“Our passion is to create a ripple effect that fosters balance, harmony, and sustainability for the well-being of Mother Earth. Are you ready to create ripples?” -Ariana Mazzucchi
Equine Guided Education and Coaching
Our signature programs in Equine Guided Education™ and Coaching embody a vision of a world where equine wisdom is a revered catalyst for personal transformation. Equine Guided Education is a self development model that shifts the role of the horse from servant to healer/teacher.
We thrive on illuminating new pathways towards a future where humanity and nature coexist in a dance of profound respect and interconnected well-being.
The time we spend with horses quickens new insights and encourages an embodied presence (a ‘way of being’), self empowerment and self actualization.
Time in with horses in nature can revive the spirit, release spent emotions, and guide you towards right action in balance with the greater good. It’s no longer enough to merely discuss ideologies. Now is a time to connect, learn, imagine and manifest.
Our SkyHorse EGE™ programs are focused on our "healing humans, healing earth" paradigm which is about cultivating harmonious relationships and contributing to a healthy planet.
Even if you never plan to have horses in your life, our programs will give you a renewed confidence in who you are and what you care about.
Additional benefits include regained clarity on the role you want to play in your community, family and work.
NO HORSE EXPERIENCE NEEDED.
Our programs are relevant for people who want to:
Explore and expand intuition and sensory awareness
Open new pathways of exploration and learning through interactive, experiential experiences
Experience intuitive/imaginal studies and nature-based activities
Work with the biological and intuitive aspects that comprise an integrated person
Create new paradigms for healing humans and the earth in a mutually reciprocal way
Understand and develop knowledge of the inter-relationship between spirit, self, biology and instinct
Be part of a community of people who are committed to creating balance and sustainability
The Gold Standard since 1989
Ariana has been a pioneer in shaping a collective consciousness that reveres an Earth-centric model through immersive mind/body/spirit experiences, authentic expression, and guided exploration since 1989. SkyHorse Academy and SkyHorse Equine Guided Educators lead the way in cultivating harmonious attunement with the intricate web of life—both seen and unseen.
Our unique approach of blending emotional, somatic and spiritual intelligence with an emphasis on the natural world as a place of healing has helped over seven thousand people from all walks of life. Ariana’s teachings have been incorporated into numerous leadership institutes and equine therapy programs around the world including Institute for Women’s Leadership, Institute for Generative Leadership, Institute of Noetic Sciences, and Meridian University. Other leadership training programs that incorporate Ariana’s work include U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business Development, Institute of Noetic Science, Earthrise, New Era Trainings, Newfield Network, PSI Seminars and more. Her corporate clients include Salesforce, Facebook, Visa, Institute for Women’s Leadership, Wells Fargo Bank, Proctor & Gamble, Hewlett-Packard, Agilent, Cisco, Kaiser, Pfizer, Apple Inc, Leadership USA, and more.
Now enrolling for our SkyHorse EGE™ 2026 training program - Space is limited
Introductory Classes
Our SkyHorse team is here to support you on a journey of re-awakening, refreshing your intuitive-sensate abilities and finding a sense of harmony.
Start with an introductory course. You can, choose from an online or in-person format. If you are interested in our in depth coach program in SkyHorse Equine Guided Education™ and/or Nature as Healer paradigms, see below for details on our SkyHorse EGE™ Certification program that has been training professionals since 1999.
This is the Year of the Horse! A time of freedom, courage, and forward movement. A time when it really matters what you do and dont do. Leadership is about relationship-how are you relating to yourself, others and what is happening in the world. It is a pivotal year! It’s time to get off the fence and recalibrate who you are and what you care about. The old style of leadership is out, help lead the way for a new paradigm of relational leadership!
Leadership & Horses™ has been going strong for over 35 years and stands the test of time. This class changes lives and creates pathways to turn dreams into reality.
If you are ready to move forward—whether that be finding a new sense of well being in chaos or taking a stand for something that really matters to you—Ariana and the horses are here for you to open, explore, be authentic, find your courage and set yourself free. 2026 is a special time, don’t let it dither away.
Class goes from 10 am to 5 pm each day.
Gluten free, organic lunch is included.
Limited lodging is available upon request, plus many other local options here in the Russian River Appellation
Embark on a gentle, self-guided journey to deepen your relationship to the natural world, animals and plants. Access increased intuitive insights and a centered presence through somatic practices and nature exploration. Accessible anytime, from anywhere. Enhance your somatic awareness skills for navigating healthier life choices versus overreacting and getting stuck in limited belief patterns. Benefits include a better relationship with yourself, with your animals and other people in your life.
What is Equine Guided Education?
EQUINE A horse representing the ancient archetypes of strength, courage, dignity, power, beauty, endurance, resilience, mystery, integrity.
GUIDED The magical ability of horses to take us into unknown or unexplored territory; a place where we can heal the past, re-imagine our future, and connect to our life’s purpose and share our natural wisdom.
EDUCATION Educational, coaching, and therapeutic models that encourage effective relationship, communication, coordination, and social interaction skills for individuals and/or groups.
THE GOLD STANDARD SINCE 1989
Ariana began her pioneering work in 1989 with Leadership & Horses™ and Somatic Horsemanship™. As the industry developed, she coined Equine Guided Education and created the SkyHorse EGE™ Certification Program which has trained many of the most successful Equine Guided Professionals around the world.
SkyHorse EGE™ Certification Program 2026
Horses + Our Holistic Somatic™ approach + Masterful Coaching = Transformation
Our unique method of transformation and embodiment is so successful, it has been incorporated into universities, leadership institutes, coaching programs, non-profits, and businesses around the world. Many of our students have changed their local communities and passed forward our successful method, still going strong after 35+ years.
What sets us apart from other equine guided programs?
Our unique method of transformation and embodiment is so successful, it has been incorporated into universities, leadership institutes, coaching programs, non-profits, and businesses around the world.
SkyHorse ™EGE, (our signature brand of Equine Guided Education), is the home base that other equine guided programs launch from or copy from.
We were the first in this field to require that the horse is a ‘respected guide’, not a tool. Other training programs and associations have adapted our core of ethics over the years, not just towards human participants, but for the horses as well.
In our programs the horse is honored for its magical and mysterious abilities.
While horses have an uncanny ability to know when to heal and when to guide, the role of the facilitator— the human interface—remains the most complicated matrix. Our founder, Ariana Strozzi Mazzucchi, co-created the first Somatic Coaching program alongside her Equine Guided Coaching programs. As she developed leaders and coaches in the somatic arts, leadership mastery, and equine guided coaching, she learned how important it is that the facilitator embodies what he/she is teaching and presenting.
Because we care about the quality of this kind of work, our programs are small and we offer hands on support throughout.
5 Steps to the SKYHORSE EGE™ Certification Program
To reach a level of embodiment in this work, requires study, mentorship and practice. It cannot be learned in an online course alone. It takes courage, commitment, and a passion to change adversity into opportunity. We offer a ‘tried and true’ course of study that has built the foundation of many other programs for over 25 years now. We combine in-person programs with online studies and coach mentorship that make up 5 steps to completion.
1-Nature, Somatics & Spirit: Principles & Practices of SkyHorse EGE™
2-Equine Guided Education™ (EGE-1)
3-Advanced Equine Guided Education (EGE-2)-Facilitation and Coaching Refinement
4-Coach Package for SkyHorse EGE™ Program and Independent Studies
5-Final Evaluation
The first step is to set up a free discovery call with Ariana to see if our certification program is a fit for you. This discovery call satisfies our ‘interview’ requirement. To request a discovery call, click the button below and we’ll send you a downloadable PDF with more details including cost, lodging, courses, etc.