Kentucky Hidden Wonders

Healing Through Horses: The Transformative Power of Equine Therapy at HorseSensing

• Kentucky Hidden Wonders • Episode 1

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Discover the magic of equine therapy with Dr. Sally Broder, the visionary behind HorseSensing in Shelby County, Kentucky. With a heartfelt journey that took her from the sunny shores of California to the rolling hills of Kentucky, Dr. Broder has established a sanctuary for veterans and individuals grappling with addiction. Her passion for American Saddlebred Horses is just the beginning. Through the lens of Chris Carl's inspiring transformation, we witness the life-altering power of horse-human connections that HorseSensing fosters. These stories highlight not just recovery and growth but a deep-seated resilience drawn from a unique therapeutic approach.

Step into the vibrant world of HorseSensing's community events where the elegance of American Saddlebreds meets fun-filled activities. From farm tours and grooming lessons to thrilling demonstrations, there's something for everyone. Curious about how these programs thrive? Learn about their creative funding through grants, donations, and lively events like the HorseSensing Hoedown. As  Kentucky Hidden Wonders, HorseSensing's dedication to providing free support for mental health and substance abuse challenges has already touched many lives, with plans to reach even more. Join us for a conversation that promises inspiration and a glimpse into future possibilities.

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🎙️ Kentucky Hidden Wonders is presented by ShelbyKY Tourism.

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🎙️ Kentucky Hidden Wonders is hosted by Janette Marson and Mason Warren and edited by Mason Warren.

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Janette Marson:

Welcome to Kentucky Hidden Wonders. I'm Janette Marson and I'm Mason Warren. Together, we're uncovering the secrets, stories and hidden gems of Shelby County, Kentucky.

Mason Warren:

From unforgettable places to off-the-beaten-path adventures. Join us as we explore Kentucky treasures and Shelby County's best-kept secrets.

Janette Marson:

Today on our show we have Dr Sally Broder, the executive director or owner of Horse Sensing. And correct me, Sally, if I've got that wrong. What's your exact title?

Dr. Sally Broder :

Executive director and founder

Janette Marson:

and queen of all things, horse sensing.

Dr. Sally Broder :

Oh gosh,

Janette Marson:

Thank you so much for being on. I appreciate you. So first of all, tell us and the listening audience a little bit about yourself and then what brought you to horse sensing.

Dr. Sally Broder :

Okay, so I'm a clinical psychologist originally from California and I am certified in equine therapy as well as licensed as a psychologist, and I started horse sensing in California in about 2009 to have a way to work with veterans with PTSD using horses.

Janette Marson:

So what brought?

Dr. Sally Broder :

you to Kentucky American Saddlebred Horses. So I've been a huge fan since I was 15 years old. I went to work as a groom with Saddlebreds and this is the place to be. Shelby County is the Saddlebred capital of the world and I had a horse that was going to be born here, a Saddlebred I had bred to a stud out here, and so we kept visiting and when the baby was born, we were visiting more and more and finally we bought a home here so that we could retire here. And we came out here and we did the opposite of retire. We started horse sensing full-time, six days a week.

Janette Marson:

And how long ago was that? How many years?

Dr. Sally Broder :

Well, we arrived in 2014, launched the Kentucky Horse Sensing really about 2020, which was COVID, and opened to the public. 21, which was still COVID, and then got a residential program in 22, january of 2022. And so now we house 20,. Well, let's see 15 men now. 16 men and we're building housing for four more, so it'll be 20 by springtime and they stay with us nine months or longer.

Mason Warren:

Oh, that's amazing. That's amazing. So in your residential program, who do you typically work with? Who is in your residential program at Horse Sensing?

Dr. Sally Broder :

Oh, that's amazing. No direction really. Maybe they're kind of stuck and some way we find them. They could have a substance use issue and they get referred to us. We're pretty unique and it's a chance for them to have all day, every day, equine therapy while they learn how to work in a trade.

Janette Marson:

Gotcha, how many do you have? How many residents, veterans?

Dr. Sally Broder :

So at the main facility we have six that live on the property, and then at the Phase 2 house around the corner we have another four. At the phase two house around the corner we have another four, and then we have room for another six in the phase three house. So at any time there's going to be about a third of them that are veterans, and then the rest would be men in recovery from addiction. Right now we have a military veteran army and two Navy veterans.

Janette Marson:

Very good. So I know you said you're Dr Sally Broder and you've got great background. So, as these men and women are coming to you, can you think of a story where somebody's life was really changed because they were at horse sensing and meeting you and your husband and doing all the things that you do at horse sensing?

Dr. Sally Broder :

Oh, sure, thank you. So I don't know if I said it earlier, but what we do is we teach them how to work professionally in the American saddlebred horse industry. So in 22, when we first launched the residential program, we happened to get in our very first class. We got four veterans, two female, two male, and one of the males was a gentleman named Chris Carl, who was an army vet, iraq vet, and he really dug into the program. He had very serious anxiety and PTSD and we put him with a horse that had equal PTSD to him, and so the benefit of that was we had to teach Chris how to learn to calm down himself so that the horse wouldn't kill him basically, and as a result the horse now tolerates people much better and Chris went on to be quite a success in the horse industry, working after he left us for Stone Ridge Stables with Joey Newman, and then about a year ago I was looking for someone to fill my education director position, and that, essentially, is the person that teaches all the guys everything they need to know, and then the horse trainer teaches the other, and I asked Chris if he would come and take that position.

Dr. Sally Broder :

And so that you know, two years later, after going through the program, he accepted. His boss has really never been quite as nice to me ever since then, because he's just the perfect guy. When people call me they say things like you know, sally, do you have another Chris Carl, you know. So he has really found himself through working with the horses and through our program and we're just really proud that he's there.

Janette Marson:

That's so good. Mason and I have both been to horse sensing and I am a little bit afraid of horses and I'm thinking horses sense what people are feeling.

Dr. Sally Broder :

They can. They definitely can. And going back to Chris and that horse, when he first started working with that horse, there was an opportunity for him to be in the bullpen when they were training him to pull a cart and the horse flipped out and ended up to be in the bullpen when they were training him to pull a cart and the horse flipped out and ended up kicking Chris in the face accidentally Right, and I saw it and he was laughing. I said what are you laughing about? He said well, lukey just kicked me in the head. And I said why are you laughing? He said well, if that's the as bad as it's ever going to get, I'm fine. I'm not afraid anymore.

Mason Warren:

Oh my goodness, Wow. Well, that is better him than me, I guess, that anyway. So so you're on your farm. It's All saddlebred horses, right?

Dr. Sally Broder :

Almost all.

Mason Warren:

Okay, so why saddlebreds? Why did you pick saddlebreds to be the breed I know you said from a younger age you've always kind of loved them. But what drew you to them when you were younger and then to stick with it now?

Dr. Sally Broder :

Well, so you guys go up every year to the Kentucky State Fair? Yes, and that is where we hold our World Championship Horse Show. Yep, that would. So the Saddlebred Horse is what we call it's. He's called the peacock of the show ring because our breed wants to be everything, all the beauty and all the power and all the presence that he is, and they literally show off for you.

Janette Marson:

They are so fancy.

Mason Warren:

Oh yes, they're so fancy the majesty of them. Fun to watch definitely.

Dr. Sally Broder :

Yeah, and there's nothing like them. And I was exposed to my first saddlebred at 15. I started with quarter horses, saw that first saddlebred got an offer of a job as a groom and I never looked back.

Janette Marson:

So I guess it's the magical, the way they just the beauty of the horse is truly what drew you to them.

Dr. Sally Broder :

They're also big people pleasers. They, you know they're big and powerful, but they also want to please you and they're smart. So if you try to direct them in a in a way to train them, um, as long as you use kindness, um, and reward them, they want to perform their job for you and so, uh, they're very sensitive and alert and there's just, in a way they're similar to a thoroughbred, because a thoroughbred is what we call a hot-blooded breed, and so is a saddlebred, but I think the saddlebred is a little bit more able to attune to the rider. So there are lots of reasons that we love them. They're very versatile too.

Janette Marson:

That's neat. Now you mentioned the Kentucky State, fair Mason, of course, and I are always there, but it's exciting that the World Championship is right here in Kentucky. Do you have horses that you'll be showing here in Shelby County or in Louisville showing?

Dr. Sally Broder :

here at the, here in Shelby County or in Louisville, we have at least three, if not four, that will be as part of horse sensing. The guys train with show horses, they work on the show horses and we'll be taking at least three, if not four, to the local shows and there's two that we would like to take to Louisville, to Freedom Hall, to the World Championship. So we're going to work towards getting there. It's very expensive to enter, to go to stable, to the whole thing, so you have to make sure you've got the blood stock to take it Gotcha, but you work towards it every day.

Mason Warren:

Yeah, and you've touched on it a little bit kind of emotionally, but what sets apart a saddlebred from a different type of breed of horse? For the non-horse people physically like, how does a saddlebred look different from another type of horse, and things like that.

Dr. Sally Broder :

Okay. So if you look at a quarter horse, you're going to notice that their neck just naturally hangs off of their shoulder lower, and that's actually something that they like. Like that's part of the breed specs, the point of the shoulder and the withers in a saddlebred. You want to see the neck coming up from that point. You want to see a long, tall, graceful neck and a beautiful head perched on top with the ears forward. You also want to see a beautiful back with the tail that's perched up and out. And then, in terms of what their movement is like, there's something that we call motion or action, and that's they are born and bred to bring their knee and their hocks up. So instead of trotting straight out, they trot up, and with our shoeing and our training, we accentuate whatever they're born with.

Dr. Sally Broder :

And so if you ever saw a picture of a saddlebred with, like the one right behind you, that that mare has the knee and knocked up in the air, and that's something that they naturally have, so that sets them apart as well, gotcha, they're so beautiful, so beautiful, and you have a beautiful farm too.

Janette Marson:

So that leads me to can people come to see your farm? Do you do tours? Talk a little bit about how a visitor could get involved and see these wonderful horses that we've been talking about.

Dr. Sally Broder :

We have started giving tours, both on a small and larger scale, and we invite bus tours. They just call us at our number and then anyone that's interested in touring the farm on an individual or small tour basis can just call us. Also. It's a good way to see if you might even want to come out and volunteer. We have lots of volunteers and we have a great time working with the horses. It's beautiful out there. It's a great place to bring your kids. We have community events where we invite people to the farm several times a year, but we would love to see more tour groups for sure.

Janette Marson:

Absolutely. So what would a tour look like? Let's say I've got my motor coach and we're heading your way. What would a tour typically look like? Or what do you do? What do people say? Do they get?

Mason Warren:

to brush a horse, feed a horse, anything like that. What's the hands-on part of that?

Dr. Sally Broder :

So for the people that do want the hands-on, we invite them to have a grooming lesson. We also invite them to learn how to handle the horse a little bit, and we take them out and teach them how to manage the horse on the ground, how to walk, and then also we do demonstrations. So American Saddlebreds have three gates, five gates. They also go in a buggy or a carriage, so we give demonstrations of those so people can see the example of the breed. We also have, believe it or not, we have a mini horse, and so kids love our miniature horse. We have another one coming. So for the little ones and the people that are a little nervous about bigger horses, we put them on the miniature horse and a pony or two that we have.

Janette Marson:

I'm guessing it's not a miniature saddlebred, it's just a little horse.

Dr. Sally Broder :

That's a silly question. Probably it's an actual registered miniature horse. He's 32 inches high.

Mason Warren:

Oh, that's adorable I have to measure my dog. I don't know how my dog I know. Oh my goodness, I don't know how my dog compares to that.

Dr. Sally Broder :

He's Red Fox's Pistol Pete.

Mason Warren:

Oh my goodness, that's exciting that makes me how you hear especially if you're watching the Derby or anything like that horse names. They're wild and they're out there. So how? How do horse names work? Is there like a naming convention? How does that work?

Dr. Sally Broder :

It's all about the breeding. I'll give you an example. So last, let's say my last colt that's going to go into training now. His father's name is the Word Is Out. His mother's name is Twinkling Charm. My job was to put those together. So when you see a name, you're going to see a derivative of one or both of the sire and the dam, and so what I ended up with that quote was Shakespeare's charm, thinking of Shakespeare as the bard, as the word. But if you look at a name, think of who's the daddy, who's the mom, Fantastic. And you can follow those bloodlines all the way back.

Dr. Sally Broder :

So we're way back into the 1800s, our Saddlebred breed begins Wow.

Janette Marson:

So also I'm just thinking how are you funded? I know our listeners may want to know a little bit, they may want to donate or they may just be curious. So how is Horse Sensing funded each year to do these wonderful things?

Dr. Sally Broder :

I am busy writing grants, constantly, working on one for Brown, for me right now. Oh, that's a good one. I've never asked for one from them, so I'm going to cross my fingers. It's all grants, individual donations and we also have these fundraisers, but we do just rely on that stuff. We don't get any major government funding or anything like that.

Janette Marson:

A very worthy cause. So, brown Foreman, if you're listening, horse sensing is worth every penny, definitely. And I know you mentioned lots of fundraisers, I'm sure Big events.

Mason Warren:

What are some of the big events that you've got? Maybe the annual ones.

Janette Marson:

Okay, so tell us what's going to happen.

Dr. Sally Broder :

Well, funny, you should ask that question because our next one is going to happen. Well, funny, you should ask that question because our next one is going to take place right here in Shelby County. It's called the Horse Sensing, Hoedown, and that'll be March 22nd and it was great fun last year. We have a mechanical bull, we have line dancing, line dancing lessons we had last year. We have poker, great barbecue and everybody wears cowboy hats and cowboy boots and we have a costume contest of your favorite country star. So that's March 22nd. And then the next thing would be we have a pie contest at the end of April. We have a big fall festival in October and then we have a new fundraiser that's going to be July 12th. That's called a 4x4 Show and Shine. What is that? Trucks any type of 4x4, are going to be all over our 30-acre property and they compete for who's got the hottest chassis. I don't know what they compete for, but it's a chance for the kids to come out and see these great vehicles at a horse farm.

Janette Marson:

Yeah, that is horsepower, right Horsepower, there you go, there's your marketing campaign.

Mason Warren:

That's the thing you could use that for free.

Dr. Sally Broder :

We always like to have a way for people to visit at the same time that we're doing a fundraiser, because they love it out there.

Janette Marson:

Are you doing a chili cook-off this year?

Dr. Sally Broder :

Sadly we're not Okay, so we're going to serve chili at the Fall Festival.

Janette Marson:

Oh, that'll be good. That'll be good. I recall being a judge for that. Yes, you were. It was fantastic fun. All the other judges also had tender tummies like I, so we weren't sure who was going to test the really hot chilies. But that was wonderful and I know, is your pie.

Dr. Sally Broder :

The pie and cake contest. That's similar, only pies and cakes. April 26th Okay, wonderful, it's all chocolate this year.

Janette Marson:

All chocolate cakes and pies and then for the hoedown, I think I've seen on Facebook that you've been promoting some line dancing lessons and places that people so do you recall, like where people can go to learn line dancing?

Dr. Sally Broder :

Our next lesson is coming up this Sunday and it's at the Baghdad Ruritan Club.

Janette Marson:

Okay, I don't know if this will air in time for that, but do they do that throughout the year? Yes, ruritan, okay.

Dr. Sally Broder :

Yeah, at Baghdad Ruritan Club I think we're doing it every other Sunday past the hoedown and people love to line dance, so it's a lot of fun.

Mason Warren:

Gotcha and if people want tickets for the hoedown do and if people want tickets for the hoedown. Do they buy them online on your website?

Dr. Sally Broder :

They can come to the website and I've got the link there where they can buy tickets or tables, and if they want a sponsor, they can call me directly. That's probably the best way, and your website is wwwhorsesensingcom.

Janette Marson:

And phone number that you would want people to call. Oh, thank you 650-776-4313. Is there anything else about horse sensing that you would want people to know about? So our show name is Kentucky Hidden Wonders, and you are truly a hidden gem, hidden wonder, but your name is getting out there, definitely. But what would you want those listening to know about horse sensing and your passion for what you do?

Dr. Sally Broder :

I think that, more than anything, I always like to have people think about if they've known someone in their life in their family, friends, relatives that has needed help with either substance abuse or mental health, and if they feel like they could be helped by what we have to give. We're totally free. That's another thing. We don't cost anything. So I want people to know that Also, that it's not just for the people that we serve in the residential program, that we're also completely open to the public and the community and I want to urge people to come because we want to share what we have.

Janette Marson:

So how do people find? So if I was having a problem, I could just reach out to you.

Dr. Sally Broder :

You just call that number and you're going to get me, because it's my cell phone.

Janette Marson:

That's fantastic. What a wonderful mission.

Mason Warren:

Mason, can you think of any other questions? I love horse sensing. How many people have you had?

Dr. Sally Broder :

go through the program altogether since you opened. So right now we're on number 44.

Janette Marson:

Okay, All right, what's your plans for the future? So you've talked a little bit about what you've got. Now, what's coming up? Yeah, what's coming. Plans for the future yeah, like what? So you've talked a little bit about what you've got now. Right, what's your what's coming up? Yeah, what's coming up for?

Dr. Sally Broder :

horse sensing future-wise. That's interesting. So my goal for 2025 is to have 35 in this year. Serve 35 people in the residential program and place them at horse farms and get them on their feet and move in a positive direction and reduce the suicide rate.

Janette Marson:

Wow, that is a fabulous mission. Yes, and did you say that you have all three of your overnight houses? I mean they're all three built, and are you planning on more residential homes for people or while they're staying, believe it or?

Dr. Sally Broder :

not. We're expanding by converting our second barn into housing for four more people, so you know how barn dominiums are really popular right now. We're building our very own barn, dominium. Get in on the trend, and it also. It saves so much money to use an existing structure, and so we don't have to raise quite as much.

Janette Marson:

Right, have you already started on that?

Dr. Sally Broder :

Yes, we have Floor's in the framing's done, oh my goodness, then the snow started, Then the snow yeah, it's being built by the Amish team that built our original barn.

Mason Warren:

Oh, that's amazing. Well, they will have it done in no time, if the weather cooperates.

Janette Marson:

Anything else, mason, I don't have anything else. Thank you so much. It's really a wonderful mission and we love horse sensing. We love you and we're so happy that you're on our show.

Dr. Sally Broder :

Oh, thank you for having us. We love you and we're so happy that you're on our show.

Janette Marson:

Oh, thank you for having us, absolutely Thank you, thank you.

Mason Warren:

This has been Kentucky Hidden Wonders. Thank you to Dr Sally Broder for coming on the show to talk about horse sensing and thank you for listening. If you've made it this far, make sure you subscribe and leave us a review. It means the world to us. We'll be back in two weeks with a brand new Kentucky Hidden Wonder. Bye everyone. Kentucky Hidden Wonders is a Shelby KY Tourism production. Your hosts are Janet Merson and Mason Warren. To learn more about Shelby KY Tourism and to start planning a visit, head to visitshelbykycom.

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Janette Marson

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Mason Warren

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Dr. Sally Broder

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