It’s hard not to get emotional when Laurie Higgins-Kerley talks about what horses have done for her. Just listening to her describe their healing energy can feel like an emotional release.
“They really know how we feel. They’re highly emotionally intelligent, and they’ve been on the planet for 56 million years,” she says. “They’re highly sensitive. They can read us so well—you know, where we are emotionally. That’s why people often come here, because they’re stuck.”
Stuck in grief. Stuck in sadness. Stuck in dread.
Laurie found herself lost in all of those feelings after her husband died in 2008 following a journey with cancer. That heaviness—the weight that won’t leave your chest—left her feeling hopeless. As weeks and months passed, she kept retreating to nature and to a small herd of horses at Dove Creek Ranch, a place she and her late husband bought in the 1990s.
“It’s part of the Tierra Blanca Draw, the Tierra Blanca Creek bed that runs into Palo Duro,” she says. “We call it the secret canyon because people just don’t know it’s here. It was very magical. When the kids and I and Bob drove down with the realtor, I was like, oh my gosh, this is gorgeous. We all fell in love with it.”
She described the land’s ethos as a different frequency, something inherently healing, and something she desperately needed after Bob’s death.
“It was hard to know how to go through grief. I didn’t have any practice with that. Going through the ups and downs and trying to still be a mom,” she shares. “But I would find solace out here, and every time I left over the two years that I came out, I would have hope.” Grief is an arduous journey, she explains, and it’s easy to get lost. “I don’t think our culture has taught us a lot about how to move through grief as a community, how to support people.”
Laurie didn’t grow up around horses. A city-adjacent girl from Mississippi, she had been a competitive swimmer. Then she married Bob and bought her first horse. “I was about 26 years old. Ever since then, I’ve had horses. I’m going to be 68 this year, so I’ve had them a long time.”
That relationship would change her life forever, even after Bob’s death. Frequent trips to Dove Creek Ranch got her through that painful loss, and as the months turned to years, she started to feel more like herself. She credited her four-legged companions at Dove Creek.
“Something happens when you’re with horses, and this has taken me years to understand and experience, but they help us truly get to our heart’s desire,” she says. “We have so many mental patterns and how we think about things, but [horses] really help us bypass that and get to our heart. I just remember feeling like they had done some deep healing, and I want others to know them this way. I also wanted to help them as a population.”
Surrenders and Safety
Horses are large and expensive animals. Estimates indicate that tens of thousands of horses become unwanted each year in the United States, when owners are unable to provide the financial or physical care they need. Job loss, illness, death and relocation are among the most common reasons. In 2012, Laurie founded Dove Creek Equine Rescue with the purpose of reducing the local unwanted horse population, transitioning her ranch into a place where horses are rescued, rehabilitated, retrained and rehomed.
The process of turning a ranch into a rescue took time, shaped by lessons learned and mentors who left their mark. Today, Ali McEwen directs rescue operations and volunteers at Dove Creek. She also oversees barn management, equine intake, health care and adoptions. To date, 261 animals have lived at Dove Creek and 180 have been adopted.
“It’s such a moving time for the horse and the human,” Ali says of the adoption process. “We’ve watched them come from the lowest and get to the best. Of course, we form a relationship with them, but the goal is for them to find their forever home. When they’re ready, we do a close interview and try to make the perfect match.”
When they know, they know, she says. “It’s happy tears for sure. What makes it easier for volunteers is that we’ve established great relationships with our adopters, so we still get to see the success stories. We update everybody, we let them know where the horses are and what they’re doing. I think we get to give them their second chance and stay with them the rest of their lives as well.”
Many horses at Dove Creek have been surrendered by owners who want a safe landing place for their animals. But others are seized by county officials for cruelty or neglect.
“We just got custody of 11 horses. We lost two to death while we were waiting on the warrant to be served,” Ali says. “There’s nothing like standing on the other side of a fence watching an animal pass away when you can’t do anything. Those are the hard things.”
Thanks to a volunteer team of more than 35 people and supportive veterinarians, Dove Creek can overcome many of those hard things. Volunteers from middle school to college age provide essential care for the ranch and the horses, and depending on the animal’s condition upon arrival, the average turnaround from intake to adoption takes about a year. Severely malnourished horses require more time to rehabilitate, but the goal is almost always to prepare them for a permanent home.
“The biggest thing for me is to walk into every scenario with a nonjudgmental heart. I may see some really skinny horses. I may see some really bad situations,” Ali says. “There are situations where we’ve saved horses, and in reality, it was the owner who was suffering. In their hardest times, it’s hard to let go of the one thing that loves you unconditionally and that you love unconditionally. Sometimes, not all the stories are good, but to me, that’s how we help the horses and the humans too—to make sure that they know there is a safe place and they can go get the healing they need and get back on their feet and they did what was right by the animal.”
Letting Horses Lead
As of late summer, 15 horses are permanent residents of the ranch, working in an equine-assisted learning and coaching program called Led By Horses. EAL is an experiential journey where interactions with horses help provide immediate insight into relationships with self and others. Activities for individuals and groups are facilitated by an equine-certified coach.
“There are three of us who primarily coach,” Laurie says. “A lot of people come when they’re stuck in transition. We’ve had many women say, ‘I’m stuck in life, I need some direction, and maybe some practices to help me move forward.’ That’s exactly what we offer.”
Their work now reaches far beyond individual coaching. This year, they are wrapping up a grant-funded program for first responders. “We’ve had one of our coaches work with them individually, and it’s been powerful,” Laurie continues. “They’re in front of so much trauma —police officers, firefighters—PTSD is a very real challenge. I hope we can keep doing it even after the grant ends.”
Women’s retreats are another cornerstone, each with a unique theme—like boundaries and finding your voice, claiming your space. “Some people are just in survival mode,” Laurie says. “But I believe you can still dream even in the tough times. Dreams give us hope and aspiration, and that helps us get through.”
The team also offers led meditations with horses and recently began working with women veterans through the Veterans Resource Center, many of whom also live with PTSD.
Beyond Grief
While the program began with a focus on grief, it has grown into a broader therapeutic mission. “Grief is one piece,” Laurie says, “but there are so many challenges people face where horses can help.”
One of the deepest lessons comes from observing herd dynamics. “The true leader of a herd is the one who cares the most and is most present. It’s not about dominance or power—it’s about compassion,” she says. Horses also model “leading from behind,” she says. Their quiet, encouraging style builds confidence in others so they can step into leadership when needed.
“That’s the leadership model I want to bring into the human world,” Laurie says. “We’re moving into team-building more and more, and that’s my favorite thing.”
Ali has also seen the impact horses can have on workplace dynamics. “We’ve worked with businesses where they’ve got great employees, but there’s conflict. We bring them down here, and the horse works the magic. They see what it looks like when you’re not working together as a team. When the horses start to cooperate, they start to feel like a team again.
“A lot of people don’t want to get help because they don’t want to sit in front of someone and talk about it. It’s an uncomfortable place, but being with a horse, with someone gently guiding you, lets you work through emotions with this giant, forgiving, nonjudgmental creature,” she says. Horses, for instance, are good at teaching boundaries. “You take a woman who’s been abused or pushed around all her life, and she’s up against a horse that’s trying to do the same thing, but they love the animal, so they find the courage to stand their ground, to set boundaries, to see that they can overcome. It’s life-changing in so many ways. You can talk about it all day, but when you see it and feel it, that’s what makes the difference. It happens so organically.”
It’s been 13 years since Laurie set out to change the lives of horses and people alike. In that time, Dove Creek Equine Rescue has become one of the region’s most prominent rescue operations. Now a part of the ASPCA’s The Right Horse initiative, Dove Creek can expand its adoption efforts to reach potential homes nationwide.
This work takes the support of the philanthropic community. Each year, Dove Creek’s Sunset Dinner serves as its major fundraising event. This year’s themed event—“1923: A Western Elegance Affair”—is scheduled for Oct. 18, giving participants an opportunity to see Dove Creek, meet its horses, and enjoy music under the stars. The dinner serves as a conduit to bring together supporters to raise essential funds and tell the story of the therapeutic impact of equine-human partnerships. For Laurie, it’s a story that started with grief and ended, perhaps unexpectedly, in profound joy.
“And I have to say, I’m happy we’re the ones doing this,” Laurie says. “It’s the deepest journey of the soul. The one thing we teach here is that we must honor our grief journey because you’ll gain so much. This is how I truly found joy. On the other side of grief is joy. When you’ve gone through it, and honored it and listened to it, I think people do understand. It’s hard to find this kind of healing.”
