Do you long to:

• Bridge the worlds of Equine Guided Learning and relationship-based riding and horsemanship- but don't know how? 

• Create meaningful work with horses and a calendar of sold out programming?

• Catalyze the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible by bringing young people together with horses and nature?

• Help young people experience a sense of belonging to themselves and the more-than-human-world through creativity and art?

• Become a confident, present mentor who helps bridge human and animal relationships to create more joy and healing in the world?

• Receive a transmission of everything you need to get started on the path of bringing young people together with horses and nature, AND the freedom to make the work your own?

Then this training is for you.

Hi, I'm Kera Willis

I founded Mountain Horse School with a borrowed horse and a dream, and built it into a beautiful, heart-centered, six figure business that transformed thousands of lives.

Then I walked away from it all because I wanted to create Ride for Joy for you.

After 20 years of research, apprenticeship and experimentation in the traditional and transformative fields of horsemanship, ecopsychology and nature connection, as well as ten years running my own horse and nature based school, I’ve created a training program that bridges the worlds of equine guided learning with riding and relationship-based horsemanship, rooted in a deep love for the wild world.

I felt called to let the holistic teaching methods I'd developed overflow beyond myself. I wanted to give others the language, research, understanding, resources, support, and freedom I wish I had when I started.

Join me, and let's create the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.

What's Ride For Joy?

Ride for Joy is 9 Modules of live online training designed to support your journey in creating meaningful, profitable, heart-led encounters between young people, horses, and the natural world.

It comes with incredible DOWNLOADS, RESOURCES, PROGRAM OUTLINES, A STUDENT HANDBOOK, and even A BUSINESS PLAN that can all be adapted for your use. 

It comes with a SUPPORTIVE ONLINE COMMUNITY, INTEGRATION CALLS, and amazing bonuses. 

All of this is YOURS TO KEEP FOR LIFE. 

Ok, but can you walk me through the Modules?

First, the OPENING CEREMONY will take you on a guided journey to reconnect with the seeds of the original magic we first experienced with horses.

As you go through the first Modules, you'll BECOME THE MEDICINE YOU SEEK TO GIVE TO OTHERS by receiving the knowledge, technologies of magic, and practices that will deepen our attunement, connection and presence with your horses, yourself, and nature. You'll learn how to create a vision for the young people who come to you that's based on a felt experience of belonging, and how to heal the hearts and bodies of the horses who are part of your teaching herd.

Then, you'll APPRENTICE IN THE ENERGETICS AND PRACTICALITIES OF SETTING UP A HORSE AND NATURE-BASED TEACHING SCHOOL. You'll be led through every detail, including how to create effortless boundaries and flow in your teachinging environment. You'll learn to translate what's happening in the moment for your students instead of taking the role of absolute authority, and I'll walk you through step-by-step instructions for teaching your first private sessions, with video examples and resources.

Then, you'll be GIVEN EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO CREATE YOUR OWN SUSTAINABLE, ALIGNED PROGRAMMING. You'll receive downloadable PDFs of program descriptions and outlines, student handbooks, camp outlines and formulas, and an E-Book of seasonal crafts- all tested and loved by the thousands of kids who've gone through my programming.

We'll dive into BUSINESS BEST PRACTICES- where and how to begin, and honest talk about the financial realities, navigating insurance, and how to find the perfect audience and build a community of devoted families who love what you do and want to see you succeed.

We'll come together one last time for the CLOSING CEREMONY, for another guided journey designed to help you see the teacher and guide you've BECOME. 

Opening Ceremony:

Tuesday October 15 / 10-11 AM PST

Orientation, an overview, and a declaration of intention for our time together. A beautiful guided journey to re-connect with the seeds of the original magic we felt when we first reached out to horses. This spark is what will sustain us, it's important we keep it well fed.

Module 2: Healing Childhood

Thursday October 24 / (Time TBD*)

Your presence holds the key. How to create a pedagogy focused on cultivating belonging. Restoring connection through the lens of trauma, co-regulation and polyvagal theory. How to become the remedy.

Practices: Medicine questions, Meet Your Inner Child (guided journey)

Module 4: Creating Your Teaching Environment

Thursday November 7 / (Time TBD*)

How to let the land hold your back. How (and why!) small animals are an essential part of your teaching team. How to set up your environment with natural boundaries so it can serve you effortlessly.

Practice: Create a flow map of your teaching space. 

Module 6: The Private Session

Thursday November 21 / (Time TBD*)

How to time and structure your sessions. Guiding your student's first experiences: tacking up and mounting. Building blocks of a beginner lesson + teaching framework. How to guide a rider's first trot steps. An intro to mounted games and riding out. Lunge lesson framework + video demo. 

Practice: Somatic Building Blocks

Module 8: Horse Dreamer's Summer  Camps

Thursday December 8 / (Time TBD*)

Learn the structure, planning, logistics, hiring, and day-to-day process for running our flagship Horse Dreamer's Summer Camp series. Summer camps are an invaluable source of income that help make your teaching sustainable. Learn how to maximize the magic and minimize the misery with our camp outlines, teaching guides, and afternoon activities THAT DON'T SUCK. 

Practice: Creating Your Camp Vision Board

Closing Ceremony

Tuesday December 17 / 10 AM PST

Summary and integration. How do we light the way forward from here? An invitation to remain in community. A guided journey back to our original vision, to see how much we've changed. 

I know what you're thinking. 

"How can I justify investing in this dream right now, the world's going crazy!" 

But do you know what's really crazy? Continuing to hide your gifts.

Making the commitment to bring others into connection with horses made me real to myself in more ways than I ever imagined. It forced me to become more than I was comfortable being.

I'm grateful for that every day.

The thing that draws us to horses is closest to the truth about ourselves, our  interior worlds and dreams. It can feel scary and vulnerable to put ourselves out there in a way that's contrary to the mainstream.

What ten years of practice has shown me is that parents are seeking these deeply felt, immersive, experiential learning adventures for their children. We know we need these experiences to remediate, ground and resource young people. We need experiences of embodied joy that throw open the gates to oneness and belonging.  

What ELSE are you going to do with your wild and precious life? 

You're SO needed. It's time.

Is for you if:

• You have two horses in your backyard and want to be able to pay your hay bills by sharing your beautiful interspecies friendship with young people- but don't know where to start 

• Your neighbor's kids keep asking if they can ride your retired gelding- but you're you're "not a riding coach." Doesn't someone somewhere have to come along and give you "permission"?

• You thinking teaching kids to be with horses could be so beautiful, but your childhood riding instructor made you cry all the time, and you don't want to have anything to do with THAT style of instruction

• You think the conventional horse world is missing the gifts horses continually offer us, and want to be part of the change!

• Horses and nature have held and nourished your own life so deeply, that you'd like to find a way to share the belonging, solace and companionship you found there with others

   

• You're already teaching and working with horses, but feel like you're just going through the motions. Where is the magic? How can you reorient yourself so THAT is what you give to your students?

• You have a beautiful dream you carry like a seed inside of you, but you're scared of taking the first step. You get stuck in questions like: What do I do first? How will I find my students? What should my offering look like? I'm scared that what I want to do is too "out there" for people and my aunt who breeds thoroughbreds is going to laugh at me. HELP! PLEASE GIVE ME PERMISSION TO BEGIN! I NEED TO MAKE THIS REAL, IT'S KILLING ME TO KEEP IT FROM THE WORLD.

Give yourself the presence, tools and resources you need to offer your gifts to the world.

This training offers a library of resources, language, and wisdom that you can lean on for years to come. 

I believe in you. 

If I did it, you can do it too.