Our journey began with one girl's dream, when she was eleven years old and her father was diagnosed with cancer. Her love of horses helped her rise above her loneliness and fears, and she dared to imagine helping other people do the same. After becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Addiction Counselor, and meeting a man who owned an old Arabian horse breeding farm, that dream took root and became a reality. 

Diana DePugh, LCSW and Jim Bradley, BS, retired educator and addiction counselor, joined their love of each other, people and animals to become certified Equine-Assisted Growth & Learning Association members/facilitators and created what is now called “The Center For Personal Renewal at Once Upon a Time...” Farm, in Powder Springs, Tennessee.  

Jim is known as an old fashioned “story-teller”, the “down home, country kind”. In fact, at age 55 and 61, we told people we “have to get married because we are having a baby!” Of course we were talking about a horse, whom we named “Misty Mountain Dreamer”. As a recovering people ourselves (from all kinds of things that life has thrown at us), we both know the power of a good story (the true kind) to inspire people to renew their lives and totally re-invent themselves.  

Our program started out with one horse, then there were three and finally five. Now there are seven miniature donkeys too. Now that is a story in and of itself!  There is also a one-eared llama, two sheep, two rescue dogs, and a Senegal parrot! If it were up to Jim, there would be a lot more than that!

Knowing what other people have overcome to become healthy and whole, inspires all of us to keep on keeping on. The 12 Steps of Recovery and Spirituality are at the foundation of our program and our lives.

For more than fifteen years we have been growing and evolving into the program that we are today. We actually call our Equine Assisted Growth & Learning Program “Journey Together”, and our logo has a drawing of a horse and two people, joined together on a journey of growth, love and learning. 

We are trained and certified with the Equine-Assisted Growth & Learning Association (EAGALA), and Diana has taken Level I and Level II training in the Natural Lifemanship model of Equine-Assisted Therapy. During the pandemic, we took an online training in “Horse Powered Reading®”, learning to use equines to help children improve their reading skills, and are currently working on certification to specialize in working with Veterans. Together with this, we add our unique spin on things, and it works! At least many people have told us so over the years; and we are constantly learning & growing.

What is Equine or Animal-Assisted Growth & Learning? Well, it mostly happens on the ground, interacting with horses/other animals and people, and gaining insight into ourselves. We have “games” or “exercises” where clients are given instructions and tasks to complete that help them become more self-aware, identify and change limiting beliefs and patterns, improve communication with others, develop better problem-solving skills, and make shifts that can be life-changing. We look for those ah-ha moments where a flash of insight brings to life the many things people learn in therapy, school, treatment programs, support groups, etc. It is experiential learning, where animals are our teachers, and we are the students, no matter how many years we have been doing this work.  

We have found, working with all kinds of helping professionals, that if you add the power of animal-assisted experiential learning, clients can make more rapid progress and overcome stuck points. We like a team approach, combining office-based therapy, medication, support groups and animal-assisted experiential learning. We have a few individual clients of our own, but most people are connected to many support systems and professionals. 

We love a team approach!