The Journey Behind

Heart Centered Horsemanship

Sometimes we look at what we were taught when we were younger and realize it isn't our truth.

Sometimes we have to create something different.

Heart Centered Horsemanship is about choosing co-creation instead of control.

Traditional training often emphasizes controlling the horse. Co-creation is about awareness, intention, and relationship. By learning how to hold a supportive, regulated space, we invite the horse to show up in their full capacity. This isn't about dominance, it's about creating conditions for the horse to thrive.

This approach prioritizes the quality of the horse's experience.

The process has been shaped by working with many horses with difficult behaviors. When horses feel scared, confused, overwhelmed, or triggered as a result of past experiences, they can become hard to handle and even dangerous. Addressing these challenges isn’t about training, it’s about restoring a sense of safety, building trust, and developing clear, confident communication that supports cooperation.

"That which is forced is never beautiful."

Xenophon, the Art of Horsemanship

Partnering with an animal as powerful as a horse isn't always easy.

It can seem overwhelming at times.

We may have never thought about how we manage our fear and frustration.

We may not have considered what drives the choices we make in our relationship with the horse.

Dominance is one way we address the fear of something potentially threatening.

Fear drives us to need to control, to have power over.

Control creates conditions of dominance and submission.

What if we prefer to engage with horses as equals?

Choosing non-dominance does not mean being passive.

It is about cultivating another kind of power.

My Story...

When I started riding horses as a child, it never occurred to me that one day their role would shift from partners in sports to spiritual guides. At the time, equine-assisted learning wasn’t even a concept. My weekly lessons centered around how I could get my horse to perform better in competitions. During my teenage years I competed extensively with my mare Cricket in combined training events. I was addicted to galloping fast and jumping big. I liberally used bits, whips, and spurs as I was told to do, rarely considering my horse’s opinion in the matter. It wasn’t something I thought much about, I was doing what I was told. The goal was to win and that’s how you did it.

As an adult, I found myself questioning everything I’d learned about training horses. In my early 30s, I was in the position of operating a training business that focused on starting young horses and rehabilitating those with behavior challenges while also teaching at a therapeutic riding facility. Equine-assisted psychotherapy was just coming into existence, and I was fascinated. I became a PATH Certified Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning as soon as the credential was available.

Shortly after, our center partnered with a mental health counselor to serve students in an alternative school run by a local group home for children. The kids that came through the program had stories that would break your heart. They were very familiar with abuse, mistreatment, and not having a voice. It was important to me that what I taught them wasn’t another form of dominance. I wanted to show them a better way of being in the world so that they could stop the cycle of abuse they’d gotten caught up in through no fault of their own. I also didn’t want to feel like I was teaching them something different than what I was doing with the horses in my training program.

My Story...

When I started riding horses as a child, it never occurred to me that one day their role would shift from partners in sports to spiritual guides. At the time nobody talked about learning from horses. During my teenage years I competed extensively with my mare Cricket. I was addicted to galloping fast and jumping big. I liberally used bits, whips, and spurs, rarely considering my horse’s opinion in the matter. I was doing what I was told. The goal was to win and that’s how you did it.

As an adult, I found myself questioning everything I’d learned about riding horses. In my early 30s, I was in the position of operating a training business that focused on starting young horses and rehabilitating those with behavior challenges while also teaching at a therapeutic riding facility. Equine-assisted mental health and learning was just coming into existence, and I was fascinated. I became a PATH Certified Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning as soon as the credential was available.

Shortly after, our center partnered with a mental health counselor to serve students in an alternative school run by a local group home for children. The kids that came through the program had stories that would break your heart. They were very familiar with abuse, mistreatment, and not having a voice. It was important to me that what I taught them wasn’t another form of dominance. I wanted to show them a better way of being in the world so that they could stop the cycle of abuse they’d gotten caught up in through no fault of their own. I also didn’t want to feel like I was teaching them something different than what I was doing with the horses in my training program.

This led me to carefully examine every method I was incorporating in my horsemanship practice. Around this time I adopted the name Heart Centered Horsemanship for my business. I made it my mission to discover a way of engaging with horses that honored their sentience and that also led to cooperation and the ability to work together in a mutually beneficial way. I wanted relationships that felt good to both the humans AND the horses.

Though I dedicated my work to the horses, the paycheck came from their people. If I couldn’t get the horses to cooperate within a reasonable time frame my clients would send them elsewhere. I needed to get results, but I also didn’t want to compromise my values and intention.

While some of the horses I worked with were easy-going, good natured youngsters who just needed an introduction to a saddle and rider, others had past experience had left them with violent and dangerous behaviors. Helping these horses was about more than just training, they needed a nervous-system reset. These horses taught me much of what I share with my students today.

The way I teach horsemanship now is about creating a relationship in which the horse feels safe and in which they are willing partners in our endeavors together. It’s about communicating clearly in a way that they naturally understand. It’s about ensuring their needs are met so they can comply with our requests willingly and confidently. This approach isn’t so much about training horses as it is about training people. It’s about showing up in a way that the horse freely shares their gifts with us. That which is taken without permission is not a gift and it will never have the same quality.

My methods integrate my experience as a rider, instructor, equine specialist, registered yoga teacher, certified Debono Moves practitioner, and dedicated student of the horse. My approach is rooted in a belief that the horse's emotional experience matters in our interactions with them. I believe that if we let the horses be our teachers, they can have valuable lessons about balance, partnership, and living with joy and abundance.

The way I teach horsemanship these days has nothing to do with controlling the horse. It’s about creating a relationship in which the horse feels safe and in which they are willing partners in our endeavors together. It’s about communicating clearly in a way that they naturally understand. It’s about ensuring their needs are met so they can comply with our requests willingly and confidently. This approach isn’t so much about training horses as it is about training people. It’s about showing up in a way that the horse freely shares their gifts with us. That which is taken without permission is not a gift and it will never have the same quality.

My methods integrate my experience as a rider, instructor, equine specialist, registered yoga teacher, certified Debono Moves practitioner, and dedicated student of the horse. My approach is rooted in a belief that the horse's emotional experience matters in our interactions with them. I believe that horses can teach us valuable lessons about balance, partnership, and living a joyful and abundant life.

With a commitment to honoring equine sentience and emotional well-being, this approach supports calm, cooperative partnership without force, dominance, or pressure. I teach people how to show up with clarity, awareness, and intention to create relationships that feel safe, effective, and mutually beneficial.