Bethany's Gait Ranch

Our mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and restore the lives of active duty, reserve and veteran military personnel, first responders, their families and horses in need.

All the horses in our program have been rescued from abandonment, abuse and neglect. Together horse and human heal through a bond based on unconditional love, unwavering trust and a keen understanding of what the other has been through.

Our three primary programs, which are open to the military/first responder as well as their children and spouse, include:
-Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (Group, Family & Individual sessions) - Clients work with a licensed mental health professional who is certified in equine facilitated therapy and our "therapists" in horse hair.
-Mustang to Wrangler Mentorship - Clients are taught horsemanship from the ground up. This program includes opportunities for trail riding, camping with horses, riding in trail competitions and working cows.
-Retreats - These retreats include extensive time with the horses, classroom work and other leisure activities. The retreats attract folks from across the nation.

In 2017 we started Lissa's Legacy, a program named for a Marine Corps Spouse that is specifically for wives of military/first responders. Women are given tools to better understand and support their husbands while ensuring the well being of themselves and their children. The program includes:
-"Altogether Beautiful" three day retreats, currently held in Prescott and Southern California
-Weekly Coffee Chats & time with the horses
-Weekly online Bible Study
-Beginning in 2020, an annual conference

Testimonials

Bethany's Gait has been a major game changer in my life, and the life of my family. Through the programs they offer I have had the opportunity to work through some emotions associated with PTSD, anxiety, and severe depression. They have also provided opportunities for my wife to meet with other veteran's spouses and give her tools to understand the impact of how these conditions affect me. I have had the privilege of participating in one of the retreats and was a guest on a three day trail ride experience. I have also been able to work directly with the horses and learn to know how important it is to remain calm, and focused on the task at hand, which has allowed me to regain some control of the fear response of trying new things. It has been a blessing to work with and be supported by the great staff of Bethany's Gait.
-Kevin Zieran
US Army veteran
OIF/OEF

I'm going to attempt to keep this short, but when I think about what Bethany's Gait has done for me that seems like an impossible task. A few years ago, I was drowning...I had already come up for the last breath. You see my husband is a Marine Corps Veteran and he was almost to the rock bottom of his two year spiral. My life had fallen apart and I was alone, in every way, in my marriage, my social life and I did not have the courage or even strength to reach out for help. Then someone mentioned a Veteran Wives Retreat...I thought at the time it would give me tools to help my husband. I had no idea what I would be really walking away with. I joke to this day that all the classes and speakers were hand-picked for me, that Cristi somehow knew what I needed. From the therapy with the horses that left me crying in the beautiful soul healing type of way, to the husbands' panel that made something click in my head in a way that I don't think would have ever happened on its own.
I walked away with a sisterhood, with a new-found sense of self and a peace I had never imagined ever getting back. I want to say I would have had the strength to have done that on my own, but I know I wouldn't have. The retreat gave me the power, my sisterhood had my back, I had safety nets and I wasn't alone. That's the greatest gift I think that Bethany's Gait gave me, I wasn't alone for the first time in my darkness.
-Erin Mills
Marine Corps Veteran's Spouse