Sunridge Ranch aims to provide locals the 'healing' power of horses
As prey animals, horses have an awareness about the subtlest changes in their environment that makes them incredibly mindful of strong human emotions. Horses see insight into people in a way that people often do not see for themselves, which is why around one year ago, Kirsten Pabst decided to organize wellbeing workshops on her property in the Miller Creek area.
Pabst’s home, Sunridge Ranch, now acts as a wellbeing discovery center that offers a variety of workshops and events that promote team building, resilience and inspiration, and are aimed to reduce anxiety, burnout and feelings of being overwhelmed.
Former Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst has opened an equine therapy center at her Miller Creek property, Sunridge Ranch.
“My hope is that some of the many anxious, overstressed, overworked workers out there in every profession will find respite here and a place to relax,” Pabst said. “I am really excited about the potential. We’re brand new and it’s already taken off like a wildfire.”
Pabst served 30 years as a trial attorney and was elected three times as Missoula's district county attorney. She is also the founding chair of the National Prosecutor Wellbeing Task Force under the National District Attorneys Association.
Pabst got licensed as an equine facilitator around a year ago and has been hosting leadership development and team-building workshops, personal growth and healing events, social group and celebration events, and family and kids parties ever since. These workshops can include equine-facilitated games and challenges, art projects, and other self-guidance and discovery opportunities guided by the inspiration and comfort of horses.
Cecily Pfarr brushes a horse at Sunridge Ranch on Thursday, July 16 in Missoula.
During the summer months, she also offers free, once a month "Evening Unwind with Horses" events to allow people to have calm down-time on her ranch. People are invited to wander the gardens, sit by the fire, paint the sunset, brush a pony, take photos, or catch up with friends in the 6 to 9 p.m. event on Aug. 20 and Oct. 1.
The July 16 installment brought around 15 people together to sit at painting easels, drink lemonade and enjoy the view from the ranch accompanied by Pabst's three horses, Chloe, Teako and Mr. Valentino, along with some wild horses that came to visit as the event was starting.
Kirsten Pabst at Sunridge Ranch in the Miller Creek area in early July.
"I'm the kind of person that has some PTSD issues and anytime you're in an environment where you're around people and there's things to do, it really helps you open up," said Amanda Bielby, an attendee of the "Evening Unwind." "Working together on something or having a horse to put your energy on takes a lot of pressure off. It gives a greater pathway for people to heal."
Bielby met Pabst around one year ago through a painting class that Bielby had donated to a charity event, the two have been friends ever since.
Carlysse Jensen and Collette Shepherd pet horses at Sunridge Ranch on Thursday, July 16 in Missoula.
"When I first met her, she has just a comforting, raspy tone about her," Bielby said. "She's a natural at what she is trying to do. Her emotions can rise and she can get tearful, you just know that she really cares."
Pabst has had a love for horses her entire life. She said growing up, her family moved a lot which resulted in her being bullied and feeling extremely lonely. When she was 12 years old, she got her first horse which changed her life.
“I didn’t know anything about horses, but I would get on this pony with no tack or anything and ride as fast and as far as I could,” Pabst said. “The cadence of the hooves was so soothing to my anxious little heart, and I knew I was a horse person at that point. Although I didn’t have words for it, I experienced the profound healing of being around them.”
Pabst did not have horses again until after she lost one of her children in a tragic accident in 2008.
“I had a horse named Stormy, he bit and would rear up,” Pabst said. “One day I was so sad, I was grieving my son, and I just came out to the barn. He came over to me, and I could never catch this horse, but he came over and buried his head in my chest almost like he was absorbing what was going on.”
When Pabst retired from her high-stress position as Missoula County prosecutor in 2024, she decided to bring other people the opportunity to experience the comfort and refuge that she found through spending time with the horses and painting on the ranch.
People participate in a painting night at Sunridge Ranch on Thursday, July 16 in Missoula.
“It’s a little scary sometimes, having been a public figure and been in the public light, it’s not always pretty,” Pabst said about opening her ranch to the public. “But I’m not going to not live my life the way that I was born to live it by holding back. We’re opening up this place to people and hopefully others can heal as much as I have.”
Sunridge Ranch currently has around 10 volunteer handlers, including Lindsay Hartwell and her daughter Aubrey. Although Aubrey has loved horses since she was little, Lindsay said she did not have much experience with them when she started volunteering around a year ago.
Lindsay said her first time interacting with the horses up close, Pabst had her walk into the middle of their pen and think about something emotional. When she did, Teako approached her and put his head on her.
Kirsten Pabst at Sunridge Ranch in the Miller Creek area in early July.
“It was amazing, like he sensed it, and I had no idea that was going to happen,” Hartwell said. “I have Parkinson’s so this has just been really good for me, you do find healing in the places you don’t expect.”
Pabst recalled in an interview on July 7 two other times where she saw her horses have an immediate impact on someone. One, where a man had a knee injury and Teako placed his head on his leg, and another where a woman working as a crime news reporter broke down crying after receiving what Pabst described as a "horse hug."
Cecily Pfarr brushes a horse at Sunridge Ranch on Thursday, July 16 in Missoula.
According to Pabst, because horses have historically been at the bottom of the food chain, they are aware of subtle changes in environment such as weather or aggressive behavior because it helps them survive.
“The other thing about horses is that they’re so non-judgmental,” Pabst said. “They don’t care who you are, where you come from, what you wear, they don’t even necessarily get into the depth of your trauma, they know you’re traumatized and need healing. That’s magic.”
