Experiential Work with Horses & Donkeys
Daily groundwork sessions where the horses become your teachers — presence, boundaries, energy, intuition. You'll learn to listen to them, and in doing so, learn to listen to yourself.
4 Day Women's Well-Being Retreat with Horses in Equine Facilitated Learning
A 28-acre horse farm for women ready to slow down, listen in, and come back to themselves.
Oct 16 to 19, 2026
Imagine Equus Farm, North Carolina
Only 7 Women
Pricing starts from $2,499
An Invitation
You can be succeeding at everything and still feel a long way from yourself.
Many women know how to hold it all together. Their careers, their family, and the endless list of people counting on them. Few of us know how to actually feel rested, present, and fully ourselves inside our own lives.
This retreat is four days in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains for women who are ready to stop doing for everyone else and finally have space that is entirely about them. A place to put the list down and pick yourself back up.
Through experiential work with horses and miniature donkeys, time in nature, walking meditation, breathwork, and stillness, this retreat invites you to quiet the overthinking, soften the constant vigilance, and reconnect with parts of yourself, your intuition, your joy, your dreams, that may have gone quiet for years.
Whether you arrive exhausted, curious, at a crossroads, grieving what was, or wondering what's next, you do not need to arrive with anything figured out. Just arrive willing.
One important note: this is not horse therapy, and it is not a riding clinic. It is experiential learning. You learn by doing and engaging with the horses from the ground, never by being lectured at, and never from their backs.
Is This For You?
This retreat may be for you if…
- You are the one everyone else counts on, and you can't remember the last time anything was just for you.
- You've lost touch with your joy and you want it back.
- You are at a turning point — asking what's next? or how do I do this differently?
- You love horses or donkeys, or you've always felt drawn to them, even from a distance.
- You're interested in intuition, energy, meditation, yoga, or spiritual growth
- You crave real time in nature — woods, streams, open pasture, quiet.
Why Imagine Equus
This is not a lecture weekend. It is also not a vacation you'll need to recover from.
Imagine Equus lives in the space between worlds. Experiential, intuitive, deeply restful, and a lot more powerful than you might expect.
i.
The horses do the teaching
Most people approach horses through riding, or in other words, power and control over them. Here we get off their backs and meet them where their true wisdom lives. Horses are masters of presence, boundaries, and reading energy. No lectures. No being talked at. You learn by doing, and the horses meet you exactly where you are.
- Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning, all from the ground
- No riding and no horse experience required
- All of the miniature donkey love you can handle
ii.
A small circle, not a crowd
Limited to 7 women. Small enough that everyone is seen, everyone is heard, and everyone does everything. Solo travelers are encouraged, so your attention stays on you, not on taking care of someone else.
- A safe, peaceful setting built for women arriving alone
- Group sessions where every voice has room
- Shared meals that become the tender hours of the retreat
Scenes From The Farm
A glimpse inside the experience.
Horses, morning light on the pasture, and the long exhale you didn't know you were holding.
What Awaits
Six pieces of what we'll do together.
Walking Meditation & Tibetan Yoga
Gentle movement and meditation practices that complement the work with the horses and settle you deeper into the land and your own body.
Breathwork & Writing
Exercises to clear space, close out the unfinished "business" you've been carrying, and give your creative juices somewhere to flow.
Reiki & Healing Sessions
Each guest receives a Reiki or other healing modality session — a quiet time to deepen your connection to the power and wisdom of stillness and self.
Nourishing Paleo Meals
Healthy, local, organic, and genuinely delicious. Food designed to empower the body — catered so the only thing on your plate is you.
Time to Simply Be
There's personal integration time, tons of time in nature and outdoors, and long stretches to wander the creeks, the woods, and our little waterfall. Every second here is spent actually experiencing something and learning that being fully present in it is enough.
The Days
Four days, sketched.
Purposeful, but not crammed. Every day has time for the work and time to disappear into the woods.
Day One
Friday
October 16
Arrive, settle in, gather the circle, celebrate.
- 11:00 AM Arrival, settle into accommodations
- 1:00 PM Group meeting & sessions begin
- 6:00 PM Opening Celebration Dinner
Day Two
Saturday
October 17
A full day with the horses.
- 8:30 AM–4:30 PM Experiential work with horses & sessions
- Evening Reiki & healing sessions
Day Three
Sunday
October 18
Deeper work, then space to let it land.
- 8:30 AM–1:00 PM Experiential work with horses & sessions
- 1:00 PM Lunch
- 2:00 PM Session
- 3:00 PM Personal integration time
- Evening Reiki & healing sessions
Day Four
Monday
October 19
Integrate, close the circle, take what you found home.
- 8:30 AM–1:00 PM Final experiential sessions
- 1:00 PM Lunch
- 1:00–3:00 PM Wrap-up & retreat concludes
Each full day, a healthy and delicious lunch is served around 12:30, with breaks and snacks throughout. Times may flex a little because that's the nature of experiential work. Note: Closed-toe shoes are required for all work with the horses.
The Land
Twenty-eight acres, two streams, one small waterfall, and more quiet than you've had in years.
Our home for the retreat is set in an isothermal belt in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Western North Carolina horse country. Here, October means lush, green, golden light.
You'll stay in beautifully designed and appointed tiny-home cabins or the farm flat, each one your own private, peaceful oasis. Half the property is pasture, barn, and farmhouse; the other half is woods, creeks, and the waterfall.
Space to gather and space to disappear. Time in the circle, and time entirely alone with the sound of water and the horses grazing in the distance.
After
Imagine leaving more present. More grounded. Clearer about where your time actually goes, and what you actually want it spent on.
And unlike a vacation that fades by the following Monday, the presence and boundaries you practice here with the horses come home with you.
Your Facilitator
Held by someone who has done this work for almost a decade.
Kim Kupferer
Founder, Imagine Equus Farm
Kim Kupferer is an accomplished horsewoman who has led well-being and empowerment retreats for women at Imagine Equus Farm since 2017. A lifelong lover of horses, she left the saddle behind to meet them on the ground. This was the path that led her to a rare two-year, one-on-one mentorship with renowned teacher Barbara Alexander of Epona Ridge and certification as a Facilitator for Equine Experiential Learning in 2018.
Before the horses, Kim spent over 34 years as a criminal defense trial attorney in California, handling the most complex of cases. She knows exactly what it means to carry pressure for a living, and what it takes to set it down.
What stays with them, after
“
Thank you again for a wonderful retreat. It has impacted my life in ways I could not have imagined. I did not expect a weekend could help me reframe my mindset to see the possibilities that exist in my life, rather than the disappointments that I was focused on. The experiences with the horses and donkeys was incredible. Given the chance to stop and truly listen to their wisdom taught me a lot about myself that I would not have otherwise discovered. I may be back next year for an emotional tune-up!
Retreat Participant“
This retreat has been an enlightening experience all around and the animals have been my teachers. One of the best experiences of my life. If you are just staying at the farm for a visit, consider a retreat. You won't regret it!
Retreat Participant“
This was a life-changing amazing retreat... leaving here with tools to navigate my life like the calmness of a horse... Life-changing... Thank you Kim and thank you to your herd for making such an impact on my heart...
Retreat ParticipantReserve Your Spot
Pick your stay.
Two ways to join us this October. Only 7 spots.
Retreat + 3 Nights Lodging
$2,999
The full retreat plus 3 nights of lodging (October 16, 17 & 18). Our on-property tiny-home cabins and farm flat are limited and fill first — after that, we refer guests to lovely local cabins and known properties nearby. Most immersive.
Apply for the RetreatRetreat Only
$2,499
Full programming without lodging. Arrange your own stay nearby — we're happy to point you to trusted local options.
Apply for the RetreatWant to linger? Extra nights at our cabins may be added before or after the retreat for $185/night.
How registration works: Fill out the registration form below. Once your registration has been approved, you'll receive a tuition request to complete the process. Your spot is reserved once payment has been received.
The Details
What's included
- Four days and three nights at Imagine Equus Farm (lodging tier)
- All retreat programming, materials, and activities
- Daily healthy lunches and snacks
- Opening Night Celebration Dinner
- A Reiki or healing modality session
- Daily experiential work with the horses and donkeys
- Walking meditation, Tibetan yoga, breathwork & writing exercises
- Full access to the woods, streams, and waterfall
- All of the miniature donkey love you can handle
Not included
- Transportation to and from the farm
- Meals other than those listed above
- Lodging for Retreat Only tickets.
What women ask before they say yes
I've never been around horses. Is that okay?
Completely. All of the work is from the ground — no riding, ever — and no horse experience is required. The horses meet you exactly where you are.
Is this horse therapy?
No. This is experiential learning. You won't be analyzed or lectured at. You'll engage with the horses directly and learn from the experience itself — and from your own intuition.
I'd be coming alone. Will I feel out of place?
Just the opposite. Many of our participants come alone, and we encourage it — this retreat is about you, not about taking care of anyone else. The farm is a very safe, peaceful setting, and with only 7 women, you'll be seen and welcomed from the first hour.
What should I bring?
Closed-toe shoes for the horse work, comfortable layers for October in the foothills, and anything that helps you rest.
What's the cancellation policy?
Cancellation up to 60 days before the retreat start date results in a credit of half the retreat tuition. There is no tuition credit for cancellations 60 days or less before the start date. Because we keep our retreats very small, we keep our cancellation policy tighter.
What happens after I register?
Your registration is reviewed, and once approved you'll receive a tuition request. Your spot is confirmed once payment is received.