Veterans, MTSU benefit from rock band’s $15K donation for equine therapy

From left, MTSU Horse Science instructor Andrea Rego accepts a $15,000 check from Jen Arnold and her husband, 3 Doors Down frontman Brad Arnold, from the rock band’s Better Life Foundation, for MTSU’s Center of Equine Recovery for Veterans. Also present for the recent presentation was Sarah Howard, a therapist for Murfreesboro, Tenn.-based Veterans Recovery Center. The foundation has donated $50,000 since 2017. (Submitted photo)

A $15,000 donation by rock band 3 Doors Down’s Better Life Foundation continues the tradition of benefiting MTSU students and faculty working in equine therapy with veterans from the Murfreesboro-based Veterans Recovery Center.

This marks the fourth donation by the group’s foundation to support the MTSU Center of Equine Recovery for Veterans, or CERV. The foundation has given $50,000 to the program since 2017.

More than 100 veterans have received equine therapy through the years.

Band frontman Brad Arnold and his wife, Jen, presented the check recently at the MTSU Horse Science Center on West Thompson Lane.

Wearing their special red T-shirts, members of the Murfreesboro, Tenn.-based Veteran Recovery Center attend the recent check presentation to help fund the MTSU Center of Equine Recovery for Veterans, or CERV, at the MTSU Horse Science Center on West Thompson Lane. Brad Arnold, who is helping to hold the check and frontman for the rock band 3 Doors Down, brought a $15,000 donation from the band’s Better Life Foundation. (Submitted photo) — Wearing their special red T-shirts, members of the Murfreesboro, Tenn.-based Veteran Recovery Center attend e recent check presentation to help fund the MTSU Center of Equine Recovery for Veterans, or CERV, at the MTSU Horse Science Center on West Thompson Lane. Brad Arnold, who is helping to hold the check and frontman for the rock band 3 Doors Down, brought a $15,000 donation from the band’s Better Life Foundation. (Submitted photo)

“We are thankful for their constant support of our program. We are pleased to use this donation for various program improvements,” said Andrea Rego, an MTSU horse science instructor and coordinator of the CERV program.

The Center of Equine Recovery for Veterans is a partnership between the Veterans Recovery Center and the MTSU Horse Science Program. Several Veterans Recovery Center staff attended the check presentation.

CERV offers veterans from the recovery center an opportunity to ride and benefit from interacting with horses while MTSU students gain valuable experience in helping facilitate the sessions.

Along with Arnold, current3 Doors Down band members include Chris Henderson, Greg Upchurch, Chet Roberts and Justin Biltonen.

The Horse Science Center is part of the School of Agriculture, one of 11 departments in the College of Basic and Applied Sciences.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)