Children and Adults Find Healing and Connection at Roughout Ranch

“Everyone wants to be heard and to belong,” says Kathy Rutan-Sprague, Program Director at Roughout Ranch, nestled on 15 acres in the foothills just outside Redding. Here, children aged 2 and up and adults struggling with autism, anxiety, and related personal challenges can find acceptance and non-judgment, learn boundaries and make positive connections with themselves and others.

Jennifer Arnold with her 16 year-old daughter, Lilly, getting to know Roughout Ranch pony, Puck.
Photos by Kimberly Parodi

Roughout Ranch was founded in 1973 as a horse ranch. Kathy O’Donnell came to the ranch in 2016 as a ranch hand, caring for the horses and the ranch grounds, helping to upgrade the facilities. Kathy says, “I was thinking while I was doing this work, that there had to be more than just feeding horses and taking care of the ranch.” She was inspired to take Equine-assisted Philosophy workshops and horsemanship training. She later became an owner of the ranch and in 2019 started the non-profit Roughout Ranch Foundation Inc, which supports the ranch’s Horse Encounters and Community Integration Programs and the Authenticity Workshops. The workshops offer to connect and engage in horse activities led by Kathy Rutan-Sprague, Ranch Program Director, registered nurse, and founder of Authenticity Workshops and Daystar Ranch. The Horse Encounters Community Integration Programs, conducted by Kathy O’Donnell, offer one-on-one horse encounters for children with special needs.

Learning through being present with the ranch animals

The ranch is home to a wide variety of animals including domesticated horses, mustangs, ponies, a donkey, goats, turkeys (including a very bossy Tom Turkey), ducks and a potbelly pig. Visitors to the ranch can commune with all the animals. But it is through interaction with the equine residents that program and workshop participants learn how to set boundaries, leave their anxieties outside the ranch, be present in the moment and build self-esteem and confidence.

One of the goals of the Authenticity Workshops is to help troubled kids who may not get along well with their family or others to learn to make connections with themselves and others through interacting with the horses in a workshop called Conscious Connection and Encouraging Engagement. To understand how to interact with a horse, workshop participants develop a relationship with the horse.

“First sessions are less doing and more being, listening to what the horses are telling us with their body language,” Kathy Rutan-Sprague explains. “Horses are very honest. We can think of something that happened yesterday or worry about what might happen in the future, and our consciousness goes there. Horses don’t have the ability to travel through time and space with their consciousness, so they are here always in the present.” By being present with the horses, participants learn to listen to and connect with their inner voices and come to know and respect themselves.

Programs for kids and adults with special needs

Kathy O’Donnell helps children with cognitive or physical challenges learn self-confidence and life skills through her weekly one-on-one horse encounter sessions. She also puts on the Rough Rider Roundup Special Western Day and Modified Rodeo, a free fun event for special kids and adults with physical differences and developmental delays, held every year in October at the ranch. Attendees can enjoy exploring a kids’ size “Western town,” riding stick horses and bouncy bulls around an obstacle course, barrel bulls, wooden broncs, gold panning, roping steer dummies, barrel racing, riding the cow train, contests, demonstrations, carnival games and more. Participants also enjoy plenty of free food and beverages.

Sheryl from Shasta County has enrolled each of her four special needs boys in Roughout Ranch programs. She shares on the Roughout Ranch website, “The experience that Roughout Ranch provides for my children is priceless, one-of-a-kind. My boys have gained self-confidence and so much more.” To learn more about Roughout Ranch and its programs, go to roughoutranch.org.

This year Rough Rider Roundup will be held on Oct 21. Space is limited to 60 participants. This event relies on a cadre of volunteers and contributions from generous donors. To register, volunteer to help with this event or donate, go to roughriderroundup.com.