My name is Dana Spett and I am a social worker, lifelong equestrian, and mother of three incredible people. While working as a school social worker, one of my children was diagnosed with a mild sensory processing disorder and referred for therapy. Therapy was helpful but benefits plateaued where nuanced aspects of the diagnosis were missing. After some research, I combined my three passions: my children, horses, and social work, and in 2000 founded Pony Power Therapies, a center for equine-assisted services connecting people with disabilities or life challenges to the wonders of horses, farming, and nature. 

I believe equine-assisted services provided by a social worker are universally applicable and unlock the essence of human behavior in both the natural and the built environment. In addition to running the busy non-profit community center Pony Power Therapies, I earned a Doctor of Social Work(DSW) degree from Rutgers University with a particular research interest in building a practice model for Equine Assisted Social Work (EASW).  I plan to introduce an EASW curriculum for current and prospective social workers and social work schools. EASW can bridge the learning gap in field education by combining classroom and non-verbal experiential learning. EASW connects the human and non-human natural worlds with horses as guides.