Kerstin Colliver, founder and co-owner of Two Angels Horse Farm, has been handling horses since she was 13. She started in the show world, but during college quickly learned that there’s a more humane, compassionate and patient way of treating and handling horses. She is now a liberty and natural horsemanship teacher and trainer. "If you ask a horse to walk with you and not walk for you, that's when you win them over," she says.
Kerstin, 39, and Stephanie Keim, 51, are the two angels behind the farm. Introduced by Stephanie’s mother, Miss Bernie, in 2011 in Lexington, where both were then living, the two quickly became friends after Miss Bernie died. Both grew up with horses, Stephanie through her mother’s love of them and Kerstin through volunteering on farms while she moved from place to place. “Horses were my coping mechanism and best friends,” Kerstin says.
They moved to the farm in 2020. Two years later, they opened Two Angels Horse Farm, a farm dedicated to healing horses, many of whom have been neglected or abused, while also healing people.
The farm offers therapeutic riding to neuro-divergent children, like Jubal, and also to soldiers and veterans. In April, Kerstin and Stephanie developed a non-profit, Horses Healing Heroes. Kerstin’s brother, Brandon, who served in the military for 23 years, inspired Kerstin to pursue this work. Brandon completed nine back-to-back tours in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His combat experience affected his personality, Kerstin says. “I didn’t see him smile for a long time,” she says. She took him on a ride and he began to respond. “Watching my brother have a great time on his ride, I knew I wanted to help soldiers,” Kerstin says.
One veteran they’ve served is Max Forrest, 36, who lives in Clinton, Tennessee, and comes often to the farm to be with Chance, a 19-year-old Tennessee Walking Horse and gentle stallion. “I’ve found that from all the therapies I’ve tried for PTSD, horses provide the best,” Max says. “Horses are very in tune with the people around them.” Max says that Chance often pulls him in for a horse hug. “I have full-blown conversations with him,” he says. “I’ve had full-on crying fits out in the barn with him. I don’t feel judged and I feel heard.”
Kerstin, a self-taught horse trainer, believes in an intuitive way of handling and communicating with horses. She focuses on creating a lasting relationship and bond by gaining trust through compassion and patience. “Each horse is different,” she says. “What works for one horse, won’t work for another.”
Kerstin’s and Stephanie’s friendship is the core of the farm, both say.
The two say they are really good at teaming up to help others, even though they are both pretty stubborn. They both value the landscape and the close-knit community Williamsburg offers, as well as the chance to do rewarding work. “We build a lot of strength in people,” Kerstin says. “Physically and emotionally, that’s the great thing, that it’s both,” Stephanie finishes. “This is ours, this is our dream, our work, our do-or-die.”
Kerstin Colliver and Stephanie Keim have been best friends for over 15 years. In their work, they complement one another, they say.
Kerstin and Stephanie are passionate about improving a community’s mental health through the healing power of horses. “I know horses and I know the healing power that they have just being around them,” Kerstin says.
Jubal, 10, rides a horse for the first time. “He asked to ride again for a third time which was surprising,” says Marsha, his mother. “The therapy soothed and relaxed Jubal. He arrived excited and with a lot of energy.”
Kerstin found a farm in Williamstown, but because of an input error, the GPS took her to Williamsburg instead. "When I got here, it just felt right," she says. "The farm is like every farm I've ever lived on rolled into one." “I still can’t believe we live here,” adds Stephanie.
“I see horses as mystical beings," Kerstin says. "They are great teachers and make awesome therapists. They will never tell your secrets. You can sit and talk to them as much as you want because that's what they did for me."
“I’ve always been a tomboy,” says Stephanie. She is an airplane mechanic and helps out on the farm when she is free. “We all pitch in and help each other out here on the farm.”
Natural horsemanship trainers are also known as horse whisperers. “There is a lot of involvement in figuring out why a horse does what it does, why they are having the reaction that they are having," Kerstin says. "Nine out ten times it is one’s fault by having the wrong body language, miscommunicating and lack of a trusting bond with them."
“I am still learning every day from Kerstin and the horses themselves," Stephanie says. "I don’t have the passion she does, but I like what we are doing, helping the heroes. I see what Kerstin does and I believe in what she does.”
Max Forrest, a veteran, comes to the farm to spend time with Chance (right), here sharing hay with Shawnee. Kerstin’s and Stephanie’s dream is to raise enough money to create long retreats for soldiers and veterans.