We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Linda Aldrich a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Linda, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I was a kid that fell between the cracks. Even though I had lovely parents, I struggled to fit it in at school, at home, and in life. I ended up with an eating disorder at a very young age long before we had a label for it. At the time, I did not have a therapist, but I did have a horse. She saved my life and from that point on, horses and my love for them has guided me every step of my way. In high school, my favorite teacher told me I went to school to eat my lunch. He was right, but he also saw my love for horses. We had an equine program at our local junior college, Santa Rosa Junior College. He told me if I went to college and got a degree that he would hire me to teach the equine program. And so, I did. The kid that went to school to eat her lunch ended up with two Master’s, one in Education and one in Counseling. I taught at SRJC for ten years. I also founded The Pony Express Equine Assisted Skills for Youth. I took my passion for horses, combined it with my purpose to make a difference in the lives of others who like me were falling between the cracks, and that became my profession and my life’s work. As it turned out, there were a lot of kids who needed a second chance, a leg up in life. As an aside, all of the horses in our program are rescues. They too, were in need of a second chance and our ranch would be that chance, as well as their forever home. It was a win-win situation, for the kids and horses, and a labor of love, my love for the horses and kids. Over one million kids later, it still is.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

What I am most proud of is of my desire to create a safe space for the horses and humans in our programs. Everyone needs a safe place without judgement. Horses provide us with that space, and they hold space for us to be who we are in that moment. That was my first experience with horses, and it had a lasting effect. My nickname as a kid growing up was Skinny Linny, and it was painfully true. Yet my horse loved me anyway. One of the kids in our program who was struggling with mental health issues, as well as addiction shared with me. “What I love most about my horse is that she just listens and does not try and fix me.” We call it attunement and horses are so good at allowing us to be seen, heard, felt, and understood. There is a Chinese saying that goes like this- When we are feeling depressed, we are living in the past. When we are feeling anxious, we are living in the future. When we are at our most peaceful, we are living in the present. As prey animals with 55 million years of survival, horses have honed their ability to live in a state of presence, and they can help take us there. When we are present, we are in a state of coherence. Coherence is defined as when our mind, body, heart, emotions, and all of our physical systems are in alignment. It is also our optimum state of performance. All of our programs focus on creating this safe space, and from there we are really teaching humans to be more like horses at peace, and in a state of presence and coherence. There is a tremendous amount of science behind the work that we do, but the real take away is that time spent with horses makes us feel better. Everything that we learn in the horse arena transfers into life’s arena as well. Horses have been my teachers for the last 50 years. I’m still learning from them. The irony is, when I first began my relationship with horses, it was all about me telling them what to do. Now, I just tell them that I’m listening.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

On September 27th, 2020, we lost our ranch to the Glass Fire. It was my home, our horse’s home, and home to over two generations of Sonoma County youth for the last thirty years. We are so grateful that all of our horse’s survived. That being said, our struggle is real. As we rise from the ashes, we are determined to make our comeback stronger than our setback. My horses remind me on a daily basis how important the work we do is. The work they do. As an equine rescue our horses all have stories. Many of their stories are incredibly traumatic and painful, yet they continue to show up every day and show me the way. Since our inception in 1982, I have taken care of our horses. Now they are taking care of me. And for that I am incredibly grateful. I do believe our future is bright with possibility. The need is great to continue to bring humans outside and into nature as we nurture the judgement free space that horses have to offer.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I entered the horse world as a rider, and competitor. I have spent time on the racetrack, the polo field, jumping, dressage, fox hunting, pretty much any and all disciplines of riding including ten years as a stunt rider. In all that I did with horses, I was taught to tell the horse what to do. We had a goal, an objective and that became the focus, not the relationship or the partnership. I was not listening to my horse. Often times, there was no consent or agreement, only control. In the work they we do now with horses; I have learned to value the partnership and learn a very different style of leadership. One that does honor honesty, consent, and agreement. Most often we work with horses at liberty. In other words, they are able to choose whether or not they want to work with us. Either way, horses are sharing valuable information. It’s not personal, and we have to learn how not to take it personal. Humans are uncomfortable with the truth. Horses honor it. That being said, there are times that horses will ask us to do something different if we want to share space with them. That is the greatest lesson that horses have taught me. Do something different. That might just mean, take a breath, breathe, get present, let go of the story in our heads, and create a new story in that moment. We learn so much about ourselves through the eyes of our horse. All we have to do is listen.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theponyexpressrocks.org
• Instagram: theponyexpressrocks
• Facebook: The Pony Express
• Linkedin: Linda Aldrich, Founder/Director The Pony Express Equine Assisted Skills for Youth
• Youtube: The Pony Express youtube.com