Articles - Stand InBalance

Why Equines

thundering hooves

The horse “flies across the landscape with thundering hooves as if to run out of its own skin for the love of freedom.” (The Book of Symbols)

Equines* have an evolutionary history dating back 50 million years, and ancient cave paintings indicate that these magnificent beings have been important to humans ever since the Stone Age. Through our travels, wars, adventures, and conquests, they have been alongside us each step of the way. Today, they not only partner with us in sport and recreation, they are also our partners in emotional growth and healing. In fact, horses and donkeys have a great deal to teach us about modern living and how we can become our best selves.

How to use your Beliefs for your Benefit

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” – Buddha

We are what we believe. Our beliefs about ourselves and about the world shape and color all of our experiences. The way we perceive things influences everything and what we perceive is always up for interpretation. Think about the way you might view a particular event in your life. Notice how your feelings and beliefs contribute to how you react to that event, how it makes you feel, whether you view it as “good” or “bad” and what you might choose to do next.

Our experiences aren’t just about the facts and sometimes even the facts are subject to interpretation. […]

Horse Wisdom – The Power of Beliefs

Anna* came to Stand InBalance with the goal of being more assertive in her life, particularly in her marriage. She was having a hard time expressing her needs, because she believed that people would think she was bossy, and she didn’t want to upset anyone or be seen in a bad light.

Anna chose to work with Bubba, one of our friendliest donkeys, and was leading him around the arena pretty successfully. She then decided to try taking him through an obstacle course. Initially, Bubba and Anna were smoothly moving through the course, then Bubba abruptly stopped and planted his feet. Anna immediately blurted out “Oh no, I’m messing it all up!”

We checked in with Anna about what had happened. “It was going […]

Horse Wisdom – Learning Renewal

Learning Renewal in the Year of the Fire Horse!

The 2026 Year of the Fire Horse represents a powerful, once-in-60-years cycle focused on intense renewal, rapid transformation, and bold, forward-moving energy. This year merges the Horse’s energy of freedom with Fire’s passion, which helps to drive change in projects, personal growth, and societal structures. The last year of the Fire Horse was in 1966!

According to the Chinese zodiac, we we have shifted from the reflective year of the Wood Snake [yin], a year of shedding and releasing into this year’s Fire Horse [yang] a year of intense renewal, transformation and moving forward. Fire acts as a purifier, burning away the old to make room for innovation and new beginnings. There is intense energy for change and […]

Tapping into Renewal

How to use the energy of renewal to benefit your daily life.

Sometimes it can be hard to find the energy to move forward, especially when life gets challenging. We can feel stuck, overwhelmed, hopeless or simply tired of it all. When we’re lacking the inspiration and motivation that we might find naturally during happier or more exciting times, it can be disheartening, even stressful, to know what to do and to find a way through. What if the answers might be simpler than you realize? What if there were an infinite, constant source of energy that you could tap into at any time, anywhere, no matter what? Well, good news, there is. The energy of RENEWAL.

Life is always shifting, changing, moving […]

A Roadmap to Resilience

“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” ― Nelson Mandela

Life can be tough. There are so many levels and layers of the human experience that we go through as individuals and as a collective society, and all of it is constantly changing and evolving. We go through so many ups and downs, eras and chapters of existence – the triumphs, the disappointments, the surprises, the mistakes, the “failures”, the lessons, the joys, the beauty, the love, the hurt, the hopes, the fears and the dreams. This duality is what makes up our lives – the light and the dark, the “good” and the “bad”. With all of the fullness […]

Stay Connected