When Rebecca Hubbard, Tammy Corrales, Jennifer Weiss and Reccia Jobe met while training in trauma-focused equine assisted psychotherapy, their shared interest in using horses to help clients led to a business idea.

Pecan Creek Ranch, an equestrian therapy practice the four women opened in Georgetown in October 2017, was a combined dream, they said.

“We’re not a traditional equestrian facility,” said Hubbard, a licensed therapist. “We’re all about healthy relationships and helping people build healthy relationships with themselves and others.”

The TF-EAP model, developed by Liberty Hill-based Natural Lifemanship, emphasizes building relationships as a way for therapy clients to recover from past traumatic experiences. The practice is designed to build bonds between humans and animals and evaluate ways to improve those bonds.

Horses have a natural rhythm and can easily detect when someone is ingenuine or projects themselves differently than how they feel inside, Hubbard said.

“That is something we get away from as humans,” Hubbard said. “We get tied into all these phones and electronics that we get away from the rhythm of life. [Equine-assisted therapy] helps us get back into sync.”

Hubbard added that emotional regulation is at the core of the TF-EAP model because it is important for humans to learn how to manage their energy and emotions depending on different life situations.

Jobe, an equine specialist at Pecan Creek, said learning how to manage emotional responses is necessary for clients to learn how to foster relationships and heal from past trauma.

Pecan Creek has 11 horses. The sessions are conducted with a therapist, an equine specialist and a horse of the client’s choice. Sessions are suitable for clients age 3 and older.

Pecan Creek treats patients with various mental health issues and also offers sessions and workshops for couples, families and organizations.

“[TF-EAP and working with horses] makes us become more genuine and more aware,” Hubbard said.