Ariana studied Aikido with Richard Strozzi-Heckler and was further influenced by Mitsugi Saotomi Sensei and George Leonard. While studying Aikido she realized that the principles she was learning were similar to the principles she practiced while training horses. This notion opened up a whole new way of practicing horsemanship that could be applied to self-development for leaders. Her background and love for horses slowly merged with her experiences while training leaders.
She began exploring how working with horses could intersect with developing the skills leaders will need not only for today but for tomorrow. As she developed the parallels between horsemanship and leadership, her vision grew into a new learning paradigm known as Equine Guided Education, which she offers at SkyHorse Ranch.
Visiting her ranch, located outside picturesque Valley Ford, California on the border between Marin and Sonoma Counties, one leaves Highway 1 and drives up a winding road to the large covered arena. Students from all over the world converge at SkyHorse Ranch to learn about themselves and hone their leadership skills. Ariana notes that the root of the word “manage” means “one who could train or direct a horse.” During the days that students attend, they first learn the theory behind what Ariana offers in a cozy room, where on one recent cold and rainy morning a cast iron woodstove kept the chill outside. Moving from theory into practice, students soon move into the arena. There, they are confronted with a four-legged reflection of themselves. Ariana points out that one must blend with the horse, as one does with a training partner in Aikido and other martial arts. If a student doesn’t make the blend, the results are instantaneous.
The horse won’t move, loses interest and in some instances will even lay down and snooze. The student can pull and verbally try to coax the horse, but without feeling connected, the horse won’t move. Finally, after a number of false starts and with patient coaching from Ariana, the student remembers to breath, relax, look towards a (common) goal (or vision) and begin moving. For some it seems like magic. The horse moves with them. And then, just about the time everything seems to be going great, the horse stops! Again with coaching from Ariana, the student sees they were thinking about how good they were doing or about the emails they need to answer at lunch or a hundred other possible thoughts. Except the most important one: to say focused on their vision. In the language of leadership, this is called your “For the Sake of What.” Once the vision is clear again, students and horse begin moving together with an effortless grace.
The horse in each exercise becomes a representation of what the students wants to add to their lives, whether it be a new model of leadership or a shift in their personal lives. The horses instantly mirror back where one is strong and the areas where one needs to grow. A partnership is forged that is an ancient one between these beings. Ariana writes: “Part of our role as healers/teachers and equine translators is to help people increase their awareness, increase their ability to interpret what they are feeling and sensing in self and in the environment–locally and globally–in order to not only make choices but become more pro-active in producing change in behavior and attitude at a community/global level.”
For more information about Ariana and her excellent work and the programs she offers, you can contact her at 707-876-1908 or Ariana@SkyHorseRanch.com Her excellent book about her work, Horse Sense for the Leader Within, is avaiable either by contacting her or ordering at Amazon.com
All the photographs were taken by the writer. The top photograph is of the willows on the lower part of the ranch. The middle photograph is Ariana teaching in the riding arena. The bottom photograph is of one of her horses used during her program.