About Us

The Bella Terra Organization

Todd Shook Cofounder of Bella Terra BS Information Technology, BSN, Certified Psychiatric Nurse Todd began his professional career in Information Technology with a BS in Computer Science.  After 10 years in the business arena, his desire for working with others led to a career change.  He returned to college, earning his BSN from Southern Illinois University.  Since 1998, Todd has been a Registered Nurse, experienced in Home Health, Emergency Room nursing, and Case Management.  Also, Todd has received advanced training and is certified as a Psychiatric Nurse.  In April 2003, Todd received his EAGALA Level I certification and has been providing equine assisted learning services ever since.  This work has been extremely rewarding to Todd because of the immediate growth and insight participants experience.  Todd is currently working on his Masters degree in Social Work, with plans to build a private practice as a therapist and provide Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) services.
Kim Shook Cofounder of Bella Terra, Founding member of E3A Executive with 20 years in the Corporate Environment BS Computer Engineering Kim developed her facilitation and experiential education skills over 20 plus years of corporate leadership, training, and executive management experience.  In the field of equine experiential education, Kim received her certifications from EAGALA (Level I) in 2003 and Innovative Horizons as an Equine Assisted Training Specialist in 2007.  Also, Kim is a founding member of the Equine Experiential Education Association (E3A), an international organization providing ethics, standards, and certification training for facilitation learning and development programs for youth education and business teams,   With Bella Terra clients, Kim shares her unique success and insights to building team environments that foster high performance and success. Currently, Kim is the Vice President of Operations at BASIC, a Human Resource solutions company located in Portage, MI.  Kim began her professional career in Information Technology and then advanced into executive management with responsibility for $30 MM annually and 60 staff.  Kim has extensive experience facilitating top executives and leading strategic planning initiatives.  Also, Kim has been the recipient of many top awards in project management, team excellence, coaching, and process improvement.  In 1998, she received McDonald's Corporation Presidents' Award that recognizes their "best of the best" top 1% employees.
The Equine Facilitators - The Bella Terra Miniature Horses

Bella Terra Board of Directors - Officers:

The Bella Terra Story

Bella Terra was founded in 2000 by Todd and Kim Shook after their own personal, life changing encounter participating in the Equine Experience led by Wyatt Webb at Miraval Resort and Spa in Tucson, Arizona.  The Shooks’ interaction with the horses at Miraval revealed how and why they approached life situations in the manner they did (read more at Personal Growth).  The impact of this experience coupled with their desire for the Bella Terra land to have purpose fueled their passion and within six months they purchased their first miniature horses at the Kalamazoo County Fair.  They began a miniature horse breeding program with national level show horses.  In 2003, they began the Equine Adventure program to share equine experiential programming with others.  The Shooks have continued to attend training sessions and conferences to continue to develop their skills in the field of equine experiential education.  By integrating their experiences in executive management, human services, and personal growth, the Shooks have developed a very unique learning program and the first equine experiential program exclusively with miniature horses.  This program is innovative and vastly different than other experiential programming offerings.

From 2003 to 2005, Bella Terra almost exclusively served nonprofit organizations.  These nonprofits expressed a strong need for this type of experiential programming for their clients.  In order to raise funds to better serve these populations, in September 2005 Bella Terra became a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit organization and since has completely operated through volunteer service.  Partnership with other nonprofits is the primary focus to serving the Bella Terra mission and individuals facing significant life challenges.  In pursuit of this mission, Bella Terra serves over 250 individuals each year, of all ages and abilities.  They offer both group workshops and individual sessions in southwest Michigan as well as professional and personal development workshops across the country.

Many individuals face difficult life circumstances such as poverty, grief, trauma, recovery, developmental and learning disabilities, physical illness and disorders.  Bella Terra serves these individuals utilizing a learning process with miniature horses to restore self-esteem, confidence, and life joy.  The experience provides new perspectives and tools that enable individuals to chart a new course to fulfilling their potential.  Bella Terra's mission is to empower individuals facing life challenges by providing quality therapeutic, personal growth, and educational opportunities utilizing experiential programming with horses.

Because this program uses horses, many quickly link it to therapeutic horseback riding.  Although similar in results, the Bella Terra program differs in that it does not involve horseback riding and not focused on horsemanship skills.  The experience takes place on the ground doing goal oriented activities with horses.  Activities such as grooming, obstacle courses, lunging, and many group challenge activities make up the Equine Adventure experience.  Participants learn about horse safety and natural horse communication as tools to use during the activities.  The focus is not on the right or wrong way of doing things with the horses but rather the effectiveness of the approach.

Bella Terra also offers this inspiring program to the general public through team building, leadership development, and personal growth programs.  Their clients have an enjoyable experience while developing communication, problem solving, and leadership skills.  The experience targets each person’s unique communication and behavioral style while building confidence.  The result is a clearer understanding of one’s personal effectiveness and approach to achieving goals.  It is an inspiring experience that touches people unlike anything else they have experienced, even compared to other forms of experiential programming.

The pillar of the Equine Adventure program is an experience of non-judgment and acceptance.  This coupled with the interaction and bonding with horses sets this program apart from other methods of personal and professional development.  The Equine Adventure program is a very unique, introspective, and enjoyable learning experience with miniature horses that delivers impact unlike anything else available.

My first equine experiential experience completely redirected me to a new life path and purpose - Bella Terra.  It is my life purpose to facilitate the same gift that was given to me by one incredible horse, a shire named Whitney at Miraval."