This Conference Encore webinar explores how care farms thoughtfully integrate animals to deepen participant engagement, build skills, and support healing. Experienced care farmers shared how they design purposeful animal-assisted experiences, offering examples such as structured grooming routines, guided animal observation, and chore-based responsibilities that help foster regulation, confidence, and connection. The session also addressed key ethical considerations, including animal welfare, informed consent, and defining appropriate roles for animals in non-licensed therapeutic settings.
Links to resources, including slide presentations and the conference session recording, can be found below.
March 5th Webinar featuring Jennifer Zeitler:
Resources
Suzanne Kapral Slide Presentation
Jennifer Zeitler Slide Presentation
2026 Conference Session Recording (includes Suzanne’s presentation)
Presenters
Jennifer Zeitler is the founder of Open Farms and owner of Let’s Goat Buffalo, where she integrates targeted grazing, animal-assisted programming, and community-centered care to support both land stewardship and human well-being. At Open Farms, Jennifer and her team harness the power of hands-on farming and the healing connection between people, land, and animals to support individuals of all abilities. They care for rescued animals, cultivate nourishing gardens, and steward the soil—creating a welcoming space where everyone can contribute, belong, and thrive in harmony with nature. Read more about Jennifer at Open Farms (NY).
Suzanne Kapral is a TEDxScranton speaker, author, and national leader in care farming who advances trauma-informed, farm-based mental health programs. She fosters partnerships between mental health professionals and farms to develop evidence-based initiatives that support healing through agriculture and animal-assisted experiences. Suzanne helped establish the nationally recognized care farming program at The Lands at Hillside Farms and serves as an advisor and Green Care Advisory Board member for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Read more about Suzanne at Harvesting Healing.