Serenity Ranch provides healing through horses

Serenity Ranch founder Dawn Chippewa understands the healing qualities of horses and has experienced them firsthand. It’s part of the reason why she wants the nonprofit organization to reach more people, and hopes to do more outreach and programming in the spring and summer.

“Horses bring so much to the table, people don’t understand how much healing they can bring, the goodness just goes to your soul,” Chippewa said. “Horses got me through a very traumatic childhood… They changed my life and got me through all the different hardships and things that were going on, so I know how well they heal — they connect you right back to life.”

The Suttons Bay nonprofit launched in the summer of 2023, just a few years after Chippewa and her husband, Phillip, purchased the property off North Mork Road. The move gave Chippewa the space to pursue her dreams of opening a horse therapy ranch, and they have been busy ever since building up infrastructure to shelter the many animals they care for. Currently, the ranch houses 17 horses, two of which are miniature ponies, a mule and a donkey. Children and adults benefit in a number of ways from their time with the horses, whether it be with motivation, emotional support, or to just learn about animals and how to care for them.

“My focus is on healing for all. I love working with kids and working with veterans, but truly in this world right now, everyone needs healing,” she said.

The nonprofit is a small operation and consists of a five member board, however, many volunteers as well as Chippewa’s family members come by to help at the ranch as much as possible. Chippewa said volunteers benefit from caring for the horses, too, so it’s a win-win for everyone involved.

“I can’t tell you how many volunteers have been through here and the horses have changed their lives,” she said. “It helps them to get focused on their life and get moving to where they need to go.”

Chippewa is retired from 25 years working in the gaming industry, with 11 of those years spent as a security supervisor. She then spent two years as a company trainer, wrapping up her career as a hotel manager for the remaining 12 years. Earlier in Chippewa’s career, she was a reserve police officer for eight years, and has also served as a local fire and rescue volunteer, emergency medical technician and firefighter. After spending 20 years moving up in the ranks, Chippewa would retire from the fire department as captain, where she met her husband, Phillip. The couple has raised seven children and have 23 grandkids, with two more on the way.

Since retiring just before the COVID pandemic began, kickstarting and operating the ranch/ nonprofit has been Chippewa’s main focus. Working with organizations like Horse North Rescue in Benzie County, Chippewa was able to connect and consult with others in the horse rehabilitation field to help get her going. It’s a venture she said she always wanted to pursue, but never thought would actually happen — until it did.

“We’ve done a lot in life,” she said. “We raised a lot of kids and a lot of grandkids and a lot of hours I put in at my jobs — 70 to 80 hour work weeks was my norm, and I loved my jobs and working where I did, but this is so (Serenity Ranch) great… Being able to work with horses was not something I was able to do throughout my life. There are life struggles, having to work and raising children, and horses are a big responsibility, so it’s amazing now to work with them daily.”

While there are a few steady volunteers, Chippewa said they could always use more helping hands at the ranch and welcomes people to contact her and learn more via their website https:// serenityranchllc.com.

“We’ve been working really hard on all of this and now we just want to bring goodness to everyone, that’s our drive,” she said. “It’s a work of love, just being around this, it’s my therapy everyday.”