“It’s relaxing to be on a horse,” O’Connell said. “You just kind of forget about the worries.” His mother Jackie O’Connell describes her son’s interactions with the horses as life changing. “When Ryan rides, something changes, and I can see it,” she said. “He carries himself better, he’s so confident. … I can’t describe it. It was palpable. Something we could see, something was happening.” One of the volunteers at the ranch Randy St. Moritz, a military veteran and ranch veteran, said he sometimes enjoys the horses more than he enjoys people. Being with the horses takes his mind off of other things, it teaches him patience and to be calm.
Fran and Newman Gersin with Jesse, the first horse used in the very beginning of the program. The program started with only her and a gang member looking for a change in his life.
“Horses are perfectly honest,” St. Moritz said. “If you mess with the horse, it’ll mess with you right back. It teaches you to be calm around them.” The benefits of therapy riding for at-risk, challenged riders and veterans vary, but it leads to a boost in self-confidence and self-assurance in everyone who participates in the program. Along with what the horses teach, Fran and Newman do their part to help teach the riders other skills they may be lacking. In particular with at-risk children, Fran said they learn skills such as reading and discipline while working on the ranch. “One of the things we learned early on is that a lot of those kids can’t read,” she said. “They tell you they can but they can’t. So we’ll let them paint the alphabet on the horse. It teaches them. It helps them understand the importance of following directions.” Fran and Newman said they could have never imagined how much they have grown since starting the program. Through help from people who believed in them and local entities that gave them assistance along the way, they’ve built up the ranch to accommodate an average of 30 to 35 consistent riders a year. In this, the community has given just as much 16 Pensacola Magazine
Libby wanders the pasture. The Leaning Post Ranch is situated on an 40-acre piece of land that was once a stagecoach stop and includes an old stagecoach road and a 100-year-old barn.
to the ranch as it has given back to those in need. “I feel like we’re a product of the community because we’ve had so many people to help us,” Fran said. “The Greenhut, the realtor who found the property for us. We’ve just had so many people help us. We could have never done this without all the people who have helped this unfold.”
The Leaning Post Ranch is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, with volunteers assisting in the day-to-day running of the ranch, caring for the horses and helping the riders. The 40-acre property the ranch sits on includes a 100-year-old barn and a shaded arena built with the help of an Impact 100 grant, among other old structures and buildings constructed with help from local donations. Interested riders and volunteers can contact Newman and Fran by calling 850-587-5940.