Our Beginning

EQUUS Co-Founders Kelly Wendorf and J. Scott Strachan began on completely different paths. Kelly, a mother of two, was working as a horse trainer, coach, mentor, and facilitator in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and developing The EQUUS Experience®. Scott was living on a boat in California, working as an executive /personal coach, culture consultant, and facilitator. 

Kelly and Scott met when they were both invited to a coach’s summit in Florida. Though they had many things in common, when Kelly described to Scott the part of her work that included horses, Scott expressed his indifference towards horses saying that in his opinion horses were ‘1200 pound beasts with brains the size of walnuts and it made for a bad combination!’ 

Kelly invited Scott to come to Santa Fe and try the EQUUS Experience®. Within twenty minutes, Scott held a new perspective and appreciation for horses, and their powerful ability to create change. He asked Kelly why she had been keeping this work a secret, and immediately invested himself to change that. He traded his boat shoes for cowboy boots and moved out to Santa Fe. 

Starting a business together is never a first recommendation for a new couple, but Kelly and Scott are no ordinary pair. From the beginning they shared a passion for creating conditions where people and organizations could transform. The couple continued Kelly’s work of EQUUS and began the search for a property on which to not only call home, but to create a campus for guided self-discovery.

While on this search, they met with Four Seasons Rancho Encantado. During this meeting, Scott and Kelly were informed of an 11-acre estate next door that had stood empty for eight years, suffering from years of neglect. They committed themselves to fixing it up and creating an environment befitting EQUUS’s quickly growing, high-performing clientele. Their journey would require exactly what they empower their clients to do – leverage their gifts, strengths and crystal clear intention.

This is what they continue to do every day.

Scott and Kelly take special care to work within the Traditional Indigenous protocols of the area, and engage with the Tesuque Pueblo governance.They have received express permission to do the EQUUS work. Tesuque Elder, Kathy Sanchez, came to the property, blessed the land, blessed each of the horses, and blessed their work. They embed this protocol each day by formally acknowledging the Traditional carers, past present and future, in every opening of their workshops and retreats, and thanking them for EQUUS’s ability to do its work on the land. In ongoing support of their neighbors, EQUUS donates their property and workshop space to Tewa Women United, a multicultural and multiracial organization founded and led by Native women.

The property has become Thunderbird Ridge – an Experiential Discovery and Learning Campus. It is the home of five horses, a donkey named Kassie, two dogs, and two barn cats. It is a place that embraces every client that steps foot onto the land, and places themselves into the powerful tutelage of the horses. Each and every person, without exception, leaves there transformed.

They are still at the beginning. There is so much more about to unfold – for EQUUS, for its clients, and for you. We invite you to follow along with us as we continue to grow and make an immeasurably powerful impact in the world. 

Welcome to EQUUS, we are so pleased that you are a part of this journey.