Aedín is a small black six-year-old quarter horse mare who was saved from the kill pens last year. When she arrived three months ago to live at our ranch she had not been trained or ridden. In horsemanship terms, you would say she hadn’t been ‘broken’. Broken––such an incisively appropriate term for what we do to horses (and people I would add). In order to feel safe on the back of one thousand pounds of wild horse muscle, trainers notoriously intimidate, bully and manipulate their four-legged companions into submission, rendering them emotionally numb and spiritually bereft. Cowboys call these horses proudly ‘yes ma’am-ers’. I call them a tragedy.
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In this MoxieCast we are joined by Kelly Wendorf and Lead Mare Artemis. Kelly Wendorf is a coach, mother, spiritual mentor and founding partner of Equus, an 11-acre experiential learning & discovery campus in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Horses are co-facilitators in their work at the ranch, and much of Kelly’s wisdom on leadership has emerged from her life-long observations of the horse herd, a 56-million-year-old system.
We have a lot to learn from animals – just ask Kelly Wendorf, whose life’s work shows us what we can learn from horses about leadership. Kelly sat down with us for a chat about her work with horses, her journey to coaching and her upcoming book, Flying Lead Change (out October 2020).
Scott and I are currently in week four of our lockdown. Our New Mexico governor wisely called a state of emergency well ahead of the others. So in an effort to do our part in flattening the curve, and shortening the duration of this crisis, we shut our doors socially and professionally (i.e., to seeing clients in person). Fortunately, a portion of our work––coaching, online courses and Wisdom Circles has always been done virtually, so our days are still engaged and fulfilling. But that doesn’t make the lockdown any less challenging.
I have a small square card placed on my desk. On it are these words, written in frank, block letters “Opt out of consensus reality”. This simple instruction has become my north star, a compass setting inside the maelstrom of narratives that exist in our collective mind. These stories can feel deeply personal, such as “I’m not enough”, “I’ll go broke”, or “I should have done that differently”. Or civilizational, such as “homework makes better students”, “drink more water”, “we need a growth economy” or “humanity is bad”.
Niccole Toral
Niccole Toral, MA, LPCC, CDWF, TEP, Vision Quest Guide
Faculty
Over the last 17 years, Niccole spent time as an apprentice under respected indigenous healers from the highlands of the Peruvian Andes, North American First Nations, and Mexico. During these apprenticeships, she underwent intense spiritual initiations, which became the matrix for her approaches to healing.
Niccole specializes in Shamanic and Nature based ceremonies inherited from her North and South American ancestors and teachers during her training. She incorporates these ancient healing techniques to deepen a person’s experience of their loving and transformation so they may more fully inhabit who they authentically are.
“It is a calling and passion to assist you in celebrating the fullness of who you are. I believe our joy, our bliss, and our love will meet the hunger of this world. I have faith in the intelligence and wisdom of the the soul and the soul’s trajectory in this lifetime. Through my own personal work, I have been deeply sculpted and strengthened through the personal healing, training, and apprenticeships I’ve undertaken. I have been been profoundly inspired with the medicine and deep magic of what our ancestors and their lineages teach and awaken. These ancient, soul centered practices were generously shared with me and in return, I wish to extend my love and gratitude for these healers by sharing their wisdom with you and the healing they have to offer.”
Niccole hold a Master’s degree in Counseling and a Certificate in Transformational Eco-Psychology (TEP) from Southwestern College, a Consciousness-Centered Graduate Program. Niccole is a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator (CDWF) and Bhakti Flow Yoga Teacher. She is a co-founder and owner of Mesa Vista Wellness, holistic counseling and Wellness Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Audrey Herrera-Castillo
Audrey Herrera-Castillo
Pre-Certified Transformational Coach, obtaining Professional Coaching Certification November 2019.
Faculty
Audrey comes to the Equus team with a desire to learn, a thirst for authenticity and a love of teaching.
Culminating a career of nearly 30 in civil service at the end of 2018, during that time she found the vast majority of people want to do their jobs well. Unfortunately, often those same people have not been offered the skills for success from their employer. Audrey has developed a process to support those employees to find success beyond success. The process positively impacts the employer as well as the employee. Audrey enjoys working with people who have a desire to grow, improve and evolve in their personal and professional lives.
“I’m inspired by the human spirit. Often individuals just need a person to travel along with them to realize their confidence, harness their courage and move in safety to the next level, whatever that might be for them. I am blessed to be trusted by many to be that travel companion. I enjoy witnessing my clients growth and development while also experiencing personal growth and development alongside of them. Each experience helps me to be a better coach and serve my clients in a more authentic way.”
Dedicated leader, coach and mentor for nearly 30 years in civil service transitioned to innovative business owner with a focus on providing areas of improvement for individuals seeking to grow professionally and personally. Areas of expertise include leadership development, staff management, program management, tourism marketing, human resources, conflict resolution, contract administration and procurement and statewide customer service.
Mary Ann Menetrey
Mary Ann Menetrey
Registered Ortho-Bionomy Practitioner, Certified Equine Positional Release Practitioner and Instructor
Faculty
Mary Ann’s career path over the past few decades has focused on healing, whether it is land, horses or humans. She is currently a Registered Practitioner of Human and Equine Ortho-Bionomy®, and a Certified Equine Positional Release Instructor and Practitioner.
Mary Ann has spent over a decade studying and practicing in these fields and similar bodywork modalities, which are non-invasive and geared towards stimulating the body’s self-healing abilities. Her studies were initially driven by a desire to help her own horses with physical, health and emotional issues where traditional medicine could not find a solution. She bases her equine and human practice, Primo Motion Bodywork, near Espanola, New Mexico.
A passionate student of the natural sciences, Mary Ann’s studies have also included undergraduate and graduate degrees in Soil Science, and she spent many years managing programs dedicated to improving the quality of our land and water resources. In these positions she honed her ability to build teams and to listen and understand points of view without judgement; skills which have been invaluable in her life and practice.
“If we are willing to listen and work with the nature of the horse, old patterns can begin to shift and the possibilities for change become endless.”
A life goal of Mary Ann’s is to help benefit horse-human relationships. Her equine sessions and workshops are geared toward ensuring the horse feels safe, the horse/human interaction is safe and comfortable, the nature of the horse is honored, and the human can recognize the need for changes that can benefit both the horse and themselves. Mary Ann’s work with the EQUSS Herd continues to inspire and influence this goal.
The most memorable experience, perhaps, is located a short but beautiful hike away from the resort, at Thunderbird Ridge. There, bordering the property of Egan’s former home (where local shamans have located two spiritual vortexes), co-founders Kelly Wendorf and J. Scott Strachan have launched a horse-assisted self-empowerment program, Equus.
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Aedín is a small black six-year-old quarter horse mare who was saved from the kill pens last year. When she arrived three months ago to live at our ranch she had not been trained or ridden. In horsemanship terms, you would say she hadn’t been ‘broken’. Broken––such an incisively appropriate term for what we do to horses (and people I would add). In order to feel safe on the back of one thousand pounds of wild horse muscle, trainers notoriously intimidate, bully and manipulate their four-legged companions into submission, rendering them emotionally numb and spiritually bereft. Cowboys call these horses proudly ‘yes ma’am-ers’. I call them a tragedy.
In this MoxieCast we are joined by Kelly Wendorf and Lead Mare Artemis. Kelly Wendorf is a coach, mother, spiritual mentor and founding partner of Equus, an 11-acre experiential learning & discovery campus in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Horses are co-facilitators in their work at the ranch, and much of Kelly’s wisdom on leadership has emerged from her life-long observations of the horse herd, a 56-million-year-old system.
We have a lot to learn from animals – just ask Kelly Wendorf, whose life’s work shows us what we can learn from horses about leadership. Kelly sat down with us for a chat about her work with horses, her journey to coaching and her upcoming book, Flying Lead Change (out October 2020).
Scott and I are currently in week four of our lockdown. Our New Mexico governor wisely called a state of emergency well ahead of the others. So in an effort to do our part in flattening the curve, and shortening the duration of this crisis, we shut our doors socially and professionally (i.e., to seeing clients in person). Fortunately, a portion of our work––coaching, online courses and Wisdom Circles has always been done virtually, so our days are still engaged and fulfilling. But that doesn’t make the lockdown any less challenging.
I have a small square card placed on my desk. On it are these words, written in frank, block letters “Opt out of consensus reality”. This simple instruction has become my north star, a compass setting inside the maelstrom of narratives that exist in our collective mind. These stories can feel deeply personal, such as “I’m not enough”, “I’ll go broke”, or “I should have done that differently”. Or civilizational, such as “homework makes better students”, “drink more water”, “we need a growth economy” or “humanity is bad”.
Niccole Toral
Niccole Toral, MA, LPCC, CDWF, TEP, Vision Quest Guide
Faculty
Over the last 17 years, Niccole spent time as an apprentice under respected indigenous healers from the highlands of the Peruvian Andes, North American First Nations, and Mexico. During these apprenticeships, she underwent intense spiritual initiations, which became the matrix for her approaches to healing.
Niccole specializes in Shamanic and Nature based ceremonies inherited from her North and South American ancestors and teachers during her training. She incorporates these ancient healing techniques to deepen a person’s experience of their loving and transformation so they may more fully inhabit who they authentically are.
“It is a calling and passion to assist you in celebrating the fullness of who you are. I believe our joy, our bliss, and our love will meet the hunger of this world. I have faith in the intelligence and wisdom of the the soul and the soul’s trajectory in this lifetime. Through my own personal work, I have been deeply sculpted and strengthened through the personal healing, training, and apprenticeships I’ve undertaken. I have been been profoundly inspired with the medicine and deep magic of what our ancestors and their lineages teach and awaken. These ancient, soul centered practices were generously shared with me and in return, I wish to extend my love and gratitude for these healers by sharing their wisdom with you and the healing they have to offer.”
Niccole hold a Master’s degree in Counseling and a Certificate in Transformational Eco-Psychology (TEP) from Southwestern College, a Consciousness-Centered Graduate Program. Niccole is a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator (CDWF) and Bhakti Flow Yoga Teacher. She is a co-founder and owner of Mesa Vista Wellness, holistic counseling and Wellness Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Audrey Herrera-Castillo
Audrey Herrera-Castillo
Pre-Certified Transformational Coach, obtaining Professional Coaching Certification November 2019.
Faculty
Audrey comes to the Equus team with a desire to learn, a thirst for authenticity and a love of teaching.
Culminating a career of nearly 30 in civil service at the end of 2018, during that time she found the vast majority of people want to do their jobs well. Unfortunately, often those same people have not been offered the skills for success from their employer. Audrey has developed a process to support those employees to find success beyond success. The process positively impacts the employer as well as the employee. Audrey enjoys working with people who have a desire to grow, improve and evolve in their personal and professional lives.
“I’m inspired by the human spirit. Often individuals just need a person to travel along with them to realize their confidence, harness their courage and move in safety to the next level, whatever that might be for them. I am blessed to be trusted by many to be that travel companion. I enjoy witnessing my clients growth and development while also experiencing personal growth and development alongside of them. Each experience helps me to be a better coach and serve my clients in a more authentic way.”
Dedicated leader, coach and mentor for nearly 30 years in civil service transitioned to innovative business owner with a focus on providing areas of improvement for individuals seeking to grow professionally and personally. Areas of expertise include leadership development, staff management, program management, tourism marketing, human resources, conflict resolution, contract administration and procurement and statewide customer service.
Mary Ann Menetrey
Mary Ann Menetrey
Registered Ortho-Bionomy Practitioner, Certified Equine Positional Release Practitioner and Instructor
Faculty
Mary Ann’s career path over the past few decades has focused on healing, whether it is land, horses or humans. She is currently a Registered Practitioner of Human and Equine Ortho-Bionomy®, and a Certified Equine Positional Release Instructor and Practitioner.
Mary Ann has spent over a decade studying and practicing in these fields and similar bodywork modalities, which are non-invasive and geared towards stimulating the body’s self-healing abilities. Her studies were initially driven by a desire to help her own horses with physical, health and emotional issues where traditional medicine could not find a solution. She bases her equine and human practice, Primo Motion Bodywork, near Espanola, New Mexico.
A passionate student of the natural sciences, Mary Ann’s studies have also included undergraduate and graduate degrees in Soil Science, and she spent many years managing programs dedicated to improving the quality of our land and water resources. In these positions she honed her ability to build teams and to listen and understand points of view without judgement; skills which have been invaluable in her life and practice.
“If we are willing to listen and work with the nature of the horse, old patterns can begin to shift and the possibilities for change become endless.”
A life goal of Mary Ann’s is to help benefit horse-human relationships. Her equine sessions and workshops are geared toward ensuring the horse feels safe, the horse/human interaction is safe and comfortable, the nature of the horse is honored, and the human can recognize the need for changes that can benefit both the horse and themselves. Mary Ann’s work with the EQUSS Herd continues to inspire and influence this goal.
The most memorable experience, perhaps, is located a short but beautiful hike away from the resort, at Thunderbird Ridge. There, bordering the property of Egan’s former home (where local shamans have located two spiritual vortexes), co-founders Kelly Wendorf and J. Scott Strachan have launched a horse-assisted self-empowerment program, Equus.