The People

Ariana Strozzi, Master Somatic Coach

“I have never experienced a coach/guide with more energy and commitment to each person’s growth than Ariana.  Not only did the horse work give me a piece of myself back…maybe the heart of who I am…but her intuition, her presence with each of us waking up offered a model of fierce compassion that I will do my best to live into as I grow myself as a coach.  She is my first living example, of what those old Zen Masters must have been like.  Fierce compassion and unwavering commitment.” Nancy Wonders-Dearing

Ariana’s business acumen and keen ability to help individuals excel is easily noted in her numerous accomplishments as a recognized leader of Equine Guided Education and Change Leadership. Her approach is truly original and has proven to be an exciting force in self-development and leadership training.  As a Master Somatic Coach, she has worked with more than five thousand leaders, coaches, shamans, healers, artists and other individuals since the late 1980’s. She is the founder of Leadership & Horses™, visionary and co-founder of the Equine Guided Education Association and Strozzi Institute (Center for Leadership & Mastery) and adjunct faculty at Institute for Women’s Leadership and Enterprise Performance.

With innovative vision, Ariana blends equine psychology, biology, somatics, animal behavior and leadership savvy into an experiential format that trains emotional intelligence, self-responsibility, non-verbal communication, authenticity, and intuition. She is the author of two books, “Horse Sense for the Leader Within,” “Planning Your Business in the Horse as Healer Teacher Professions,” and a DVD,” Intuitive Horsemanship™” and has been published in the anthologies, “Being Human At Work” and “Horse Crazy,” as well as Somatics Magazine, NorthBay Business Journal, Press Democrat, San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, Ride Magazine, Western Times, Strides and Raptor Release.

She is a pioneer in the field of ‘Horse as Healer/Teacher’ (which includes the common acronyms of EGE, EAL, EFL, etc) beginning in 1989 with Leadership & Horses™ and eventually coining Equine Guided Education in 1999. She has been training other professionals how to incorporate horses into their professional offers since 1998.

She began pioneering this work in the 70′s training horse and rider in a variety of disciplines (winning champion awards in dressage, jumping, eventing, gymkhana, reining, and working cowhorse) when she realized horses were listening to subtle forms of energy, intention and imagery. She expanded her studies of animal behavior at UC Davis where she graduated with a degree in Zoology in 1984.

Ariana spent several years working with birds of prey and other wildlife at the UC Davis Veterinary School and other rehab centers, going on to manage several animal and equine facilities. The birds and wildlife taught her many of the same lessons that the horses had and she began to feel a need to bring the magic of animal communication into the world of people. She began studying human dynamics–aikido, leadership and somatics-and became a Master Somatic Coach in 1996. The seemingly separate worlds of horsemanship and self-mastery began to blend together and ultimately shifted her orientation from traditional horsemanship (in which we control the horse’s behavior through a system of cues and orders), to seeing the horse as a sentient being who can actually guide us into a deeper connection with ourselves and our whole lives.

In her words, “I enjoy sharing my love of animals, land and nature with anyone who crosses my path. My mission is to re-connect people to the natural world for the sake of saving the Great Mother Earth and all of her creations. I believe that time is of the essence. We need to take the reins in our own hands, form herds of like-minded people, share our dreams and stand tall in the face of adversity. We need to awaken our spiritual longing and inter-connectedness to all life and encourage possibility and hope in a time of uncertainty.”

Hallie Bigliardi

Hallie is a certified EGE professional and instructor at SkyHorse since 2010. She brings over twenty five years of horse experience and grounded knowledge. She is intuitive, articulate and grounded. She facilitates her clients in both private 1 on 1 coaching and public programs and is able to help people from all walks of life to re-connect to their passion and sense of purpose.

“the space Hallie creates in this work is deeply personal, supportive and rewarding” Ashley Smith, CGE

Manuela and Carsten Essig

Manuela and Carsten believe that as humans we are an integral part of nature and thus are intertwined with creation, connected to every part of it. Over the last ten years at various international companies, they have learned the causal connections of our systems and decided to find new ways they can contribute to a better tomorrow. with the intention of supporting a shift towards a more sustainable society, where ecological values play a prominent role, they traveled around the world interviewing visionaries of this paradigm shift. Manuela is a Certified EGE professional and Carsten is a permaculture enthusiast and together they created the non-profit organization, Seventh Generation and continue to bring the concepts learned in EGE and permaculture their homeland in Germany.

Whitney Hischier

Whitney is the Assistant Dean for Executive Education at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley.  The Center provides non-degree open enrollment and customized programs for organization with the goal of achieving personal and organizational transformation through experiential education.  Whitney has worked with horses and riders for over twenty years and was thrilled to discover EGE as a way to marry her love of horses with professional education.

Mary Burg

Mary Burg is a Certified Professional Coach, co-founder and co-owner of Burg Rivers Life and Business Coaching, Burg Rivers LLC, a women-owned, life, business and executive coaching and consulting firm.  Prior to founding their company in 2004, Mary spent 20 years as public-sector environmental manager.  As an executive manager, Mary was responsible for up to 165 employees and budgets of up to $30 million. Throughout her career, Mary has distinguished herself as a transformational leader.

Mary’s coaching clients include government, non-profit, and corporate executives, as well as independent business owners, authors, and entrepreneurs. Her coaching and consulting specialties include executive leadership, change and conflict management, creating ethical work environments, responsible communication, and building high-performing teams.  In 2009, Mary expanded her coaching practice to include Equine Guided Education.  Mary partners with horses to guide both coach and client from inquiry through declaration to action. Mary is an ontologically trained Certified Professional Coach, a Certified Equine Guided Educator, and a former mentor coach for Accomplishment Coaching of San Diego.

Eleanor Criswell-Hanna

Eleanor Criswell-Hanna, Ed.D., is Director of the Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training and editor of Somatics Magazine. She is an emeritus professor of psychology, Sonoma State University and former chair of the Psychology Department.

Founding director of the Humanistic Psychology Institute (now Saybrook University), she is currently a Distinguished Consulting Faculty member for Saybrook University. Her books include Biofeedback and Somatics: Toward Personal Evolution, How Yoga Works: An Introduction to Somatic Yoga, and Cram’s Introduction to Surface Electromyography (editor.). She is a California licensed psychologist, biofeedback practitioner, yoga teacher, and somatic educator. A horse owner since 1975, she developed Equine Hanna Somatics, an adaptation of Hanna Somatics for horses, in 1997.

 

Wesley Strozzi Smith

Wesley does it all and always with a great smile and big heart. She supports every endeavor here, whether it be feeding people, overseeing logistics, doing all of the behind the scenes preparations, or just supporting her mom. She is intuitive and grounded like the animals here and has an equaninimous approach to life, which helps to create a positive learning environment for all of our guests. You will often see her accompanied by the youngest member of the SkyHorse staff, chance, her son, who reminds us of our most important task– to make the world a better place for future generations.

Karen Fuller

Karen is always there to offer food and warmth, a good hug, and quiet patience. Karen feeds our guests, and helps to make the ranch a positive, supportive learning environment. This sounds easy, but its not. Her contribution is essential to the success of our programs. She is also a gifted artist and life-long horsewomen, spending many years working at giant steps therapeutic riding center before joining our team.

Click here to see a photo gallery of the people at SkyHorse Ranch