Remember when you were a kid and you begged your mom or dad to get you a horse? I do. Although we lived in the suburbs, we had an acre of land and although I knew nothing about horses and my experience with those amazing four legged creatures could be distilled into rides on the carousel (where I always wanted the most ornate, bejewelled one) and being led around the perimeter of a makeshift round pen at the 4-H Fair. Still, I begged and begged. Their answer was always a resounding no. I couldn’t put it into words, but even in those early experiences. I had a sense there was something there, something visceral I could feel the moment I slid into the saddle. It would be many years until I finally found myself on the back of a horse, my feet pressed firmly into the stirrups, my body balanced across his back. I will never forget the feeling as we galloped together on a ride in the snowy hills of Montana.
The conversation on From Sparks to Light this week begins with a story about a girl and her horse. About the connection that happened when she first sat on his back and felt herself begin to heal. It is a conversation about the mystical power of nonverbal communication and the recovery that is possible when we tune in to what we know deep inside.
Julie Bridge is the founder of Mearas Group and Executive Director of The Brego Foundation. In 2007 when she rescued her first thoroughbred from a Washington feedlot and named him Brego, the Brego Foundation was formed. The Brego Foundation provides services for veterans, individuals in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction and others affected by trauma. It is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and retirement of former race horses and other horses in need of a second or even third career.
Julie has an advanced degree in Depth Psychology and has had the honor of training and apprenticing with some of the most influential leaders in the area of Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning. She lives on Tabula Rasa Ranch in Sonoma County, California.
To listen to Julie’s episode, click here.
Julie's Contacts
The Mearas Group: http://www.mearas.net/
The Brego Foundation: http://www.brego.org/
The book that inspired Julie's work
Linda Kohanov, The Tao of Equus: A Woman's Journey of Healing and Transformation Through the Way of the Horse