Pecan Creek Ranch

10/11/2025

A client approaches a big bay gelding who turns his head and gazes at the client. The client reaches up and rubs the gelding’s face. The gelding’s eyes go vacant, and he freezes.

There are so many different directions a therapy team can go with this situation. At PCR, the client’s goals drive all the decisions the team makes.

Below is a possible way this might be processed.

“What happened when you touched his face?” a member of the team asks.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, did the horse tell you he liked it or did he tell you something else?”

The client steps back and looks at the bay, who is standing as still as a statue.

“I don’t know.”

“Hum, it can be hard to know sometimes. Is the horse acting the same as he was before you touched him, or has his behavior changed?”

“He is very still.”

“He is. Why do you think he is standing so still?”

“I don’t know.”

“Have you or anyone you know ever been so still?” The client considers the question, then nods, tears bubble up, and then spill over.

“He looks scared,” the client mumbles.

What could the client learn in this moment from this short interaction?

🗣️how his/her behaviors impact others

❤️how to practice attunement (noticing how your actions impact another)

❤️‍🩹how to practice repairing a rupture in the relationship with the horse

🤔learn about consent and practice asking for consent before touching

💡learn about nervous system arousal and survival states

✨begin to acknowledge past trauma without discussing it

✔️how to emotionally handle misattuning

🫧how to regulate the body when it is upset from making a mistake

🐎how to engage in a do-over

This simple moment provides tremendous opportunity for the client to learn and begin to change their relationship patterns.

10/10/2025

Coming Soon!! Make sure you're signed up for our mailing list to be the first to grab one of the limited 9 spots for participation. You can bring your equine to work with!
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10/10/2025

A gentle reminder that your mind deserves care just as much as your body does.

Pause. Breathe. Check in with yourself.

You don’t have to have it all together—healing is not a straight line, and you don’t walk it alone. 💚

10/09/2025

“I am not a vending machine!” a client asserted as the horse stuck her nose into the woman’s pockets looking for more of the yummy treats the client had just fed her.

This client was learning the difference between what it feels like when another being, in this instance, a horse, uses them to get what they want, rather than connecting with them. Horses, like people, employ a variety of tactics to achieve their goals. They may fawn, pretend to connect with the client to get the client to give them whatever it is they want. They may get pushy and demand what they want from the client. They may get sneaky and attempt to steal what they want from the client when the client is not looking. They may even try to get aggressive (knock the client down and take what they want from them, though we will not allow this to happen). In all of these instances, the horse views the client as an obstacle that prevents them from obtaining what they want.

Situations in which a horse treats a client as a vending machine instead of a valued relationship, presents wonderful opportunities for the client to learn a variety of things. Below is a partial list of things a client could learn from this situation with the help of their therapy team.

✅ What does it feel like in their body when another being (human or horse) treats them like a vending machine?

✅ What differences do they feel in their body when another being connects with them rather than using them?

✅ How to handle these types of situations in a relational way?

✅ How to say “no” without feeling bad?

✅ How to take up space and assert their needs?

✅ How to set a boundary?

✅ How to internalize a boundary and an understanding of their worth?

✅ What happens when they allow others to use them?

✅ What happens when they present as passive in a relationship?

✅ How to ask for a repair when the relationship has been ruptured.

✅ Identify and correct negative self-talk that may arise when asserting their needs in relationships.

✅ Practice being responsible only for their behavior and not the behavior of others

✅ Practice handling rejection if the other says, “Fine, if you don’t give it to me, then I am leaving!”

✅ Learning how to find your worth and assert your needs in a relational way takes a ton of practice. It is not uncommon for this theme to present itself over and over again in the therapy process.

With lots of practice the client gains confidence in their own assessment and handling of the situation in a way that builds their relationship.

10/08/2025

Therapy in an office and therapy outside working with horses are vastly different experiences. Why would someone choose to be outside and active rather than sitting and talking?

🧠 It engages your whole brain and nervous system, not just your cognitive (thinking brain)

🍃 Being in nature regulates your nervous system

👃 All your senses are engaged, making it an immersive experience

🥰 It fills your cup

🛑 Gives you opportunities to change your patterns of interactions

💞Get to build a healthy relationship from scratch with help from your therapy team

✨Practice new skills in the relationship you are developing

If you are intrigued give us a call at 512-548-0551. We can set up a free, 30 minute meet and greet to see if this type of therapy is right for you.

10/07/2025

Reccia and I love training other professionals. We love seeing the light bulbs go off and the community that is built through our time together. We know that none of us can successfully do this work in isolation. We hold scared the space and support needed to help others grow and learn. So, like many others in our field, we dedicate our time and passion to help others succeed.

This past weekend we provided a Fundamentals Practicum at the Natural Lifemanship Institute. We had a great time with a lovely group of women and a herd of horses that is dear to our hearts. We were touched by their openness and willingness to help each other grow!

10/06/2025

Everywhere we go, Reccia makes friends! This is Percy, the cat greeter, at the NL Institute in Brenham, TX. Great little fella. He rode on Reccia’s shoulder as she turned out the horses for the day.

10/02/2025

❓"I don't know if I can do this without you here." ❓

When I work with someone to help them train, teach, lead, connect, and follow their own horses, doubts, fears, limiting beliefs, old stories, and lies often emerge. It's actually an important part of the process.

We'd been working with a particular horse on a particular issue for a couple of weeks. The progress they made was notable, even impressive. I have personally "handled" the horse maybe 10% of the time we've been working together. The rest, she has done herself with some guidance from me. About 20% of the guidance is direct instruction on how to use a certain technique. The rest of it has been me guiding her on how to learn from and through the work with her horse so she knows what to do next, what to try, when to move forward, when to pause, when to change directions, when to rest, etc.

My goal is to eventually not be needed except for an occasional consult in a uniquely challenging or confusing situation. So, when a client says, "I don't think I can do this without you here," when they have been doing 90%, if not more, of the heavy lifting, I know it's a false narrative, a limiting belief, or a flat out spiritual deception at play.

And my answer is usually something like this, "Ok. I hear your concern. Let's look at the evidence." Today I asked my client to go make a list with a column that says, "I can't do this without Reccia's help," and another titled, "I am capable of doing this on my own." Then I asked her to write down the evidence she's observed over the last two weeks that points to the title of each column being the truth.

She agreed. And about two seconds later, without having to go write it all down she said, "You know what? I see it." This "I can't do it" column is this big , she pinched her thumb and forefinger together with a tiny space between them. And the other column is like this, and she waved her hand up and down like she was scrolling through a long list of evidence that didn't fit on one page.

"I can totally do this."🐴✨

I agreed. I already believed it, but now she does. And my prayer is, when I get back from my trip, she cancels our next session, because she'll realize she can accomplish her goal with her horse without me there.

And all of the internal issues she's had to overcome to get this far will bear fruit in all areas of her life, without me there, and not because of me, but because of the relationship she has created with her horse, herself, and her life.

If this kind of transformation is something you want in your work with your horses, consider joining our group starting October 8.
Link in the comments.

10/01/2025

Today is the last day for the Early Bird discount! Save an additional $100 today!

https://humanandequine.com/relationship-foundation

10/01/2025

If you left freshly baked, still hot, chocolate chip cookies on the counter with a house full of people, how many would you have left after 10 minutes?

For horses, that type of temptation is equivalent to leaving a gate open to an area usually off limits. Last week, an owner propped open the gate to the barn area so he could run his horse into the barn to catch her. I asked the herd not to go through the gate while he worked on catching his horse. For 10 minutes, that gate stood open, unmanned.

During that time, two horses approached the gate, and from a distance, I verbally asked them to stop. To my surprise, they did. I knew I was asking a lot of them. All of them stayed in their area and did not leave, even though the gate was open, and no one was keeping them from walking through it.

Learning impulse control is imperative to living a healthy, happy life. What we practice, we do, so we must practice impulse control every day.

How do you practice impulse control in your life or your family’s life? Please share. We learn so much from each other’s experiences.

09/30/2025

Highly recommend for anyone working with young children and their families!

When a child is struggling or a parent feels consumed by overwhelm, the presence you bring can change the trajectory of their lives.

The NL for Young Children & Parents course offers guidance, tools, and community to help you grow into that steady presence.

Registration is open. 🔗 Step in → https://naturallifemanship.com/nl-children-parents/

09/30/2025

There's so many horse people out there struggling with things that their instructors and trainers can't help them with- but neither the student or the trainer know it! Here is a list of a few of the things that might be the source of problems with your horse. They could be why training isn't sticking, techniques aren't working, or you just can't find a flow with your horse.

We cover these and other elements in our HERD Human-Equine Relationship Discovery course. Small shifts in these relational foundations can create massive impact.

Check it out- link in comments. ⬇️⬇️⬇️