When the Horse Breathes Back: Lessons in Trust, Leadership, and Letting Go

Some moments don’t just happen—they arrive like messengers.

Last Friday, I spent the day deep in the hills of Topanga Canyon with a horse named Rigolatto. It was part of our Adventure Day within the mastermind I’ve been journeying through. But what I experienced wasn’t just a break from routine—it was a sacred encounter.

We began with connection. No agenda. No performance. Just presence.

Did you know horses are naturally afraid of humans? That to even approach them requires care, awareness, and a genuine energetic invitation? I didn’t. Until Sabine, our guide, told us to visualize what we intended before ever placing a hand on them. She taught us to greet them at the shoulder—never the front—and to respect how their left eye interprets the world differently than the right.

With Rigolatto, I tried something new. I stood beneath his belly, feet grounded into the earth, arms resting softly on either side of his body. I simply…breathed. In time with him. Breath for breath. Something shifted.

Suddenly I wasn’t in Topanga Canyon anymore. I was in another time. Colors blurred, space expanded. I disappeared into the rhythm of his exhale.

Sabine stood nearby, quietly witnessing. She told me later she’d never seen him respond that way.

I can’t explain what happened, only that it felt like truth. It required nothing but breath and trust.

But the day didn’t stay in the softness. It moved us forward—into challenge. Into leadership.

I was asked to move Rigolatto in the ring. To direct his path. To change his direction with my posture, my footwork, my energy. It was hard. I couldn’t fake it. Horses know.

Every inch of my body had to be clear. Intentional. Aligned. It was a dance between clarity and control—between asking and demanding. Between leading and listening.

I kept thinking: This is what it feels like to lead from the inside out. This is what it feels like to parent. To partner. To hold a team or a dream.

In that effort, I saw myself—my patterns, my strengths, my edges.

Later, soaking in the jacuzzi with Elizabeth and Jen, I felt something else. A quiet awareness that the season I’ve shared with these women is shifting. Not in conflict. Just in truth. I’ve grown. I’m reorienting. It’s okay to let go of the form while keeping the love.

So I offer you this:

Where in your life are you being asked to breathe deeper before you act?

Where are you being invited to lead with more softness, more clarity, more embodied intention?

Where, dear one, are you ready to release what no longer mirrors who you’ve become?

Greener Thumbs was born from moments like this. Moments of realignment. Of presence. Of stepping into who we really are—one breath at a time.

If this stirred something in you, come breathe with us.

Join a Circle of Ten.

Come to a Women’s Circle.

Or simply start with five minutes. I’ll be sharing a guided relaxation soon—anchored in this very experience with Rigolatto—to help you feel it in your own body.

You belong here.

GreenerThumbs.org

Because trust, when nurtured, becomes freedom.