Horses
That Heal
Blended Spirits Ranch teaches you how to interact
with horses—and learn about yourself. BY BERNADETTE WILSON
H
orses respond to a person’s thoughts
and feelings. They aren’t mind
readers, but they sense confidence,
understand whether a tone is aggressive or
assertive, and they can read body language
from 30 feet away. Horses test each other to
understand their place in the herd, and they
also test people to see where they stand—
they either allow you to lead them, or they
lead you.
Horses’ intuitive nature makes them
excellent therapy animals. “A horse’s
reaction is so honest. It tells you a whole
lot about yourself—sometimes more than
you realize,” says Sandy Long, Co-Founder
and Executive Director of Blended Spirits
Ranch Equine-Assisted Therapy Center
in Fairview. “It’s hard not to pay attention
to a 1,200-pound animal in your space.
They respond in a way that makes you see
what’s going on inside you. Equine-assisted
psychotherapy is powerful, and it works.”
THE HISTORY OF THE HERD
When Long and her sister, Debbie Ellis,
founded Blended Spirits Ranch 12 years
ago with the mission of becoming a positive
influence in the community by providing
equine-assisted learning (EAL) and equine-
assisted psychotherapy (EAP), they rescued
horses to rehabilitate and partner with to
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therapy and riding program. That’s how
Elijah, a quarter horse that Long describes
as “her partner in therapy for 12 years,” and
Ellis’ horse, Fletcher, Elijah’s older brother,
came to the ranch.
The ranch uses its horses for either the
riding program or for therapy, but some of
Blended Spirits’ extraordinary animals are
suited to both.
A LESSON IN OVERCOMING
Elijah was instrumental in a lesson on
overcoming negative thoughts that Long
facilitated for students from Erie City
Mission’s Urban University leadership
development program this summer. Long
had the students identify the negative
thought they tell themselves most often,
then turn it around to create an affirmation.
Oliver and a veteran
For example, if students often thought, “I’m
not good enough,” she had them say, “I am
provide therapy. Oliver, a 16-year-old mixed good enough.”
One by one, students entered Blended
breed horse, was their first rescue, and he
Spirits’
round pen with the horse after
has played a part in healing for many people
receiving
instruction from Long, which
from Erie County and beyond, including
veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder included using their affirmation to get the
(PTSD). “He takes the most broken people, horse to move or to stop.
But they couldn’t just say, “I am good
steps forward and gives them hope to
enough.” They had to believe it.
continue,” Long says.
One student couldn’t get Elijah to
Long and Ellis realized they would also
move. In fact, the horse was nudging her.
need to purchase horses to support their
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