Learning from the most honest animal we know
Heartland Healing With Horses uses equine-assisted learning to help people of all abilities build the skills that make life steadier: confidence, communication, trust and calm.
How Heartland Heals began
Heartland Healing With Horses grew out of two things founder Sarah Long has seen again and again: people healing when someone who has walked a similar road walks beside them, and people opening up around horses in ways they never do indoors.
As a Certified Peer Specialist with years of experience in addiction recovery and mental health, Sarah wanted a program that brought those two truths together. Heartland Heals is the result: peer support and equine-assisted learning, on a working horse farm in central Wisconsin, open to people of every ability.
What equine-assisted learning is
Equine-assisted learning (EAL) is an experiential approach that builds life skills for educational, professional and personal goals through hands-on activities with horses. Participants groom, lead, exercise and work alongside horses, and the horse’s honest, immediate responses become the lesson.
Horses are herd and prey animals. They are finely tuned to body language, tension and intention, and they respond to who you really are in the moment. That makes them patient teachers and clear mirrors. Skills practised with a horse transfer naturally to relationships with family, friends, classmates, coworkers and yourself.
What it is
- Hands-on, mostly on the ground
- Goal-centred and built around the participant
- Led by people trained in peer support and equine-assisted services
- A place to practise skills, not just talk about them
- Welcoming to people of every ability
What it isn’t
- Riding lessons (though riding can be part of it)
- A replacement for medical care or licensed psychotherapy
- A test you can fail
- Only for people who love horses already
What participants develop
Every goal is personal, but these are the skills we see grow again and again.
- Self-respect and confidence
- Communication skills
- A sense of accomplishment
- Self-awareness and motivation
- Goal setting
- Patience and focus
- Empathy
- Responsibility and accountability
- Positive coping skills
- Trust and connection
The benefits are real
Benefits commonly associated with equine-assisted services include:
- Reduced stress levels
- Lower heart rate and blood pressure
- A sense of healing and empowerment
- Muscles that relax, strengthen and tone
- A renewed sense of ability and hope
- Feelings of connection and empathy
- Healthier boundaries
- Teamwork and problem-solving
- Healthy relationships and trust
A proud member of PATH International
PATH International (the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International) sets standards for safety, ethics and training in equine-assisted services around the world. Our membership reflects a commitment to doing this work carefully, for both people and horses.
Learn about PATH International
Our home: Heartland Equestrian Center
Heartland Heals lives at Heartland Equestrian Center on Deer Road in Custer, a working horse farm just east of Stevens Point. That means real barns, indoor arenas for Wisconsin weather, quiet paddocks, and room to walk.
It also means participants experience the everyday rhythm of a barn: feeding time, turnout, the smell of hay. That ordinariness is part of what makes it feel safe.
Visit Heartland Equestrian CenterSee it for yourself
Come for a visit, meet the horses, and ask anything.