Heartland Equine-Assisted Counseling

02/17/2026

🌿 🐴 Equine-Assisted Wellness for Helping Professionals🐴 🌿
A restorative morning to reconnect, recalibrate, and return renewed.

You care for others every day.
This space is for you!!
Therapists. Social workers. Nurses. Educators. Physicians. Case managers.
You hold stories, trauma, systems stress, and ethical weight.
Over time, even the strongest helpers feel depleted.
This experiential workshop offers space to slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect with the parts of yourself that exist beyond your professional role.

Saturday, May 9, 2026
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Heartland Therapeutic Riding, Inc.
19655 Antioch Rd.
Overland Park, KS 66213
(913) 897-3939
www.htrkc.org
andrea@htrkc.org
$150 per participant *Limited to 12 participants to maintain intimacy and depth.

Reserve Your Spot
https://andrea-metcalf.clientsecure.me/contact-widget

What You’ll Experience
🐴 Grounding and mindfulness with horses
🐴 Nervous system regulation practices
🐴 EquiLateral:The Equine-Assisted EMDR Protocol ®, A “Horse Resource” installation
🐴 Reflection on provider mental health & sustainability
🐴 Gentle exploration of bias and self-awareness
This is not a riding workshop!
No horse experience is needed. Just a willingness to pause.

Why Horses?
Horses respond honestly and immediately to human nervous systems.
They invite presence.
They offer co-regulation.
They help us reset without judgment!
Many professionals leave feeling:
• Emotionally lighter
• More centered and embodied
• Clearer in perspective
• Renewed in purpose
• Better resourced to return to practice

02/17/2026

🐴 Equine-Assisted Parent & Caregiver Wellness Workshop

Heartland Therapeutic Riding, Inc.
19655 Antioch Rd.
Overland Park, KS 66213

Saturday, April 11, 2026
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Find Support. Reconnect. Breathe.

Join us for a meaningful and restorative morning designed specifically for parents and caregivers seeking emotional support, grounding, and renewed resilience.

Surrounded by the calming presence of horses and a supportive group environment, participants will engage in experiential activities that promote mindfulness, connection, and emotional wellness.

🌿 Workshop Focus
Grounding and mindfulness with horses
Exploring identity beyond the caregiving role
Understanding stress and caregiver burnout
Learning new ways to manage overwhelm and emotional fatigue
Connecting with other parents and caregivers in a supportive setting

What to Expect
Participants will gather in a small group inside the arena and outdoors (weather permitting), interacting safely with horses through guided activities. No horse experience is necessary. This is a non-riding workshop.

Wear comfortable clothing and closed-toe shoes suitable for the barn environment.

Experience the Power of Equine Connection
In the quiet presence of horses, many caregivers find clarity, calm, and renewed perspective. This workshop blends mental health support with experiential equine-assisted practices to create space for restoration and growth.

Space is limited to maintain an intimate group setting.

To registration please follow this link: https://andrea-metcalf.clientsecure.me/contact-widget

Equine-assisted services provided in collaboration with trained mental health professionals and equine specialists.

02/15/2026

Trixie and Andrea wishing everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️💜❤️💜❤️

02/11/2026

Sometimes the reason you feel overwhelmed
isn’t because there’s too much to do…
it’s because you’ve left your body behind.

Too much thinking.
Too much planning.
Too much trying to solve tomorrow.
Too much in your head.

Not enough ground.
Not present and
Not enough being here.

The horses don’t live up there in their heads!

They live on their feet.
They are grounded.

In the rhythm of the day following the feeling of the day
And when you stand beside them long enough…
your shoulders drop. Your breath slows.

Your nervous system remembers how to be quiet. Their heart beat brings you back to rhythm.

No fixing.
No forcing.

Just being outdoors.
Cold air in your lungs.
And something steady beside you.

🤍 Sometimes that’s all the healing you need. 🤍

02/05/2026

We are preparing dates for Springtime Equine-Assisted Groups! Stay tuned next week for official dates and registration information!

02/03/2026

🐴✨ Want to Make a Difference? Join us for a Sidewalker Training on Feb. 28th!✨🐴

🎉 Whether you’re new to HTR or it’s been a while, join us to learn how to support our riders, work safely with our incredible horses, and become part of the magic that happens in every lesson!

📍 Heartland Therapeutic Riding
🗓 Saturday, February 28
⏰ Time TBD — Send in an Application and you will receive an email with the information!

Why join?
💛 Help riders feel confident
🤝 Learn valuable skills
🐎 Meet amazing volunteers (and horses!)
☕️ Leave with a smile

✨ Everyone’s welcome — no experience needed!
Sign up through Wranglr or DM us for details! https://schedule.wranglr.app/volunteer_application?token=dJ3dAmbG4Cmhc283YmV-punYrhVHTYWN

01/13/2026

01/10/2026

Neuroscience research shows that emotions are brief physical events. When triggered, an emotion like anger or fear activates the nervous system for about 90 seconds. During this time, stress chemicals move through the body, raising heart rate and muscle tension. After this short window, the body naturally begins to calm.

What keeps emotions alive is not the feeling itself, but the thoughts that follow. The brain replays the trigger, predicts danger, or searches for control. In children, this cognitive loop is still developing. Their brains lack mature emotional regulation, so thoughts can easily trap them in repeated distress.

A child’s meltdown is not defiance. Psychology explains it as a brain overwhelmed by stimulation without the skills to exit the loop. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for calming and reasoning, is still under construction in early development.

Adults can help by reducing verbal input and providing calm presence. Safety and connection signal the nervous system to reset. Understanding this process shifts parenting from punishment to regulation. Neuroscience shows emotions pass quickly when thoughts are guided gently, helping children learn emotional balance over time.

01/08/2026

I know the cost of loving horses.

I know it in early mornings
when rest would be easier.
In long days that don’t pause
just because I’m tired.
In plans that change
and priorities that shift
without apology.

I know the cost financially,
but that’s never been the hardest part.

The real cost is time.
Energy.
Emotional space.

It’s the mental load of always caring.
Always noticing.
Always being responsible
for a life that depends on you
whether you feel ready or not.

It’s the worry that never fully turns off.
The decisions that weigh heavy.
The knowing that loving deeply
also means risking loss.

I know the heartbreak too.

I know what it’s like
to say goodbye too soon
or hold on through seasons
that are harder than you imagined.
I know that grief is part of the agreement
you sign the moment you choose this life.

And still—
I choose horses.

I choose them because of what they give back.

Because they ground me
when the world feels loud.
Because they teach me patience
without preaching it.
Because they ask me to slow down
and show up honestly.

I choose horses
because they don’t care who I am
outside the barn.
They care how I arrive.
How I breathe.
How I listen.

They’ve taught me responsibility
without resentment.
Strength without hardness.
Confidence without ego.

They’ve shaped the way I move through the world—
steadier,
more aware,
less reactive.

I choose horses
because they’ve been there
in seasons no one else saw.
Because the barn has held me together
more times than I can count.

I choose them
because this life feels real.
Because the work matters.
Because the connection is earned,
not given.

And yes—
the cost is high.

But so is the return.

The peace.
The purpose.
The quiet understanding
that I am exactly where I belong
when I’m with them.

So I keep choosing horses—
not because it’s easy,
not because it’s convenient,
but because it has shaped me
into someone I’m proud to be.

Some things cost more than money.
They cost heart.

And some things are worth it
every single time.

Horses
have always been one of them.

Do you still choose horses, despite the cost?

12/31/2025

From over 250 individual sessions and 10 new groups/workshops, 2025 IS A WRAP for Heartland Equine-Assisted Counseling at Heartland Therapeutic Riding, inc. We are excited for BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE YEAR OF THE HORSE!! 2026 Here we come!!

12/27/2025