Joanna's Story
Joanna and Bella
My first memories as a child are of loving horses. I was the girl whose room growing up was covered with posters of horses. I read every book about horses I could find, and watched every movie. This love for the horse was something I was born with and, thanks be to God, has been nurtured through an opportunity to live and work on a 35 acre horse farm where I get to care for them every day! I grew up taking riding lessons where I could. We were a military family and moved quite a bit in my childhood. God, my immediate family and horses were the only constant things in my life. I rode English and Western and through the years of riding at different stables I was blessed to learn from many different horses. By the time I was 20 years old I knew in my heart I that I needed to spend my life caring for and learning about horses. That is when I began studying Natural Horsemanship and learning more in depth ways to work with horses that is most natural to them. In my 30’s a detour in my life set me on an unexpected path into the world of Equine Assisted Facilitation....which became a path to a deeper learning about this amazing animal and the magnificent way we have been designed to work together. I continue to work as an Equine Assisted Learning Facilitator and love to watch our horses heal and help others heal through healthy connected relationships.
- Joanna Dunlap, Founder of Rescue Rio
- Joanna Dunlap, Founder of Rescue Rio
Joanna, Gene, and Gladiator, a retired US Army Cavalry horse and the first horse to find their forever home at Tyson's Corners (1996)
TYSON’S CORNERS RETREAT AND WELLNESS CENTER IN LAMPASAS, TEXAS
Tyson's Corners is a retreat center that was created to help people, but has since become a sanctuary for horses as well. In 2008 Joanna and her father, the late Gene Tyson, began the Equine Assisted Therapy program at Tyson’s Corners Retreat and Wellness Center and quickly learned that the work people were doing with the horses to learn to have healthy connections was quickly transferring to the horses as well. Horses were healing just as much as the people were. As the years went on more horses and people came in need of a safe place to heal, and we realized that it wasn't just people who need our help.
Tyson's Corners is a retreat center that was created to help people, but has since become a sanctuary for horses as well. In 2008 Joanna and her father, the late Gene Tyson, began the Equine Assisted Therapy program at Tyson’s Corners Retreat and Wellness Center and quickly learned that the work people were doing with the horses to learn to have healthy connections was quickly transferring to the horses as well. Horses were healing just as much as the people were. As the years went on more horses and people came in need of a safe place to heal, and we realized that it wasn't just people who need our help.