A common mental health therapy session involves sitting in a comfortable chair in an indoor office to talk with a caring, compassionate professional counselor.

Yet a person’s mental well-being may also be soothed by the calming presence and gentle nuzzling of a hairy, approximately 800-pound, well-trained mustang.

Wild Horse Meditation at Chalet Ranch in southern Routt County is a new mental wellness option that started earlier this year. The outdoor meditation amidst nature and animals is part of a growing list of area activity-based, alternative mental wellness sessions that come in all shapes and sizes, such as through art, dance or music.

On a sunny Sunday morning in late September, a small group of women sat in chairs in a semi-circle facing a horse corral holding two mustangs, who were previously rescued from federal holding facilities. Chalet Ranch co-owner Andrea Krauer led the group in a relaxing guided meditation practice, while two friendly dogs also offered lots of petting opportunities. While the two mustangs gently horsed around inside the corral, a third mustang outside the corral ambled over to visit up close with each guest.

Krauer promotes the outdoor meditation sessions as the chance to “connect with the silent wisdom of America’s wild horses.”

“This guided experience invites you to slow down, breathe deeply and find inner peace in their presence,” according to Krauer.

Her husband Rouven Krauer — a noted wild horse trainer, educator and advocate — trained the adopted mustangs. Each horse required about one year to build full trust with humans. The South Routt couple, who are originally from Switzerland, decided to share their love of and the therapeutic benefits of the mustangs with the community through various types of equine programs.

Attendees at the Wild Horse Mediation in September were complimentary of their morning experience.

“I feel very strongly that horses are healing,” retired nurse and Routt County resident Kathy McKinley said. “I feel horses give something that can’t be given by anyone else.”

The meditation session was the third for Oak Creek resident Liz Griffith. Bubbles, the mustang roaming outside the pen, walked over to sniff and nuzzle with Griffith, who said each of her visits have been unique with different experiences with the horses.

Steamboat Springs resident Lauren Eidt was attending the meditation again, but this session was especially significant. She was remembering her cousin who died one year earlier in a mudslide during Hurricane Helene. After the session, Eidt snuggled with the large, gentle horses through a few tears and quick kisses on a soft mustang nose.

“This today has just been the type of space and so supportive from losing my family member,” Eidt said. “This was exactly what I needed for navigating through that grief.”

Eidt said the wild horses may initially seem a little intimidating, yet by the end of the mediation session, her “walls came down.”

“I think they (mustangs) create space to do our own healing,” Eidt said.

Another participant noted she was a more of a type A personality and not really a meditator, but she said the guided meditation amongst horses Bubba, Buddy and Bubbles was enjoyable.

The horse-loving couple bought the picturesque Chalet Ranch just south of Morrison Divide in 2019.

“We created it together as a place where humans can reconnect with nature, horses and themselves,” Krauer said.

While Rouven Krauer trains horses in the region and in Europe, the couple offers equine sessions by appointment such as one-on-one Wild Horse Meditation, Meet a Mustang and a Wild Horse Youth Program. The next group session for Wild Horse Meditation is scheduled for 10 a.m. Nov. 9, with more information available via email at TheChaletRanch@gmail.com.

Part of the mission of introducing more humans to the gentle mustangs is to promote increased awareness of the need for adoptions of the wild animals from government holding facilities. According to the Bureau of Land Management 2025 statistics, some 65,062 wild horses and 3,081 wild burros were held in off-range holding facilities as of March 1.

Krauer said although the experiences at Chalet Ranch do not serve a clinical therapeutic function, the aim is to “create a space where people can feel the unique presence of the horses — their calm, strength, trust and sometimes gentle nudges that can support personal growth.”

“Whether it’s moments of grief, nervousness, feeling down or simply needing inspiration and energy, the horses have their own wonderful way of guiding,” Krauer said.

More information is at ChaletRanch.com.