive this year until the farm is up and running again and comes back to be very helpful to the children."
To support the therapeutic farm – click here
"A community has arisen here." "Haim's Farm", Photo: Yosef Abergel
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