Walking through healing with People, Horses, and the Community.
Below are some of the programs we offer at Oaks Restorative Ranch.
Below are some of the programs we offer at Oaks Restorative Ranch.
Our Mission
Learn the "What" and the "Why" of what we do at Oaks by clicking the title above!
Sessions for Kids
Walking though healing with play; Oaks Restorative Ranch offers sessions for kids who have experienced trauma and hard situations. These sessions pair a child, or children, with a horse and session leader(s) as they walk through guided games designed to give space for the processing of big and hard emotions in a safe place.
Sessions for Youth and Adults
Theses sessions pair a teen or adult with a horse who is in need and together they walk through the process of healing while processing emotions and building life skills like trust, communication, and boundaries. These sessions are not designed to "fix everything" but rather provide support and give the individual tools, and a safe space to rest, that can help them as they walk through the old and new stressors of life.
Session Workshops
Session Workshops are designed for groups with similar backgrounds who want to walk through healing with each other. These workshops are tailored to the group's individual needs and usually focus on one topic that the group works together to process alongside a horse or horses.
Decompression Sessions
We don't always have the words we need to process what is going on. Decompression sessions give a client 30 minutes to an hour of time with a horse that is relatively unstructured, but usually involves walking or brushing while being supervised by a session guide. This session was created based on the concept that in order for our brains to rewire old patterns, it needs to experience safety and rest. These sessions provide a safe space for the individual to start to build a foundation of safety and rest so they can begin to move forward.
Volunteering in the Community
While separate from our session program, one of the ways we help is by providing support in the community to other nonprofits and rescues who are also doing important work. We are better together, and when we come together we can meet needs and provide hope to our friends and neighbors. Click the link above to learn more about how we have been doing this!
Internship Program
While still in the early stages, Oaks Restorative Ranch provides a space for interns to volunteer and learn first hand what we do at Oaks. We currently partner with local Colleges to help their 3rd and 4th year Psychology students get credit for their Internship Requirement by working alongside session staff at Oaks to learn how to walk through healing with people, horses and the community. This program will expand as we do and more availability for others who want to learn about equine assisted mental health sessions will become available. If you would like to inquire about adding Oaks Restorative Ranch as an internship location for your degree program please follow the link above to the Contact page and reach out with details on your situation.
A Note on Sessions
While some sessions can include riding horses, our program is not a strictly riding program and some of the horses we work with are not able to be ridden, are learning about being ridden, or may have a disability that limits their rideability. Sessions are done with a goal of hope and healing for BOTH the human and the horse and this means taking special care of each of our horses' needs. We actually ask our clients to join us in helping our horses walk through healing as part of their own healing process and the foundations of compassion, which is the building block for self-empathy as we learn to relate to and respond to what our horse is going through with kindness, curiosity and care.
We practice this first with our horse so that when it is time to bring this same kindness, curiosity and care to ourselves and our own struggles we have already spent time doing this! Some of our horses may be rescue horses who are looking for their forever homes and our sessions may even help them learn the skills they need to help them find their forever homes.
Oaks Restorative Ranch was created to fill a gap we saw in our community in Ventura County; there was a need for affordable mental health care for children, youth, and adults, and there were many horses locally who were left behind in some way. We wanted to help with both of these things by joining with the members of our community to provide support to horse owners, rescues, and horses in need by providing them with life skills that will either help them find their forever homes or help them to stay in their forever homes. We also want our community to help us with this, and so we paired the two together; People and horses helping each other learn and heal. It has been truly amazing to watch the bonds that form and the healing that has taken place through this program, and we are excited to continue this work for many years to come.
Compassion requires us to drop our exceptions of ourselves and others and meet them in the present.
This is where healing can take place.
When we meet ourselves and others with compassion, curiosity, and kindness.
Welcome to Oaks Restorative Ranch
We practice this first with our horse so that when it is time to bring this same kindness, curiosity and care to ourselves and our own struggles we have already spent time doing this! Some of our horses may be rescue horses who are looking for their forever homes and our sessions may even help them learn the skills they need to help them find their forever homes.
Oaks Restorative Ranch was created to fill a gap we saw in our community in Ventura County; there was a need for affordable mental health care for children, youth, and adults, and there were many horses locally who were left behind in some way. We wanted to help with both of these things by joining with the members of our community to provide support to horse owners, rescues, and horses in need by providing them with life skills that will either help them find their forever homes or help them to stay in their forever homes. We also want our community to help us with this, and so we paired the two together; People and horses helping each other learn and heal. It has been truly amazing to watch the bonds that form and the healing that has taken place through this program, and we are excited to continue this work for many years to come.
Compassion requires us to drop our exceptions of ourselves and others and meet them in the present.
This is where healing can take place.
When we meet ourselves and others with compassion, curiosity, and kindness.
Welcome to Oaks Restorative Ranch
