At 906 Wellness/Equine, healing doesn’t happen in a therapist’s office or a hospital, it happens in the quiet presence of a horse.
“We have families come in, and they don’t get along, and in one session, they can walk out arm in arm,” said Frank Gandee, who co-runs the equine-assisted therapy program with his wife, Tammy Tomich. “And that’s OK because we helped with that change.”
Located in Buckeye, 906 Wellness/Equine provides a space where people can work through trauma, rebuild relationships and reconnect with themselves, all with the help of horses.
Through equine-assisted psychotherapy and equine-assisted learning, the facility offers a hands-on approach to emotional healing and personal growth.
Frank Gandee helps to host an EAL workshop.
Mary Goldmeer\Independent Newsmedia
“What’s beautiful about it is that it happens organically,” Gandee said.
The facility is home to 10 horses, all of whom have found their way to 906 Wellness/Equine through different circumstances. Some were surrendered, others were rescued through the livestock commissioner, and at least one was saved from a kill pen.
Unlike traditional therapy programs that assign clients a specific horse, Gandee and Tomich allow each person to choose the horse they feel most connected to.
“Our horses only work probably about seven hours a week when we’re busy, and we don’t like any of them to work back to back,” Gandee said.
This balance ensures the horses are well cared for and able to fully engage in their work as therapy partners.
“They offer so much. There is a lot of wisdom in there,” Tomich said.
For Tomich, working with horses isn’t just a career, it’s a calling that goes back to her earliest memories. As she grew older, her passion for horses remained strong, but she wanted to do more than just work in the industry, she wanted to create a space where horses and people could connect in a meaningful way.
“When my grandfather passed, I realized that I wanted to continue with horses in a way that would be community regulated,” she said. “Not so much just being a horse trainer, but creating a sense of community.”
Before founding 906 Wellness/Equine, Tomich worked in various equine disciplines but felt there had to be a different approach, one that focused on relationships rather than competition.
Her father, a Vietnam veteran, was one of her biggest supporters. After he and her mother passed, she used her inheritance to invest in the property she and Gandee now run, building a healing space for others.
Tammy Tomich manages the property she uses for equine assisted learning.
Mary Goldmeer\Independent Newsmedia
“The timing of it — God’s hand was in it,” she said. “We just happened to have money at the time, and we thought, ‘Well, this would be a good stewardship of the money they had worked really hard for.’”
For Gandee, the journey into equine therapy was unexpected. He had never been around horses before meeting Tomich, but after sitting in on one of her seminars, something changed.
“I don’t want to work for corporate,” he told her. “I want to do this because I can see how much joy it brings.”
Beyond working with individual clients, Gandee and Tomich are passionate about expanding equine-assisted therapy through education.
Recently, they hosted a professional training seminar led by the O.K. Corral Series, an organization founded by Greg Kersten, the pioneer of equine-assisted psychotherapy. The event drew professionals from across Arizona, as well as from Colorado, Alabama and Tennessee.
Scott and Kim Warner, founders of Hope thru Hooves, led the training. Scott, a farrier with nearly 30 years of experience, and Kim, a licensed special education teacher with a master’s degree in organizational management, guided participants through the fundamentals of equine-assisted therapy.
“If the horses don’t address the thing that causes them pressure, it will become pain. Humans are the same way,” Kim Warner said.
Attendees learned how to use equine-assisted exercises to help clients recognize their own behaviors and emotional patterns.
Kim Warner demonstrates that how humans react to mental pressure mirrors horses react to physical pressure.
Mary Goldmeer\Independent Newsmedia
“We’re prompting our clients to ask questions about themselves, questions that they can answer through reflection and through the experiences mirrored with the horses,” Warner said.
One of the core principles emphasized was that horses naturally reflect human emotions without judgment, allowing clients to process their feelings in a nonverbal, deeply personal way.
“When I’m with them, I feel the presence of the Lord next to me,” Tomich said. “They don’t have any ego. They don’t care what you look like. They don’t care what they look like. They behave because that’s how they are. They respond to what you’ve got going on, and they give you the space — or hold the space — for you to figure it out.”
The seminar, titled “Giddy Up and Get Over It!,” covered key equine-assisted therapy techniques, including:
- Catch and Halter: Teaching individuals about trust and relationship-building.
- Lunging: A metaphor for control and communication.
- The Lie Detector: Helping clients recognize personal authenticity.
- Life’s Little Obstacles: A guided exercise that mirrors real-world challenges.
These exercises were developed by Kersten in the 1990s and continue to be foundational in equine-assisted therapy today.
As equine-assisted therapy grows in popularity, competition within the industry has sometimes created barriers to collaboration.
“Too often, people see it as being competitive,” Tomich said. “But the thing is, there are enough horses. There are enough people who can benefit. And the more that we raise each other, the better it gets.”
Gandee and Tomich are working to change that by educating others and making equine therapy more accessible. Their ultimate goal is to become an accredited educational facility, ensuring more professionals are trained in these transformative techniques.
The philosophy behind equine-assisted therapy is simple: Horses teach people about themselves. Because horses are highly sensitive to human emotions, they mirror behaviors and help individuals understand their own emotional responses.
“Your horses do your pulling for you, encouraging them forward,” Warner said.
For Gandee and Tomich, the work is deeply personal. They have seen firsthand how equine therapy can help people overcome trauma, build confidence and strengthen relationships. They believe that, by sharing their knowledge, they can make a lasting impact on the field.
“We love our space, and people feel safe here,” Gandee said. “What’s beautiful about it is that it happens organically.”
As 906 Wellness/Equine continues to grow, Gandee and Tomich remain committed to their mission: providing a safe, welcoming space where both people and horses can heal.
Through their work with clients, their educational programs and their commitment to community, they are proving that equine-assisted therapy is more than just an alternative healing method, it’s a powerful tool for transformation. The 906 Wellness/Equine partners with veterans and families through the Southwest Family Advocacy Center, collaborating with law enforcement from the City of Goodyear, City of Avondale, the City of Buckeye, and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
“There must be a different way,” Tomich said. “A different way that we could bring the horses to community.”
And through 906 Wellness/Equine, they are doing exactly that.
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