Hi my loves! I’ve been doing a lot of traveling lately, for business and for personal. For one particular retreat, it combined the two and it was AWESOME! By now you should be well aware that I’m a bit horse crazy. This particular retreat focused on equine sentient language. That’s the fancy talk for improving communication with horses. As the owner of my own herd of horses at Retreat Ranch, I was excited to fully immerse myself in the workshops. Ladies, here’s why you should try equine experiences at retreats.
Why I Chose to Attend this Equine Retreat.
I love retreats. I love coordinating them and I love attending them, too. While my schedule doesn’t allow me to attend other retreats as often as I would like, when I see a retreat that speaks to my soul, I’ll register in the blink of an eye. Let it not be said that I don’t practice what I teach 
! This particular retreat was in Tucson, Arizona and took place at a very special dude ranch.
My goal for attending was two-fold:
- My own self-care getaway with my favorite living beings (other than my family)- horses
- To attend some very special workshops to learn more about sentient language, healing with horses and how to integrate horses more into my own programs at the ranch
I accomplished both of these things in such BIG ways.
Why retreat at another horse ranch.
First, I’d like to share with you why I feel such a strong connection with horses. I can honestly tell you that ten years ago I would have laughed at where I am now. I did not in any way see horses as part of my life, and especially not as part of my own personal and professional growth. At that time, my experience with horses included a few trail rides with my Aunt Theresa and visits to my uncle’s stables. I guess in a way I’ve always been surrounded by horses; my sister also had a stable that I’d visited before her mom married my dad (that is another story, another day ;).
Added to that, I was always intrigued by them growing up. Well actually, if I’m being honest, my curiosity was more along the lines of, “holy sh!tballs these are big scary animals and I am not sure they really like me”. Then about ten years or so ago my youngest kiddos started taking horse-riding lessons. Watching my girls on these amazing creatures started to stir something up in me. Through the years of lessons, I started looking forward to just being around the horses, the stables and enjoyed just being in their presence. It wasn’t until COVID barged into this world that I really felt how horses can do some amazing things for a human’s soul. During those first five to eight weeks of the pandemic, when things were just so very uncertain, we went to the stables daily. The smell, the energy and the presence of these creatures eased the tension in my mind and heart. To this day, I struggle to express how deeply my interactions with horses replenished me during that time, and on a daily basis.
Why I Now Offer Equine Experiences at My Retreats.
Through my clinical training I was introduced, at a medical level, the benefits of equine therapy. At the time, I didn’t fully grasp the validity of equine therapy. Finally, in those special weeks in March, April, and May of 2020, I got it, I literally mean right down into my soul. In July of 2020 we brought our first horses to our Ranch and honestly that was it, I was hooked with every cell of my body.
Many of y’all know I have suffered with anxiety my entire life (small spoiler from my book, Surrender), and I have a lot of tools that help me to live joyfully WITH anxiety. But other than yoga, the biggest game changer for my anxiety, stress and sadness is a 1200-pound animal.
With such a wonderful impact on my life, I had to expose my retreat guests to similar experiences.
Horses are Mind Readers (I’m Serious!).
We often hear that the only thing keeping us from getting what we want is ourselves. This is true…and horses know it. Horses can sense the incongruence in what we think, or believe, and how we appear to be and act. Stop rolling your eyes and allow me to explain the how and why. Their survival depends upon awareness in their environment and knowing how to respond to it. They figure this out by sensing subtle changes in heart rate, in breath and in energy within other living creatures…including us humans. Still having some trouble believing me, well science backs me up!
We can often be blinded by our experiences in life, especially those that cause sadness, negative thoughts, or stresses. This affects our body negatively; it causes our heart rate to increase, our breathing patterns to change, our bodies to constrict or tighten and our energy shifts downward. It’s readying us for calamity and the worst part is it’s instinctual and often unconscious.
Horses respond to this lack of alignment through their senses and observations. When we interact with them, something releases within us and if we too are observant, their innate sense of survival can show us how negativity cripples us. Through my own personal experience and watching others during equine-focused sessions, I’ve found that horses cause us to reflect on things like:
- What am I really believing or feeling right now?
- How is this belief or feeling impacting what I desire?
- What can I do about it?
Equine Experiences and Yoga at Retreat Ranch
I am excited to be offering more equine offerings at the ranch. This March, I am doing my first horse yoga retreat. I have been training my herd for a year to launch this program. March is full, but I also added one for December. By design, these types of retreats consist of small groups and aim to do big work for the mind and body. I’ll be sharing more incredible horse workshops in the future. Can you keep a secret? Yes? I’m working on including some intensive one-on-one equine experience programs in 2024 too.
Tell me…what is YOUR experience with horses?
XOXO Shannon
