Restore Ranch

If you notice, the halter this client is putting on this horse's head is missing a piece. While it might be the right tool for the task, it's still incomplete. Sometimes, we have the wrong tools and need to exchange them for the right tools. But oftentimes, we may have the right tool to help us overcome a challenge or obstacle but, like this halter, it's incomplete. Horses can help us identify when we have the wrong tools for situations, and when the tools we have are helpful but may be missing pieces or need some refining.

How do you respond when obstacles present challenges in your life? If this is an area you'd like to improve in, reach out to schedule a session! We currently have plenty of availability on Fridays and Saturdays!

Do you feel heavier or lighter at the end of your day? Or to ask the question in a different way, do you pick up little things here and there as your day goes on, or start the day feeling heavy and bogged down with all that you have to do and feel lighter as you accomplish tasks? Things like stress, additions to your to-do list, errands, chores, frustrations, excitements, etc. add to or subtract from our days and oftentimes, we might not even be aware that we are picking up and carrying all of these things.

These activities can also be such a strong visualization to remind us that because of Jesus's death and resurrection, if we are Christians, sin doesn't have to weigh us down! If you've never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you can accept His free gift of salvation today and let go of that load you're carrying!

1 John 1:9 says if we confess our sins, He us faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Romans 3:23 says that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (BUT God doesn't leave us in our sins! He sent Jesus to live a perfect and sinless life, be crucified and die, and raised Him up back to life...for all who will choose to accept Him as Lord and Savior!)
Romans 10:9 says if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, then we will be saved.
Romans 10:13 says for all (ALL) who call on the name of the Lord will be saved!

Activities like these also remind us of how prayer can help lessen the loads we carry. As Christians, when we pray, we are humbling ourselves and laying our struggles, joys, requests, and praises down at the feet of the God of the universe. He is big enough to take anything and everything we feel and carry. Don't say "amen" and pick back up what you laid down to carry it again.

Have you ever felt like you're not good enough? Ever felt like a burden? Ever felt like your friends just "tolerate" you or like God messed up when He made you? Those are all lies. You're not a burden. Your friends do genuinely like you. God didn't mess up when He made you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Paraphrase from Psalm 139:14) And while you may not excel at everything (none of us do), that doesn't mean you're not good enough. It doesn't make you a failure.

Horses can help give clients confidence to challenge the lies we believe and change the lies out for truths. How? Through overcoming obstacles, boosting self-worth, developing and strengthening cumulative bonds with them over session after session, even watching them interact with each other and identifying similarities between their herd interactions and your own interactions with God, your friends and family, and yourself.

Have you been through something traumatic? Trauma comes in many different forms. There are the types of trauma we typically think of, such as childhood abuse, domestic violence, sexual and/or violent assault, PTSD, but other things can be traumatic as well. Car accidents, loss of a loved one or pet, equestrians experiencing a bad or unexpected fall, bullying, job loss, personal or family member battling addiction, etc. Horses help us vocalize and process trauma. This might look creating an obstacle course with our obstacles and props to represent the trauma and inviting the horses to interact with it, watching and reflecting on their reactions. Maybe leading a horse through the obstacles as a way to remember and visualize that you are not alone. Maybe it's grooming a horse while knowing they're listening to anything you have to say without judgment, interrupting, arguing, questioning, or talking back. Maybe it's labeling the horse with the things you've been labeled with and watching them roll or find other ways of removing those labels, giving you the courage to remove your labels, too. There are so many more ways horses help us find freedom from the grip of trauma.

As always, if this speaks to you and is something you want to try out, please reach out to us for scheduling! Message us on here or email us at [email protected].