HEART OF THE HORSES SANCTUARY is home for Erica Hess and Joost Lammers, as well as a herd of many horses, dogs, and cats

This is an extraordinary horse ranch in Santa Fe, NM that offers exceptional training and coaching programs for horses and for people with a unique interest in developing an authentic relationship with horses. Our environment fosters interaction and companionship with the herd where we build respect, trust, patience, empowerment, awareness, acceptance and vulnerability as we nurture a deeper experience of the horse–human relationship. Moreover, we are embarking on an adventure of self discovery, becoming leaders that horses eagerly follow. We believe that relationship is everything with your horse; so we focus on developing a keen interest and mutual admiration between us and our horses.

As well as I can remember, I have been a horse lover all my life, and started riding at age six. I grew up in The Netherlands, where riding mostly consists of dressage and jumping; the country currently produces the highest-ranked riders, trainers and horses. As a boy, I dreamt of owning my own horse, which I did not manifest until I was in my late 40s.

When I saw the movie The Horse Whisperer (1998), I was deeply touched by the theme of the mutual healing powers of horses for humans and humans for horses. I prayed that in my next life I would become a horse whisperer. But I did not have to wait that long! In 2003, I decided to shelve my management career in performing-arts and non-profit organizations in The Netherlands to pursue a full-time career working with horses. I seek to share my experience with horses in these four key fields:

1. Horsemanship

In 2003, I graduated from Oklahoma Horse Shoeing School, and in 2004 moved permanently to the USA. I quickly found a connection with Dave Claus, a horseman in Sonoma County, California, who has the reputation of “if you don’t know what to do with your horse, you send it to Dave.” Dave uses horsemanship to start colts and turn around horses with people problems. Besides working with Dave full-time for several years and building a business as a farrier, I had the opportunity to study with fine horsemen in the Tom Dorrance lineage, including Ray Hunt, Buck Brannaman, Harry Whitney, Rick Quinn and John Saint Ryan. I read all of Mark Rashid’s books and was drawn to work with him, which quickly became a yearly tradition.

2. Dressage

Meanwhile, while working with Dave, he rekindled my childhood passion for dressage; he started riding dressage when he was 62. I had the opportunity to work with some of the finest instructors in the world, including Andreas Hausberger and Herwig Radnetter form the Spanish Riding School in Vienna; Christine Traurig, US Olympian in Sydney 2000; Carolien Reverdink, national contender from The Netherlands; as well as Nuno Oliviera’s classical dressage students Dominic Barbier and Mark Russel. In 2009, I earned my USDF Bronze medal and in that same year I graduated form the USDF L judging program. This qualifies me to judge dressage-schooling shows.

3. Equine-assisted coaching.

I offer my experiences in working with Linda Kohanov, Charlie McGuire and Robbie Nelson in the realm of healing with and through horses. Between 2007 and 2009, I had the precious opportunity to work with these women on various occasions. With them I was able to deepen my connection with horses on a spiritual level and get a better understanding of how horses “speak” to us about where we hold back.

4. Leadership

Over the past four years, I have been fortunate to work with students from all over the world (primarily at the United World College in Montezuma, New Mexico) around the theme of developing leadership skills with horses, getting familiar with horses, overcoming fear, basic horsemanship and riding skills. In this context of connecting with horses at liberty, and how they “talk” about our emotional issues and mental clutter, I have become more familiar with the work of Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, Carolyn Resnik and Robin Gates.

For me the heart of leadership is being calmly and confidently present in mind and body, so we can give a horse direction and rhythm in a clear and simple way. It is important also to keep communication open in both directions, to check in and see where either of us goes off balance—emotionally or physically—and what is needed to restore balance.

In my lessons and training I combine the above four elements and focus on connecting with the horse on the ground as well as in the saddle. Searching and finding continuous, deeper understanding and experience of what Tom Dorrance described as “feel, timing and balance.” I like to put it like this, “If you can find it in your body, the horse -with your leadership- will find it in his/hers.”

When I meet a horse, I am always enamored by their presence, and I can't imagine a time when that will not be true for me.

I must find a way into their mind. And when I do there is always an image or a feeling of a special place where it is just the two of us in a safe and quiet connection. I approach every horse and human honestly and with simple kindness and respect, allowing for the other to feel safe enough to be seen, perhaps even to be vulnerable. This creates the basis of a relationship that we can both desire, and this is a good place to begin.

Each one has talents and personal gifts as well as their fears or concerns very personal and unique to them. Once I can observe these qualities I am able to find the right approach to empower them. Horses are all emotionally complex though some of are more transparent than others. Usually when there's been trauma, neglect or abuse in their experience we need to help them shed layer by layer until they are ready to be approached without defense. Horses will shut down for many reasons which are not always due to trauma or neglect. But none of them need to be stuck there - they can all recover and form a deep bond of trust and a desire to engage with us.

Recently I started to work with 2 of my heroes in the equestian world: Frederick Pignon and Magali Delgado. As I continue to develop my work, with their guidence I understand much more about creating the relationship first - it is always first and that remains true in every moment we share with our horse- without exception.

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As a child I dreamt over and over again about the white pony that would mysteriously appear in my driveway and stand there wearing only a red bow around it’s neck, waiting for me to discover it, hop on, and ride off into the woods around our home. Well it never happened. So when I moved to Santa Fe in 1997 I began to ride my new friend Chris’s mustang, Tigger. Together we explored as much of Santa Fe County as possible. Eventually I leased a few horses and began taking lessons until I was ready for the big life change!

Then I bought my first horse; Dancer. She was a three year old Foxtrotter and when she foaled her darling colt 5 months later I just knew I was the luckiest girl I the world! 2 horses for the price of one! Little did I know how seriously my life was about to change.

So this was the beginning for me: discovering how much I really didn’t know, and letting the search for answers become my passion and purpose. I read anything and everything I could find about horses, studied with many trainers and masters and played and experimented with my horses for countless hours. During this time I managed to connect with Mark Rashid whose books I devoured many times through. His philosophy on horse training is still the most consistent and thorough that I have experienced. We have gotten to work together many times and these days we get to spend some great times with him each year at our ranch here in Santa Fe. Somewhere along the way I had a pretty serious riding incident which proved to be another formidable teacher as I found myself unable to ride and also pretty darn scared of my now big and bratty 2 year old colt.

It was around this time that I discovered the work of Carolyn Resnick and her Waterhole Rituals. I became a student immediately and began learning this incredible method of liberty training with my horses.  Shortly afterwards I began a long mentorship with Robin Gates. This work continues to inform me in my work and especially with wild and/or abused horses.

We met at a horse clinic in 2009 and immediately fell in love. Soon we found that our dreams about creating a sanctuaryn were perfectly aligned. Heart of The Horses Sanctuary has come through dreaming and finding what is important; creating the vision, and letting the ranch gracefully manifest.