Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim Kupferer.
Hi Kim, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Southern California where I loved horses as long as I can remember. There are videos of me at 6 mos old strapped onto my favorite horse “Sugar” riding decked out in a cowgirl outfit. My best friend and I saved all of our babysitting money and would go to the stables and ride horses through the canyons. And then throughout my life any opportunity I had I would be around and ride horses.
In high school I was very passionate about Basketball and ended up going to Stanford University on a full ride to play basketball. When I graduated there were no pro leagues so I became an Assistant Basketball Coach at Santa Clara University while I attended law school there. After a summer working at the Federal Public Defender’s Office in San Jose I knew I wanted to be a criminal defense attorney. I worked in Oakland, CA for the Alameda County Public Defender for 15 years and then went into private practice where I was a trial lawyer from 2003 to 2021. (Law Offices of Kimberly Kupferer) When I was in the Public Defender’s Office I was on the Homicide Team for 7 years and had extensive experience handing death penalty cases. As a private lawyer I agreed to handle Court Appointed Death Penalty cases.
In 2007 I met my horse Brownie who was a 4 year old who had just been brought down to a barn I was part of and immediately after meeting him bought him.
In 2009 I saw what is now Imagine Equus Farm in Columbus, NC. I fell in love with the land/farm and it was located in the area my then long term partner was from and where we had decided to retire after I stopped practicing law. I was no where near retirement and getting the farm seemed like a pipe dream. Fast forward to 9 mos later when the real estate agent reached back out to me to see if I was still interested in the farm. He said the price had dropped and if I was interested to make an offer as the owners really needed to sell it. I made an offer and everything lined up as it needed to and so then in 2010 I had a North Carolina farm. The previous owner stayed on for a year and maintained the property until I could slow down my law practice and move here in 2011. In moving here I made the decision to focus my practice on Capital Defense work and try to train as many young lawyers how to handle them as I could. So I traveled across the country for the next decade handling cases in CA and then maintaining and expanding my farm in NC.
Here my focus could be equine related and so I went to clinics, took courses and seminars and did all things horse. I would ride my horse every day. And then when not, I would do my legal work. What I ended up finding as I spent more and more time with horses is that where my heart and connection was strongest was with them on the ground. I started doing more liberty work with the horses and really realizing how grounding and magic they were. I always had felt like this farm was so peaceful and healing. When I first came here I thought how I would want to bring others here to have that same experience. In 2016 I heard about a woman named Barbara Alexander who was doing a different type of work with horses. I saw something she had posted on FB and felt there was a spiritual or soulfulness to the horse work she was doing. She was doing retreats in Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning (EFEL)- so not therapy and not riding, but working with the horses to connect and find ones most authentic self. I heard she was offering mentorships to train women to facilitate these retreats and after our first phone call signed up. I ended up spending the next 2 years training with Barbara and running tons of practice retreats. In 2017 I started Imagine Equus LLC. I also started traveling the world going to trainings and conferences like the International Equine Summit where other facilitators around the world trained one another in modalities they were facilitating. I also had the opportunity to learn from Frederic Pignon and Magali Delgado of former Cavalia fame- Frederic being one of the greatest Liberty trainers in the world.
What I ended up finding is that the more I worked with horses and especially since doing more ground work with them, the more I was able to take that harmonious feeling they bring into the courtroom. While in CA I had always studied mindfulness through Thich Nhat Hahn and took many classes at the Tibetian Buddhist Center in Berkeley. I found it fascinating how the worlds of meditation and mindfulness also intersected with that calm that coincides with living more like a horse. Or at least their level of emotional intelligence.
In 2019, I started offering women’s and lawyer retreats in equine experiential learning at the farm. My passion is really in providing a place that women and those who are always taking care of others in the world can come to be taken care of, let down and really reflect upon their path and to see if it is still that which is their heart work. The horses work feeling energy and know exactly how to interact and challenge people to be present and in the moment with them. They don’t judge and that ultimately allows people to open up in ways with themself that oft doesn’t happen in the rest of the world. At our small retreats we bring in a chef to provide healthy and delicious meals to nurture the participants. On the land we have sweet tiny home cabins for our participants to stay in. Our guests are immersed in nature on 28 acre Imagine Equus Farm. And we bring in healers of various modalities like Reiki to provide guest with complimentary treatments. All of that compliments the time and work we do with the horses. While experiential learning with the horses is not therapy it is about positivity and shifting ones mindset to be more horse-like, present and joyful. Our retreat participants often comment that their retreat time is life changing. I couldn’t be more happier having the opportunity to offer this experience with the herd and at the farm to others.
for more information about what we do here our web site is www.imagineequus.com
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been a real challenge and opportunity to go from a urban area trial lawyer to running a farm in the South.
My long term partner and I ended up breaking up 4 months after moving to North Carolina which meant that I learned a lot fast on how to run a farm. There were challenges traveling across the country to do death penalty work and being away from the farm and animals to do that.
I love being with the horses and facilitating the retreats. There is such a magic that happens here during the retreats that really fills me. The part I find challenging is social media, algorithims, getting out the word about the retreats in a world now kind of designed to suppress information. We do really small retreats here with a maximum of 6 participants so we don’t have a big media or promo budget. So that’s the biggest struggle right now.
I also have hereditary Polycystic Kidney Disease. In 2007 I went into kidney failure after finishing a long death penalty case. I was very fortunate that my partner was a match and donated a kidney to me in 2008. I am so grateful 17 years later to be thriving. Covid was somewhat challenging given that people with transplants and immunosuppression where in the highest group of those who died. And I was lucky to have a beautiful farm to be on.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Former death penalty defense attorney.
Now run equine facilitated experiential learning retreats at Imagine Equus Farm
I think I am most proud of the way that the horses and our retreat team can really impact and change peoples lives in a positive and joyful way. We provide the space for self discovery through our experiential style.
Very few people do the type of women’s empowerment work and retreats that we do at Imagine Equus Farm. Those that do will generally have 15 participants. We are really committed to each retreat goer having a unique and individual experience that you don’t get with the larger retreats.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Kindness is everything.
Pricing:
- Retreat pricing varies depending on the length and options of the retreat
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ImagineEquus.com
- Instagram: @imagineequus
- Facebook: Imagine Equus, Kim Kupferer
- LinkedIn: kimkupfererb93a702b
