Equine Escape

FRANCES DANNER grew up on the beaches of Kitty Hawk and the Outer Banks, where she spent every free minute fishing, swimming and riding horses. “Horseback riding along the shore is one of my favorite things,” she says. “I did that most days of the week, and I loved it.” Danner has turned her love of horses into animal assisted therapy, a service that she offers to children, adults, couples, and families at Azalea Coast, a farm in Porters Neck that she has been leasing 

since May. “It is the perfect farm for therapy, quiet and beautiful,” Danner says.  

As an equine facilitated psychotherapist, Danner specializes in addressing trauma, depression, anxiety, life transitions, and family or relationship issues with horses and activities like grooming, walking, and simply spending time at the farm. “The incorporation of animals   

expedites healing,” Danner says. “The sessions bring a sense of comfort in a non-judgmental space that encourages clients to open up beyond what happens on a couch in a clinical setting.” 

Danner’s goal, since fifth grade when she started riding, has been to learn every aspect of equestrianism. “Just having experience with a horse isn’t enough,” she says. “I made it my mission to find the best ways of doing everything for the horse. I have a true relationship with all of my horses, and I incorporate that bond into every therapy session. I know what every ear movement means.” 

Danner brings a wealth of experience to Azalea Coast. She has been a therapeutic riding  

instructor and a Special Olympics equestrian coach for ten years. Additionally, she is a coach for a competitive show team and a previous coach for the Interscholastic Equestrian Association. 

In 2019, Danner earned a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of North Carolina  

Wilmington. Two years later, she obtained a degree in clinical mental health from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virgina. Danner is also certified as an animal-assisted therapy interventionist and trains others how to safely and ethically incorporate animals into treatment plans. 

During couples sessions, Danner observes partners interacting with each other and with the horse. “I watch how the couple talks to each other, how their energy-heightened language and their emotions affect the horse. Often the horse retreats from the couple,” she says.  

Those same interactions apply to children. “After kids have interacted with a horse, they can visualize what happened when they get home. They understand how their emotions and language can affect their family just like it affected the horse,” she says. “This kind of therapy does so much more than clinical therapy because everyone is so involved.”  

As the sole proprietor at Azalea Coast, Danner’s days are long, caring for three of her own horses and seven boarders. Her typical day begins at 7 a.m. bringing the horses into their stalls from the pasture for hay and water. Then she returns to the pasture to pick up waste.  

Danner’s first therapy sessions and riding lessons begin at 9 a.m. and continue through noon. In the middle of the day, she makes sure the horses have cold water and plenty of hay, and she mucks the stalls. Then it’s back to lessons until 6:30 p.m. when the routine repeats in reverse:  caretaking of the animals and putting them out to pasture, mucking the stalls, and another trip to the pasture to deliver hay. 

In addition to traditional clinical therapy and animal assisted therapy, Danner offers several other services at the farm: boarding; lessons in riding; hunter jumper lessons, a skill that tests horses  

and riders’ ability to clear obstacles and fences; and professional training for horses and riders tailored to each horse’s individual need. “We work through behavioral issues with the horses, developing better responsiveness and work ethic, addressing unwanted habits such as laziness or resistance,” she says. “My goal is to help each horse become a more confident, willing, and well-rounded partner.”  

Danner continues to improve her own riding skills, taking hunter jumper lessons and eventing, a triathlon consisting of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. The triathlon assesses proper movement and harmony between the horse and rider, agility through woods and water, and precision jumping over fences. 

This month, Danner started offering workshops at Azalea Coast for veterans, first responders, and teachers, among others. The first workshop, based on prior sessions she has offered in the 

Outer Banks, is for middle school girls, teaching confidence and strategies to deal with bullies. This fall, Danner intends to deliver workshops on parenting and mindfulness to help individuals discover their own emotional peace. Eventually, she hopes to offer yoga and pilates. “And anything else that helps with healing,” she says.  

Danner, whose vision is to create a place where people feel supported, empowered and inspired, says everybody has a place at her farm. “A horse can do so much for us,” she says. “I want more people to be able to experience this therapeutic environment.” 

To view more of photographer Madeline Gray’s work, go to madelinegrayphoto.com.

Want more WILMA? Click here to sign up for our WILMA newsletters and announcements.