Video Gallery

This video shows memories from the first Being with horses clinic taught in the USA. Thank you to Sabine and Dan for coming all this way, and to all the wonderful participants for coming and trusting and creating such a positive learning environment.

We had four horses in the clinic:

Soldier - 9 year old dark bay QH gelding, previously trained as a performance horse, and used with cows. Soldier is a high ranking, noble, sensitive, and kind horse. He is extremely traumatized, and much of the work centered around breaking old patterns and showing him that being with a human can be positive. Emily practiced offering a neutral contact, but respecting Soldiers space and pace. At the end of the clinic he began to come out of his shell a little, and started becoming more comfortable around Emily.

Harley - bay Thoroughbred mare, who had been used in riding lessons and ridden mainly english. Harley is very sensitive and smart. She likes her owner, Heather, and after practicing the body language for lunging, Heather was able to work nicely with Harley. But Harley also had to unlearn old patterns, and throughout the clinic was able to learn that there is no more pressure and that while she is with Heather she can relax and be understood.

Sol - 24 year old Icelandic mare, who was used for trails and kids rides. Sol has a motherly side, and tends to just do her work. With her owner Mary Ann, she was able to start communicating again, and quickly responded to the natural body language.

Frankie - 13 year old bay Oldenburg gelding. Frankie has multiple sides - he can be quite conservative and skeptical, and still shows a lot of stallion behaviors. Frankie was a dressage and amateur eventing horse, until he was gifted to his current owner, Carla. Together they have been living based on the Being with horses...philosophy since 2015. Frankie was severely traumatized, but had been able to process a lot of this with Carla already. During the clinic, Frankie now communicates clearly what he likes and doesn't like, and Carla worked on honoring this, and not fixating on him during groundwork, so that he could move more freely. Frankie enjoys both groundwork and riding, and together they started learning leg-yield and changes through the circle.

Some impressions from the first intro clinic Carla facilitated at Emily’s family ranch in Montana in 2022. Thank you to Emily for hosting, and for the participants and their horses for their trust and openness!

Willa (paint mare) - Willa is a very clear, sensitive mare, who had been traumatized through her early training and experiences, and was quite stressed at first. It was Melissa’s task to be her person to lean on by offering a calm presence and clear communication. Over the course of the clinic their bond deepened, and Willa was able to relax and trust Melissa more and more.

Madiba (chestnut quarter horse gelding) - Madiba is a friendly, clear horse, who has had some initial training for ranch work. His owner Louise had to show him that she could be clear and trustworthy, and knew where she was going. Then he started to look to her for guidance, and was able to settle more and more.

Magic Joe (white quarter horse gelding) - Magic Joe is a high ranking, clear, and very kind horse, who also had a traditional training history as a ranch horse. Him and Allie already had a connection, and it was Allie’s task to help him break out of old survival patterns of functioning and submission, in order to learn that he was allowed to communicate and express himself freely and authentically again!

Arya (red roan quarter horse mare) - Arya had very few negative experiences growing up with Emily, and her and Emily got to explore more creative activities like playful groundwork, spanish step, and the mounting block game, which naturally and in a fun way prepares horses for being ridden.

Soldier (dark bay quarter horse gelding) - Soldier and Emily’s relationship had developed quite a bit since their first clinic, and so they too were allowed to explore more creative and energetic groundwork. For horses that have been forced into submission and learned to simply function, it is imperative for healing that they are allowed to fully and authentically express themselves again - in all their power, energy, and beauty!

Some impressions from the Being with Horses intro clinic Carla and Emily hosted in Montana in 2023. For this clinic we focused on recognizing and healing trauma in horses. Most horses have not had positive experiences in their interactions with humans, and this was reflected in most of the horses presenting very disconnected and shut down at the start of the clinic. However, over the course of the 3 days they began to open up as participants learned to recognize what their horses were "saying" with their body language and expressions, and how they might respond in a way that recognizes the horse as an equal in the relationship. Emphasis was placed on agency, consent, and connection, and survival strategies and patterns were gently interrupted in order to encourage connection over functioning or performance. Only when we slow down enough to reconnect with our awareness can we begin to see and feel what our horses are saying and how they are feeling, and in reconnecting with our own embodied presence we can learn how to respond in a manner that supports the development of a true relationship based on mutual communication, trust, and love.