Welcome to my 2025 passion project. I’ve asked all the amazing horse people that we work with on our retreats – in Montana, Argentina, Sweden and Costa Rica – to answer the question, how do horses make us more mindful?

Sally Kelsey is co-owner of the Nine Quarter Circle Ranch, managing alongside her husband Kameron, where we hold our Dude Ranch Cowgirl Yoga retreats. The two oversee all aspects of the ranch from managing staff, entertaining guests, and maintaining the ranch property itself. With a passion for traveling Montana’s backcountry on foot, horseback riding was new to Sally when she met her husband nearly a decade ago. The activity captivated her in an unexpected way. Horseback riding offers her a sense of freedom and connection that she didn’t realize she was missing. Helping with the morning wrangle is always a highlight of the week, and Sally finds herself wanting to spend an ever-increasing amount of time with the herd—at least as much as the other ranch obligations allow.

Sally, how do horses make us more mindful? 

Riding horses—and even just being around the animals—has done more for me in my adult life than I anticipated. Between my children, my job, and other life obligations, it is challenging to find moments to ground myself. Life is so busy. Whether it’s writing emails, preparing meals, managing staff, the to-do list doesn’t end. To be fair, I’m not sure what I’d do with myself if it did. Nonetheless, in the busy-ness of life, I found a peace in horses that I didn’t expect but that I very much need. The sincerity of the animal is refreshing.

There are few experiences in life that require us to be mindful of the energy we emit, but the sincerity of a horse requires this. Without words spoken, a horse not only summarizes our state of mind, but it also responds to it. I appreciate that the animal requires us to be honest with ourselves, and reset our minds to a calmer place in order to effectively work with the horse. I see so much beauty in this, even if it is sometimes challenging for me. It also require an intentional presence that is missing from so much that we do. My mind is often going different directions all at once. But, when I ride, I have to be present. I have to connect with the animal I ride, observe the terrain we navigate, and be mindful of how I am. I love the intentional presence required of riding, and that in its own way, it offers me a lot of freedom. Freedom from the emails I haven’t written, clothes I haven’t washed, and tasks that remain unfinished. The opportunity to focus on my own energy, presence, and state of mind is the gift that being with horses offers.

Yeehaw & Namaste.