The Touch of a Mustang

When Lisa Peronne’s marriage fell apart, she lost her home and much of her community. She didn’t know where she would keep her horses, but they were the one thing she refused to give up.Sometimes Lisa would sit beside her mare, Bella, and do nothing. Bella would lower her head and stay. After years of trying to keep everything together, Lisa found that she could sit beside her horse and admit how much was hurting.Lisa and I talk about what it means to feel seen without having to explain yourself, how her relationship with Bella helped her face old trauma, and what happened when she suddenly lost the horse who had guided so much of her work.ABOUT LISA PERONNELisa is an author, retreat leader, and creator of The Healing Horse Herd Method™. Her background spans veterinary technology, wildlife rehabilitation, and conservation biology. Her experience with Bella shaped the workshops and retreats she now leads on the horse-human bond.CONNECT WITH LISAWebsite: https://healinghorseherd.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovespiritjourney/Healing Horse Herd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healing.horse.herd/Email: [email protected] WITH THE TOUCH OF A MUSTANGWebsite: https://thetouchofamustang.org/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetouchofamustang/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTouchofaMustangSUPPORT THE PODCASThttps://buymeacoffee.com/thetouchofamustangFollow The Touch of a Mustang as we uncover the places and principles that lead to healing, resilience, and freedom of mind.

The notice gave them seven days before the Salt River wild horses would be impounded. Simone Netherlands and the people who knew these horses refused to let them disappear quietly.Today, visitors still see wild horses along Arizona’s Salt River. But keeping them there requires far more than winning that first fight.Simone shares how years of photographs, herd records, and public pressure helped protect these horses. We talk about the difficult choices behind humane wild horse management, why she supports fertility control, and the daily work of keeping horses in their families and on the land.It is also a story about continuing when you’re tired, discouraged, and facing opposition after years of effort. The horses are still here. What will it take to keep them here?ABOUT SIMONE NETHERLANDSSimone is the founder and president of the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, an Arizona nonprofit dedicated to protecting and humanely managing the Salt River wild horses. Its work includes herd monitoring, fertility control, emergency rescue, and sanctuary for horses who cannot return to the wild.CONNECT WITH SIMONE AND THE SALT RIVER WILD HORSE MANAGEMENT GROUPWebsite: https://saltriverwildhorsemanagementgroup.org/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/srwhmg/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saltriverwildhorsemanagementgroupWays to support their work: https://saltriverwildhorsemanagementgroup.org/what-you-can-do/CONNECT WITH THE TOUCH OF A MUSTANGWebsite: https://thetouchofamustang.org/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetouchofamustang/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTouchofaMustangSUPPORT THE PODCASThttps://buymeacoffee.com/thetouchofamustangFollow The Touch of a Mustang as we uncover the places and principles that lead to healing, resilience, and freedom of mind.

How do you rebuild when the life you loved is no longer there?Nearly four months after a wildfire burned the forest around our home, we are still finding our way forward. Our horses are recovering from injuries sustained during evacuation, and the mountains look nothing like the place we imagined spending our lives.People say it will grow back. But what do you do while you’re standing in the middle of what’s been lost?In this solo episode, I share what caring for my horses and restoring our land are teaching me about grief, healing, and resilience. Whether you’re rebuilding a relationship with your horse or facing a life change you never wanted, there is a place to begin, even when you can’t yet see what comes next.CONNECT WITH THE TOUCH OF A MUSTANGWebsitehttps://thetouchofamustang.org/Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/thetouchofamustang/Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/TheTouchofaMustangSUPPORT THE PODCASThttps://buymeacoffee.com/thetouchofamustangFollow The Touch of a Mustang as we uncover the places and principles that lead to healing, resilience, and freedom of mind.

Leila King was undergoing treatment for two forms of cancer when a friend introduced her to a rescued horse. She did not know whether she would survive. Beside that horse, she and her three daughters found a release from the stress and anxiety surrounding treatment.Someone had given that horse another chance. The time Leila spent with him helped shape what she wanted to do with hers.Leila founded Kihoi Ranch to help wild Mustangs build lives beyond government holding through patient training, trust, and partnership. Now she is working toward the nonprofit’s first adoption. But getting started has exposed a difficult contradiction: the horses she knows can bring people peace are often seen as too dangerous to welcome.We talk about the horse-human connection during her cancer treatment, what observing wild horse families at McCullough Peaks and the Pryor Mountains has taught her about belonging, and why protecting Mustangs requires understanding more than their beauty. Leila also shares the barriers to bringing her vision to life and her plans to make horsemanship accessible to young people who might otherwise never encounter a horse.A rescued horse offered her something she needed during an uncertain chapter. Kihoi Ranch is her effort to carry that gift forward.ABOUT LEILA KINGLeila is a paramedic, mother of three, and founder of Kihoi Ranch, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to wild Mustang rescue, training, and advocacy. Its current focus is bringing its first Mustang home and documenting the journey to educate others and build a foundation for future rescues.CONNECT WITH LEILA AND KIHOI RANCHWebsite: https://kihoiranch.org/Facebook: Leila’s FacebookFirst Mustang adoption fund: Donate through ZeffyCONNECT WITH THE TOUCH OF A MUSTANGWebsite: https://thetouchofamustang.org/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetouchofamustang/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTouchofaMustangSUPPORT THE PODCASTbuymeacoffee.com/thetouchofamustangFollow The Touch of a Mustang as we uncover the places and principles that lead to healing, resilience, and freedom of mind.

Rock bottom rarely gives you the freedom to begin again with a clean slate. There may still be children to raise, bills to pay, trauma to carry, and relationships that make every decision more complicated.Barbara Parker knows what it means to rebuild under those conditions. She has experienced homelessness, financial instability, a painful marriage and divorce, and the work of reconstructing her identity while trying to create stability for her family.She did not transform her life through one dramatic decision. She began by remembering her value, reconnecting with people who could see and support her, learning how to manage money, and recognizing that another person’s anger did not require her participation. Those steps eventually took her from a homeless shelter and subsidized housing to becoming a licensed therapist, author, entrepreneur, and founder of BF Empowerment Center.We talk about how emotional regulation creates choices in moments that once felt automatic, why every invitation to argue does not have to be accepted, and how the body warns us when we no longer have the capacity for a productive conversation.Barbara also explains why helping someone in an abusive relationship requires more than telling them to leave. Safety may depend on money, housing, childcare, transportation, confidential documents, and having someone trustworthy who will listen without taking control. Real support protects a person’s dignity while helping them see and prepare for the choices available to them.This is not a story of overnight reinvention. It is a conversation about rebuilding your identity, stability, relationships, and future one decision at a time.ABOUT BARBARA PARKERBarbara L. Parker, MA, LPCC-S, is a licensed therapist, author, speaker, and founder of BF Empowerment Center. Her work focuses on trauma recovery, emotional regulation, healthier relationships, family support, and interrupting cycles of violence within homes, schools, and communities.CONNECT WITH BARBARAWebsite: https://www.bfempowerment.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bfempowerment/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bfempowerment/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/queenblparkerDOMESTIC VIOLENCE SUPPORTIf you or someone you know is experiencing relationship abuse, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at https://www.thehotline.org/, call 800-799-SAFE (7233), or text START to 88788. Call 911 if you are in immediate danger.CONNECT WITH THE TOUCH OF A MUSTANGWebsite: https://thetouchofamustang.org/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetouchofamustang/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTouchofaMustangSUPPORT THE PODCASTbuymeacoffee.com/thetouchofamustangFollow The Touch of a Mustang as we uncover the places and principles that lead to healing, resilience, and freedom of mind.