This article is brought to you by Johnson’s Towing and Recovery. When you’re in a jam because your vehicle has broken down, call Johnson’s at 765-452-3057. Their service is available 24 hours a day to get you and your vehicle where you need to go to get repaired and get back on the road.
Susan Zody has always had a heart for kids. She knew kids. She worked with them. It was a calling, she believed.
She had little experience with horses. She had ridden horses but had never worked with them. And yet, eight years ago she started Narrow Gate Horse Ranch. It was an unlikely answer to prayer, but one that has helped her realize her calling to help kids.
Zody was working with kids at Kokomo Urban Outreach when that nonprofit was just starting. She enjoyed getting to know the kids, but she had a desire to do something more for them. She knew the window to impact their lives was small.
“Kids in poverty mature so much quicker because they have to go through so much,” said Zody. “I could see that they were getting into things that they shouldn't be getting into. I asked God, ‘How can I keep these kids coming to my class and sitting with me to eat a meal?’”
Looking for more, Zody came across a program she heard about on a Christian radio station. A woman had started a ranch for at-risk kids to interact with horses, and the testimonies of how that interaction changed the children touched her. She knew her mission. She started looking for similar programs in the area.
“I took the kids to a place in Wabash first,” said Zody, who quickly saw value in putting the kids with horses. “Then, we went to Equiventure, here in Russiaville. They weren’t exactly what we wanted to do. But people heard about what I was doing and wanted to support it financially.
“When we got that money, we went to Agape in Cicero, which was a different program, more for kids with mental and physical disabilities, and it was more about riding horses. I wanted our program to be more like Equine Assisted Learning, which is what we do now.”
Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) is a therapeutic method that allows children to use caring for and interacting with horses to express and work through issues in their lives. Zody said it is amazing to watch the kids open up to the horses.
“They're talking about the horses and what's going on with the horses, but in that interaction, what's inside of them and the struggles they're having start coming out,” said Zody. “The whole point with Equine Assisted Learning is for the kids to figure out their issues and answers themselves.
“We don't want to teach them. We want to ask questions so that they figure it out. When we figure things out on our own, we're more likely to remember it, and for it to impact us.”
Strangely, Zody wasn’t a “horse person.” Her experience with the animals was limited to riding a few times with her sister when they were children. But God was calling her to work with horses.
“Why am I doing this?” Zody found herself asking. “I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know horses. But you know, that's the cool part of the story. God has provided these people who do know horses and embraced our mission.”
Narrow Gate’s program director, Heather Lawson, is one of those people drawn to the program. When looking for certified trainers, Zody was speaking with a woman who donated to her program. She connected her with Lawson, who was living in Noblesville, but grew up in Kokomo. Even stranger, Lawson is the daughter of Narrow Gate’s accountant, Greg McCarty.
“It could be coincidence, right?” said Zody. “But you know this was God orchestrating things. Everything out here -- the people like Heather, all the volunteers – they just show up. We've got more than 50 volunteers. It's just getting so big. I don't even know some of the new volunteers. It's been really awesome to see how God has brought these people with various skills and talents.”
Zody remembers the moment she became totally sold on the impact equine learning could have. She was working alongside a 13-year-old girl, grooming “Sabbath,” one of the Narrow Gate horses. As the girl used a curry comb and a hard brush to remove dirt from the horse’s coat, Zody asked a question that changed everything.
“I said, ‘See how that gets the dirt to the surface? What gets the dirt to the surface in your life?’” said Zody. “She stopped and looked at me, and she said, ‘I don't really know what you mean.’ I just kept working. I didn't look at her, and I said, ‘Oh, you know, like, what pushes your buttons?’
“Oh, my goodness. She started talking, and the story she told, I didn't even know what to say. I just let her talk. The more she talked, I realized I knew her story from the news. This young man was killed in a police chase when he hit a telephone pole or tree. This girl was on the phone with him, ‘FaceTiming’ him when that happened.”
Zody relied on the horse. She suggested they lead the horse around. Sabbath was very agreeable.
“The girl kept getting really close, so I kept pushing Sabbath away from her as we went around. I didn’t want her to get stepped on,” said Zody. “But when we finished a full lap, we stopped, and the horse did something I’d never seen her do before.
“The horse turned her head and neck around the girl. I didn't think she could turn her head that far. I finally figured out the horse was almost like trying to give this girl a hug. After about the third time, I said, ‘I think Sabbath wants to be alone with you.’”
The girl and the horse began another lap, all the time Zody praying that both would be safe. She needn’t have worried.
“She got about a fourth of the way around the arena,” said Zody. “She stopped and grabbed that horse's neck and just hugged her and kissed her. I just stood there bawling. How powerful was that! There was a change in that little girl. And every time she came back, she had to go see her horse every time.”
That was when Zody realized the power Narrow Gate could have in changing people’s lives.
“The horse is almost a bribe; people want to come to work with horses because they're just so awesome,” said Zody. “But there's way more to it than that. The horses are very empathic. Horses won't lie to you, but you can't fool them, either.
“We, as people, put masks on. We can really be angry or sad or whatever inside, but we put a smile on our face and fool other people. You can't do that with horses. They won't want to work with you. They don't care that you're mad, sad, or bad. They just know there's a discrepancy, and they don't like that because it means they can't trust you.
“So, when you come in, tell your horse how you feel. You can say it out loud. You can whisper it. You can even just think it because even then you're admitting to yourself this is how you’re feeling right now. And then your horse will work with you. They are that empathic.”
Narrow Gate offers more than horses. Each group of kids that visits the ranch is given a chance to write down prayer requests, either on a big whiteboard or on a slip of paper. Each Monday, a prayer team comes in and prays over the requests and the kids in general. It also has partnered with Turning Point A System of Care with its Reach program, focused on youth.
For the adults, there are opportunities to volunteer. With more than 50 people currently lending a hand, Zody knows that the ministry is reaching them as well.
Reno Fye attended a training class at Narrow Gate, not knowing how the horses would affect him. After learning details about a horse’s body language to interpret how they feel, the participants were told to go out to the horses and try to match up with one.
“I walked up to a horse, and the horse just kind of stood there,” said Fye. “When I tried to get closer, the horse’s body language shifted, and it just kind of like walked away. Heather asked me some questions, and I told her how I was feeling. She told me to relax and go talk to the horse. So, I started talking to the horse. It got rid of some of that anxiety and fear.”
The experience got Fye thinking about his life. He wrote down his feelings, pondering the things he had learned and experienced. When he returned to Narrow Gate for another session, things were different.
“I went out and approached the same horse,” said Fye. “It gave me all the right kind of signals and signs. It relaxed and did the lip blowing. That was good, but when I got home and started making notes, I hit on rejection. Is God rejecting me because I did something? If everybody knew me and knew my past, what would they really think?”
In his second week at Narrow Gate, Fye talked about his past in the classroom and then went out with the horses.
“Within five minutes, the first horse walked up and just loved all over me,” said Fye.
That was October. Fye has been coming back to Narrow Gate ever since. He tends to the facility, “scoops poop,” or whatever task is needed. The ministry changed him for the better, and he wants others to get that same experience.
To do that, Narrow Gate needs the community’s help. Like most nonprofits, fundraising is necessary to keep services flowing and doors open. Narrow Gate will hold its third annual Derby Ball fundraiser on Sat., May 4, at The Experience at the Kokomo Country Club, 1801 Country Club Dr. Doors open at 4:30 p.m., and the event runs from 5-10 p.m. Dinner is served at 5:30 p.m.
This formal/semi-formal event will feature a live stream of the Kentucky Derby, a deejay and dancing, a best hat contest, a silent and live auction, and prizes. Early-bird tickets are $50 if purchased by March 31. The ticket price is $65 per person after that date. Tickets are available by clicking HERE.
Narrow Gate Horse Ranch is a 501c(3) nonprofit, offering Equine Assisted Learning services to at-risk youth, ages 4-19. For information about the ministry, to participate, volunteer, or donate, visit www.narrowgatehorseranch.com.