THE WAY OF THE HORSE
A Non-Predatory Approach
Integrating
Leadership & Mindfulness
Tara Pogoda, Extra Ordinary Horse Listener
- EPONAQUEST™ Advanced Instructor (AI)
EPONAQUEST™ Power of the Herd (POH)
EPONAQUEST™ 5 Roles of the Master Herder (MH)
EPONAQUEST™ Connection Focused Therapy™ (CFT*)
*Special Training w/Dr. Rebecca Bailey & Linda Kohanov
- EAGALA™ Certified Equine Specialist
- Occupational Studies A.A.
- Mind-Body Syndrome Educator
- Tension Myoneural Syndrome Educator
Cell/Text: 303-638-6997 (MST)
Email: tara.pogoda@gmail.com
TESTIMONIALS
1) My son had had a suicide attempt several months prior. He was taking antidepressants and seeing a psychologist, but he seemed to still be getting worse instead of better. I was overwhelmed to the point of being panic-stricken. I knew that my son loved animals and nature. I turned to equine therapy as a last resort. I’d heard about it, here and there, but I didn’t know anyone who’d tried it. I’d done some reading, but had no personal experience. I would have tried anything.
The effect on my son, though, was almost instantaneous. Months of traditional therapy had won us nothing. But just a few weeks with Misty, and I could see the change in my son. He wanted to hold back, to be distrustful of the people in his life. But he couldn’t be distrustful of Misty. She needed him. She needed to him to find his center, to offer her some stability, some guidance. And for her, he could find his way. He knew there was no malice in her. He knew her fears, her insecurities, her uncertainties, were as authentic as his own. And he wanted to reach her. To ease her.
In reaching her, he first had to find himself. He had to reach within and find the strength that he could lend to her. He learned her. He learned to trust her. And she learned to trust him.
Even in the worst weeks, his time with the horses was a safe place. Horses have no hidden agendas, no expectations, no simmering resentments. Horses offer a clean experience, a window to the self, divorced from the perspective of others.
That’s a lot of words to say this: I would recommend equine therapy to anyone. If you are struggling with emotional issues, with anger, with loss, with self-loathing…the horses will help you. And Tara is a unique mediator between the horse and the spirit. She can challenge without judging. Let her help you. I promise you will not regret it.
– C.W. / Anchorage, AK
2) Working with Tara and her horses Max, and Joe, was a much deeper experience than I expected. I was amazed at how intuitive the horses are and how they respond to how you are feeling and what you are thinking. Their feedback in the form of touch and sound even from out in the paddock helped me have a profound breakthrough in my personal development. I’m feeling more confident in being ‘me’ and not what I think others want me to be. I continue to feel the reassuring presence of the horses within me on a daily basis. Tara holds a loving, safe space and asks insightful questions to help you go deeper in your process. I wish I lived closer so that I could experience this regularly as I now know huge personal change is possible no matter how stuck you think you are!
P.L. / Manchester, UK
3) I am deeply grateful for the space held for me during the weekend to explore areas within my psyche that scare me. Thank you for the safety created by all. Thank you, Tara, for showing me what it feels like to show up and what it feels like to be me. The experience you helped me have, was of my own presence showing up and I felt it then, and still. I am able to tune into a deeper sense of myself after the workshop. I am still taking all of this in..the transformation was so deep.
M.C. / Arkansas
4) Growing up as an autistic person, I’ve always struggled with feeling less than others. Even before I “officially” knew I was autistic, there was this sense that I wasn’t as good as other people, like there was something inherently wrong with the way I was. Why else would I be so anxious all the time? Why would my social skills be so weak? Why would I “lack common sense” as people so often told me? Why would I be overwhelmed by sensory experiences no one else noticed, only to be called “fussy” and “difficult”? The only explanation I could come up with was that there must be something fundamentally wrong with me.
For a long time I wished I could be normal, more like everyone else, I wished I could fit in and have typical interests and friends. I wanted to blend in and disappear, to have there be nothing about me that others could pinpoint as “weird” or “different”.
After I was diagnosed with autism, I grew resentful, angry that I should be stuck with this brain that no one else understood. I began to realize that it wasn’t me who was the problem, it was society, which dictated that the way I was wasn’t okay. I wanted to find a way to gain the confidence to embrace myself and all my differences, I wanted someone to confirm that I was okay just the way I was.
Enter the horses. Even in those first few sessions they made it clear that they were only interested in working with the real me, not some version of myself that I hid behind, for the sake of social niceties or blending in. It was hard, but I learned how to open up and be honest with them, and myself, about my thoughts and feelings. I learned how to stop censoring everything I did for the sake of others and in doing that, I found the sense of self-worth I’d been looking for so long. I learned how to be okay with all of me, even the parts that other people found strange or didn’t like.
These days I am authentically and unapologetically myself. I take care of myself and my autism in ways that work for me, without worrying about others’ impressions. I share my thoughts and experiences with the expectation of being listened to and respected. I know that I deserve to take up space and ask for what I want, and I no longer tolerate being bullied or ignored. It’s thanks to Tara’s amazing horses and the year we spent doing “horse therapy” together that I am finally comfortable in my own skin, and I’ve stopped wishing I could be different. Why would I ever want to be ordinary when I was made to be extraordinary?
E.R. / Loveland, CO
5) I can’t believe how I am feeling! You (Tara) are amazing and brilliant and soft and gentle and wise and intuitive and strong and I can go on and on. Thank you for this awakening to another part of my life (my inner brilliance) that I totally discounted and now want to experience daily. Thank you for guiding me with the horses to my Ah Ha’s!!
With Love and Gratitude,
D.G. / Denver, CO
6) Thank you all for an absolutely glorious, enlightening and marvelous weekend! It was empowering, uplifting and fun!!!
Love,
B.B / Vail, CO
7) Just a quick update on my shifts since the delightful and powerful day with the horses and you. My whole life is shifting and it’s awesome. I feel ‘whole’… what I’ve been in search of probably for lifetimes. My creativity is speaking to me in whole new ways to bring more fun and joy in, and to share. Thank you, thank you, and thank you and the horses, the space, nature………..all that participated in my transformation.
D.M / Denver, CO