Krystal Sieben took her children to a horse ranch and watched as her 8-year-old son with autism, racked with fear, was on the verge of tears.
He sat on a bench and a pony came and rested its head near him. Sieben’s son reached over to pet the pony and the two had a moment, she said.
“I think he (the horse) picked up on how he was feeling,” Sieben said. “In that moment, I was like, ‘Geez, what if I didn’t have access to a barn like this?’”
After her initial ranch visits with her children in 2019, Sieben, a middle school teacher from Stillwater, decided she wanted to change career paths. In 2022, she started the nonprofit Three Little Burdes, connecting people with horses and fostering special moments between them.
Three Little Burdes has three horses and three locations in Stillwater, Hugo and Hudson, Wis. Each visit is free and open to people of all ages and abilities. As a parent of a neurodivergent child, Sieben advocates especially for other children and people with disabilities to experience the calming nature of horses.
“When my oldest son was going through his autism diagnosis, it just felt really lonely, and being around the horses helped me,” Sieben said.
Sieben, a mother of three, describes her now 12-year-old son as “the most delightful light you’ll ever know.” But navigating his autism diagnosis did come with challenges, Sieben said. The outside world had not always been accommodating and understanding of his differences, which made it hard to feel like her family fit in many places, she said.
No matter who you are, what a person’s going through or how they process emotions, the horses remain calm, Sieben said. They are always welcoming and the space became especially comforting to her as a parent to a neurodivergent child and to her son who felt calm and joyful around the horses.
“When I was struggling with all those things and feeling like I didn’t really know where to be, being out here (at the ranch) really helped,” Sieben said. “I would love to give other people that chance because maybe they haven’t thought of it or heard of it.”
Started with riding lessons
Sieben initially brought her daughter to a horse ranch to take riding lessons. Her family does not come from an equestrian background and she didn’t expect to fall in love with the horses herself.
“Sometimes when you think horses, I picture a fancy girl, and it’s kind of intimidating to get into it,” she said.
Sieben said she often associated horses with wealth and privilege. Spending a lot of time with them and having her own horses felt inaccessible. She said if someone told her five years ago that she’d leave teaching to spend her time with horses, she would have never believed them.
“It’s like a dream come true,” Sieben said.
The horses calmed her during a time when she needed it most, which led her to buy her first pony, named Bigfoot, a 30-year-old horse who has since passed. She and all three of her children loved being around the horses and, after witnessing the special moment between Bigfoot and her son, Sieben said she knew the experience needed to be more widely accessible.
“Whether it’s spending time with a horse or going on to take riding lessons, just being around them is so healing,” Sieben said. “You’ll feel good after you leave.”
A study conducted by the HeartMath Institute shows that horses’ heart rates sync with human heart rates, which can have an impact on both parties’ emotional state. This happens because horses are used to being in a herd and the herd leader will often calm the other horses this way, Sieben said.
“If you spend time with a horse, your cortisol goes down and your resting heart rate will go down,” she said. “It helps with anxiety, depression and all the things.”
Free visits
A visit with Three Little Burdes can look many ways and there are no expectations, Sieben said.
While families and children are Sieben’s most frequent visitors, all ages are welcome to participate. Each visit is 45 minutes to an hour long. During that time, horses can be taken for a walk, petted or given a makeover that includes glittery hoof polish and tail braiding. Some people simply stand or sit in the presence of the horse to experience a sense of peace.
“A lot of people go longer and that’s fine,” Sieben said. “Some kids have a really hard time leaving.”
Sieben has a horse at each ranch that she partners with. Syver, her baby horse gelding, lives at Morningstar Farm in Stillwater; pony mare Sunflower lives at Pine Meadow Farm in Hudson; and her adult gelding, Cougaroo, who is a former riding champion, lives at Woodloch Stable in Hugo.
If Sieben had a horse stable of her own, she’d house all of the horses herself, but her family already has too many animals at home and she said she’s grateful that each of the ranches supports her mission. Some have even donated horses to her, like Cougaroo from Woodloch Stables.
Each visit is tailored to the person’s needs and horses are paired accordingly. If families are worried their child may have a meltdown, Sieben’s not judging, she said; they can always try again.
“I want it to be really low risk, high reward, confidence-building, and something that families can do together,” Sieben said.
Sieben is also a professional photographer and visitors are given free photos after every visit. People appreciate being photographed with the horses and some even come dressed up, she said.
“My friends and their kids always used to love holding onto the pictures after,” Sieben said. “That’s why I gift them, so people can remember the feeling they had when they were with the horse.”
Three Little Burdes?
The name for Three Little Burdes takes inspiration from three of Sieben’s loves: Bob Marley, her children and her stepdad.
Bob Marley’s song “Three Little Birds” has represented comfort and hope in her life, and as a mother of three children she loves dearly, Sieben said her kids are her three little birds. Sieben’s stepdad’s name is Mike Burdette and his family has meant so much in her life, she said. As Sieben and her children don’t carry the last name, Three Little Burdes is spelled uniquely in homage to the wonderful person her stepdad is, Sieben said.
After spending time with the horses, Sieben said visitors often become inspired to take up lessons – which she does not provide, but the ranches she partners with do – and others discover new career paths. Once during a visit, a masseuse told Sieben that her life might have been changed because she began to consider a career in equine massage, which Sieben says is a real thing.
“I love being a positive introduction,” Sieben said.
Sieben said her hope is that city folk will come visit her horses. She said she wants people of all backgrounds and walks of life, especially those who don’t typically have access to horses, to spend time with them for free and see how life-changing it can be, as it has been for her and her children.
Funding for the nonprofit comes from donations and out of her own pocket, Sieben said. The nonprofit has received the most donations during Give to the Max Day, which go toward horse care, according to Sieben. She does not get paid for the work and instead volunteers her time to care for her horses. She pays for vet visits, lots of treats and for the horses to be trained regularly so that they’re calm, friendly and able to comfort people the way they do.
“We just bought a horse and I just started doing it,” Sieben said.
Three Little Burdes
What: Nonprofit that connects people of all ages and abilities to horses.
Where: Woodloch Stable, 5676 170th St. N. in Hugo; Morningstar Farm, 12490 Norell Ave. N. in Stillwater; and Pine Meadow Farm, 1181 Trout Brook Road N., Hudson, Wis.
How: Free visits can be scheduled through Instagram at instagram.com/three_little_burdes. For more information, visit threelittleburdes.org.
Donations: Those interested in donating can visit www.givemn.org/story/022qxf.
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