“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”  –John Maxwell

A leader in any social dynamic is the inspiration and director of the action. She or he is the one that possesses the combination of personality and leadership skills to motivate the group towards a common goal.

In a herd of horses, the lead mare is generally an older mare that has gained the wisdom and experience needed to provide for the health and safety of the herd. She is respected for her abilities — such as being a peacemaker when fights break out or her assertiveness when establishing dominance.  Dominance in this sense is not related to the physical stature or aggressiveness of a horse; the alpha female it is not the “biggest and the baddest” horse in the herd. Rather, she has demonstrated her worthiness to lead the herd through wisdom, clear communication, […]

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Marla’s* work with our big bay gelding, whom she named “Jim*” (because he reminded her of her husband), is a perfect example of bringing love and clarity together. 

Marla was annoyed at “Jim’s” intrusive and demanding attempts to get affection.  He continually pushed his big body into her and tried to nibble on her jacket.  In response, Marla would either get frustrated and walk away or ask him to move…but when he didn’t actually move away she’d start petting him.  She was afraid that he would be hurt and angry if she really asked him to move.

As you can imagine, “Jim” was often confused and frustrated, he figured that the best way to get some affection from Marla was to keep bugging her until she gave in. Recognizing how often this dynamic […]

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The first step of maintaining balance is noticing when you’re not in it!

When people think of horses and balance, usually the first thing they think of is riding a horse and keeping your balance, but horses can make us aware of a much deeper connection to balance, the balance within ourselves.

Mike* was a writer who hadn’t written anything in a while. He wasn’t feeling inspired and he was just all around down and depressed.  One day he decided to take a risk and see if we could help him get out of the slump he’d been in for over a year.

Mike found himself drawn to our golden horse whom he named “Goldie”.   In one session, we set up an obstacle course and had Mike name […]

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“When we stand in Balance, we have the awareness, resilience, and flexibility needed to make the world a better place.”  – Dr. Val, Stand InBalance

Living a balanced lifestyle is a key component to a peaceful, happy and healthy life. When we’re out of balance, life can seem chaotic, exhausting or out of control. When we’ve found balance, we feel more grounded, calm, comfortable and are able to think with clarity, act with intention and achieve our goals with success.

However, finding and maintaining balance is an ongoing process. Once you’ve found that sweet spot it doesn’t just stay that way without a lot of attention. As life moves on, factors change, new information and experiences are thrown into the mix and balance needs to be found once again, and again, and again.  Often, we may not even notice that we’ve […]

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Why Mindfulness is Important – 10 Benefits of Mindfulness and How to do it!

What is mindfulness? You may have heard about it, you may know somewhere in the back of your mind that it’s supposed to be a good thing or maybe you are an experienced practitioner. Whatever your relationship with mindfulness, let’s take a moment to be mindful about mindfulness!

Mindfulness – What is it? Mindfulness is being truly connected, aware and present in the moment. When we are being mindful, we are not only paying attention to what’s going on outside and around us, we are also paying attention to what’s going on within us.  We are paying attention to it all!  We are focused, we are awake, we are HERE, now. Mindfulness is an activity and […]

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