Equine-assisted learning and peer support on a quiet farm in Custer, Wisconsin. For kids, adults, veterans and first responders, of every ability.
Evening at Heartland, Custer, Wisconsin
A place to slow down, show up as you are, and learn from an animal that reads honesty better than words.
Horses live in the present. They notice when your shoulders tense, when your breath gets short, when you say you’re fine and you aren’t. And they answer honestly, without judging, every time.
That honesty is the heart of equine-assisted learning. Working on the ground with a horse — grooming, leading, asking it to move with you — becomes a safe, hands-on way to practise the things that are hard everywhere else: calm, confidence, trust, boundaries, and connection.
How equine-assisted learning works
Our participants are as different as our horses. What they share is a reason to want something steadier, and the courage to come and try.
Kids and the people who love them
For kids with cognitive, physical, intellectual, learning, or social-emotional differences, and for kids who are simply having a hard time. A 1,200-pound animal who waits patiently while you work up the nerve to brush him is a powerful teacher.
Children & families
Veterans, first responders, active duty
Horses are prey animals who scan constantly for danger, which means they understand hypervigilance better than most people. Sessions are peer-led and low-pressure, with no couch and no forms to fill out about your feelings. Just work, fresh air, and a herd that doesn’t need you to explain.
Veterans & first responders
Adults of every ability
Led by a Certified Peer Specialist with years of experience in addiction and mental health recovery. Whether you’re rebuilding after a hard season or living with a disability that the world doesn’t make easy, the barn is a place to practise being steady.
Peer support & recoveryEvery session is built around the person in front of us. Most of it happens on the ground, and riding is one option among many, never the point.
The first conversation. Brushing a horse slows your breathing, steadies your hands, and teaches you to read small signals: an ear turning toward you, a sigh, a leg cocked in relaxation.
Walking a horse on a lead rope is a lesson in clear, calm leadership. Pull and they brace. Ask with confidence and they follow. People are surprised how much that carries over to home.
No rope at all. Asking a free horse to walk, stop, and turn with you using only your body and energy. When it works, participants describe it as the first time they felt truly listened to.
Poles, cones, tarps and bridges. Guiding a horse through a course you designed builds planning, patience, problem-solving and teamwork, and it’s a lot of fun.
Sometimes the best session is a slow walk around the property with a horse beside you. Conversations come easier side by side than face to face.
Washable, horse-safe paint and a living canvas. Kids love it; so do veterans. It’s creative, physical, a little silly, and it builds trust, because the horse has to stand still for you.
Feeding, bathing, picking hooves, cleaning tack. Taking real responsibility for another living thing is one of the oldest confidence-builders there is.
For participants who are ready and want to, mounted work adds balance, core strength and a big dose of accomplishment, always with a leader at the horse’s head and sidewalkers close by.
A horse at rest breathes slowly, roughly ten times a minute. Stand beside one long enough and your own breathing starts to match. Your heart rate settles, your shoulders drop, and your nervous system takes its cue from the calmest animal in the room.
We call it borrowing a horse’s calm. Try a minute of it here.
No experience needed, no riding required, and no pressure to commit. Most people are surprised how simple the first step is.
Call, email, or fill in a short form. You can ask questions on behalf of yourself, your child, or someone you support.
We talk about goals, needs and any accommodations, privately and at your pace, so the first session fits the person.
Your first visit is gentle: a walk around the farm, time to watch the horses, and as much or as little contact as feels right.
Regular sessions build on each other. Goals are revisited along the way, and progress is noticed and celebrated.
Our horses are chosen for temperament first: patient, curious and kind. Each has a personality participants come to know by name.
I’m so thankful to be able to do what I love here at Heartland. I’m also grateful to have been a part of the peer specialist program because it gave me a sweeter understanding of how and why I do it.
Getting a front row seat to experience the healing touch and presence of horses is such a blessing. Sojen and I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.
Heartland Heals runs on volunteers, neighbours and friends. Lead a horse, walk beside a rider, sponsor hay for a winter, or simply tell someone who needs us that we’re here.
Why spending time with a horse can lower stress, build confidence and help people reconnect, and what that looks like at Heartland.
Proudly introducing the horse who started it all: tall, dark, and the most patient canvas a young artist could ask for.
The easiest way to understand what happens here is to stand in the barn for ten minutes. We’d love to show you around.
7510 Deer Road, Custer, WI 54423