Copper Bowl Ranch Co-op volunteer testimonials.

Aimee

My love for horses started young, but I never really had the opportunity to be around them much. My uncle had a few horses for hunting - we would ride them a little bit every summer. I was just so entranced by them. A few years ago my adult daughter started volunteering at Happy Dog Ranch in Denver, CO. She kept telling me stories of the horses and how amazing they were - how healing.

This summer I got to go visit the ranch with her. I was absolutely in awe of the horses and the feeling of peace that washed over me as I stood among them. Then I was blessed by the beautiful horse in the picture... his name was Mac. He just stood with me for a long time, putting his big head into my chest - breathing deeply right by my heart... it was like he was telling me that I was ok, that I was enough, that I was ok just the way I was.

The tears rolled down my face as I felt his warm breath and the strength of his presence. He had no idea how much my soul needed his love that day. I knew that I wanted to be a part of a place like that ranch... so here I am...seeking the amazing peace and love these beautiful animals can bring - wanting to love them back. Thank you for letting me join you.

Tasha

I grew up surrounded by horses in western North Dakota and eastern Montana, and I’ve been drawn to them for as far back as my memories go. I come from a ranching family—my grandfather is even inducted into the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame—but my parents took a different route in life, and I grew up in National Park Service housing at multiple National Parks throughout my childhood.

I never had the opportunity to own a horse of my own, but as a kid—and honestly, as an adult—there was never a horse I wouldn’t jump on if I am given access. I’ve ridden on western saddles, galloped across fields bareback, and even somehow ended up riding on a jockey saddle once. (I’m 6’2- nowhere near the stature of an average jockey). I’ve fallen off, been bucked off, and been flipped over the front of a horse. I’ve ridden through the mountains and across the prairies, through streams, and once I even rode through tobacco fields in the Viñales Valley of Cuba.

Through all of it, one thing has always been true: I have always loved horses.

As a country kid, though, I dreamed of living in a city. At 19, I moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where I spent the next 24 years. During all that time, I had almost no access to horses. Eventually, I stopped expecting them to ever be part of my life again. Not because I didn’t want them to be, but because having horses in my life simply felt impossible.

My family and I moved to Minnesota in 2025. Soon after we arrived, I began looking into horse therapy for my daughter, who was struggling with anxiety as she started kindergarten. At the very first session I took her to, something unexpected happened: I realized just how much I needed to be around horses, too.

Then, in the spring of 2026, I came across a Facebook ad for the Copper Bowl Ranch Co-Op. It was everything I had wanted to find but didn’t know actually existed—a group of like-minded people working around, caring for, learning from, and having access to horses without necessarily having to own one.

The first time I walked onto the ranch, I felt an incredible sense of peace. Then I met the horses, and I felt something else: hope.After more than two decades of believing that horses were simply a part of my past, Copper Bowl Ranch gave them back to me.

I am incredibly grateful to be a volunteer at CBR. Being part of this ranch has given me a community, brought horses back into my everyday life, and reconnected me with a part of myself I didn’t realize how much I missed.

I truly feel this opportunity has changed the trajectory of my life.

Outside of the ranch I am a leather worker, quilter, and bag maker. When I’m not working or volunteering my life revolves around my family. I’ve been married to my husband, Rich, for almost 24 years, and together we have four kids: Sophia (23), Izabel (21), George (12), and Keya (6). Since moving to Minnesota, much of our free time has been spent exploring our new state together, and finding the places that are beginning to make Minnesota feel like home.