In 2005 I received the following email from Linda Parelli, a master equine trainer, seasoned equestrian and the brilliant mind responsible for collaborating with her husband, Pat Parelli on codifying the Parelli Natural Horsemanship teaching platforms. Between 2004 and 2006, Pat and Linda Parelli generously offered The Equus Projects company scholarships to their Level I training and Horse Behavior courses. Linda personally coached us in training sessions, gave performance fe

Ten years ago I decided to learn the art of throwing a pot and filled my kitchen cupboards with bowls and coffee cups that progressed from oddly misshapen to graceful. I spent hours in the local pottery studio, quickly becoming addicted to the feel of the clay, its density and resilience, simultaneously its willingness to be shaped. Ten years earlier I began choreographing with horses. Pottery and horsemanship, two seemingly very different skills. However I discovered that t

We blink when we are processing information - or perhaps at the moment when the information enters the brain. Blinking occurs at the conclusion of an action Blinking is the hidden punctuation to thought Blinks are the rest stops, when the brain is assimilating information. This is not just true for humans… Horses blink as they are assimilating information. The podcast Radio Lab discusses the presence of “Blink Moments” in film. Jad Abumrad talks with Film editor Walter Murch

How unique and refreshing to be in connection with another human being who is a listener as a teacher, a student as a director, and curious as an expert. These are all consistent qualities that I had the utmost pleasure interacting with in JoAnna Mendl Shaw in Buffalo, Ithaca, and New York, New York in June and July of 2018. The dancing, teaching labs, work with humans and horses, and research conversations we shared have impacted my own work as a qualitative educational rese

Vashon Island, WA Watching a sunset on Vashon Island feels like you are witnessing the sun falling off the edge of the earth. Vashon, or Vashon-Maury Island, is the largest island in the Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. There are no bridges to connect the island with the mainland. Though situated just a seven-minute ferry ride from Seattle, stepping off the Vashon ferry feels like you have stepped back into rural America in the 1950’s. The island feels isolated and uncon