Pecan Creek Ranch

Pecan Creek Ranch We help people thrive through Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, Professional Training & Horsemanship at our beautiful multi-acre ranch in Salado, Texas.

We have over 40 years combined therapy experience and 15 years TF-EAP experience.

When we compare ourselves to others we are losing sight of our journey. Comparison tells us we should be further along, ...
04/21/2026

When we compare ourselves to others we are losing sight of our journey. Comparison tells us we should be further along, doing more, being different. It shifts our focus outward—onto someone else’s timeline, and life—and away from the one we’re actually living.

Comparison doesn’t motivate growth. It creates pressure, fuels shame and disconnects us from our own pace, our own needs, and our own truth.

Your path isn’t meant to look like anyone else’s. Your nervous system, experiences, and capacity are uniquely yours.

Growth doesn’t come from measuring yourself against others. It comes from listening inward, honoring where you are and taking the next step that feel true for you.

In honor of Earth Day on Wednesday we are looking at our connection to the earth and how it is connected to our psycholo...
04/20/2026

In honor of Earth Day on Wednesday we are looking at our connection to the earth and how it is connected to our psychological health.

We are not separate from nature, our communities, or our environment. We are part of them.

When we spend time outside, notice the changing seasons, feel the sun on our skin, listen to birds, watch animals, or care for the land around us, it can help calm our nervous systems and reduce stress. Nature reminds us to slow down, breathe, and reconnect with something bigger than ourselves.

Many people notice they feel better after sitting under a tree, gardening, walking outside, spending time with animals, or simply watching the clouds move across the sky. These experiences can help us feel grounded, connected, and less alone.

At the same time, when we feel disconnected from the world around us, constantly rushed, indoors, overstimulated, or cut off from nature and community, our mental and emotional well-being can suffer.

Caring for our psychological health is not only about looking inward. It is also about reconnecting with the world around us. Spending time in nature, building relationships, caring for animals, helping our communities, and protecting our planet can all support our sense of purpose, belonging, and well-being.

04/19/2026

Uplift Sunday

Our souls and our bodies require rest. I think of rest and connection as ways to uplift our spirits. It is so nice to rest with those you adore.

I invite you to take a few moments today to rest, to restore and uplift your soul. If you don't have someone to rest with, then play our video and you can rest with us.

Anything Goes Saturday Many of you know that our 27 year old gelding, Cloud, has struggled with his health over the last...
04/19/2026

Anything Goes Saturday

Many of you know that our 27 year old gelding, Cloud, has struggled with his health over the last few years. We are happy to report that he is feeling and looking better. We are hopeful that his body is on the mend.

04/17/2026

Connection/Funny Friday

The best way to start the day is with friends.

04/16/2026

Regulation Thursday

Take a moment and pause. If you’d like to grab a cup of coffee, sit back in your chair and spend a few moments with the herd. Listen to the rhythmic sounds of them grazing. Take a few deep breaths, let the tension ease from your body.

Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy WednesdayThis post continues from last Wednesday.The client stands with their back to the ...
04/16/2026

Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy Wednesday

This post continues from last Wednesday.

The client stands with their back to the therapy team, hands in their pockets shoulders rolled forward, spine collapsed. A team member walks up to the client’s side, being with them in the discomfort. The team member does not speak, their body is open. The other team member hangs back, watching.

The client angrily wipes at their eyes. The horse continues to eat grass, steadily moving toward them under he is within reach. The client reaches out with their hand and brushes the horse’s mane with their finger tips. The ache in the air is pallable.

The horse blows out, and the client startles at the noise.

Team member: “That suprised me too.”

Client lifts their head and looks up, glancing at the team member.

Team member: “There is so much worry in asking.”

The client chews the side of their cheek in response. The horse sniffs the client’s shoe then finds the shoe lace and begins to play with it. The client wiggles their shoe and the horse lets go off the lace. The moment the shoe is still the horse returns to the lace, pulling at it with their teeth.

“Hey!” The client shouts.

The horse looks up startled at the client’s outburst of noise, their eyes wide and nostrils flared.

Seeing the horse’s response, the client mumbles, “I’m sorry,” their shoulders roll forward and their eyes study the dirt at their feet.

Team member: “Thinking about asking was so hard that your nervous system went into protection mode.”

In this example, it appears at first blush that the worry or concern is about the client’s fear of hurting the horse by asking the horse to stop eating, but the fear isn’t about that. It is about what happens when the client has a need. The moment the client thinks about asking for what they want or need, their attachment wound is activated and all of the client’s previous experiences about having needs was brought to the forefront, flooding their nervous system.

Something to consider TuesdayRest is a part of health, not a reward.Somewhere along the way, many of us learned that res...
04/15/2026

Something to consider Tuesday

Rest is a part of health, not a reward.

Somewhere along the way, many of us learned that rest is something we have to earn—after the work is done, after we’ve pushed through, after we’ve proven our worth.

But the body doesn’t work that way.
Rest is not a luxury. It is a biological need.

It’s in rest that your nervous system resets. It’s in rest that your body repairs. It’s in rest that your mind integrates what you’ve lived.
Without it, we don’t become more productive—we become more depleted.

Choosing to rest isn’t giving up. It isn’t laziness. It’s care. It’s listening to your body instead of overriding it. It’s allowing space for regulation, not just survival.

You don’t have to earn rest. You need it.

Educational Monday When we experience safe, attuned relationships, something powerful happens in our bodies:our heart ra...
04/14/2026

Educational Monday

When we experience safe, attuned relationships, something powerful happens in our bodies:
our heart rates can slow,
our breath deepens,
our muscles soften,
and our systems begin to settle.

Connection activates neural pathways that support regulation, trust, and resilience. Over time, repeated experiences like this quite literally shape our nervous system, expanding our capacity to stay present, recover from stress, and engage with the world.

On the other hand, when connection is inconsistent, unsafe, or absent, the body adapts. It learns protection instead of connection. It learns survival instead of safety.

Attachment styles are patterns shaped by the nervous system and early relationships. They are the body’s way of learning: “How do I stay safe in relationship?” These patterns begin forming early in life, often before we have words.

We learn:
When I express a need it is met
or
When I express a need no one comes to meet it, so I learn not to rely on others
or
When I express a need I get hurt so I learn it is not safe to express my needs
or
When I express a need someone meets the need, but then leaves, so I must always have a need to stay in connection
or
When I express a need I have no idea what will happen, it might be met, it might be ignored, I might get punished, there is no predictability.

As adults these patterns may look like:
Stay close, don’t lose connection
Be independent, don’t rely on others
I want connection, but it isn’t safe
Connection is safe, I can be myself and trust others

None of these are “good” or “bad.”

They are strategies that protect us. And the cool thing is, they can shift.

Uplift SundayWhat we deeply love becomes a part of us….One early spring morning I walked out my backdoor headed for the ...
04/12/2026

Uplift Sunday

What we deeply love becomes a part of us….

One early spring morning I walked out my backdoor headed for the garage when something tugged at me to look up, past my garage to a window of an abandoned house behind mine. Crouched in the windowsill overlooking the roof of the first story were three tiny kittens, two black and white and one grey and white. I was so surprised that I stopped in my tracks. Where was their mother I wondered? As I gazed at them, one of the black and white kittens met my gaze. Time slowed. His eyes locked with mine, and I felt a jolt—electric, unmistakable, as if a current leapt between us. My breath caught; it was as though he pressed his tiny face right into the softest part of my heart. I can’t explain it, but in that instant, it felt like we had always known each other.

I could not shake the feeling that came over me. I was determined to meet him. I set traps with food to coax them out of the house. It took me weeks to capture them all, including the mama. I wanted, more than anything, to keep the heart-thief. But I already had two cats, so I forced myself to find him a home.

Twenty-four hours later, my phone rang. The woman’s voice was sharp and exasperated: She told me the kitten was a “terror,” and too “wild” to be tamed. She insisted I come get him immediately. I was trapped at work, anxiety burning in my gut, so I sent a friend. Hours later, I returned home, to find the “wild-terror” on his back on my friend’s lap. I looked at her in surprise, joking, “Where’s the terror?” My friend just grinned, pointing to the tiny furball nestled on her lap. Relief and joy crashed over me. In that moment, I knew—he was mine, and I was his.

Ten short years later, he was gone. I cannot describe the immense pain I felt in losing my friend. It felt like our souls had been woven together and his passing had wrenched them apart. The pain was sharp and unyielding. I knew him like the back of my hand. We had been so close that a single look told entire stories; we were knotted together by an unspoken language. I could not imagine my life without him.

More than ten years have passed since his death, but he is still here—woven into the marrow of my bones, curled up in the deepest corners of my heart. Even though he is physically gone, I can still feel him. Our souls are still connected. I cannot fathom who I might have become without him. He taught me what it means to break open, to love—fearlessly, completely, all in.

04/11/2026

What a lovely day to rest with the herd. I sat down and Poppy laid beside me, after a few minutes Kai came and watched over me. Then, Juno came and put her nose on my back. The rest of the gang grazing around us. This is what it feels like to be in the arms of a loving family.

04/10/2026

Connection/Funny Friday

Everyone deserves their own song!

Address

3164 FM2843
Salado, TX
76571

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 8pm
Wednesday 8am - 8pm
Thursday 8am - 8pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
Saturday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+15125480551

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Expanding the Possibilites of Healing & Growth with Horses

At Pecan Creek Ranch, we have a vision of a world where equine assisted learning and therapy are mainstream- not alternative or adjunct. We understand the barriers and obstacles that make this seemingly impossible. We should. We’ve be practicing equine assisted learning and therapy for a combined 15 years. We’ve practiced in residential treatment centers where the resources to do this work were abundant, but the translation of it to life was unclear or unsupported; we’ve practiced at non-profits where the resources and understanding of how to effectively do this work were weak or in infancy; we’ve practiced in private practice where the pressure to write our own paychecks, pay for our consultations and trainings, and provide affordable services for our clients collide.

We’ve practiced at ranches dedicated to equine assisted learning and therapy; we’ve practiced at boarding facilities where no one else understood a thing about what we were doing or why we needed some privacy; we’ve practiced at facilities where the philosophies about horse care and training were so incongruent with the therapy and learning of our clients, that it hindered how effective the work could be. We have a broad spectrum of experiences in this field and we have taken what we have learned and applied it to the creation of Pecan Creek Ranch. We have learned from the failures, mistakes, let-downs, conflicts, and challenges of those experiences and created a facility where others can not only practice affordably, but have a supportive community of practitioners who share the same goals and have the same needs for an equine facility as you do.

We are PASSIONATE about Natural Lifemanship™ TF-EAP and we want everyone who could possibly benefit from it to experience it! That’s why we started Pecan Creek Ranch. It exists as a place to conduct your Natural Lifemanship learning or therapy practice with the horses, space, tools, and support necessary to do so successfully. We have over 40 years combined therapy experience and 15 years TF-EAP experience. We know what you need for successful equine assisted sessions from the right horses, right environment, and right support. Join now and receive free monthly consultations from some of the BEST in the TF-EAP field! https://www.ges4p.com