Although the Dream Keeper Farm Project was founded in late 2022, the idea of creating a safe space for animals and humans alike has always been a dream for co-owners Regina Till and Jenna LaPierre. The Dream Keeper Farm Project values and promotes inclusivity among children of all abilities and of the LGBTQ+ community. The Dream Keeper Farm Project encourages learning and development in children by promoting educational and therapeutic opportunities on the farm.

The inspiration behind this farm project is an 11-year-old boy Allan Seebach IV, LaPierre and Till’s son, who has been diagnosed with high-functioning autism.

“Alan was the beginning of it all and then I fell in love with a wild pony,” says LaPierre. Till and Pierre observed that their son thrives on hands-on learning at the farm and that spending time with his pony, Annie Banannie, causes him to be less anxious.

LaPierre states, “when we first started - I wanted to help the developmentally disabled community-” With her Heart.Soul.Mentorship program, she uses the horses as a tool to calm one’s anxieties and incorporates a journaling aspect to promote self-awareness. LaPierre and Till want the community to be able to experience the calming effect that horses have on humans. “I want to be able to tell my [mental health] story and have people come in and want to tell their story so we can continue to save more lives together, but with the animals,” says LaPierre.

As a person who also suffers from mental health disorders, LaPierre spoke on why simply building a strong bond with her Navajo Mustang horse, Taki, has been the most therapeutic experience for her compared to traditional mental health treatments. Caring for and loving her animals, especially Taki, has been a learning experience that has sparked joy in LaPierre.

Taki was initially a dangerous horse when he was auctioned to LaPierre. Despite his demeanor, she was willing to take on the challenge of retraining him to be a trusting and loving animal. “Horses can feel your emotions before you’re even near them,” LaPierre says, “so I have to be present all the time [for Taki] - I can’t stay in my head, I can’t be stuck in my anxiety - I have to be focused. And it’s just a different type of therapy.”

Together, Taki and LaPierre have built a sanctuary for themselves through their unbreakable bond. LaPierre believes that horses carry the power to lead people to a place of self-healing and she wants to foster a safe space for others to experience the therapeutic healing that comes with caring for and loving a horse.

In the future, she plans to host a reading with animals program and to open a Summer Camp at their Wallkill farm for three weeks. La Pierre is also excited to be teaming up with art therapist Meagan Frederick in the spring to facilitate an art journaling class for six weeks, where students will choose an animal to bond with, either at LaPierre’s farm or Frederick’s goat sanctuary. LaPierre is planning to host social mixers in the Spring and a fundraising gala in the Fall as well.

The Dream Keeper Farm Project currently leads weekly Horsemanship Classes titled “Beyond the Saddle” which are geared towards teaching groundwork, basic horse care and maintenance of a farm. At the Dream Keeper Farm Project, they want to educate people on all the uses a horse has besides being ridden. Internships are also being offered to college students to help with marketing and social media at the farm, and the Dream Keeper Farm Project is always open for volunteers in any area of work.

Because their last Open Farm Tour was such a great turnout, says LaPierre and Till, they are planning another one on Monday, February 20 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. which will also be a pop-up Farm and Maker’s Market in an effort to open up to other farmers and makers in the community. The farm is located at 368 Birch Road in Wallkill. Any farmer or maker can be a vendor at this event.

LaPierre is excited for more people to join her Heart.Soul.Mentorship and for more people to join her mission of creating a different kind of therapeutic experience through loving horses. She hopes that someday in the near future, she will be able to lead horse retreats with Taki by her side.

Visit their Facebook Page or email Dkfarmproject@gmail.com for more information on the farm or upcoming events.