Check Out Erica Davis’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Davis.

Hi Erica, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I had a dream when I was 9 years old that started in my grandma’s basement playing with John Deere tractors. Someday, I want to have a ranch where kids can come and learn about Jesus and play with horses. When I turned 40 years old, I wondered why that dream hadn’t ever left my heart. Even though I lived in a city and had never owned a horse. My husband invited me to dream of our future together. We went to Hidden House cafe in San Juan Capistrano and wrote down all our dreams. I dared to write this little girls dream down, out loud. We then surrendered these dreams to Jesus and said: “We know what it feels like to follow our dreams, but God, what dreams did you intend for us?”
It was out of that prayer and the unity with my husband that the dream of owning a ranch to share our love of horses and Jesus came into a reality. This was a 7 year journey of transition in thinking, believing, and training. In July 2018, my husband and I left our home in San Clemente of 22 years and moved up the mountain to a 2.5 acre ranch. We are about to start our 8th Season at Hitching Post Ministries. Our Mission is to connect hurting kids with a mentor and a horse to find hope and healing. Through these 7 years we have trained over 30 mentors, had 7 college aged Interns serve at the ranch , and shared HOPE with over 200 children from all types of painful traumatic stories. Our goal is to build relationships, and to help the child build resilency in their lives. We have rescued and cared for our 8 donated horses over the last 7 years. We currently have 6 angels with horse hair. The horse mirrors the child and is an integral piece of our relationship building process. We also have 1 pig, 4 goats, and chickens and a Labrador named Grizz.

Our session families and volunteers all find us through word of mouth. We are an organically grown 501(c)3 nonprofit. Our funding is also generously provided through friends and family.

My love for Jesus, horses and children have remained the focal point of the Mission. And our team of people who have had similar dreams of their own, shape together to be Hitching Post Ministries.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Has it been a smooth road? I almost laughed out loud when reading this.
When you feel called to move your whole family from a place that you love, breaking camp from comfort is extremely difficult!
Some obstacles and struggles to get us to where we are today:

* leaving our home of 22 years (look up San Clemente weather, and we owned a small beach house/our dream home) Fear played a big part in believing we should risk everything.
* We live up the Ortega between Orange County and Riverside County on a mountain road, which is about 45 – 1 hour from all volunteers and session families.
* 2 fires: 2018 Holy Jim Fire, 2024 Airport Fire – both evacuations
* Ortega Hwy Construction rebuild which randomly closed the one way hwy for 55 hour weekends, and every night for 3 years
* Covid
* Pigeon Fever with 4 horses lasted most of the 1 season – contagious and deadly to horses
* Riverside County Permit Department for 7 years, fees and Lawyer fees – they don’t know how to label us within their parameters
* overpopulated star thistle – deadly to horses

We have had the privilege of growing roots, building resilience, and trusting in God for each of our seasons. Each obstacle increases our determined faith to continue to share HOPE with the hurting families that we serve.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
What sets us apart from others, we believe there is much that makes us different from our competitors.
1. The first being is that we operate free of charge. God’s kids deserve God’s best! The people who fund us provide for everything that happens on the ranch, from feeding and caring for all the animals, to allowing children of every economic back ground to have the same privileges.

2. Second, we are located in a unique location. Our location creates an oasis of sorts. You choose to travel here, because of the season of need that you are in. It takes planning and intentionality. And therefore the reward is sweeter. We believe in hard work and honest living. Much of what we offer is the peace of the ranch life.

3. We operate with a saying: Move at the Speed of LOVE. We move slower, listen intently to 3 things: Jesus, Horses and People. We believe your story matters and that you are SAFE, PRECIOUS and HEARD.

4. We have 4- 6 week blocks of sessions. That is 24 weeks of 90 minute one-on-one sessions with children. One mentor to one child, with one horse. We build strength with the child in relationship using the tools of natural horsemanship, which are: Communication, Trust, Boundaries, and Leadership.

Stories from the ranch: It’s so hard to just pick one, and also protect the stories from our families. Many of our session children have experienced trauma through, foster/adoption, loss of a parent or loved one, mental health struggles, divorce and more.

One child was in process of being adopted from foster care. Many times the family doesn’t even know the whole story of their past. This child was acting brave and quickly got on one of our horses. And once high up and bareback, realized how dangerous this situation was. All I could see was fear all over her face and body. Without words from her, I simply asked a few questions. Are you afraid? (yes, she shook her head). Do you want to get down? (again yes with a head shake). As she slid off of the horse, I noticed a few different behaviors going on with the horse we were working with and the herd that was on the outside of the round pen. The herd outside the pen were running and actively swirling about. But her horse stood almost stoic, and solid as if to say: I’m here for you! I don’t care what is happening out there – I’m present with YOU! I announced what I perceived from the herd and then told her: “Fear is a nasty thing, it can grip us and hold us back from ever moving forward. I will NEVER make you do something you don’t want to do, and I won’t judge you for your decision either, it’s your decision! But I know from experience that if you let fear win, it gets double hard for the next decision, and then the next. So if you decide to get back on this horse – we are both here for you.”

She took a deep breath, and again without words only eyes told me she wanted back on.
The horse in his brave stance stood perfectly still and waited for her to slide on and sit. She was learning to regulate her feelings and breath through fear. Feeling SAFE is a really big deal!! We then took a brave step as I assisted guiding the horse forward with her grip loosening over time, she then flung her arms wide and balance as if flying.

We celebrate the WINS around here!! That was a BIG day for this little girl. I found out later that at a younger age she had been flung off a motorcycle for safety by a trusted adult in her life. The moments that occur here at HPM are not scripted, we don’t know all the story. But with the help of Jesus helping me know what questions to ask and to be quiet and listen to HIM and the horse and the child, HOPE blooms.

What’s next?
We are in our 8th Season and always looking for ways to gain more friends. We are currently starting our 3 year campaign called our Pioneer Program (a 3year monthly sponsorship)- building sustainability for our nonprofit to continue to be able to offer HOPE to the children and families that we serve.

In 2025 we rented another 2.5 acre ranch connecting to our property that we are able to use to house our Interns. We are opening this property up during specific months for Day Retreats, Solitude Days, and Serve Day’s.

My husband is also venturing into writing our story and starting a podcast, and offering his services as a Spiritual Director.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hitchingpostministries.com
• Instagram: hitchingpostministries
• Facebook: Hitching Post Ministries