The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 80 | Grace, Grit and Gratitude with Tara Coyote

After following the inspiring Tara Coyote of Wind Horse Sanctuary and Cancer Warrioress for quite a few years, I finally worked up the courage to ask for an interview and was so glad I did! We had a wide-reaching conversation about her grief work, her incredible life journey with horses, cancer, and more, her brand new book (it’s out now!) Grace, Grit and Gratitude, and her recent trip to visit the wild horses in Nevada. Enjoy!

Tara weaves together 30 years together of somatic experience with her love of horses. She was a horse-obsessed young girl being fortunate enough to spend summers with her cousins in New Hampshire who owned horses. Although she begged and pleaded with her parent she never got one of her own. Decades later while undergoing a particularly difficult life transition, she read ‘The Tao of Equus‘ by Linda Kohanov which inspired her and helped her to remember her profound connection with horses. It is due to the healing experience she experienced with them which dramatically transformed and in a sense ‘saved’ her life.  In the period of two years Tara went from living in the suburbs, being married with a successful Pilates studio and then decided to give it all up to follow her heart’s calling of helping people heal with horses. It was through this extreme leap of faith although pivotally challenging and terrifying that brought her back to life again. Now you can find her living on her ancestral land in Kaua’i, Hawaii which is Wind Horse Sanctuary with her two gorgeous horses feeling blessed to be practicing the work of Linda Kohanov. Tara is a Eponaquest™ equine facilitated learning  and Power of the Herd ™ instructor.

Five years into developing Wind Horse Sanctuary in Nevada City, CA, a stressful event occurred which necessitated selling her business. Tara ended up moving back home to her father’s ancestral land of Kaua’i, Hawaii in January, 2019. As she had four horses at the Sanctuary she ended up letting go of two of the herd and kept Blue, the paint horse and Comanche, the mustang. Transporting them across the Pacific Ocean, 2,500 miles away was quite the feat! Comanche, Blue, Xaria (super fluff ball Australian Shepherd wonder dog), Kismet the cat and Tara all live happily on The Garden Island now. The new version of WHS is much smaller than the Northern California version, but it has the unique magic, healing and charm of Hawaii.

Tara specializes in the human/horse bond for healing grief, loss, difficult life transitions and facilitating help for care-takers through offering private sessions. Tara is highly experienced with helping clients with the grief process and is very familiar with issues around illness. In the last seven years she has experienced a vast amount of loss through the death of her two closest friends who died young from cancer. She has led hundreds of people in her ‘Grief Rituals with Horses’ at her ranch and in rituals around the world.

Tara has also been journeying with late stage breast cancer for almost five years. She has been publicly sharing her health journey through her blog page, YouTube channel and social media. She is very grateful to be alive after being recommended to Hospice two years ago. To see more about Tara’s health journey please visit her other website: Cancer Warrioress.

Tara’s Book (now released!): Grace, Grit & Gratitude: A Cancer Thriver’s Journey from Hospice to Full Recovery with the Healing Power of Horses

The Whole Horse Apprenticeship with Alexa begins September 15th and there are spaces still available! Head here for more details on this six month equine wellness immersion. Guest Instructors for live webinars include Elsa Sinclair, Josh Nichol, Kerri Lake, Jane Pike, and Jana Hunter, plus Manual Therapy for Horse Owners Online Course with Elisse Miki.

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