More About My Story
Horses have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Over the years, they have become much more than something I enjoy doing. They have shaped the way I understand communication, relationship, patience, leadership, trust, and presence. My experience with horses has also become closely connected to the work I am doing through Altar Equestrian: creating space for people to slow down, reconnect with themselves, and experience healthy relationship in the presence of a horse.
That became particularly meaningful through my own experience with chronic health challenges. After years of symptoms that affected my energy, sleep, blood sugar, movement, and ability to function consistently, I was eventually diagnosed with PICAN—Post-Inflammatory Cholinergic Autonomic Neuropathy. Living with a body that does not always respond predictably has changed the way I understand safety and regulation. I have had to learn that being regulated is not simply about being calm or having a positive mindset. It involves the whole person—body, mind, emotions, relationships, environment, and spirit.
Horses have been one of the places where I have experienced that reality most clearly. They are incredibly responsive to what is happening around them and to the person interacting with them. They require attention to breath, movement, tension, pressure, timing, and communication. They also require us to slow down enough to notice what is happening rather than simply trying to make something happen. Through my own relationship with horses, I have found moments of safety and regulation that have helped me better understand what it means to be present in my body and connected to another living being.
That experience is part of the heart behind Altar Equestrian. My background in horsemanship, my training in counseling, my Christian faith, and my own experience of navigating a complicated body have all shaped the way I approach this work. Altar Equestrian is not about using horses as a quick fix or promising that time with a horse will solve what is difficult. It is about creating intentional opportunities to practice presence, relationship, rhythm, skill, and rest—and to notice what those experiences can teach us about ourselves, others, and God.
The name Altar Equestrian reflects that heart. An altar is a place of offering, encounter, and surrender. For me, the barn and the arena have become places where I have learned to pay attention—to what my body is saying, to what the horse is communicating, to what relationship requires, and to where God is present in the middle of ordinary life. Altar Equestrian grew from that experience, and it is my hope to create a place where others can experience some of that same intentionality: a place to slow down, learn, connect, and become
Meet Dunamis, the horse who’s taught me a lot about myself over the last 5 years. What a treasure and challenge he has been…in all of the most beautifully imperfect ways.
