About

You Are Herd offers equine experiences that focus on building awareness, communication and developing skills for connected and healthy relationships.

Terry Kozak, Founder of You Are Herd

I grew up in Lincoln, NE. I have always been drawn to animals, horses were particularly fascinating to me. I collected plastic horses and would play for hours with them, I always dreamed I would have my own real horses one day.  I begged my parents to get me on a horse every time I saw an opportunity. My parents assumed I would grow out of my obsession with horses like a lot of kids eventually do, but it hasn’t happened yet.

After high school, I moved to Fort Collins, Colorado to attend Colorado State University. When I got to CSU, I was thrilled to see they offered equine equitation classes, I was in heaven! I took every horse class I could and then I began taking private lessons and working at every barn that would hire me. 

I graduated from CSU with a Bachelors in Sociology. After graduating, I moved to Asheville.  My first jobs in Asheville were working in community health; working with children and their families.  I worked with children at school, in the community and in their homes.  In 2001, I got a job with a private not-for-profit foster care agency, where I recruited and licensed foster parents and supervised foster homes for ten years. 

When I moved to NC, I stumbled upon a little barn out near Barnardsville, Sugar Creek Farms, it was nothing fancy but the horses there were different and so was the owner, Lisa Maxwell, she changed everything for me.  She and her horses were different, she worked with horses on the ground and her horses all had impeccable manners. She is quiet and small but she had such a strong presence, I felt it, and the horses felt it.  Her horses respected her, but they weren't afraid of her, they actually wanted to be with her.  She could get them to respond to her, seemingly by doing nothing at all, it looked like magic!  She danced with horses and it was incredible!  She was the first person to teach me about groundwork with horses, I just couldn’t believe what she could do on the ground with horses with nothing attached to them, they literally danced with her! She taught me how to ask horses to do things with us instead of doing things to them.  She showed me what it was really like to have a healthy relationship with horses, a relationship based on trust and respect.

 I realized this wasn't just about horses, it was so much more than that.  I started thinking about how horses could really help people, not help people become great horseman, but help people understand themselves better, help us communicate better, help us pay more attention, be present, help us develop self-confidence and self-awareness, help us accept failure, help us get curious and creative, help us learn how to be assertive, but not aggressive, and so much more. Every time I was with my horse, I learned something about me, sometimes it was good, other times it was not so good. I bought my first horse from Lisa in 2001, Wahoo, and he continues to teach me something every time I am with him. He has pushed me to grow in ways I never thought possible.   

About 14 years ago, I had a friend who was starting a residential treatment center and they wanted horses on campus, I was just laid off from my job, so I agreed to help them get horses and care for them.  While working at Solstice, I have been certified in EAGALA and trained in Trauma Focused Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. I worked with all the therapists (so many incredible therapists came through that program) and then we had the horse herd. We partnered with Hope for Horses where we would take in horses from the rescue, most of the horses needed to learn how to be in relationship with humans, sometimes we had horses that had never had much contact with humans so they could be pretty scared of us, it was super special to watch resistant teens work with resistant horses, they had so much in common. They were all there at this place but none of them really wanted to be there, watching those relationships change and grow was such an honor to be a part of. Therapists would bring their students/families down to the barn, I was the equine specialist and we would conduct equine therapy sessions for the students and families and we did it for the staff.  I also offered horsemanship to the students and staff at Solstice.  I loved my job, it was a perfect fit for me and I learned so much, I never knew how similar horses and teenagers can be. I was so lucky to work with so many families and therapists and I met so many incredible people along the way and so many different horses, thanks to Hope for Horses, we had such a diversified herd over the years, I cannot begin to explain how much I learned from being there for 14 years. It wasn’t always easy, sometimes it was actually incredibly difficult work, but I saw how horses could reach these kids that no one else could, I have seen the profoundness of the work change so many lives. The program closed in 2024 and I have been encouraged and supported by many of the families I served to keep the work going and not to give up, so I remain committed to helping partner humans and horses for deep healing.  

Having horses at home, I decided I wanted to work with my own horses too, they needed a job too, so I decided to start my own LLC., You are Herd, in 2018. Over the last 7 years, I have partnered with several private therapists in the community to offer equine therapy sessions, I have done equine learning sessions with individuals, couples and families, I have taught basic horsemanship, some riding lessons, and I have worked with a local businesses doing staff trainings to help to improve communication, leadership skills, team building and improving relationships with themselves and others both at work and at home.  I have worked with terminally ill people that just wanted to spend time with horses, I have offered many meditations in the pasture, I offered full moon circles in the pasture, I have worked kids, teens, couples, families, adults in recovery, women’s groups, and I even did a “whine with horses” evening in the pasture .  The possibilities are endless when it comes to horses.  

There are studies that show just being in the presence of horses can make us feel better.  I believe that good horsemanship is good lifemanship, I believe how we do anything is how we do everything, whatever shows up when we are working with horses is also showing up in other aspects of our lives, horses just show us and give us an opportunity to try new ways of being and showing up.

“The notion central to all horsemanship is that it is never about the horse. It is always about us, about how we either create issues or react to them. When the problems start to seem complex or stubborn, we need to stop. It means we are close to a new revelation. That is where the turmoil is coming from….  We must relax, reconsider, and rejoice: another eye-opener about ourselves is right around the corner.”    — Dr. Allan J Hamilton

A great horseman once said the only 3 things you need to be good with horses are patience, observation, and humility, I believe that transfers over to life too.  Horses have helped me get through some of my darkest times and they have provided me with some of the richest, and at times, most difficult relationships I have ever had.  Horses have helped all of my relationships improve, because they have showed me my flaws and have helped me work on me.  I have learned how to be a better partner, a better friend, a better mother, and a better overall person.  I have learned how to ask for what I need, rather than being passive, how to regulate my emotions, how to be assertive without being aggressive, how to be in healthy relationships based on trust and respect.  I have learned to be less judgmental, more present and to listen to myself, follow my intuition.  

“One must practice patience, observation, and humility when working with horses”

— Bill Dorrance