About

 

“Many years ago, I took lessons with Katharine, on Freedom. It’s by far the best horsemanship experience I’ve ever gotten. You see, when I started with Katharine, I already thought I knew it all. What girl-who-loves-horses doesn’t? 🤷🏼‍♀️. Well let’s just say, it’s been 10 years, and I am confident that my foundation and roots is all because Katharine took the time to teach me more than just how to sit in the saddle….Energy, empathy, balance, awareness, all the things that help you connect with the horse. Powerful. Meaningful. Intentional.
I am forever thankful.” – Shelly B

 

Katharine Turner Mays

 

“The horses teach me to work with Love as love.”   KTM

 

Katharine is an artist and a non-dual Equine Guide.  She, like the horses, is a multi-sensory being and approaches riding by teaching others how to consciously connect in this way.  The traditional ways of using only the intellect and just 5 senses masculine principle, is much needed and respected, however, is used in conjunction with the feminine principle of our multi senses.

The majority of the work includes a deep conscious connection involving all three bodies (physical body, Soul body and The Divine) delving deeply into the power of the wild feminine principle using nature and her depth to teach us this new way of moving forward. 

Katharine moved to Austin Texas onto a petite ranch in 2000.  Her riding sessions began when a psycho therapist friend, (now on the board of the non-profit) who had never ridden before, asked Katharine to give her riding lessons from a spiritual horse whispering perspective.

They quickly realized that learning to ride was made easier and went faster when healing trauma and going into stillness meant the horses were also still (safer).  It soon became the highlight of their week.

After a couple years Katharine decided to start Conscious Rider.org and teach others in this wonderful way of spiritually growing, healing and riding.  Using her skills as a professional empath, animal psychic and eventually a non-dual Equine Therapeutic Guide,  Katharine helped clients find their way into a deeper energetic union with their horses and themselves. 

She has used Sally Swifts’ Centered Riding since 2000 as it works well with beginners and once their seat (position in the saddle) is strong Katharine introduces classical dressage which is fun and elating for for both the horse and the rider.  We learn under the covered arena and in the canopies of the 750 acres of parkland on our door step.

As Katharine is also a professional artist, she works with clients and horses in the mornings Thursdays to Sundays and paints the rest of the time. 

Katharine’s Horse Story.

‘I loved spending time in my teens riding with my mother, getting our horses fit for hunting, before school or in the week ends. 

My mother got me my first pony, Sir Percival Pink, at the age of 11.  I will never forget the moment while walking through a large boggy field with my Mother one spring afternoon, coming across a beautiful round, 13.2 strawberry roan pony.  I had no idea why we were there, but the moment I saw him, I fell deeply in love.  He was the kind of pony any horse loving child like myself would dream of having.  In the middle of this large field, as my mother and I stood staring at his portly, pinkness she said these life changing, wonderful immortal words: “This …. is your pony!”

I had many years of magical, wild, and gentle, fun adventures on Pinky.  He took care of me over huge jumps out hunting.  He taught me about courage and he was pure joy to my heart and soul.  I went to sleep at night thinking of him in his enormous stable full of hay, loving him deeply and woke up in the mornings the same way.  After some years I grew too big for him, he went to my lucky brother and I got to love and take care of the next pony Mouse until I got my first beautiful horse, a hunter jumper called Flint.

As I was born in Britain, brought up in Hampshire, we fox hunted when we could on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  I rode my ponies, first Pinky then Mouse, then Blacky, Dandy and Flint over huge jumps from the age of 11 to 24.  Our hunt was the Hursley Hambledon my mother was a pink jacket and my uncle, was the master of the Silverton Hunt in Devon.  Off season I did Three Day Events (cross country, dressage and show jumping). 

I studied ‘dressage’ on and off growing up and later concentrated on the Baucher system from the classical school of de la Guérinière.  Over the years I have been methodical in learning and teaching his method to both my horses and my clients.

Because my first American horse Freedom, had been traumatized and needed his confidence back I began to learn gentler, ancient ways of interacting with horses and found natural horsewo’manship, this became another deep horse dive and learning curve for the next decade.  I met and studied Parelli and Monti Roberts, who showed me how to work with Freedom and his trauma.

My classical riding back ground helped me to teach people to ride.  The natural (empathic) horsewo’manship helped clients and horses heal from trauma. Typically I worked with clients who could ride but had lost their confidence.  I noticed if a rider had a life challenge it would be mirrored by their communication or lack there of, with the horse, once we got conscious of it the connection and the riding would improve.’ 

About:

Transforming Triggers.

Since 2000 I have developed a method for people to transform triggers before getting on the horse to keep the horse calm, (‘a calm horse is not a dangerous horse‘- Mia Lykke Neilson).  My method is now a book I am writing called ‘Transform Triggers – a Return To Love‘.  I work with people learning to go from fear to stillness and Return To Love. This work has led me to hold groups and workshops with and without the horses helping people transform their fear, stop reacting in anger and return to Love.

 

About:

Austin Riding and Therapy Center

Equine Assisted Integration.

E.A.I. combines Centered Riding (TM), Conscious Rider and mindfulness:

About:

Special Needs Riding. 

From 2010,  I have worked with neuro divergent and neuro typical children and adults with different needs.  I am able to give gentle, sensitive clients simple exercises using E.A.I. something I developed, by working with clients on the ground with the horses which helps to work through relational and life challenges. 

About:

a Spiritual Shift …

After many years and thousands of hours of meditation in 2016 there was an energetic shift in my demeanor from years of transforming fear (trauma) back to Love.  My fear based conditioning or personality made way for Love (the Divine kind) to lead and there was a shift into peace. I noticed I went from a fear based mindset to a predominantly still mind.  This was a change that took some time to adjust to and I took time off to assimilate. 

During this period of integration I began my interest in training horses on the ground using the Mia Lykke Neilson method.   I also, studied Liz Mitten Ryans methods and The Trust Technique, all of which we use in our sessions and the workshops.

“I love helping people integrate classical riding through Dressage establishing a knowledge of lightness and grace while experiencing a deep relationship with themselves as Presence.  I love to help transform peoples triggers and Return To Love.  I as I said earlier I am here to Love and my job is an excuse to Love people.  I consider myself very lucky to do this.”

 

Katharine Turner Mays  Facilitator

• Director and Founder of Conscious Rider/ Austin Riding and Therapy Center since 2000
• Dressage training
• Hursley Hambledon Hunt 12 years
• Three Day Eventer UK 10 years
• Special needs facilitator and mentor since 2010
• Professional Medium and Psychic for animals and humans since 1998
• Classically Trained Artist Portraits of children and animals KatharineTurnerArt
• Kundalini Yoga Certified Instructor

 

Caroline Jackaman Teacher/Guide

• Shoshne Lodge Yellowstone
• Guided trail rides
• Over night pack trips
• Extensive Western horsewomanship
• Conscious Rider 5 years 
• Texas Horse Center
• Camp councillor
• Managing full care of 30 horses

Caroline is passionate about learning and being a strong horse woman. Her ambitions are to eventually be training wild horses and to continue enjoying teaching children and adults in sharing her equine knowledge, understanding and love.

 

Genevieve Kenny Teacher/Guide

• EAGALA Instructor
• Special Education Degree
• Special Education Teacher
• ABA Therapist
• Special Olympics Volunteer 

Genevieve has her own horse riding facility Miercoles Moon in Sante Fe, NM. She has been with Conscious Rider since 2010.