Hearing a whisper from her horses

ELIZABETHTOWN – How much can be accomplished in 22 years of life?

If you are Adrienne Howell, living the dream is making dreams come true for others. It’s not just making an appearance in this life – but making a difference with a passion, a drive and an enthusiasm that makes those around feel as if they’d hung the moon.

At 22, she is not only accomplished in her craft, but is on a path to greatness.

The young cowgirl hails from Goldsboro in Wayne County, but has since made Bladen County her home for the past decade. Both of those chapters have forged her in the fire of competition, education and teaching.

“We moved to Bladen County when my dad took a job opportunity here,” Howell said. “He was doing government contracting and we were able to spend more time as a family. I graduated from East Bladen High School in 2020.”

She was one of those from that rare class of COVANDERS who couldn’t experience a normal graduation.

“We had graduation outside on a stage,” she said. “We had to do it with our cars. We had a lot of cars. One student would get out of their car and go up and shake the principal’s hand. There was a lot of lessons learned throughout that year because it seemed like the whole world shut down at once… and very out of the blue. We thought we were going to have a week off of school. A week turned into a month and then to another month. We learned a lot.”

She said that she felt that during that time she grew closer to the horses and the community.

Growing up in Bladen, she had two loves growing up, although horses, she said were not prominent when she had a chance to be propelled by an outboard motor.

“We were always on the boat in the summertime,” she said. “During the school year I was like, full-fledged with the horses. Water festival was huge and I can remember that everyone in the community was tight knit. I can also remember playing volleyball and softball.”

In the off-seasons she grew proficient in barrel racing and has been in several competitions.

“After high school I started at Cape Fear Community College,” Howell said. “I was originally going to school for elementary education and debated between vet med and physical therapy all at the same time. I wanted to be a teacher, if you can’t already know that by how much I talk.”

She began with general ed courses and eventually made her way to therapy to equine.

The skills that she learned to be a teacher has played a major role now as she continues to work with children, but the classroom is outdoors and sometimes in a barn. And the kids are special and close to her heart.

A “tough as nails” cowgirl, she still tears up when she speaks of some of her autistic and downs syndrome students. She is not afraid to show her heart and how, even at a young age, she exudes a tremendous amount of love and wisdom.

The step from actual decisions to choose the classroom and to find her path to therapy was a combination of a love for children and a love for her horses.

“It was actually kind of crazy,” she said. “The summer of 2021 it was right around the time that the Grand Regal got big at White Lake. I was speaking to Dean Hilton, one of their owners and he told me, ‘You should look into therapy to equine.’ He then got me in touch with the lady who was doing therapy to equine.”

She also did her homework and was actually going back to school – investigating what it would take to follow this calling. She worked with and learned by shadowing at some local barns.

“I fell in love with it,” she said. “Immediately – right off the bat.”

Although she is taking a semester hiatus from her education in her field, she is using the time wisely.

“I wanted to do a little bit of clinical work,” she said. “My hope is to go to Texas between May and June to shadow under a few professional trainers and a few bigger therapeutic equine facilities. Hopefully that will leave me with one semester left after that.”

Her current course of study is at St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, North Carolina. She is set on the field of therapy to equine and will come away with a Business Administration and Management with therapy to equine.

“Therapy to equine is actually using horses as a way of therapy and to improve someone’s mental, cognitive and/or physical function,” Howell said. “Anyone with mental or physical disabilities – you can use horses as way of therapy for them.”

Howell’s goal is to focus on those with epilepsy as well as patients with autism and downs syndrome. She is also looking at putting together special focus on veterans those who have been diagnosed with PTSD.

“I want to provide a safe place that allows them to feel like they are just like us,” she said. “I want them to feel like they can come similar things that we get to do every day while helping and improving them.”

Howell is working her way toward a plan to heal people as she works side-by-side with horses who have a capacity to love and a sensitivity toward those who need help.

Her AH Therapeutic Equine & More is an equestrian center that is located within the Elizabethtown Veterinary Hospital of North Carolina complex at 4629 US Highway 701, Clarkton, North Carolina. The hospital sits on a former Butler Farms which was started there and was a working Arabian Horse farm. Butler Farms is now relocated to 440 Devin Dr. in White Oak, North Carolina, and is run by Ted Carson.

The Elizabethtown Veterinary Hospital of NC is owned by CEO and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Douglas Gensel and run by hospital administrator, Mallory Davis.

The horses that Howell uses to partner with her in therapy are all owned by Dr. Gensel and his wife Valerie. Her personal horse that she works with, rides and loves on is her beloved “MoJo.”

“I actually started working inside the vet hospital,” Howell said. “I was a kennel assistant, doing an internship after high school. It’s a program where you shadow and see if you like it. Vet med was something I was interested in. I also had a horse boarding here. Dr. Ginsel and his wife, Valerie have been very supportive throughout this whole journey. I eventually moved up to a vet tech assistant. I was also working with my parents (Jeff and Nancy Howell) who own White Lake Marina. I would work back and forth and was giving lessons here and lessons started getting bigger and bigger.”

Howell then approached Dr. Ginsel to use his horses and worked out a deal on commission. After an agreement was made, she worked with the horses and got them ready for her therapy equine business which started with lessons.

She has a way with her horses and a way with her now growing patient list which includes 20 which makes for a busy week. She doesn’t consider herself a horse whisperer per se, but she says that once you have learned to learn the horse’s body language, that’s a huge part of the job.

With her business and her talents as a trainer and therapy – she brings another whole new component to the complex. One that deals with the human interaction and healing.

“It was a surprising twist,” she said. “ I had some plans and God had bigger plans. I told somebody the other day, ‘I told God I had a plan. He laughed and gave me a better plan.”

Her life is blessed, her talents are strong and her focus is keen. You could almost see that divine hand speaking into the mix. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

And with those plans comes health and healing for those she reaches through her incredible young life. Not to mention the incredible bond she has with her amazing horses. To see her magic with the horses and with the children, you have to see it personally to understand. It’s not a job or a career for Howell… it’s a calling.