A gift horse: rural retreat helping veterans re-set

As military veteran Amy Vickers sat in a rural pub pondering her future, some friendly locals suggested she take up horse riding.

Horses were the furthest thing from her mind after a lifetime at sea working as an aviation engineer on warships.

"They said, 'we all ride horses around here'," Ms Vickers told AAP.

"Then the next day a horse turned up in my paddock."

Ms Vickers had moved to a quiet Tasmanian village after being medically discharged from the Navy in February 2022.

During her 26-year career, she rose to the rank of Chief Petty Officer and supervised two aircraft and up to 13 teams of engineers and mechanics.

Working in high-stakes and isolated environments for decades after being sworn-in as an enthusiastic 16-year-old, she was carrying illness, stress and injury.

It turned out the gifted horse, named Alby, was just what her mind and body needed.

"I had a connection to this beautiful animal," Ms Vickers said.

"She mirrored a lot of things about how I was; I was uptight, I was tense and when I was like that, she was like that.

"So learning to regulate myself around her and build a connection ... became an absolute dream."

Now when she looks out across her property in Gladstone, in Tasmania's northeast, Ms Vickers can see the curious faces of her five horses.

The animals, along with her dog Mia, have become a central part of her post-military work to help veterans adjust to civilian life.

Her organisation Well Beyond Service hosts rural retreats for those leaving the defence force, tapping into the the power of nature, animals, rest and reflection.

Veterans can interact with the horses, do art and yoga, spend time by the beach and undertake structured therapy to re-set after years of high-pressure and regimented work.

"You have to hang up your jacket, you close the door on your role and purpose, a known and safe community, to go into an unknown," Ms Vickers said of leaving the military.

"When the job ends, there is that really big question of 'what now?'"

She recently won the Tasmanian Rural Women's Award, earning praise for using her lived experience to help others.

Ms Vickers has been moved by Gladstone locals' contributions to her program.

"Everyone in the community got behind it and said: 'I can give you a cake, I can give you some spuds, I can give you some firewood.'

"The people who come out to the program are cared for by a community they don't even know.

"A lot of veterans ... help you in times of crisis, so it's giving back to people who have have given so much."

Becky Dickinson, who founded Veterinary Support Services to help to early-career vets entering rural practice, was named the Victorian winner.

Outback Queensland cattle producer Angie Nisbet won that state's award for her work promoting skin health awareness, while regional space pioneer Angela Teale took out the WA gong.

The national AgriFutures award will be announced in Canberra in September.