I got my start with horses as a working student in a series of hunter/dressage/event barns, and went on to specialize in German and Classical dressage. Disillusioned by the cruelty of the mainstream horse world, I completed my Facilitator of Equine Experiential Learning (FEEL) Certificate in 2009 from Horse Spirit Connections, which combined Native American spirituality with transformative work on the ground with horses.

When I founded Mountain Horse School in 2012, I wanted to explore the alchemical + therapeutic benefits of mounted work in a way that inspired joy for both horse and human. Who knew that desire would lead to 4 levels of certification in Therapeutic Riding Specific to Autism and Neurodiversity, ten horses, five staff members, and ten years running a thriving business that gifted thousands of kids a compassionate, present, and deeply felt relationship with animals and themselves.

In order to support what unfolded in my sessions and my own healing from intergenerational trauma and CPTSD, I studied Gabor Mate’s Compassionate Inquiry process, herbalism, animism, somatics, and eco-psychology. As I looked for ways to language the frequency and resonance I witnessed move between horse and human, I became an Advanced Level Stone Medicine Practitioner and began offering distance healing sessions activated by my connection to my herd and the land that supported my work.

In 2022 I closed the doors of my physical school in order to dive deeper into writing and music and to give my work with horses a chance to rest and revitalize. I downsized my herd and took my teaching online, creating Ride for Joy: Healing Kids Through the Hearts of Horses, a 9-module Certification for horse and nature based teachers that allows the work I developed to live on through other practitioners.

Now, planted deep in the watershed of the Slocan Valley in the West Kootenays, BC, my herd and I are looking for a long-term home where we can begin offering in-person sessions again in a new way: where healing becomes resonate, attuned, and effortless.