What Inspired Me to Start Unbridled Change?

This past Friday we had 5 new client consultations in a row.  With every new consultation I share our little introduction to Unbridled Change, what we do, how we do it, and why we do what we do.  We also have the opportunity to hear about the client’s why and what they’re hoping to gain from working with us as well. As I watched and listened to the different case managers, family members, and clients I was amazed at how in just 30 minutes, shifts started to appear.  One after another, their feelings shifted from a sense of overwhelm and powerlessness to having a felt sense of hope. One potential client stated, “I just want to feel a change, be the best version of myself.”

The main reason I founded Unbridled Change 10 years ago was to provide a safe haven, a sacred space, to support others on their healing journey.  I knew from personal experience the power that partnering with horses can bring to healing a person’s belief in themselves. I also knew that a horse alone wasn’t the key.  Here at Unbridled Change, our horses are an invaluable piece of the healing puzzle along with other key pieces such as the support of our treatment team, and the client’s willingness and courage create the larger picture of the life they want to live. Each piece working in unison is what creates the sacred container for our clients to heal.

I have been in the field of equine assisted activities and therapies since 2000.  During that time, I had the chance to be a part of many different types of organizations and centers all working to help support others.  When I started Unbridled Change in 2008 I had one core value – I wanted to create an organization where every client felt like they were supported, challenged, and honored along their own healing journey.  I wanted to create a sacred place that everyone felt respected and empowered to step into their own voice. I wanted to build a practice that allowed people to reconnect to their amazing true self and step into living, loving, and leading their authentic life!  

To do these things I knew I needed to build a program that allowed a person to focus on and bring together all the pieces of “self” – supporting the mind, body, and soul.  For me, the best way to create a solid foundation and bridge for healing is through building a partnership with a horse based on trust, respect, and willingness. The key to the Unbridled Change method we have developed is that as you learn the skills of building a trusting relationship with a horse as are also healing the wounds of your past.  You might be asking how. Here is where the magic happens. During the process of working with the horses, you are simultaneously rebuilding the very same skills within yourself!

Over the past 10 years we have refined our method by combining the following pieces:

• relationship skills of partnering with horses,
• best practices of current trauma and attachment theories,
• the science of mindfulness skills,
• the neuroscience and biology of re-patterning limiting beliefs,
• and aligning your body’s energy systems to their optimal flow.  

By putting these together in motion you gain the alchemy needed to help ignite each person’s own amazing ability to heal and create the lasting change they have been searching for.

If you want to know more about my own healing journey and how horses have changed my life, check out this video. It is why I do what I do everyday

Sending light and love on your journey — Michelle

P.S. in the next blog I will share more about the healing power of horses and how they guided me into the next level of transformation and growth.