Women’s History Month is a time to honor the quiet revolutions — the everyday acts of leadership, compassion, and courage that shape communities and change lives. For us, it is the small acts of perseverance and advocacy that can lead to change in who we are, how people view aging, how people respond to living with a diagnosis of dementia and, most importantly, how we find joy in the imperfect beauty of everyday life.
Connected Horse was co-founded by Paula Hertel and Nancy Schier Anzelmo—women who believed in something both simple and profound: that healing happens through connection—to each other, to nature, and to the steady presence of a horse.
Their vision grew not from grand declarations, but from listening.
Listening to families navigating dementia.
Listening to care partners carrying invisible weight.
Listening to older adults longing not just for care, but for meaning, dignity, and joy.
They imagined a time where diagnosis did not define identity…
Where aging did not mean isolation…
Where relationships could be rediscovered through shared experience rather than clinical intervention.
“We have advocated for whole-person-directed services for over 30 years, with respect for the rich history of each person. They are more than a medical diagnosis. The horses help us experience unconditional acceptance,” explains Nancy Schier Anzelmo.
And from that vision, Connected Horse was born.
But like all meaningful movements, it did not grow through leadership alone. It grew because of the many women who showed up. “Our volunteers show up in such amazing ways with compassion, nonjudgment, and a desire to serve. In that process, they have fun, receive love, and make connections. It is that interdependence, that mutual giving and receiving of care and support, that is foundational to what we do,” states Paula Hertel.
Women who volunteer their time as facilitators, horse handlers, sensory engagement leaders, and compassionate companions. Women who hold space for uncertainty, laughter, grief, and rediscovery. Women who understand that supporting someone living with dementia also means supporting the people who love them.
These volunteers hold this incredible, nonjudgmental, heart-filled space for everyone.
They model patience in a world that moves too fast.
They foster a sense of belonging in a culture that often sidelines aging.
They remind families that connection is still possible—even when memory fades.
Connected Horse helps redefine what support can look like—not task-driven, but relationship-centered. Not clinical, but deeply human.
This Women’s History Month, we celebrate not only the pioneers who opened doors in the past, but the women who continue to open gates—both literal and figurative—at the barn.
Through mud and sunshine, through stories shared beside horses, through moments of recognition that words cannot capture, they are reshaping what it means to grow older and what it means to care. Thank you to all of the volunteers who believe in our mission.
