As the founder and podcast host at The Touch of a Mustang, my mission is to bring to light the incredible ability horses have to guide us to the wisdom we need to heal ourselves. I want more people to understand there are places and principles outside mainstream treatment that are effective in helping individuals move into a healthier mindset and way of living.
Three months after having my last baby, I saw a picture of a wild Mustang online that I couldn’t get out of my mind. Thinking there was no way they would send a wild horse home with me, I traipsed into the BLM offices with my crew of six in tow, to put in an application. Within a week I had visited my mare in the Canon City prison facility and brought her home on the 12th birthday of my oldest daughter. A short time later my world fell apart as my husband fell into a dark and life-threatening depression while I tried to hold it all together.
My Mustang mare became my lifeline, my teacher and guide as I navigated a treacherous, unknown and completely overwhelming situation, constantly threatening to take me under. As I worked with her to understand the human world, she taught me the principles I needed in the moments I needed them–to let go, face your fears instead of running from them, set boundaries, and focus on what I had control over and could change. Time spent with her gave me a release from the heavy world I was living in and the burdens I was carrying when my mind became overwhelming and dysregulated. I learned how to better manage and understand my emotions, and gained insights into unhealthy patterns that were creating pain in my life. Despite having a master’s degree in Educational Psychology, I learned more practical and effective skills with my Mustang as I worked to build a partnership with her.
Since launching The Touch of a Mustang Podcast, I have heard story after story of the incredible way horses are able to help humans live a healthier, happier and better life. In many of these stories, a horse has literally saved someone’s life, guiding them away from the brink of death.
We no longer use horses for transportation, farming, or other tasks necessary for physical survival. As such, their value is no longer seen and their lives are often at risk. However, I have a profound belief that horses are now meant to enter our lives to guide us in the difficult emotional world we are navigating. Both to literally save individuals’ lives when they are in desperate pain, and at risk of taking their own life, as well as to save humans from a lost, and unhappy existence.
I am honored to be an Ambassador for Samson’s Strength Sustainable Veterans Project during the 2026 Horses for Mental Health Campaign. SSSVP has seen the incredible power of horse-human relationships and is working every day to save lives utilizing the guidance and wisdom horses, and particularly Mustangs, give so freely. Like The Touch of a Mustang, SSSVP is dedicated to sharing the life-changing experiences horses freely share with us. Focusing on the Veteran population facing a mental health crisis, they are saving lives with their work and giving hope to men and women who have served our country, but now struggle in the world they return to. I could not be more privileged to support SSSVP, and be their partner in advocating for and sharing the power of horses in helping to restore mental health to the country and the world.
