Dueker Ranch
Est. 2014

“Nine years ago, I was introduced to Horse Therapy, when a friend of mine called and needed a favor. He asked if I could come to his ranch and help with a new program that was starting. The program was Horse Therapy for Special Needs Children. I told him I would help, but I did not believe that pony rides would help disabled kids. After the first Saturday helping with horse therapy, I was a believer.”

As Dennis worked more and more with horses and children and shared the results with his wife Kathy, the more the idea of using their own horses to help children appealed to them. Eventually their discussions turned into reality as they followed their dream of sharing their love of horses to assist those most in need of their help.

While living in California, Dennis and Kathy began looking for a location to start their horse therapy ranch and eventually settled on the wooded mountains of Star Valley in Payson Arizona. The year round cool weather, beautiful scenery and nearby trails provided the perfect location for the Ranch to set down it’s roots.

A key decision for the Dueker Ranch came early while Dennis was learning the power of horse therapy while working with children in California. Many families would show up one week for their important therapy sessions only to disappear for weeks on end before showing up again. Unfortunately the success of the horse therapy programs were very much dependent on regular attendance with the horses.  After a few conversations with the parents involved Dennis saw that for many of the families who needed horse therapy the most, paid lessons, even at $45.00 a week, was simply too much of an expense.

It was at that point Dennis and Kathy decided the there had to be a better way to provide the help their clients needed. However to provide the proper care for their horses so they could provide care themselves is prohibitively expensive and was beyond Dennis and Kathy’s means.

The solution to their problem came with the formation of the Dueker Ranch as a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Corporation.

As a non-profit, Dueker Ranch is dependent on the tax free, tax deductible, donations and contributions of individual and corporate donors to keep the ranch going and provide for the continued care of our special horses so that we can continue to provide life changing horse therapy lessons to children and those in need. Free of charge. Forever.