Gayna Cross
Gayna grew up in Berkshire County, MA and never came close to a horse until her early 20s when after reading Palomino, a Danielle Steele novel, she decided to take horse riding lessons.
Disillusioned by the lack of opportunities to build meaningful relationships with lesson horses, she soon bought her first horse, a little quarter horse mare named Fizz Bomb who just so happened to be in foal. New to horses and riding, Gayna was soon to discover a whole new dimension of horses. The filly, a beautiful spunky chestnut quarter horse Arab cross was deemed “dangerous” by at least two “traditional” trainers who warned Gayna, “That horse is going to hurt you someday!”
Once again, disillusioned by traditional horsemanship, Gayna began to study natural horsemanship. A relationship built on trust, understanding and leadership developed between the two. Caligula’s Counsel, Cali, transformed from an over reactive spooker to a calm confident responsive horse.
When Cali could no longer be ridden, Gayna, full of knowledge and experience, or so she thought, bought a six-year-old Paint named Rocket. No doubt Rocket had a rough start in life, having had at least four homes in his six-year life. Never mind standing to be mounted or loading in the trailer, he wouldn’t even tolerate touch when stalled. Let the vet examine him? No way! His transformation has been Gayna’s journey to a much deeper connection and subtle approach to horses. Because of Rocket, Gayna is able to help others with their horses.
Cali never did hurt Gayna, except when she passed away.
Our Journey to Sattva
Monica Floeck
Monica's love of horses began as a young child and at eight she finally convinced her parents to let her start riding lessons. She worked mucking out stalls for extra lessons and went on wild trail rides through the woods of Plymouth County, MA.
Since then, she has embraced every opportunity to be near horses and during the pandemic she met a formidable Shire/Quarter horse left out in pasture with no human nearby. He had no name, just a number, and for months she visited twice a day simply to spend time with him and pull the burrs from his mane and tail. Being near him brought a sense of connection and joy. She named him Shanti, which means inner peace in Sanskrit. It was evident there was trauma in Shanti's past and that his body was in pain. His stress response was to shut down. After much persistence, the owner finally agreed to
sell Shanti and many months of physical, emotional and
mental rehab began.
Monica has always connected with animals and been in tune with their energy. This focus on energy and her experience with Ayurveda were key not only to Shanti's healing, but in how Monica interacted with him and learned to build mutual trust. It was an enlightening journey for them both and Monica learned that "listening" to the horse was just as important as "speaking" to the horse. She saw Shanti's true personality and his sense of humor emerge. It wasn't always easy and mistakes were made, but the journey taught Monica the importance of energy, subtle and overt, in building a trusting and joyful relationship with horses.
Shanti is now thriving and the inspiration behind
Sattva Horsemanship.
