Howdy Partner!

Thank you for the opportunity to share the mission of The Worthy Ranch, where we will help survivors of human trafficking and abuse by using equine therapy, life coaching, and job development.

You may be wondering . . . why do we want to help survivors of human trafficking and abuse? 

When I started working at a domestic violence shelter in Las Vegas, NV - I came face to face with the reality of human trafficking happening in our backyard. There was an immediate connection to the women and children we served, a familiarity and empathy I traced back to my own story of sexual abuse as a child. 

The abuse continued in my marriage until I decided to leave for good. I experienced loss, grief, and extreme depression, my heart was broken, and after losing my kids in a very ugly child custody battle, I had no will to live. For the first time in my life, I considered suicide as a way out.

Instead, I went IN.

Inside myself to figure out what was wrong with me, or more importantly what happened to me.

With the help of my friends, family, and my horse, I SURVIVED.

The mornings I spent feeding, grooming, and riding my horse were therapeutic. It was as if every part of me evolved, mind, body, and spirit. Most of the time, I felt stronger on the back of the horse, than when my boots were on the ground. 

My horse was a mirror that helped me trust myself and others again. It’s my hope that women and children who visit The Worthy Ranch will learn to trust again, realize their self-worth, and explore the purpose of their life. 

The vision is to utilize our life’s experience with nonprofit fundraising, horses, and construction, along with help from friends gathered along the way, to sustainably build The Worthy Ranch, together.

Join me on this dusty trail, where survivors become their own heroes and ride off into the sunset!

Gratefully,

Heather Marie Estus

Founder of The Worthy Ranch