Unshackled Hearts Ranch INC

08/21/2026

Day TWO of a whole new chapter for Atticus. 🐴

Yesterday,
Amanda took Atticus out on the trails with a rider on his back for the very first time.

Today, Heidi gave him another opportunity to learn, think and build confidence.

He’s been down these trails plenty of times with me leading him,
but navigating them with someone on his back is an entirely different experience.

And THIS is what makes me so proud of him…🥹

Atticus doesn’t just react.
He thinks.

He’s learning where to place his feet.

He’s figuring out uneven ground, paying attention to what’s around him and processing new things without immediately deciding they’re scary.

Today.. A deer popped up. 🦌

Atticus looked…
thought about it…
and carried on. 👏🏽

For a young 3-year-old horse with only TWO trail rides under saddle, I couldn’t ask for more.

There’s no rush with him.

No need to push for perfection.

Just miles, experiences, confidence and lots of opportunities to use that smart little brain of his.

And I’m SO proud of Amanda and Heidi for helping me give him those experiences.

Having people I trust willing to put the time into these horses and help them learn correctly means more than they know.

Atticus is learning the trails…

but more importantly, he’s learning that when something new happens, he can stop, think, and figure it out.

So happy to have friends like Amanda Mevec and Heidi Ann Stears and SOOO proud of my “Fatticus”
✨🖤✨

08/19/2026

Sometimes the biggest wins with a young horse look like the smallest moments.🤍

Today when Amanda went to get Mi Corazón, he came right to her to be haltered.

No chasing.
No convincing.
Just a baby horse beginning to recognize someone he trusts. 🥹

We work with Zón daily and try to expose him to as much as possible.

Every time Amanda visits, she spends a little more time with him… and every time,
you can see their bond growing.

With young horses,
I think it’s so important that we don’t make every interaction about doing something.

Sometimes the lesson is simply:

✨Humans are safe.
✨Being caught doesn’t mean something bad is coming.
✨You can choose to come to me.
And I’ll listen to you, too.

That’s the kind of foundation we want for Mi Corazón, not obedience built through pressure, but confidence built through consistency. ✨

And judging by the way he walked right up to Amanda today…

I’d say somebody is starting to realize he’s safe around people here and Auntie Amanda Mevec
is pretty alright! 🥰

08/16/2026

🚜 PASTURE PROGRESS + CALLING ALL STICK PICKER-UPPERS 😂💪

The pasture expansion is still a work in progress, but LOOK at how far we’ve come! ❤️🐴

Now we’ve reached the very glamorous stage of ranch building where we need volunteers who are really good at…

picking things up and putting them down. 😂

Seriously.
That’s the job.

We have sticks,
branches and brush
that need to be gathered into piles so Optimus Prime 🏗️ (our excavator) can scoop them up and get them into the burn piles.

No special ranch experience required.

No fancy skills necessary.

Just some gloves, decent shoes, a willingness to get a little dirty…and the ability to pick up a stick and relocate said stick. 😂💪

Every pile cleared gets us one step closer to opening up more usable pasture for the animals here at Unshackled Hearts Ranch.

If you’ve ever said, “I’d love to come help at the ranch!”
THIS IS YOUR MOMENT. 😂

Comment below or message me if you want to join our Pick Things Up & Put Them Down Crew! 💜🌳

Little by little, pile by pile, we’re building something pretty incredible here.

Healing both sides of the fence.
✨✨✨✨✨

08/14/2026

Here is a BIG first for
Wilbur and Mateo. 🫏❤️🫏

For the first time, these two boys got to officially meet up close through the safety of the fence line and because they’re both jacks (intact males), this introduction is one I’m taking especially seriously.

Two jacks can get along, but hormones, territory and competition can make introductions more complicated.

That’s why I’m not rushing anything.

I want them to have plenty of time to see each other, smell each other, communicate and establish boundaries with a safe barrier between them first.

It’s especially important that these two learn to peacefully coexist because they’re both part of life here at the ranch.

Their relationship doesn’t have to happen overnight and they certainly don’t have to become best friends but they do need to learn that the other one exists without it becoming a competition.

And judging by this meeting…
they definitely had a few things to discuss. 😂

For now, we’ll keep doing controlled fence-line introductions, watching their body language and letting them tell us when they’re ready for the next step.

Slow.
Safe.
On their timeline.

Step one for Wilbur & Mateo is officially in the books. 🫏🫏

08/12/2026

With baby horses,
the goal isn’t to rush them,
it’s to build the foundation.🩵

Amanda spent some time working with our little Mi Corazón (Zón) today, and moments like this may look simple, but they are such an important part of raising a young horse.

At his age, training isn’t about asking for big things. It’s about teaching him that people are safe, pressure has a release, and new experiences don’t have to be scary.

Touching all over his body, standing quietly, accepting a halter, leading, yielding to gentle pressure, picking up his feet, and learning personal space are all little lessons that will make a HUGE difference as he grows.

And maybe the most important lesson of all?

Trust.

We want Zón to become a confident, respectful horse who wants to work with us, not one who complies because he’s afraid of us.

Amanda is doing exactly what he needs here: meeting him where he is, asking for a little, rewarding the try, and giving him time to process. 🤍

There will be plenty of time for the bigger lessons later.

For now, we’re building the horse underneath them.
✨✨✨✨
Amanda Mevec

08/12/2026

A little more comfortable.
A little more confident.
A little more connected each time.

Every time Deb comes to Unshackled Hearts Ranch,
I can see her getting more acclimated with the horses and I love watching it happen.

Horses have a way of teaching us without ever saying a word. They teach us to slow down, pay attention, trust ourselves and understand that confidence doesn’t have to happen all at once.

Each visit, Deb gets a little more hands-on, learns a little more about how we do things here and becomes more comfortable just being in their space.
And the horses feel that, too. ❤️

This is such a big part of what I want this ranch to be about.

It isn’t only about rescuing animals. It’s about giving people a place to learn, grow, connect, and sometimes discover a part of themselves they didn’t even know was there.

So proud of you, Deb. Keep showing up. They’re getting to know you, too. 😍
Deb Walters

08/11/2026