Conversations with Bernadette Spillane

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bernadette Spillane.

Hi Bernadette, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My husband, John, and I purchased the ranch in the summer of 2006. We had one horse at the time, in a boarding stable by the airport, about an hour away. The idea was to have 6 horses, two rescued pasture buddies, and 4 rideable horses for us and any friends or family who would like to join us. One thing led to another and with the economic downturn in 2008, we were approached by veterinarians and equine professionals to take in more horses.

In 2011 we became a 501(c)3 nonprofit horse rescue/sanctuary. We started this adventure with very little horse knowledge and training, just a lot of enthusiasm. On our journey to acquire experience and knowledge we met some of the most incredible people who have changed our lives, the lives of our horses, and the people we encounter every day. A journey for knowledge became the journey of a lifetime!

Throughout this process, we quickly realized that as much as the horses need help and support the people need it even more. We have become a hosting facility for Gestalt Equine Institute of the Rockies (GEIR), Denver University’s Equine Assisted Mental Health,(EAMH) train therapists on how to incorporate horses in their therapy work and Rocky Mountain Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (RMEAP) works with clients weekly at the ranch.

We host the internationally known horse clinician Mark Rashid, Jim Masterson of Masterson Method bodywork, and Tallgrass Animal Acupressure to name a few of the professionals who teach through clinics and workshops here. Our goal is to bring out the best in people emotionally, physically, and mentally as we bring out the best in the horses.

We have an extraordinary group of volunteers who help to ensure that the horses are all seen, groomed, loved on, and worked with daily so that they are happy, healthy, quiet, and calm. With a stable herd of 40 horses, we can help more people and hopefully change the world for the better through the care and relationship with this extraordinary animal.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Finding our path was one of the toughest parts of the journey. Who did we resonate with within their treatment and training methods? Once we found that we could concentrate on providing the best experience for all concerned. The more significant struggle after that has been the economics of maintaining a large herd.

Most of our horses come to us by referral, their people can no longer care for them, they have health or lameness issues that meant that they were going to be euthanized or they had behavior issues that were leading them down the same path. Their journey oftentimes mirrors our journey and as we help them heal they help us heal.

Nevertheless, the need for chiropractic care, bodywork, special supplements, farrier, dental health, and feed can be overwhelming. The last few years with fires, drought, flood, and rising diesel prices have meant that hay has doubled and this year tripled in cost and that’s if we can get it. Every year is a challenge to see what shows up and to handle unexpected expenditures.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Before starting a horse rescue/sanctuary, I had a martial arts studio for 18 years. I think this provided me with a unique perspective on what I was looking for in terms of my relationships with the horses. Philosophically we were a self-defense-based school using TaeKwonDo, Karate, Judo, and Aikido as our foundation. People who are in their bodies, confident, healthy, and fit are generally not a target and relate to life and life’s challenges in a positive, generous and open way.

That is what I was looking for in a trainer, if the horse wasn’t happy and responding well to training, then at its core, the training was wrong. Mark Rashid uses the techniques of Aikido to help people better understand the energy involved in working with 1000-pound animals. It is about connection, relationship, feeling, heart, and listening. I think what makes us unique as a rescue is that we are also a sanctuary, once a horse comes it stays for life.

Horses are herd animals, they form strong bonds within their herd and the movement of horses in and out of the herd through adoption would keep them always on edge. The same was true for our volunteers, knowing that a horse they had become attached to would be here the next week helps them relax, engage and trust. We keep the horses in herds, with free choice hay, shelters, space to move, and pastures to run in.

Even at our best, we interact with them only a few hours a day and the horses need each other to stay mentally and emotionally sound. We knew early on that psychotherapy was an important part of the support horses could offer us, but only if they felt safe, happy, and healthy. That’s our goal, we rehab each horse that comes so that they are easy to handle, friendly and safe to be around.

Those that can be ridden are used in horsemanship clinics where people come from all over the world to ride with Mark Rashid. Others work with breast cancer survivors in the therapy group Hope Held by a Horse and in individual therapy sessions. Others help people learn bodywork and acupressure. Some just hang out. We would like the horses to have a say, to willingly work with humans, and be a partner not a tool in the healing, and teaching process.

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Living and working with living, breathing, sentient beings/species other than ourselves can shake us out of our preconceived notions and open us to a world full of wonder, love, kindness, and generosity.

Pricing:

• $400/month to feed and care for one horse
• $60-$120/every 6 weeks for hoof trimming and shoe
• $225/horse/year for dental care

Contact Info:

• Website: www.happydogranch.org 

Image Credits
Dorothy Kaiser