The Equine Healing Collaborative

12/27/2025

Cuts to Medicaid and reductions in Affordable Care Act subsidies are not abstract policy changes for us. They directly affect whether people in our community can access psychotherapy, and whether organizations like ours can keep doors open to provide it.

At The Equine Healing Collaborative, many of the people we serve rely on public funding to access mental health care. When reimbursement rates shrink or coverage is reduced, the gap does not disappear. It shifts to nonprofits, clinicians, and ultimately to the people who need care the most.

At the same time, we are responsible for the lifelong care of our animals. Every horse, dog, pig, and donkey here came to us because they needed a soft place to land. They are rescue animals with their own needs for feed, veterinary care, shelter, and daily support. They are not tools. They are living beings who make healing possible, and we have an ethical responsibility to care for them, regardless of policy changes.

Donations help stabilize what public funding cannot. They allow us to continue providing psychotherapy, keep programs accessible, and ensure that the animals who help people heal always have a safe place to land.

Your support is not extra. It is essential.

12/27/2025

From Riley 🐾

Hi friends. It is me, Riley. I do not understand Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act, but I do understand when the humans I love are worried. I feel it in their bodies and I stay close.

When the rain comes, I look for rainbows. Because rainbows mean wishes. My wish is simple. I want The Equine Healing Collaborative to keep doing what it does. Helping people feel safe. Helping animals find purpose. Helping hearts soften even when the world feels heavy.

With cuts to Medicaid and reduced subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, this work is getting harder to sustain. But rainbows only show up when people keep going through the storm.

If you can, please make a wish with me and donate to our MCGives campaign. Even a small gift helps keep this place alive for the humans and animals who need it.

The link will be in the comments.
Donations made through MCGives go into a matching pool, which means your gift helps even more.

Thank you for believing in rainbows.
Love,
Riley 🐾

12/25/2025

This time of year invites reflection, not just on what we celebrate, but on how we care for one another.

From all of us at The Equine Healing Collaborative, we want to acknowledge the shared humanity that connects us. The quiet courage it takes to keep showing up. The tenderness required to heal. The power of presence, whether it comes from a person, a horse, or a moment of feeling truly seen.

This season can hold joy, grief, hope, exhaustion, gratitude, and longing all at once. Whatever this time of year brings for you, you are not alone in it.

Thank you for being part of a community that believes healing happens in relationship, that compassion matters, and that care for mental health, for animals, and for one another is a shared responsibility.

With appreciation and solidarity,
The Staff of The Equine Healing Collaborative

12/24/2025

Finn has made his Christmas wish list very clear🎄🐶💫

No bones.
No long walks on the beach.
No new Christmas sweaters.

All Finn wants for Christmas is a $5.00 donation to The Equine Healing Collaborative through our MCGives campaign.

That small gift helps support psychotherapy services, rescue animals, and healing programs for our community. Finn says that is better than anything Santa could bring.

Link in the comments.

12/23/2025

Roger is officially wanted for mischievous behavior.

What his rap sheet does not show is where he came from. Roger was rescued from auction, a place where his story could have ended very differently. Without intervention, he may have gone to slaughter. Instead, he landed here and somehow decided his life’s work would be joy, chaos, and emotional support through comedy.

Last seen zooming around the paddock, stirring up laughter, and reminding us that lightness belongs in healing spaces too. On hard days, Roger shows up exactly as he is and somehow helps people breathe a little easier. That matters in psychotherapy. Regulation, connection, and moments of joy are not extras. They are part of the work.

If Roger has ever made you smile, consider supporting the work that keeps him and the rest of the herd safe and doing what they do best. Donations made through MCGives go into a matching pool and help us continue providing mental health services in our community.

Roger has no regrets.

CommunityCare EquineHealingCollaborative

12/21/2025

💫🐴💫As an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist at The Equine Healing Collaborative, Jerad Spilfogel witnesses every day what becomes possible when people are met with safety, presence, and compassion. Psychotherapy does not happen in isolation. It happens in relationship, in nature, and in spaces where individuals feel seen without judgment.

Donations through McGives help ensure that this psychotherapy work remains accessible to children, families, and individuals throughout our community. This support sustains programs grounded in connection, regulation, and meaningful care, especially during times when mental health services are deeply needed.

Supporting this work means investing in healing, community, and the power of showing up for one another.

NonprofitSupport

12/18/2025

Loss is part of life here, and it is never abstract. It has a name, a body, a presence in the herd.

Last night we lost Bailey. A gentle draft horse rescued by All Seated in a Barn and later adopted by us, Bailey carried both strength and softness in equal measure. She taught quietly, simply by being, about safety, steadiness, and trust.

She will be deeply missed by her two best friends, Brutus and Bert, who rarely left her side. Herd bonds matter, and when one is gone, the absence is felt by all.

We sit with that grief today. We honor Bailey for who she was, and for the many moments of calm and connection she offered to both humans and animals. Her life mattered here, and her presence will continue to shape this place, even in her absence.

12/17/2025

Self acceptance is not about fixing ourselves. It is about learning to stay present with who we already are.

Healing begins when we make friends with our feelings, even the uncomfortable ones. Sadness, fear, anger, joy. All of them carry information. All of them deserve space. When we stop judging our internal experience, something softens and change becomes possible.

Animals model this beautifully. They meet us exactly as we are. No expectations. No labels. No pressure to explain or perform. In their presence, people often feel safe enough to let their guard down, to feel what they feel, and to be witnessed without judgment. That safety creates the conditions where self acceptance and psychotherapy can truly do their work.

This is why animals are such powerful partners in healing. They remind us that connection, regulation, and growth begin with acceptance.

12/14/2025

Your support matters. 💛

When you donate to The Equine Healing Collaborative through Monterey County Gives!, your gift helps provide trauma informed psychotherapy, care for rescued animals, and healing experiences for our community.

Right now, donations made through MCGives go into a matching pool and are matched again by an anonymous donor, making your impact go even further.

Every dollar helps us keep showing up. Thank you for being part of this work.

12/13/2025

Please give this org a follow!

We feel like every day is horse day, but today it’s official!!

Happy International Horse Day from all of us here at the barn.

If you don’t have horses in your life and you wish you did, give us a call @541.444.2021 or check out our website for more information on how to get involved:

www.brighterhorizonsequine.org

12/13/2025

Mini horses are the comedians we did not know we needed. 💛
On the hardest days, they show up with joy, mischief, and perfectly timed chaos.

Watch Roger pretend he is a full sized race horse.
Zero awareness of his size.
Unlimited confidence.
Pure happiness in motion.

This is what healing can look like too. Laughter, lightness, and moments that remind us to breathe again.

Sometimes the medicine is a mini horse with big feelings and even bigger dreams. 🐴✨