For over 20 years, WindWalkers has been providing equine-assisted therapy at its ranch in Carbondale.
By caring for and interacting with horses, the organization aims to help participants develop mental and physical skills.
Ginger Opp took over as the executive director last fall.
She spoke with Aspen Public Radio’s Hannah Weaver to discuss how horses can improve our well-being.
The conversation below has been edited for clarity and length.
Hannah Weaver: So first, can you tell me a bit about WindWalkers, its history, and how it came to be?
Ginger Opp: So, WindWalkers is a therapeutic riding center and offers all kinds of equine-assisted services. There was a real emphasis on a family approach and really a community-led caring for people coming up to experience the connection with horses and humans, and that's grown into this beautiful organization.
Weaver: How does the kind of therapy that you all do compare to maybe more traditional types of therapy that people might think of — talk therapy, things like that?
Opp: Our equine-assisted services really are for the whole person, and they are not something that's offered by a licensed therapist, but they, I would say, fall more in line with some physical therapy and social-emotional well-being and wellness. And all of those things are tied to a connection with the horses. So there's a really broad way that equine therapy can meet people where they're out in a variety of ways.
Weaver: What is it about horses that is so special, that allows them to kind of be this conduit for healing, and all the things you mentioned?
Opp: Horses are just really amazing creatures. One of the really cool things about them is that they're herd animals, and so they can help regulate your heart rate variability. They also are very responsive in a way that is nonjudgmental, but gives you a reflection of how you're interacting with them. So it can bring up areas you may want to grow in, or ways to build confidence, and I think anybody that's involved with horses has seen these things come up, in terms of what it's like to brush or groom or lead or ride, and the life skills that come along with being around large animals.
Weaver: How do you both get the word out to people to know that this is an option for them, and how do you also make sure that it's accessible?
Opp: Our organization really is only here and able to be doing what we're doing because of generous donors and people that subsidize the costs, because horses are very expensive. So all of our services are subsidized by donors to become as affordable as we can make them, and additionally, any riders or participants that need additional “scholarshipping,” that's always available. So our goal is to serve as many people as we can in the best way we can, and we, to this point, have never had to say no to anybody, so that's a really wonderful thing to provide access to horses for as many people in our community as we can.
Weaver: How does the work that you do here translate once people leave the ranch, and they go out into the world and they're not interacting with horses, presumably, but everyday people like themselves?
Opp: So, one of the things you notice when you come up here is that there's a stunning view of Mount Sopris, and so you have the whole of the outdoors that feels like you're just immersed in it. But I think as you leave, and you've connected with people that are caring and horses that are always accepting, and you're in a beautiful nature-filled place like this, that when you leave here, you take that with you. What I see is that, for myself, that the rest of my day is just coming from a more grounded place. And I think that's a really beautiful thing.
Weaver: Well, thank you so much, Ginger, for sitting down with me.
Opp: Thanks.
Support for this Nonprofit Spotlight series comes from the Aspen Community Foundation.
