“Humans & horses, helping each other.” That simple sentence, written in all caps, fills the homepage of the REINS website, an Oakley-based nonprofit.
Founded in 2019 by Kris Getzie, REINS hosts and facilitates equine-based therapy opportunities. It’s not just to benefit people, but also horses that have experienced trauma and rejection.
“I believe horses want a job, but there is a life expectancy of work for any animal,” said Getzie. “A carriage horse in New York, or a broodmare, or a rained cow horse, once they’re done with their formal life and no longer serve a purpose, those are the horses that end up getting flushed to kill pens, because horses are expensive.”
It’s these now-unwanted horses Getzie brings to her ranch in Oakley, working with organizations to adopt them before they’re sent to auction.
At REINS, they’re given a new job — to heal and heal others.
That mission attracted Alejandra Lara, a long-time Parkite and equine therapist, to help co-found REINS and facilitate their programs.
“In the industry of equine therapy, historically, is people getting services from the horses to be healed, to change themselves, but to the expense sometimes of the wellness of the horse,” she said. “That has always been an issue for me.”
Rescuing horses for this work is also beneficial for clients, Lara said, like military groups that respond to being given a new mission — “broken” people helping “broken” animals.
“Trust is something that both have lost, and so finding trust in each other again, allows … for both horses and humans to be able to then trust outside the barn,” said Lara. “If we change, the horse changes as well. And how we change, everyone around us also changes. So it’s a transferable skill.”
A main goal for REINS is to provide that resource for women and girls, said Getzie, a mission that stems from her own opportunities growing up in Wisconsin.
“I grew up with a single mom, and she was just your typical factory worker,” she said. “My first horses were your basic 4-H horses. I signed up for every class available in 4-H. … My best friend’s grandma owned a ranch, so I was out there every day, all day. I was obsessed with horses.”
Lara also developed a love of horses in her childhood, growing up in the mountains of southern Chile.
“I grew up in a time that horses were everything for us. We didn’t have electricity. We were a self-sustained land, and horses were our transportation, they would work the land, but they were also my best friends,” Lara said.
For both women, learning to care for and guide a 1,000-pound animal contributed to their development of confidence. Now, after a successful run in the corporate world, Getzie wants to give that same opportunity to others.
“I was fortunate enough to have a community who was able to expose me to this type of lifestyle, and I knew how much it meant to me,” she said. “Now that I’m in a position to give back, even if on a very small level, I want to do that.”
Most of REINS’ programming is designed for women and young girls, she said, with scholarships and internship opportunities with Getzie’s breeding business, 8D Ranch.
“I just feel like it’s easy for women and girls to be left behind in society,” she said.
For Getzie, it’s about fostering a cowgirl spirit.
“It’s just having a little bit of grit and determination and confidence,” she said. “An understanding of what it takes to run a ranch, livestock management — I think it’s just a great thing, and it teaches a lot of life skills to girls. And confidence …. Once we all develop confidence, that’s a therapy in itself.”
One way REINS nurtures confidence is through their Fellowship of the Horse programs, which are four-week cohorts offered in the summer. These are designed for kids age 13 through 18, and each week has a theme.
“The idea is that women, adult women, will mentor younger women,” said Lara, who helps facilitate the events. “When they find themselves with a different adult than their parents, they’re more open to take more information.”
While there are other mentorship opportunities in the community for girls, having a program incorporating horses is something Getzie and Lara know was valuable for them. Horses, like many animals, have the ability to mirror a person’s emotional state, Getzie said.
“A horse is going to respond when the person is aligned and congruent in their insides and outsides,” Lara said. That means they can interpret a horse’s behavior as a measure for the needs of the human.
This philosophy is also an element in REINS’ group retreat programs, often corporate teams who visit and stay at the ranch’s guest house. There, they can workshop skills like leadership in a ranch setting, Getzie said.
“There’s so many layers to being around horses that we just absolutely love and try to integrate it all,” she said. “Checking out, pulling back, being with the Earth, being around the animals — it does so much for people.”
These corporate and group retreats are their main source of funding, which Getzie said she prefers. Providing that service means less fundraising, and it gives them the freedom to be more selective about supporting women and girls.
“I do think girls are our future, and anything that I can do to help promote and stimulate more competent girls, I love it. Whether they’re cowgirls or not,” she said.
Learn more about Getzie and Lara’s work with REINS at reinsatsaddleview.com.