Millie Schmidt’s deployment overseas was so hard on her health that she ended up needing heart surgery. Nobody can argue that team roping isn’t stressful, so she was a little worried about getting back into heeling, which she did before she joined the Army.

“It’s actually been good,” she said. “Every time I rope and I’m okay, a little bit more confidence is built.”

The 29-year-old spent five years in satellite communications and patriot missile support for the Army. Today, she works at Power of Hope Equestrian Center in Steelville, Missouri, where she started a special program for fellow veterans to get horseback and work cattle, which helps them cope with trauma, reduce stress and feel better emotionally. 

“Roping has been a huge part of finding myself after my deployment,” said Schmidt who, of course, dallies. “I’m really competitive, so I also like that about it. No matter how many years you’ve done it or how good you get, there’s always a next level.”

To that end, she applied for a spot in last fall’s Horns ’n Heroes Roping Clinic hosted by Charly Crawford and Trey Johnson. She doesn’t own a horse, so she hauled one owned by her boss, Tracey Keeven. Also taking the clinic was heeler Jeremy Svejcar (pronounced “Sveetzer”) of Edgewood, New Mexico. He grew up roping before his decade in the Army, which included multiple deployments to Iraq and the Middle East. 

“After I got out, I worked in law enforcement and fire service, but I struggled a lot,” recalled Svejcar. “Getting back around horses really helped me find purpose and direction again.” 

In fact, that’s why he founded Charlie Five almost a decade ago—to help fellow vets. If they want to rope, he finds them good mentors and horses. Because roping can charge their spirit and reinvigorate their passion for service.

“Our program gives horses to veterans and first responders at no cost, to help them rehabilitate, reintegrate and find purpose,” said Svejcar, 46. 

About the time of the clinic, Ty Wilson of Abilene reached out to Svejcar about donating a heel horse he’d inherited that was too small for him—and likes to put his muzzle on your shoulder. The little sorrel tobiano grandson of Dual Rey had placed at the Paint World Show, and was the last horse trained by retired APHA Hall-of-Famer Earnest Wilson.

“I’m a header, plus I’m 6 feet 5 inches and 220 pounds; that horse is 14.1 and pushing 1,000,” said the ranch-raised Wilson, a longtime Navy and Air Force Reserve veteran.

Svejcar didn’t have a recipient in mind at the time. But then he got to thinking about Schmidt­—about what might happen if she had her own well-bred, dirty-broke heel horse. He got Wilson to let her borrow Dual Chex for the ranch rodeo that weekend. And he’ll never forget the look on her face when she discovered all the 11-year-old gelding’s buttons.

On the final night of the five-day American Hero Celebration, during the NFR Showdown in Cowtown Coliseum, Charlie Five was to receive the free gift of the little Paint through Crawford’s Liberty and Loyalty Foundation. Svejcar asked Schmidt to come down on the arena floor, too, as a representative of Power of Hope. During the presentation, the announcer lauded Dual Chex’s breeding and training as he was led into the arena and donated to Charlie Five.

“After that, the announcer talked about Millie’s career and the work she does with vets,” said Svejcar. “And then I handed the lead rope to her. It was pretty amazing to see.”

Handing the lead rope to a veteran, he said, is the same as handing over hope for the future. 

“There was so much intensity and camaraderie and purpose in what we used to do every day,” he said. “And when we leave that career, we lose all of that. Roping allows vets to put their leadership abilities back to the test; to become part of something bigger than themselves again. To see that look on Millie’s face—that look of hope and excitement for the future—it was just incredible.”

As for the young Army veteran, she couldn’t process it right away.

“It just felt too good to be true,” said Schmidt, who keeps the friendly Paint at the Power of Hope barn so veterans can love on him. “I’ve never had a horse that hugs people! He’s the perfect little gelding.”

Schmidt works seven days a week, but finds time to practice with Keeven on certain mornings. Her goals include entering some USTRC ropings, WPRA-sanctioned ropings and hopefully someday to team rope at the Art of the Cowgirl. As for Svejcar, he hopes to give more rope horses to some of the most capable people on the planet.

“A veteran needs opportunities to push the envelope again, to feel intensity but with a positive outcome,” he said. “Instead of getting into a firefight and losing a buddy, or the aftermath of a moral injury, now you chased a steer and caught it.”

He also notes that you have to breathe and think through what’s happening in real-time to be able to rope, and vets need that more than anyone. Crawford, a 10-time NFR header and the son of a Marine, said Schmidt is a sweet girl and it warmed his heart to see her get that horse.

“It’s kind of hard for Jeremy to do this without us, and good for us to have guys like him involved in our event,” said Crawford, whose foundation has raised nearly $1.2 million in five years. “We’re all trying to do the same thing.”

Johnson and Crawford both noted that Schmidt’s smile can light up a room, and she was super coachable and hungry to work at her heeling. Now she has a special bond with her heel horse. But each free Charlie Five rope horse comes with an added bonus, too, in the form of a new legacy.

“I’m not just giving out a free horse because I’m Oprah,” Svejcar said. “This can change the trajectory of the entire family, because now their spouses and children are exposed to some of the greatest horse people in our world. The kids get to grow up in the Western way of life.”

The 2025 American Hero Celebration—including the clinic, jackpots and fundraising gala—is back in Decatur this Nov. 5-9, with details at libertyandloyaltyfoundation.com. For more on the other roping-related charitable organizations, visit PowerofHopeEC.com and CharlieFive.org.

—TRJ—

Thank you to Equinety for helping us share stories of military members, veterans and first responders in the team roping community.