Horse Power: Bella Terra Stables Gives Rescued and Retired Horses a Higher Purpose

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

There’s a unique retirement community in Murrysville where the residents spend their golden years helping people heal from anxiety, depression, trauma, grief and stress.

And they’re all chomping at the bit to meet you.

“Horses don’t see differences like we see differences; they see intent, they see our hearts,” says Amber Power, executive director and co-founder of Bella Terra Stables.

The facility is on 26 acres of rolling farmland once owned by her grandparents, Bill and Jan Power, who operated a tack store and were active in the rodeo community. The couple had an open-door policy and invited all visitors to hang out with their horses, unintentionally providing equine-assisted psychotherapy in the process.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BELLA TERRA STABLES

In 2020, Power, a third-generation horse professional and certified equine specialist, and Ilse Eisele, a licensed professional therapist, turned that legacy of kindness and compassion into a nonprofit organization.

Bella Terra offers a variety of equine-assisted psychotherapy, wellness and learning programs designed to strengthen and nurture individuals, families, communities and the environment, both on and off the farm.

The herd includes a dozen rescued and retired horses that spent their working lives as police officers, teachers, athletes and entertainers.

Now they’re helping humans find peace.

During Qigong-infused yoga sessions, a practice that pairs graceful movement with the natural rhythm of breath, you can zen out in the pasture while the gentle creatures graze. On Open Farm Days, visitors can groom horses, mosey around the property or spread out a blanket and chill.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BELLA TERRA STABLES

The Stories in the Stable program invites kids to read their favorite books to LittleBit, a feisty miniature pony who was saved from a severe neglect situation, or Dolly, a blind Haflinger Cross mare.

The horses, along with a small cavalry of staff members and volunteers, have worked with 14 area school districts in the last three years to help students and staff cope with tragedies, including acts of violence.

They’ve also comforted residents of Rustic Ridge, a neighborhood in Plum that was rocked by a house explosion that killed six people in 2023.

The organization’s Beat the Burnout Wellness Program gives emergency responders and service-oriented professionals such as educators, healthcare providers and social workers opportunities to step away from their high-stress jobs. Through guided interactions, mindfulness practices and experiential experiences, the workers develop tools for stress management and emotional regulation.

Officers from the Wilkinsburg Police Department are planning to attend a Beat the Burnout session at Bella Terra Stables this summer.

After learning about the program from Director of Community Outreach Laura McGee, Sgt. William Coffee, a self-described “city boy,” visited the farm with his wife and 4-month-old daughter.

Cannonball, a resident retiree who served eight years with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Mounted Patrol, trotted over to the family, seemingly drawn to the sergeant’s shiny badge.

Coffee says he immediately felt a sense of calm.

“Cops are known for keeping everything inside,” he says. “We don’t talk about the things we’re going through on the job. All the guys are excited for horse therapy.”

When McGee contacted me about Bella Terra, we soon discovered we were both former Plum High School Mustangs.  She invited me to bring my 16-year-old daughter to the farm.

After sitting silently through a two-hour interview, Sarah, who is autistic, started to get antsy; she wanted to be home watching anime videos on her laptop.

That’s when Spot, the organization’s new arrival, stepped in.

The 26-year-old former lesson horse could tell Sarah was overstimulated by the heat and horse flies. He slowly approached her and put his nose on her shoulder to calm her down.

“You look at kids today and so much of their world is technology,” says Laura Wurzell, a retired school counselor who serves as Bella Terra’s director of curriculum. “Removing the screen allows them to start interacting with the world around them. Horses help.”

Spot has a heart-shaped mark on his left flank — and one that looks like a dollar sign on his right.

There’s a lot of love in equestrianism, but it isn’t cheap.

It costs about $5,500 a year to feed and care for a horse. Bella Terra relies on annual fundraisers as well as private donations and grants from organizations such as the Staunton Farm Foundation and the A.J. and Sigismunda Palumbo Charitable Trust to keep the operation galloping.

Individuals, families and corporate partners can help defray the costs through the Sponsor-A-Horse program, which includes an information packet with a brief history of their “adopted” horse, a description of their sponsorship impact and an invitation to visit on Open Farm Days.

Power spent 20 years as general manager of Rock Creek Park Horse Center, the only public stable in Washington, D.C. She taught thousands of people how to ride during her tenure at the facility, but met just as many who stopped during their hikes through Rock Creek Park because they simply wanted to be around the horses.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Those heart-warming interactions, along with Power’s serendipitous meeting of Austria-born Eisele, who was boarding her horse at the stable, launched the equine-assisted psychotherapy program in 2019.

Then Covid hit and everything shut down.

Power and Eisele immediately began looking for other barns where they could restart the in-demand program. The Murrysville farm, which had been vacant for nearly a decade, was the perfect fit. The pair re-homed dozens of horses before leaving D.C. and brought a small, aging herd with them to Pennsylvania.

They’re happy to be back in the saddle.

“We’re lucky to have a team of horse advocates,” Power says. “Everyone you see here loves these horses immensely. Being an advocate for horses allows us to be advocates for people as well.”