Personal Development with EQUUS

EQUUS

Achieve transformative knowledge and growth through equine-assisted coaching and learning experiences – just minutes down the road from Bishop’s Lodge.

Why Work with Horses?

No other animal has captured the human imagination quite like the horse. From the first depictions scratched onto stone by our ancestors to photography and film, horses are ubiquitous in myth and folklore. They’ve accompanied us on the front lines of battlefields, helped us conquer lands, and tame landscapes into agricultural abundance. Now they emerge as partners on a new frontline—the human heart.

A white horse and a black horse standing close together at the on-site horse stables

This latest partnership is translated by The EQUUS Experience® through 50 years of fine horsemanship experience, equine physiology and behavior, as well as decades of academic and practical experience in systems theory, group dynamics, neuro-psychology, biomimicry, attachment theory and awareness-based social technologies. These disciplines are combined to translate horse and herd dynamics through the lens of awareness-based, organizational learning and systems thinking.

Distinct from Equine Assisted Therapy, this work is Equine Assisted Coaching. Our facilitators are ICF (International Coach Federation) certified coaches who focus on strengths, gifts and natural capacities to liberate meaningful insights. Our approach allows individuals, teams and organizations to suspend habitual ways of paying attention and connect to deeper sources of knowledge, resulting in practical "non-predatory" applications towards innovative approaches in self-actualization, organizational change, leadership and self-mastery.

Smaller Programs

For individuals, couples and families

For Individuals

The EQUUS Experience® is the flagship horse-assisted program for which EQUUS gained international acclaim. This award-winning personal development process creates conditions for meaningful self-discovery and learning. The process engages an entire herd of equines, who are trained especially for this work and is masterfully facilitated by a member of the ICF Certified Faculty.

For Couples

What if you were deeply seen, heard and understood? What if you experienced that together? What new possibilities might emerge for you as a couple? The EQUUS Experience® for couples is a masterfully facilitated experience in partnership with the EQUUS herd of horses that liberates meaningful insights and helps support new ways forward together.

For Families

Imagine a setting that highlights the connection, bond and shared legacy of your family. Imagine coming together in a context that supports you all to thrive as individuals, and as a family community. The EQUUS horse herd supports new insights inside a space that is safe, fun, joy-filled and memorable for all.

Larger Programs

For retreats and teams

For Groups

The EQUUS Experience® for Leadership, is the award-winning leadership development and culture change process that creates conditions for breakthrough transformative learning and meaningful sustained change. Through this unique partnership with horses and masterful facilitation by the ICF (International Coach Federation) Certified faculty, the EQUUS Experience® is a game-changing, needle-moving process unlike any other leadership development platform out there. Designed for individuals, teams or boards.

Leadership and right use of power
Trust in oneself and others
Creating conditions for thriving
Mindfulness and presence
Boundaries and self-agency
Connection to authentic self and meaningful purpose
Accessing wisdom to inform your actions
How to inspire others
The power of intention
Tapping into intuition and creativity
Creating healthier relationships
How to attune to others
Regulation in times of stress

The EQUUS Experience® Women’s Inner Power Immersion Group Retreat

Women face unique challenges professionally and personally, especially around the themes of power, right use of power, boundaries, self-agency and work-life balance. Women’s Inner Power work defines clear purpose, reveals limiting narratives and beliefs and engages new ways of being informed by authenticity and wisdom.

This work is done in a supportive environment of dialog, companionship, mentorship and a trustworthy community of sister learners who will be allies in this transformational environment. Because of cultural norms, women are often encouraged to be more masculine to succeed, and to compete with one another. This distortion is examined and dispelled as women are supported to lead and live through their powerful connection to nature, intuition and the greater collective.
These retreats can feature any or all of the following experiential processes: The EQUUS Experience®, Shamanic journeys and/or healing, yoga, hiking, nature-based learning and cultural immersion.

Ceremonial Dances

Nineteen pueblos line the Rio Grande – from Isleta south of Albuquerque up to the Taos Pueblo in the North. For the Pueblo people, Ceremonial Dances are a key expression of their tradition and faith. The "social" dances are offered to the public to share their good will and blessings. EQUUS presents The Cottonwood Dancers from Tesuque Pueblo. Their Buffalo and Deer Dances honor the spirit of these sacred animals, the seasons and the land. The dance is followed by an open Q&A session hosted by wisdom carrier Thunder Bear Yates.