Horses have been my “lifesavers” many times, so I want to give back to horses.

I didn’t have my own pony as a child, but I always had ponies in my life to look after. I spent all my free time with those ponies because they were my safe place. When I look back, I realize now that this is when and how I learned to communicate with horses in a very natural way.

A few years ago, I realized that for most of my adulthood I had been in a state of constant alertness and was experiencing “high achievement stress.” My body gave me several warning signs; however, at that time I didn’t know how to listen. So my body gave me a stronger warning by just collapsing. I found myself falling from being a high-achieving person into a deep depression. I was even hospitalized. This took me on a journey of unveiling the trauma stuck in my body and learning how to release the stored stress. I share this because there is a relationship between trauma stuck in the body and horse riding.

I gained insight into my own childhood experiences and found a way to reconnect to my body wisdom. I was able to open my heart and ask for help. I became “the observer” of my triggers and the effect it had on my nervous system, without identifying myself with it.

One day in 2021, I received a phone call from a friend. She told me about this horse she had. He had been born and bred in Portugal, trained for bullfighting. The scars on his body told his story. I wasn’t really looking for another horse; however, we instantly connected when I first saw him, because I recognized his constant alertness. So I bought Jajão.

I believe certain horses come into your life for a reason. I started to translate everything I had learned about trauma to help him regain trust in humans. Jajão has given me so many lessons and insights about how to deal with trauma in horses. That’s what this book is about, the journey from trauma to trust.

I’m not a therapist; however, I call myself a specialist in trauma and resilience by experience. As a horse trainer and awareness & mindset coach, it is my passion to empower you and every horse owner to understand how the autonomic nervous system works, so you can reconnect with your body wisdom and become more resilient.