DLB Ranch, Inc. at Night Star Ranch: Healing People with Horses in Cottonwood

Joni Maggini has two clear missions at her ranch in Cottonwood; “To keep hay in the barn and to keep offering healing to others through connecting with horses.” As a youthful 70-year-old, Joni knows she needs to keep herself strong and healthy for that mission. She shares her typical morning routine. “I do all the feeding and cleaning on the property and then come in for an extra cup of coffee before going back out to push the manure cart across the ranch. That’s 10-15 pounds of manure per horse, per day.” With Joni’s work ethic, all her animal pens are literally as neat as a pin.

Grit, determination and a dream come true

Life on Night Star Ranch is a dream life for Joni, and it was for her husband Dennis, too, until he passed away unexpectedly in 2012. Joni says with gratitude, “Dennis was able to live out his dream for two years and then left me with the grit and determination to keep living mine. I grew up as a horse-crazy kid and my first pony was named Baby Blue Eyes. Later, after raising children and having successful careers in the bay area, Dennis and I bought two horses that we boarded in Danville.” She says of the ranch in Cottonwood, “We had sights on Northern California and found our property here in 2007.”

Joni initially took a job at Bank of America in Redding while Dennis followed his vision to support Night Star Ranch. He was introduced to Equine Assisted Therapy and Learning and wanted to pursue working in that field. When he passed unexpectedly, Joni decided to take up his vision. Joni adds, “in 2015 I decided to retire early and start a nonprofit corporation offering the healing powers of horses. I named the nonprofit in Dennis’s memory and DLB Ranch, Inc. was born. I put all my retirement into the nonprofit and decided I could eat hay if I needed to.”

Horses bring healing, calm and time for reflection

Seven years later, Joni is blessed to have hosted hundreds of people on the ranch to experience healing through interaction with her two ponies, Roxi and Mr. Pony, and three full-size horses: Dusty, Regina and Calli. She also has goats, chickens and Miss Piggy, a potbelly pig. Besides her animals, her covered and lighted horse arena is her pride and joy and is equipped for all weather conditions.

Time in the arena grounds both horses and people, providing just the right conditions to bring healing and calm from the storms of life. Typically, therapists refer their clients for horse therapy and come to the ranch with their clients. Therapists consistently tell Joni that they learn more in a session with their clients and horses than in weeks of traditional face-to-face therapy. DLB Ranch, Inc. hosts youth, adults, couples, families and school groups. She also facilitates team building for corporations through horse interaction.

Facing fears from a safe place

Joni says Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, (PTSD), is an epidemic in northern California. She says, “Learning horse herd behavior is very healing for individuals with PTSD. Safety is the most important factor for herds or prey animals. When a herd encounters danger they initially flee. But then they acknowledge and face the danger head on, together. When individuals come to the ranch, I help them create a ‘herd of two’ with one of my horses. The individual ends up pairing with the horse that most closely resembles their inner self. Horses act like a mirror for people. My horses have each been on challenging journeys themselves and they can sense our pain. But they won’t trust you if you are not authentic. Like the herd of horses, we need to acknowledge our pain, be honest about it and begin to heal. Together we walk into our fears from a safe place.”

One of Joni’s client stories sums up the ability of an individual to find strength from interactions with a horse. Joni shared, “A woman was referred to DLB Ranch, Inc. by One Safe Place after domestic violence. The day I met her she walked up to the gate and immediately broke down sobbing. That was the extent of her first session and that is not uncommon. The woman was facing a court date with the perpetrator and she was terrified. She kept coming to the ranch and one day, while saying hello to my mare, Regina, we were shocked to see Regina immediately lay down at the woman’s feet. This is a sign that a horse feels completely at peace and secure. Soon after, the woman went to court and she recalled later to me that when the perpetrator looked at her, her mind immediately went back to that time with Regina in the arena. She said, ‘I told myself I would give my testimony so that he would never be able to hurt anyone else again.’ Her time with Regina gave her the strength and confidence to help others through telling her story.”

On any given day you can find Joni shoveling manure or painting her fences. She says “there’s hay in the barn, life is good! With my two legs and the horses’ four, we will keep running the ranch until the Creator tells us to stop.”

Visit the DLB Ranch website or call Joni at (530) 347-9902 to set up a field trip, individual session or a corporate team-building opportunity.