Mindful

Horsemanship

Clinics

A PATH TO SOFTNESS AND HARMONY WITH HORSES

Hosting a Mindful Horsemanship Clinic offers your facility a meaningful opportunity to support both horses and humans through an approach that prioritizes safety, regulation, and authentic connection.

Hosts participate for free and auditor fees for non-profits will be donated to your organization!

Mindful

Horsemanship

Clinics

A PATH TO SOFTNESS AND HARMONY WITH HORSES

Hosting a Mindful Horsemanship Clinic offers your facility a meaningful opportunity to support both horses and humans through an approach that prioritizes safety, regulation, and authentic connection.

Hosts participate for free and auditor fees for non-profits will be donated to the organization!

This work is grounded in honoring the horse as a sentient partner.

Sessions emphasize:

This work is grounded in honoring the horse as a sentient partner.

Sessions emphasize:

Low-pressure, consent-based interaction.
Nervous system awareness and regulation.
Clear communication through movement and body language.
Respect for the horse's capacity, boundaries, and needs.
Ethical horsemanship and long-term well-being.
Supporting people in better understanding their horses.

Low-pressure, consent-based interaction.
Nervous system awareness and regulation.
Clear communication through movement and body language.
Respect for the horse's capacity, boundaries, and needs.
Ethical horsemanship and long-term well-being.
Supporting people in better understanding their horses.

MINDFUL HORSEMANSHIP CLINICS EXPLORE:

The Three Tiers of mindful horsemanship

build a foundation that supports safety, connection, and cooperation

The three tiers of Mindful Horsemanship include:

1. How you show up and how the horse experiences you - cultivating awareness of your nervous system, body language, boundaries, and energy, and how these influence the horse's sense of safety.

2. Giving the horse a reason to connect - creating an environment the horse chooses to engage in through presence, clarity, and supportive touch.

3. Communicating in the horse's embodied language - learning to communicate through movement, position, energy and intention.

These tiers are woven throughout all clinic experiences on the ground and under saddle.

Connecting through touch

inspired by debono Moves for horses

Through supportive, intentional touch, participants will learn to:

Encourage release of unnecessary muscular tension and offer a sense of relief
Facilitate ease of movement and interrupt dysfunctional habitual patterns.
Calm the nervous system and support a regulated, relaxed state.
Strengthen connection by creating a space the horse chooses to be in.

These skills are included during the groundwork portion and can be an area of focus if requested.

riding with mindful movement

experience the feeling of flowing together in unity, lightness, and ease

All horses are sensitive to subtle changes in a rider’s movement, balance, and internal state.

The clinic includes a movement lesson without horses to explore the specific, nuanced movements that naturally guide a horse - without the use of pressure, force, or trained cues. By first feeling these movements in their own bodies, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how horses perceive and respond to us.

These insights are then integrated into groundwork and riding experiences. Through these practices, horse and human can move together with greater ease, clarity, and mutual understanding.

Riding is optional, participants may choose to focus on engaging with their horse on the ground.

Meet Stacey Carter

Founder of Heart Centered Horsemanship and developer of the Mindful Horsemanship approach, Stacey's work integrates decades of experience as a rider, instructor, equine specialist in mental health and learning, yoga teacher, Certified Debono Moves practitioner, and lifelong student of the horse. Through a commitment to honoring equine sentience and nervous system well-being, she developed an approach that supports calm, cooperative partnership without force, dominance, or pressure. She teaches people how to show up with clarity, awareness, and intention to create relationships that feel safe, effective, and mutually beneficial.

What others are saying:

"Compassionate teacher"

Stacey is a compassionate, innovative teacher who helps horses and humans develop joyful relationships. She has an exceptional ability to apply creative solutions to help horses and riders discover comfortable, athletic movement.

Mary DeBono

Creator of Debono Moves for Horses

"A real game changer"

Stacey has found a way to unlock and put into words what the great riders already know and feel within their bones when communicating on the ground or in the saddle with these amazing animals.

Danni Wojick

"Stacey creates magic"

I’m always amazed and impressed at Stacey’s ability to read horses, know instinctually what they need, and help people better understand themselves through interactions with these gentle, sentient creatures. Stacey is a natural teacher; kind, patient, wise. I recommend, wholeheartedly, any training experience you could have with her.

Alita Buzel, Ph.D. LCP

Author of Beyond Words: The Healing Power of Horses

what PARTICIPANTS WILL GAIN FROM ATTENDING a clinic

Nervous-system awareness

You’ll be able to recognize subtle signs of tension and stress, and learn effective ways to respond that restore safety and trust.

Mindful, embodied communication

You’ll learn how to influence behavior through clarity, presence, and intentional movement.

techniques for offering supporive touch

You’ll learn gentle ways to help your horse release unnecessary muscular tension, find ease of movement, and experience relief, all of which enhance performance and connection.

Practical, EFFECTIVE tools

You’ll stop second-guessing yourself and start responding with confidence, knowing how to adjust your energy, body language, and intention in real time.

Relationship-centered approach

The horse learns that being with you feels safe and supportive, increasing their desire to stay engaged and connected.

Transferable, lifelong skills

These tools aren’t tied to one exercise or situation. You’ll be able to apply them with different horses, in new environments, and through future challenges.

mindful horsemanship offers

Small group learning with personalized attention to address specific goals, challenges, and circumstances.

Supportive, non-judgemental atmosphere that welcomes all levels of skill and experience.

Time for integration and reflection, including question and answer sessions during lunch breaks.

Respect for horses' needs and limits, with customized learning to support them where they are.

what you'll gain from attending a mindful horsemanship clinic

Nervous-system awareness

You’ll begin to recognize subtle signs of tension, stress, and relaxation - and how to respond in ways that restore safety and trust.

Mindful, embodied communication

You’ll learn how to influence behavior through clarity, presence, and intentional movement.

skills for offering supporive touch

You’ll learn gentle ways to help your horse release unnecessary muscular tension, find ease of movement, and experience relief - enhancing performance and connection.

Practical, EFFECTIVE tools

You’ll stop second-guessing yourself and start responding with confidence, knowing how to adjust your energy, body language, and intention in real time.

Relationship-centered approach

The horse learns that being with you feels safe and supportive, increasing their desire to stay engaged and connected.

Transferable, lifelong skills

These tools aren’t tied to one exercise or situation. You’ll be able to apply them with different horses, in new environments, and through future challenges—long after the course ends.

With a blend of equine-assisted mental health, therapeutic riding, yoga, and equine behavior rehabilitation

Stacey prioritizes:

Emotional and physical safety for both horses and people
Calm, regulated learning environments
Clear structure and professional boundaries

Emotional and physical safety for both horses and people
Calm, regulated learning environments
Clear structure and professional boundaries

This makes the clinic especially appropriate for

therapy centers, rescues, and facilities working with sensitive horses or clients.

SAMPLE DAILY CLINIC SCHEDULE:

Introduction to Mindful Horsemanship, Exploring Nervous-System Regulation and Mindful Movement off the horse

Group groundwork session including Connecting Through Touch and Speaking the Horse's Language

LUNCH BREAK/Q&A

Advanced groundwork and/or riding with personalized attention to each participant

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes this different from other horsemanship clinics?

Rather than focusing on techniques to change the horse, this clinic teaches you how to change the conditions that influence behavior - your presence, movement, nervous system, and communication - creating cooperation that feels genuine and sustainable.

How many days do your clinics run?

Clinics can be designed to fit a single-day or multi-day format and can be customized according to the preferances of your facility and participants.

Can people participate without riding?

Riding in these clinics is optional. We will focus on building a foundation through engaging with the horse on the ground first. Participants may then choose to ride or explore more advanced groundwork.

Do you work with horses with behavioral challenges or trauma histories?

Absolutely. This work was shaped through years of working with horses who were reactive, shut down, fearful, or labeled “problematic.” Rather than attempting to correct behavior, participants will learn how to create the conditions that support safety, trust, and cooperation - where meaningful change begins.

What if participants are following a different training method?

Mindful Horsemanship doesn't have to be practiced instead of other methods, it can be an enhancement to them. Developing awareness and feel will improve the quality of any activity, whether it involves sport, trail riding, or engaging on the ground. While some training methods are in direct contradiction to the practices in this course, this is not a training method. It is a way of being in relationship that can be a part of whatever you do with your horse.

Do you allow auditing at clinics?

Auditing is encouraged for an additional fee. Auditors are welcome to join in activities that do not involve working with the horses, such as mindful movement and Q & A sessions. Non-profit centers will receive a portion of auditor fees to benefit programs.