Horses in the wild are organized into herds. This is their social structure. A dominant stallion is the herd leader and is responsible for the safety of the entire herd. An alpha mare co-leads with the stallion. Every horse in the herd has a role and learns from the others how to be an effective member within the group. The survival of the herd and its members requires cooperation, collaboration and strong leadership. What most people don’t realize is that the stallion does

Recently someone close to me hurt me deeply. She falsely accused me of something I did not do, and she attempted to convince others that I had committed this huge transgression. I was shocked, hurt, offended, and indignant. In fact the emotions poured out and through me unlike anything I have experienced in a very long time. Then something profound happened. After all of the emotion processed through, I was left with the clarity of knowing I did nothing wrong. I did not caus

In past articles I have talked about how sensitive horses are to our energy, emotion and intention. Their ability to read, understand and respond to our emotions and energy is a large part of what makes them such terrific partners in equine guided learning, coaching and even therapeutic contexts. In my experience horses provide a safe space. They respond to our energy and emotion without judgement, without taking things personally. That in itself is a great gift. When they

Perhaps the greatest loss of connection is the one between people.  We are often so busy in our own thoughts that we are not tuned into what

Horses value congruence. Congruence means safety to a horse. When they encounter a person being incongruent, they respond with altered behavior. Congruency is being in full alignment: body, mind, and spirit. It means that our words, actions, and body language are perfectly parallel and in synch with our thoughts, emotions and beliefs. When we are perfectly congruent our vibration is true and clear. When we are incongruent, our vibration is ‘off’. The mismatch between the vib