Jody Nixon has been a horse lover for as long as she can remember. She was first certified as a riding instructor when she was 20 years old during the summer of ’87 while teaching at Camp Birchwood in Minnesota. The following year Jody graduated from Ohio University with a studio art degree and decided to shoe horses professionally. She soon graduated from Belleview Horseshoeing School as a Certified Farrier. In the 90’s Jody studied Natural Horsemanship directly from Pat Parelli and continued to teach riding and horsemanship.

While working as an advocate for victims of domestic violence, Jody realized that the women needed time with horses to support their healing process. Horses naturally make you stand up for yourself and this was fundamentally lacking with most of her clients. Jody began searching for a continuing education program that would support this type of work and she discovered Eponaquest International. In January 2014, Jody took an Eponaquest workshop which transformed her life. She knew if she could combine her advocacy work with horses, she could help support lasting change in people’s lives. In March of 2014 Jody graduated from the six month Eponaquest apprenticeship. In 2015 Jody was invited to be a co facilitator for Eponaquest’s six month Riding Focused Apprenticeship from which she graduated as both an Advanced Eponaquest and Power of the Herd Instructor.

Jody worked for Pegasus Equine Therapy from April 2014 until 2018 and now focuses soley on her own business Metaphorse Riding and Equine Experiential Learning. Jody offers workshops and lessons at her facility in Montrose, Colorado and horse led retreats in the jungle of Costa Rica.

Jody is deeply passionate and masterfully able to share the gifts of the horses with her clients. She brings a depth and lightness to this work with her unique style, years of experience, authentic connection with horses and sincere desire to support others healing through horses.

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Maria can not remember a time in her life when she was not “horse crazy”. She began riding as a child on the weekends, attending summer riding camps, leasing horses and dreamed of the day when she would have a horse of her own.

Maria has always been deeply connected to animals and in her early teens she was the youngest person in the history of the U.S.A. to be licensed at the state and federal level for wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. She worked full time after school with the Virginia Beach Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and neighboring veterinarians. After university she began her formal education in holistic and spiritual studies at the Edgar Cayce School / The Association for Research and Enlightenment studying yoga, reiki, meditation, various massage and energy healing modalities and food as medicine. After graduating Maria continued to study and practice becoming certified as an Integral Yoga teacher, Cranial Sacral therapist, Reiki Master and studying herbology at Sacred Plant Traditions.

When María followed her heart to live in the jungle of the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica her heart horse found her. First by coming to her in dreams and then through a series of synchronistic events. In 2014 Maria read “Tao of Equus” by Linda Kohanov and her entire life’s purpose shifted to her heart’s truest desire offering the compilation of her life’s work, education and experience to work professionally with horses co-creating safe and sacred space for growth and healing for both people and horses alike. In 2015 Maria graduated from Eponaquest’s Riding Focused Apprenticeship  and continues to study with other like minded professionals to grow her practice, but most importantly Maria listens to her herd on how to best support her clients.

Maria combines the ancient arts of ritual, meditation, breathing practices and visualization with the wisdom and sentience of her experienced horse herd. She and the Horses are available for day sessions, workshops and retreats on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica; Virginia, Colorado and may be open to traveling to you and your horses as well.