Awakening the Equestrian Within
A Dressage Foundation Clinic for the Mindful Rider - March 6, 7, & 8
Ride Well. Find the Exhale.
A Dressage Foundation Clinic for the Mindful Rider
Most riders seek technical perfection, yet they often overlook the most important variable in the equation: themselves. At its core, dressage is a conversation. But if your internal state is cluttered with the stress of your daily life, your "signals" become noise to your horse.
In this unique intensive, we combine Dressage Foundation work with the Natural Leadership model and Equine-Facilitated Coaching. We don't just look at how you sit in the saddle; we look at how your life affects your riding.
What You'll Experience:
This isn't your typical weekend clinic. It is a community-driven immersion designed to help you and your horse find a collective "exhale."
-
Riding with Intention: Daily riding lessons from Megan Hinkle who teaches from a dressage foundation, focusing on rhythm, suppleness, and contact—delivered with a compassionate, biomechanical approach.
-
The Mirror Effect: Groundwork and facilitated sessions with Brad and Gracie to identify how your nervous system is communicating with your horse before you even pick up the reins.
-
Pressure & Presence: Learn to manage pressure without overwhelming yourself or your horse. You’ll practice reading feedback in real time and adjusting your pace to match what the moment requires.
-
Grounded Community: Join a group of like-minded riders who value the horse’s well-being as much as their own progress.
The Goal: A Better Relationship, A Better Ride.
Whether you are preparing for the show ring or simply want to feel more at home in the saddle, you will leave with a clear roadmap. You will learn how to establish clear ways of communicating your needs, how to hold pressure without collapsing, and—most importantly—how to ride well and find the exhale.
Logistics & Flow
Schedule: The experience begins Friday at 5:30 PM with an opening dinner and community gathering. While optional, we highly recommend attending to begin integrating with the "herd." On Saturday and Sunday, we dive into full-day workshops from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
Registration Tiers: To ensure intimacy and safety, we limit this retreat to six riders and six auditors. This small group size prioritizes a sense of belonging, which accelerates the learning process for both horse and human.
Riders: Receive two private dressage lessons with Megan focusing on foundation and correctness, as well as participation in all facilitated equine therapy and groundwork sessions.
Auditors (Non-Riding): Receive full participation in the facilitated equine therapy and groundwork sessions. Auditors do not bring a horse or ride, but are fully integrated into the community learning and personal growth work.
The Approach: Over the weekend, Brad and Gracie will facilitate groundwork sessions designed to help you identify where personal "stuckness" or imbalances may be affecting your life or your riding goals. These sessions reveal how our interpersonal world deeply impacts our relationships with animals.
Nourishment & Lodging: Co-owner Andrew Lande-Shannon will provide nourishing, farm-to-table meals featuring ingredients grown directly on the land here at Awake Ranch.
Stabling: Available Friday–Sunday for those trailering in.
Camping: You are welcome to stay on-site in your living-quarters trailer or tent.
Registration Process: Because this work is deep and highly impactful, a 15-minute screening call with Megan or Brad is required before confirmation. We want to ensure this experience aligns with your current journey and our community culture.
[Email [email protected] to schedule your 15-minute intro call]
Testimonials
When asked about the first thing that comes to mind about this workshop...
“The Equine Natural Leadership Clinic is like no other riding clinic you will ever take. It is profoundly exciting without being overbearing. I had so many breakthroughs in my understanding of the promise of human/horse connection, both technically through expert riding instruction and emotionally through the insights I gathered about myself, that it was like falling in love. Glorious, exciting and addictive in the most healthful way possible. You will never think about yourself and your horse together again in the same way.”
Deirdre
“Anyone interested in beginning to understand and unlock the power of true leadership should attend this clinic. Coupling introspection with learning from others provided a unique opportunity to see how conventional leadership tropes often lack vulnerability, empathy, and openness. Working with horses in true partnership demands learning how to carry all of these characteristics concurrently. This clinic made me a better rider and a better human.”
Dina
“Megan, Brad, Gracie, and Rune crafted an incredible two day experience where we connected with our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls. This immersive experience provided spaces where we continued to strengthen our relationships with ourselves, our horses, and our fellow equestrians. By cultivating a space of safety, awareness, and communication, the facilitators encouraged participants to explore, experiment, and ultimately awaken to the possibilities available to them. A truly life changing experience.”
Khrystal
“If you are looking to build your relationship and connection with both your horse and yourself, both on the ground and in your riding, this is the clinic you want to attend. You will carry what you gain and concepts you learn with you to outside our equine world and into every day life experiences. This clinic is so good for your mental health and well being! ”
Dani
“What an amazing weekend with Circle up! I learned a lot in my lessons with Megan and felt that my second ride could hands down been the best ride I ever had on my horse. My time with Brad was impactful and so valuable for me and my horse. Our relationship runs deeper after this weekend with more trust and connection.”
Laura
“Life changing, inspiring, a celebration of emotional connections and discoveries. Peak experiences of heart and soul…"Let your horses heart reveal what's in yours!"”
Diane
“This workshop is an amazing opportunity to work in community to deepen the relationship with your horse and promote awareness and gratitude. The horse, as a teacher, facilitates self realization through mirroring of human emotion. ”
Janet
Instructors
Megan Hinkle
Head Trainer
[email protected]
Megan Pugh is a Grand Prix dressage rider who has engaged in multiple other disciplines, with dressage her main emphasis, as it is the greatest foundation. She is the Head Trainer at Awake Ranch and Retreat Center, in addition to being an L Program graduate and active clinician. Megan’s training motto is, “Ride well and find the exhale.” This entails setting firm boundaries, but finding a soft place between those boundaries. The ultimate goal of dressage is to find an elastic partnership that promotes self carriage in the horse. Megan achieves this by understanding what every individual needs and then finding a toolset that works well for each partnership. She emphasizes the riders’ position to be clean, independent and correct, which better allows the horse to find its balance and relaxation. Megan brings a sense of cohesive community that promotes a true love for the horse and sport.
Brad Lande-Shannon
Owner, Head Leadership Coach
[email protected]A long-time C-suite executive himself, Brad Lande-Shannon has a first-hand understanding of the pressures and stresses that face company founders, leaders, and high performance teams. This is partly why he first turned to Natural Leadership as he faced his own professional challenges.
Brad's passion for horses has been a life-long pursuit. Having competed with the National Cutting Horse Association as a youth and now as an adult amateur dressage competitor, he’s combined his deep horse expertise with his executive leadership coaching. Over the course of his career, Brad has guided thousands of leaders on values, purpose, emotional intelligence, and well-being.
Certified in the 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership and following training from The Center for Equus Coaching (formerly The Koelle Institute), Brad enrolled in the Natural Leadership program. Compared to other programs, Brad says Natural Leadership is, “deceptively simple and multi-dimensional in its use cases to apply and teach.”
Brad has an equestrian facility that offers Natural Leadership facilitation, coaching and programming at Awake Ranch, near Portland, Oregon, which he acquired with his husband in late 2022. “We are home to 16 horses, three goats, and two cats surrounded by Pacific Northwest trees and on farmland that regularly displays exquisite sunset and sunrise views.”