Stages of life
In a moment of extraordinary clarity in 1996, all the fragments of my life, which I had dismissed as aberrations up to that point, suddenly came together to form one big meaningful whole. Starting with my teacher training, my professional years in the private sector, my training in veterinary naturopathy, my passion for riding and my strong interest in self-development and Far Eastern philosophy, all the way to my great love for horses. Nothing had been in vain. They complemented each other perfectly.
After only a few months, I developed into a pioneer and trendsetter in the field of equine assisted self-development. I had a great teacher at my side: my grey gelding "Bon Jour". He lovingly, perssistently and uncompromising turned my life upside down and taught me a lot about the deeper structures of the human-horse relationship.
In the early days, I reaped many a shake of the head for my equine-assisted work. This changed in 2000 and 2001, when my first two books "Der Weg mit Pferden - Ein Weg zu mir" and "Persönlichkeitstraining mit Pferden - Das Praxisbuch" were published and triggered a real boom in the scene, that self-development training and coaching with horses became established. Very quickly, "playing around with horses" became a serious method and a financially strong market. Quite rightly, because horse-supported sel-fdevelopment - competently applied - brings lasting success!
I had made it back then, you might think. I had fulfilled my life's dream, realised myself professionally. I set standards and was on the road to success. However, due to family challenges and traumatic events that affected my health, I had to say goodbye to the "big stage" again very soon. However, my ideas and working methods had already inspired many trainers and authors, who then marketed "horse-supported coaching" very successfully and with great media impact. To this day, this market is growing steadily.
On a "small stage" I have continuously refined my work with humans and horses over the last 20 years - against all odds. With unshaken dedication and enthusiasm, I am still passionately committed to raise awareness in the interaction between humans and horses. Because it is time to think beyond the old structures of power and submission, of pressure and force, not only in relation to horses. We need healthy natural relationships instead of mechanical functioning, more awareness instead of mindless conditioning, creativity instead of endless repetition of the preconceived. This change brings about more quality of life and success in life, and it also makes our world a good deal more beautiful and peaceful. You see, yesterday's pioneer is also today's pioneer. Only more mature - and perhaps a little wiser too.