Tales from the Herd

Horse chores don't look productive — no meetings, no metrics, no results to report. But something happens when I'm filling a hay net or mucking a stall: my mind just... stops. No stress, no to-do list, no noise. Just hay, and now.

This episode is me understanding what Eckhart Tolle meant in The Power of Now . Horses live in the present and standing close to that kind of quiet mind reminds your own mind what silence actually feels like.

It's a little bit philosophy, a little bit confession, and a lot of me understanding why true restorative rest doesn't happen on the couch watching Netflix.

Most equine-assisted therapy content online falls into one of two camps - and both are limiting what is possible.In this episode, Christina Marz, founder of Horse Guided Empowerment® and a 20-year veteran facilitator breaks down the three approaches to equine-facilitated work, why labeling a horse's behavior can do more harm than good, and the skills that separate trained facilitators from the narcissistic posers and weekend-workshop certificates. Plus: why real therapy sessions should never become social media content, and what to ask before you trust a provider with your care.00:00 Intro: the two camps we currently see 01:30 Camp 1: the traditional riding-based model 02:15 Camp 2: Healing sessions05:15 Extra Camp: constellations with herds 08:15 What good facilitation requires 10:30 The core skill: asking, not leading 12:00 Exercises, projection work, and avoiding dependency 14:15 Why sessions shouldn't become content 16:30 How to evaluate a provider 18:00 Certification and training standards 21:00 confidentiality as trust, and a call to connect

In this episode I sit down with my dear colleague Kaitlin and share what happened on my recent trip to Africa—and how it cracked my belief system wide open

This is a life changing episode about radical connection, autism, and the invisible field between us that we can no longer ignore.

What began as a trip to South Africa to offer Horse Guided Empowerment® sessions to a non-verbal boy on the autism spectrum became a radical initiation into the power of the field between us. Together with Kaitlin I explore the breathtaking process, how the horses led the family into coherence, and what it means when telepathy becomes not just possible—but normal.

I share how I applied the Horse Guided Empowerment® model in a completely unfamiliar context, and how that moment rewired not just a family’s story—but my own approach to healing.

We dive deep into the practical possibilities of HeartMath, the mystery of interspecies communication, and the unspoken truth that healing doesn’t always take time—sometimes it just takes a coherent field.

“If I dive in on this, my reality will change forever.”

It did—and now it might change yours, too.

If you’ve ever felt things before they were said, if you know that “energy doesn’t lie,” and if you’re ready to embrace telepathy and coherence as real tools for transformation—this episode is for you.

Thank you for listening. Please share your thoughts right here or write to me at [email protected]

TRIGGER ALERT

In this episode I sit alone at my kitchen table and share my thoughts about deep connection, tough tasks and loneliness.

This is a profoundly personal episode about a topic that might be hard to swallow. I share why I process intense emotions and extraordinarily difficult events on my own, when that pattern started and what I plan to do about it.

If you ever felt like you operate on a different frequency than others, if mundane conversations leave you bored and you are wondering why you don´t have as many friends as your neighbor, this episode is for you.

Thank you for listening. Please share your thoughts right here or to my email, [email protected]

In this episode I sit at my desk on my farm, taking advantage of the short hour we are granted electricity these days, and talk to my friend and colleague Sara Flores about an intriguing topic:

Contemplative practice in nature, is that even “real” therapy of merely a new age description for hiking?

Sara Flores is a nature-based Psychotherapist trained at Naropa University in Bolder, Colorado and also the very first student who got certified in Horse Guided Empowerment® over a decade ago. 

Together we explore what Nature-based entails, and why horses play such a special role in contemplative practices. We talk about research in a practical way, explore specific populations to find out who would most benefit from this approach, and include recommendations for your day-to-day wellbeing.  

If you ever wondered why your Sunday hike or your equestrian practice feels so healing, this episode is for you.

Here are the resources we mention: 

In this episode, I sit with my sister friend and HeartMath colleague Erin Robinson at my kitchen table.

While Erin joined the HeartMath community for personal reasons, I aimed to enhance my practice for clients and students. We certified together in 2021 and today, we co-teach the HeartMath Resilience Advantage program. Erin is also a revered mentor for my Horse Guided Empowerment® students.

Join us for an intimate conversation where we delve into our regular HeartMath practices and discuss their profound impact on our healing journeys, business growth, and unique interactions with horses. Erin and I share personal anecdotes and insights, offering a glimpse into how HeartMath has transformed our lives and empowered those we guide.

In this episode, I sit at my desk and have a live interview on zoom with the natural horsemanship trainer, Luke Reinbold.

For me, riding tackless is an exercise of personal development and mindset review more than a training issue.

Luke is a homeschool father of 4, an equestrian educator and beautifully empathetic horse trainer from rural New York, USA. 

In our conversation we found out that we have the same philosophy when it comes to riding, training and handling horses. We even have a similar story in the way how horses helped us in our early days. It felt like my soul twin talking to me!

In this episode we explore the advantage of listening to the horse, the importance of feel, how to get started in tackless riding and why our mindset is the most important tool. 

Listen in! As an equestrian you will LOVE this conversation.

You can contact Luke through his quickly growing 50k Facebook page Luke Reinbold Horsemanship and you should sign up to his Youtube Channel where he shares a lot of educational videos: https://www.youtube.com/@Lukereinboldhorsemanship

Highlights:

Min 1 - Who is Luke Reinbold?

Min 6 - Any horse can be ridden tackless

Min 8 - The mindset is paramount

Min 12 - Listening to understand

Min 23 - Horses seek peace. They want to trust us

Min 50 - How can we get started without tack?

Min 52 - Semantics in the equestrian world

Min 1:05 - Licking and chewing is like downloading

The course we mention is on Udemy: HeartMath and Horses

More about Christina´s training program for Healing with Horses on  ⁠ChristinaMarz.com⁠

Thank you for listening! We´ll soon meet again with more Tales from the Herd.

In this episode I sit at the Rove Hotel´s Podcast Studio in Dubai.

My first guest, Phoenix, has a convincing handshake, contagious humour and she is also a 3rd generation horse trainer from Brisbane, Australia. We share many unconventional ideas about emotional communication, horse characters, and herd handling. In this fun conversation we talk about the advantage of barefoot trimming, the pitfalls of training horses for other people, lead mares and lonely stallions, and about Polocross (that´s an Australian thing).

You can contact Phoenix through her 14k Instagram Toohey Equine Education @t.equine-education

Highlights:

Min 13 - The lead stallion myth

Min 15 - What solitude does to horses

Min 20 - What is Polocross?

Min 23 - The perks of fixing horses for others

Min 25 - Horses communicate with emotions

Min 30 - The myth of doing a lot from the start

Min 32 - The myth of shoeing

Min 38 - What Phoenix can do for you

More about Christina´s training program for Healing with Horses at ChristinaMarz.com

Thank you for listening! We´ll soon meet again with more Tales from the Herd.