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Deborah Pearson-Moyers holds Pinto Bean (L) with Nancy Proia, and Flynn (R) with Mary Todd Peters, while guiding the women through warm-up stretches as part of her Women’s Intuitive Riding Group. Photo Courtesy of Valarie Schwartz
By Valarie Schwartz
…while attending a ceremony at Emerson Waldorf School, Deborah Pearson-Moyers sat down and brightly asked, “Who are you?â€
My response gained an invitation to see what she does at her Blue Skies of Mapleview horse farm off Dodson’s Crossroads. Driving home after observing a lesson Tuesday, a question for the ages tumbled around in my head: What is it about women and horses?
Perhaps the answer lies in the name of the sessions Pearson-Moyers leads — Women’s Intuitive Riding. Women and horses following their intuition fare pretty well; working together, they can move mountains — and negative energy.
Two seasoned riders returned from summer break for the first meeting of the fall session. Nancy Proia thinks this is her third year of doing both fall and spring sessions; it’s the fourth session for Mary Todd Peters.
After a short catch-up visit while sitting in the shade of a horse trailer, Pearson-Myers instructed the women to choose a horse for bare-back training. “Walk out and see who asks. If you do well this week, you’ll earn your saddle,†she said jokingly. “I honor that they’ve left a lot to be here,†she told me. “They’re grown women with commitments.â€
“I’ve been riding off and on since I was 6,†said Peters, the mother of three young girls. “My mom died two years ago and I needed to do something for myself. It’s not therapy, but it’s therapeutic,†she said while brushing Flynn, a dark chocolate-colored steed. “The class is very encouraging. Deborah focuses on what you can do. Growing up, lessons were about what you couldn’t do. This is real comfortable.â€
Experiential learning happens in the stalls while the women brush dust and sand from coats and clean hoof bottoms, establishing a commitment to the horse while gaining his trust.
“A horse’s feet are their principal form of defense,†Pearson-Moyers explained while Proia lifted each foot of Pinto Bean, sometimes having to lower a leg for a weight shift before being able to clean it. “It’s all about balance . . . in life, horses and nature.â€
“Horses have always helped me through rough patches,†Proia said. “It’s something I can’t articulate — life is spinning out of control and I get on a huge animal and guide it.â€
Sometimes merely being in the presence of horses does it.
“One woman came and sat and wrote during the whole class; one woman played her fiddle for the horses,†said Pearson-Moyers, who minored in women’s studies and has a degree in counseling from the University of Illinois. “Usually, something comes up during a lesson. I found a woman in a stall weeping on her horse because the memory of abuse came bubbling up.â€
Horses are therapists of the four-legged variety.
“A horse is a living, sentient being,†Proia said. “I’m thrilled to have found this group. It’s marvelous — there’s nothing that can compare.â€
Call 933-1444 or see www.blueskiesmapleview.us for more information. Contact Valarie Schwartz at 923-3746 or valariekays@mac.com