G-8GW6WNVDCH 2301875706914928 Horses Do Fix Everything — The Healing Power of Equine Therapy with Katie Hunt - Animal Posse

Episode 75

Horses Do Fix Everything — The Healing Power of Equine Therapy with Katie Hunt

Published on: 3rd July, 2026

In this episode, host Dixie sits down with Katie Hunt, the driving force behind Shagbark Hickory Farm—a Connecticut-based nonprofit dedicated to the life-changing power of equine-assisted therapy.

Katie shares how her farm evolved from a family hobby into a vital community asset, matching semi-retired horses with individuals facing anxiety, autism, ADHD, and cerebral palsy. Discover the incredible, documented bond between humans and horses, how an animal’s heartbeat can help regulate our own, and the ways Shagbark Hickory Farm is instilling responsibility and joy in everyone from two-year-old preschoolers to adults.

Connect with Shagbark Hickory Farm:

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📌 Disclaimer

This show is for entertainment and general discussion only. The experiences, opinions, and information shared by our guests are their own, do not reflect the position of the show and are not intended as veterinary advice. This content should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis, treatment, or guidance. Always consult a licensed veterinarian regarding your pet’s health or any medical concerns.

Transcript
Dixie:

Today we're excited to welcome Katie Hunt of Shagbark

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Hickory Farm, where the healing power

of horses helps transform lives.

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We'll talk about the equine-assisted

therapy, the unique bond between

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humans and horses, and how

these incredible animals support

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emotional growth, confidence, and

well-being for people of all ages

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hi, Katie.

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Katie: Thank you for having me.

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Dixie: I am super excited to learn

all about Shagbark Hickory Farm.

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Tell me what you do.

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Katie: So I do equine therapy.

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My mother actually started our farm over

50 years ago, and she basically started

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it as a boarding and lesson facility.

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She always loved horses, and she

went up and down her street in South

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Windsor looking for horses to ride.

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And then when she got married she came

here and started her farm basically.

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And then I grew up here as well

and had horses in my backyard.

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I was lucky to have that.

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And basically we are both special ed

teachers by trade, and it was a hobby.

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They've always been here and like

I said, my mother started teaching.

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And then about 2018, I turned

it into a nonprofit to be able

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to do some fundraising and some

grants and things like that.

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And I expanded our programs for the

equine therapy, and then took our special

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ed backgrounds and just morphed it into

with the horses and things like that.

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So I do what I love with our horses.

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And we just found how the horses can

really help these students with autism

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and anxiety and even the cerebral palsy

kids that even have some physical needs

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can just, I don't have the physical

therapy part of it, but the students

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and our, and the parents will come back

and say, "Oh, the doctors have said

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how much they have improved with their

physical mobility," and things like that.

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And some of the anxiety students will

come, and they don't wanna socialize

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with their peers here at the farm.

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They've said that they've had a bad day

or they've had a fight with their parents.

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And so I'll just say why don't

you go brush one of the horses

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in their stall by themselves?"

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And they'll emerge from the

stall like within 20 minutes, and

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I'm like, "Do you feel better?"

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And they are like, "Yes, we do."

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And so I kinda said

horses do fix everything."

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We also have a homeschool program.

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I think our homeschool pro-

program is sometimes bigger

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than just our community lessons.

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We have probably 20 to

25 homeschool students.

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That doesn't include all the

siblings and their parents.

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And then the community lesson program.

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We also have a pre preschool program

that's from two to five years old.

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And we probably have about five to

seven of those on a weekly basis.

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And then we also have connected with a

program in town that's a boys' school

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where it's a residential program,

and they come here also on a weekly

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basis three kids at a time, basically.

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So yeah, that's just-- I

found my niche, if you will.

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Dixie: Yeah, that sounds very interesting.

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I certainly would like to

learn more about all of those.

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Before we get into that though,

I'd like to talk about your name a

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little bit because you do have the

name Farm, so do you do any farming

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outside of just caring for the horses?

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Katie: No, it's basically just the horses.

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It is named after a tree here on the farm.

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We have a very large shagbark

hickory tree, and we did have

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a gentleman stop just randomly

probably about seven years ago.

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I think he just noticed the size

of the tree and how large it is.

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And he had said that it was,

like, within the top 10 in

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Connecticut of the shagbark trees.

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And he hasn't been back since, but

he did kinda say that it was in his

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top 10 if you will, of trees that he

was measuring and keeping an eye on.

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So my parents when they-- like I

said, when they moved here, they,

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that's how they named the farm.

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Dixie: Oh, that's pretty cool.

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Katie: Yeah

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… Dixie: when your parents started it, did

they use any of the horses for therapy?

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Or was it more so that you

just had a love for the horses?

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Katie: It's a love for the horses.

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So they did back then so that

was like, in the '70s and '80s.

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I don't know that it was

a therapy thing back then.

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It was just a love for the horse, and

that's how actually we even just kinda,

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our m- mission, if you will, grew, was

just giving the love of the horse to

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those that can't afford it as well.

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So although we do the therapy piece,

we also just want to share the

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love of the horse with those that

can't have them in their backyard.

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Or a lot of times some of the kids will

ride here and say, "Mommy, Daddy, we

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wanna have a horse," and we tell them no.

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It's a lot of work.

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There's a lot that goes into

having horses themselves.

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They're a tricky animal.

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For starters you don't wanna have to

take care of them, and we're gonna have

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90-degree weather and heat in- heat

indexes up until 100 this coming week.

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And horses can't throw up.

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They get colic instead.

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And if you don't know that as a, a veteran

horse person you can't just throw them

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in your backyard and call it a day.

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So it, there's a lot that goes into them.

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So part of our mission for, or how it

even started when we became a nonprofit

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was to give that love of the horse

to those that either can't afford it

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or just don't have enough knowledge.

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Dixie: How many horses do you have?

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Katie: So it's been an interesting year.

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So if you didn't know, 2026

is the Year of the Horse.

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We have 10.

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That is the most that we've

ever-- I shouldn't say that.

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That's the most we've ever had in,

since we've become a nonprofit.

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My mother, when she was boarding

back when, had the most was 17.

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10 right now is the most

we've had in a very long time.

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Going back to what I was saying about it's

been an interesting year I used to say

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that the most we could ever have was nine.

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We lost one that we had

for a couple of years.

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Part of our mission is to take in the

semi-retired horse and use them in

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our program, but also to give these

horses a home that they can call

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their home until God calls them home.

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So the average age of our horses are

in their 20s, and so one of the horses

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she was suffering from a bladder stone

for the last year or so, and so we had

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to make the difficult decision to put

her down, and that was in January-ish.

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And so then another horse came along

that we thought was going to fit into our

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program, and he was only here for a month.

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It was a very sad and disturbing story.

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I didn't kinda know what

God's plan was really.

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I've decided that He brought him here

so that we could send him on home to

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to be home because he was just here

for a month, and he too had some kind

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of tumor inside he showed signs of

colic for about a week o-off and on,

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and then finally when the vet came,

he had a baseball-sized tumor inside,

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and then he too had to be put down.

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And then finally, we just got a

new one this week, and he seems

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to be good and healthy and will

be wonderful for our program.

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So hopefully we have a good solid

herd now, and we can use them in

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our programs and things like that.

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But again, most of them out

there are in their mid-20s, and

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a few of them are in their teens.

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Where

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Dixie: do you get these

semi-retired horses from?

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Katie: I would say God

opens those doors as well.

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Most of them are given to us.

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My daughter just found this last one.

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She just became a vet tech for our

horse vet that we've had for over 30

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years, and she was on a call, and this

client was looking for a home for him

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because he wasn't fitting in into the

boarding situation that he was in.

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And she wanted him to have a job.

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She's looking to get a new horse

herself, and he wasn't getting, the

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care and the riding that he needed.

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So she wants him to be

busy and have a job.

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He's only 16, so he certainly

has a lot of life ahead of him.

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So he'll fit right in here where he's not

getting too much work, but just enough.

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That's why we call them semi-retired.

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And basically they all just

kinda knock on our door, really.

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I don't go looking for them.

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Dixie: It's like cat people where

the cats just find you, right?

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Katie: Exactly.

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Yes.

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That's a very good analogy.

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Yes.

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I don't go looking for them.

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They find us.

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Dixie: Oh, that's funny.

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Katie: Yes.

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Dixie: With the equine therapy, I

know nothing about equine therapy, so-

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Katie: Okay

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… Dixie: tell me about it in a nutshell.

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What does it involve?

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Katie: Like I said before, It's just

that love of the horse and the horse,

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and the bond between the horse and the

rider, or the horse and the student.

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The horse really does know when somebody's

having a bad day, and it can't be hidden.

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Their heartbeats will

regulate with our heartbeats.

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So if they're really nervous and their

heartbeats are really high, like the horse

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will get really nervous and vice versa.

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And when that student goes into

the stall and just, starts brushing

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them and breathing and, it'll

regulate and calm them down as well.

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There's that piece of it

that just calms them down.

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And then there are riders also

who they too don't know that

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they're uptight or they're nervous.

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They'll tell me, "I'm fine.

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There's nothing wrong with me.

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I'm fine."

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And the horse is just like really

agitated, and I'm like, "You're not fine."

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And so we go through that breathing

and that you need to settle down.

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You're not okay, and the horse

is not okay, so you need to

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settle down for the horse's sake.

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And so it's that team, that

teaming up that they do as well,

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and that just works together.

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So there's that piece.

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That's what we do here.

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There is equine therapy where

they team up with a therapist.

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It's not really what we do here,

but we just use the horse to

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help with the anxiety, the ADHD.

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I do have students here that have

cerebral palsy, that kind of thing.

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My adults come here after work and

just say, one of them just told me

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this week where she was she goes,

"I drive down the road and I see the

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farm, and it all just melts away."

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And that's why I do what I do.

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Dixie: Yeah, that's amazing.

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Now, when you say the horse is

agitated and that's when you can

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tell if a person is nervous, how do

you know- … the horse is agitated?

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What are the signs that

the horse gives you?

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Katie: So I've seen this in both ways.

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One person will get off, the same

horse, one person will get off and,

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or ride rather, and the horse is

like just walking around and being

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slow and just being like, do-do.

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And then the person that's , not having a

great day or has things on their mind, and

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that person'll get on and all of a sudden

they're like walking real fast, and their

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head is high, and they're look, they're

looking around at their surroundings.

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And it's "Yeah, you're not okay."

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I do have couple, two horses probably out

there that they themselves have anxiety,

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so they look to their people to tell

them that it's okay, that they don't

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need to go fast or, that kind of stuff.

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So if they're an anxious rider,

they're going to make him more anxious.

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And so we've paired them up.

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The funny thing is I have a homeschooler

who is an anxious person, but she can

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ride Chevy very well and make him settled.

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And both of us have said that's

really strange," but it really works.

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And so I think that's very good for her

as an anxious person that she can ride

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him and make him chill out a little bit.

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Dixie: When you said that the horse's

heartbeats will regulate with a person's

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heartbeats and they feed on the energy,

is that an observation that you made

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or is that something that's documented?

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Katie: That's documented.

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Dixie: Yeah.

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That's very interesting because I always

tell people when you're dealing with, even

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just like cats and dogs I do cats, and

I notice that, and I always tell people,

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cats always feed off of your energy if

you are nervous, they're gonna be nervous.

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If you're anxious- … they're anxious.

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If you're calm, they're calm.

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They know when you're upset.

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They know when you're happy.

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And a lot- … of people don't

believe that, and they don't

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understand that when you say that.

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So it's very interesting that has

been documented with the horses

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because it's something that you

see with all animals really.

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Katie: Exactly.

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I agree.

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Yes.

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No, but it has definitely

been documented, yes.

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I can't give you the reference, but I'm

sure if you Google it, you'll find it too,

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but it definitely has been documented.

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Dixie: When you do the equine

therapy, is it like a field trip?

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Do people make appointments to

come over, or do they just come?

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Do they come as a group?

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Katie: So we basically,

we do it by appointments.

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I teach on Wednesdays

basically and Saturday.

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Wednesday afternoons in the spring

semester and in the fall semester

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Saturday mornings, and then

we have camp sessions as well.

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And we do it in a group setting basically.

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And then I'm very flexible, so I

try to be as flexible as I can with

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everybody's schedule and my own as well.

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Dixie: And where do you find the

people that you invite to come

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over to do the equine therapy?

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Katie: Word of mouth has been wonderful.

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Facebook has been wonderful as well.

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But yeah, basically I would

say Facebook and word of mouth

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Dixie: And is this something

that's free of charge for people?

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Katie: So no, at this point we

are charging, but I also work on

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a sliding scale if we need to.

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I have done different community services.

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We had our town police department

come for this kind of thing last fall.

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September fall.

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And we plan on doing that again.

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We have a pony his name is Snickers.

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He's very popular.

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He's gone to different events.

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We've taken him to the nursing homes.

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Those events can be free of

charge and things like that.

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So it depends on the circumstances,

but we try to work things

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out because it, it is…

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10 horses are, there's a

high cost to all of that.

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Dixie: When you take Snickers out to

the nursing home, how does that work?

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Katie: So we've taken

him quite a few times.

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We have taken him where the

residents come, of the nursing

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home come out to see him.

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We've dressed him up for 4th of July.

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We've dressed him up for Valentine's

Day, different things like that.

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And, we bring him to the nursing

home, and they come out and see him.

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And we've walked him right through the

middle of the nursing home as well.

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So I have a beautiful picture of Snickers

going right up to the bed of one of

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the residents 'cause she was bed bound.

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Dixie: Oh, that's amazing.

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I can't imagine-

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Katie: Yeah … what

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Dixie: kind of impact

that it has for them.

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Katie: Yeah.

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It's wonderful.

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And at home, he's a pony, and I don't

know if you've ever heard this, but

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ponies can be very persnickety and

can sometimes be a little bratty.

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But-- And at home, he's definitely that,

but he knows his job, and he knows when he

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needs to turn that off and just sit still.

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And he does.

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It's amazing.

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Dixie: What was the aha moment when

you decided that you were going to

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go from just having the farm with

the horses to the equine therapy?

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Katie: I don't know that

there was an aha moment.

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It just evolved into such things.

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I think there was an aha moment

turning it into the nonprofit.

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We needed to definitely do some,

like the fundraising and the grants

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writing and things like that.

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And then it became not more of a job,

but okay, what programs can I do next?

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What can I work on next?

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And so that's where the evolving came.

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And then I just, the more things

evolve in the world, if you will, I

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don't know that I could ever go back

to public school teaching, and I get

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the best of both worlds here, where

I can teach, and I can teach with my

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horses, and I couldn't be happier.

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When you do your homeschooling,

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Dixie: do you have the horses

as a part of the curriculum?

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Katie: Absolutely.

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So we're not homeschooling in where we're

teaching reading, writing, and math.

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They come here, and you had asked

about the farming piece of it.

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They're caretaking for the horses.

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They're helping.

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They're learning how to clean the barn

and take care of the horses, and our

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philosophy is the horses come first,

and they put the horses out, and so

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they do about a, they're here from

to:

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And so we do that.

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And then like I said, there's about

20 of them, and so we divide them

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up about who's gonna ride who and

we use four or five of the horses.

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And then the older kids help the

younger kids, and then we ride for,

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from 10:00 to 12:00, and the bigger

kids walk the younger kids, and I teach.

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And they teach essentially too, if

they're walking the horses, they get,

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they have to do some teaching as well.

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And then we untack them, and we

put them all away, and they have

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to hay and water the horses and

make sure everybody's all set.

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Nobody can be like, "My

parents here, I gotta go."

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Nope.

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The horses come first.

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Are the horses all set

before you run out the door?

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And so they have to get that full

experience of I take care of my

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horse and that kind of thing.

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Going back to, "Mommy,

Daddy, can I have a horse?"

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If you are gonna have a horse

someday when you're an adult,

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this is what it's going to entail.

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Dixie: Yeah, that's great that they're

able to go out and learn that kind of

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stuff, 'cause I think that's what we need

more of, is people teaching about animals.

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I would- And responsibility.

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Yes, definitely.

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Definitely, because, I think

people have this idea that they can

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just get an animal, and it's even

like that with a cat and a dog.

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There's no thought into going

into it a lot of the times.

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They'll just be like, "Okay,

let's-" "… get an animal today."

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And- Yes … then they end up making

that animal disposable in a sense

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because they're not ready for the

responsibility of having an animal.

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Katie: I agree with you.

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Yes.

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Absolutely.

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And even the preschoolers, so that's on a

to:

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Yes, they're two to five years old,

but I try to give them a little chore,

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whether it's kicking the shavings

around, all seven of them cleaning one

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stall and, no, it's not perfect, but,

cleaning the stall, and then brushing

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their horse, and it's one horse.

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They're sharing one horse.

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The rest of them are

playing in the play area.

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They're taking turns, that kind of thing,

so they're learning that, sharing is

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caring, and then they're all untacking the

horse and all of that afterwards as well.

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They're starting as young as two, two

to five years old at that point as well.

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Dixie: Yeah, that's great, and when you

reach them that young, and even just

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reaching the children in general, I find

that it almost helps to educate the adults

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as well because the kids- go home, and

they tell their parents everything, and

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if the parents come up with something

else, they're gonna argue with them and

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say, "No, this is what you need to do."

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Katie: I agree.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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Dixie: Do you have any success

stories that you would like to share?

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Katie: I was just gonna say that

from the preschoolers, I've had

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many preschoolers start in preschool

and then just work their way

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:

up, , into our programs for sure.

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I do have a bunch of girls that

are now 30 and have been here…

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:

we didn't have preschool back

when they started but nonetheless,

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they have started when they were,

six, seven or eight, and then they

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:

have been here and are still here.

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:

And now they're anywhere

from 25 to 30 years old.

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:

But my, one of my other girls who

has been here I think she's going

365

:

on her third or fourth year, her

name is Hailey and she has cerebral

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:

palsy and she just loves coming here.

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Her legs are in braces.

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:

She almost runs when she walks and she's,

unstable, but she gets on one of our

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horses named Wyatt, who again, he knows.

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He knows it's her.

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:

He knows he's, he needs to behave

because if it, any of us got on

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:

him, he might give us a hard time.

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:

But he knows it's her and he stands

still, and the girls walk her around and

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:

the dad helps, walk, be a side walker.

375

:

And the smile on that girl's face when

she rides and she just, "I ride Wyatt.

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:

I ride Wyatt," the whole

time she goes around.

377

:

And she's one also that the grandmother

has said that the doctors have come

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:

back and said, her core has gotten

stronger and things like that.

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:

But again, just the joy to

watch her ride is amazing.

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:

And so there are many stories like that

I could share, but she's one that sticks

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:

out just because she's just so happy.

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:

And I also work with just real quick a

36-year-old young lady who has autism,

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:

and she's been with me for many years.

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:

And that young lady feeds my horses

every night, brings them in and

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:

out every day, and she's just

amazing as well with the horses.

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:

Dixie: Yeah.

387

:

That, it's really beautiful,

it really is, to hear that it's

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:

having such an impact on them.

389

:

Katie: Yes.

390

:

Yeah.

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:

It's wonderful.

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:

It's why I love what I do.

393

:

Dixie: Yeah.

394

:

Now let me ask you too, the students

that you're getting, are these people

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:

or are these children that have a love

for animals and wanna explore it more?

396

:

Or is it something more that the

parents wanna instill this in them?

397

:

Katie: I would have to say

it's a little bit of both.

398

:

I've had both happen.

399

:

I've had both parents call me

and say "My," "my child loves

400

:

animals with or without, those

kind of severities of disabilities.

401

:

And so I wanna see

what's going to happen."

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:

I've had parents call or text me and

say, "I've heard that horses can be

403

:

good with children with disabilities.

404

:

Can we give this a try?"

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:

That kind of thing.

406

:

And then I've just had, your typical

horse girl where the parents call and say,

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:

"My kid can't stop talking about horses.

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:

Can we come visit?"

409

:

So it's been, across

the board kind of thing.

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:

Dixie: And how far do people normally

have to travel to get to your farm?

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:

Katie: We're in Connecticut, so all of

Connecticut is about a two-hour drive.

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:

So most of them are pretty local.

413

:

I've, I have had probably a handful that

may have come from about an hour away.

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:

But I feel bad for that.

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:

I wouldn't travel an

hour away to get here.

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:

Not a lot have stuck around

for an hour drive away.

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:

And here, there, there are quite a

few either horse farms in general

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:

or even equine therapy places that

somebody could find something closer

419

:

Dixie: That's very interesting.

420

:

I loved learning about all of this because

like I said, I knew nothing about equine

421

:

therapy, and to hear that these animals

are making such a difference in these

422

:

people's lives, and then I would imagine

that it's the same, that these people are

423

:

making a difference for the horses, too.

424

:

Katie: Yes.

425

:

Dixie: Yeah … it's truly amazing.

426

:

Katie: Yes.

427

:

And, why be out in a field doing nothing?

428

:

We actually do have one…

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:

I shouldn't say young horse.

430

:

I was gonna say young lady.

431

:

She's probably our second oldest horse.

432

:

She's 26 years old.

433

:

She's a Thoroughbred.

434

:

And she came to us a year ago

or so, and the same situation.

435

:

She was owned by an 18-year-old who

couldn't afford two horses, and the

436

:

trainer, her trainer the young lady's

trainer was like, "Oh, take her."

437

:

And I was, I tried really hard to say no.

438

:

You were asking me earlier

how they come to me.

439

:

I tried really hard to say no.

440

:

And I said, "She looks

like she's comfortable.

441

:

She looks like she's settled.

442

:

She looks like she's nice and retired."

443

:

And the trainer was…

444

:

said to me "No, she's got some

life left in her," and, her

445

:

student couldn't afford her.

446

:

And I said, "Okay, fine."

447

:

I was afraid that the horse was gonna

get bounced around from one retirement

448

:

home to another retirement home,

and I didn't want her to do that.

449

:

I said, "I'll take her."

450

:

She's here.

451

:

And as you were saying, I think it's good.

452

:

She likes to work.

453

:

She loves the kids.

454

:

She's getting tons and tons of love and

attention, so I think it worked out best,

455

:

and she won't get, bounced around from…

456

:

And I don't know that would've been true,

but I was afraid that, because of the

457

:

financial situation, that she would've

just gotten, tossed here or tossed there.

458

:

And so now we know that she's here.

459

:

Dixie: Before we end the call, can you

tell people how they can connect with

460

:

you or learn more about your farm?

461

:

Katie: Absolutely.

462

:

We're definitely on Facebook and

it's just clearly under Shagbark

463

:

Hickory Farm, or you can even connect

with me on Facebook at Katie Hunt.

464

:

The best way to get in touch with

me is through my cell phone which

465

:

is texting through 860-849-3868.

466

:

We've got some, a fundraiser coming up

for our second annual golf tournament

467

:

coming up on July 25th that we're excited

about, so we're getting ready for that.

468

:

And you can learn more about that

on Facebook and texting me directly.

469

:

And yeah, those are the best

ways to get ahold of us.

470

:

Dixie: Thanks so much for joining me

today and sharing your love of horses.

471

:

I really enjoyed hearing about all this.

472

:

Katie: Yes, this was wonderful.

473

:

Thanks for reaching out.

474

:

I really appreciate it.

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About the Podcast

Animal Posse
A look inside the world of animal rescue
Dive deep into the world of animal rescue with heartwarming stories, expert interviews, and behind-the-scenes insights. From heartwarming adoptions to daring rescues, we'll explore the incredible bond between humans and animals.
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DIXIE LOUVIERE

My love for animals has driven me to dedicate the last 20 years to rescue. In 2024, we established a 501c3 nonprofit Unwanted Feline Organization Inc. and are thrilled to be building a cat sanctuary in Washington Parish, Louisiana, where we can offer a haven for cats in need. I thought it would be great for the rescue to have a podcast so Animal Posse was started with the hope of bringing rescues together, getting them more exposure, and finding more animals
homes.