Horse Sense for the Leader Within : An Equine Guided Approach to Self Leadership

Horse Sense for the Leader Within is an excellent resource and must-read for people interested in Equine Guided Education Equine Assisted Learning, Equine Experiences, nature-based learning and self-development. With innovative vision and grounded experience, Ariana Strozzi brings together the universal principles of horsemanship and leadership, creating a powerful new platform for human development, growth and learning.

An internationally recognized pioneer in the field of Equine Guided Education, Ariana eloquently reveals how horses become our healers and teachers, inviting us to awaken our intuitive and somatic senses and reconnect to what has heart and meaning. She reveals how respectful leadership is based on partnership rather than command and control. Leadership begins with the self we are and how we walk into our lives with presence and clarity. Leadership was not invented by human beings, rather its roots are in the animal kingdom as a way for social animals to communicate and coordinate.

Ariana reveals the biological underpinnings of both horse and human by defining nine principles of Intuitive Leadership. Through these principles, she shares how our intuitive and sensate awareness can help us find clarity out of chaos and how to navigate the challenges and opportunities of our lives. By becoming aware of our animal nature and our innate drive for survival, we develop the capacity to respond with choice rather than merely react to the pressures of life. Ariana explores how the essential elements of intuitive and sensate intelligence, nonverbal communication, and re-connecting to our anima-self can revive the spirit and create clear focus and passion for a life well lived. She discusses the importance of the spiritual aspect of the mind/body/spirit in the healing arts and how it is ultimately the most significant part of a person’s life force, the most important part that must be found when someone is in transition.

The numerous stories throughout the book show how horses teach us to find self-acceptance in a world of judgment. As we learn to think more like a horse, we develop our intuitive imagination and create new possibilities for our lives. Rather than focusing on what is wrong with us, we shift our attention toward what is right about us. On this path of becoming, we focus on staying connected to what we care about most.

Ariana eloquently invites us to explore new ways of thinking about our path toward leading our life on purpose. The Expanded Edition of Horse Sense for the Leader Within includes over fifty pages of new writings, stories, and expanded topics including Somatics and Spirit.

Ariana Strozzi, internationally respected pioneer in the field of Equine Experiential Learning, founded Equine Guided Education (EGE) and co-founded Strozzi Institute (aka Strozzi Somatics). 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 developed EGE through her Leadership & Horses(TM) and Intuitive Horsemanship(TM) programs. Ariana has developed over six thousand leaders, coaches and individuals. Her approach is totally original and has proven to be an exciting force in self-development and leadership training. She quickly discovered that leadership and horsemanship shared the same principles. She discovered early on that horses not only reflect a person's leadership style, but also where their vision and actions are aligned or need further development. Her clients are able to receive the reflections the horses provide about their leadership assets and limitations in a much quicker and direct way than just working with a human coach or consultant and thus are able to make significant transformations in the way they lead themselves and relate to others. A California native, Ariana began her horsemanship career at the age of 7. She has won championship awards in the English and western disciplines of Eventing, Dressage, Jumping, Reining, Working Cowhorse and Gymkhana. Ariana supported herself through college training horses and graduated from UC Davis in 1984 specializing in animal behavior and wildlife ecology. In addition to her work with horses, she spent 5 years healing wild animals and domestic pets. In the mid 1980's she began studying leadership to gain skill as a business owner. In addition to her experience with horses, nature and leadership, Ariana has studied Somatics (the mind/body/spirit as a unity) since 1988. Through the study of Somatics she found a voice for the importance of developing intuition and our other animal senses to create freedom, choice and focus. Her other books include Equine Guided Education, Planning Your Business in the Horse as Healer/Teacher Professions and the video, Intuitive Horsemanship(TM). She currently provides public and private programs in SkyHorseEGE(TM) Certification, Leadership & Horses(TM), Intuitive Horsemanship(TM). She lives and works on a 200-acre sheep and horse ranch on the California coast with her family.