We are Horse Warriors™
ABOUT US
Spiritual warriors do no harm, inflict no pain, and cause no suffering. They work to set things right by good example...Warriorship for them in no way entails aggression on others; rather it means having integrity, being brave, and standing forthright but peacefully for all that supports life. Their war is for safety, sanity, and respect."
Stephen McFadden, Ancient Voices, Current Affairs: The Legend of the Rainbow Warriors
Horse Warriors™ is an equine based empowerment program serving people of all ages in a series of empowerment workshops. We are a national professional training center for people working in the field of Equine Facilitated Mental Health and Learning. We also offer a free program for those on the cancer journey, their caregivers, and their families. Programs are offered throughout different years.
Who can participate?
Anyone who needs our services!
What are the different programs?
• Power Ponies™: Parenting Programs provide structured, educational, encouraging equine facilitated empowerment for children ages 6-11. Students learn to teach and model safe, healthy development of personal boundaries, clear communication, creative self-expression, exploration of feelings, and positive interactions between themselves and their parents. Classes meet 5 days a week for 3 hours a day - sessions are 1 week long. Parents accompany their children 3 of the 5 days and work with their children and their horses. All family sessions are co-facilitated by licensed counselors, and equine sessions are taught by certified equine professionals.
• Mighty Mustangs™: Open to families with children ages 7-11 who have participated in a full season of Power Ponies™. Classes meet 5 days a week for 3 hours a day - sessions are 1 week long. Parents accompany their children 3 of the 5 days. Parent sessions are co-facilitated by a licensed therapist.
• Horse Warriors™: Open to youth ages 12-18. Students apply and are recommended to the program by a teacher, therapist, counselor, etc., who knows the student well. Programs run year round; students meet for 2 weeks during the summer, Monday-Friday, from 9am-4pm, and for monthly discussion/art groups during the academic year. All students do 30 hours of community service per year. Upper level students become mentors for the Power Ponies™ and Mighty Mustangs™ programs. Course includes relationship building, horsemanship, social skill development, art, creative writing, public speaking, and academic assistance. Parent involvement in programs is required, and parent/child activities are co-facilitated by a licensed family therapist. (2025)
• Pony Camp: Three-day camp for boys and girls ages 8-11 to learn safe and fun ways to interact with horses and peers. Riding, arena games, art and play make up the curriculum for the day. Open to all children who love horses! (2025)
• Girls' Leadership Camp: Four-day experiential exploration of the many facets of leadership open to girls from 5th - 9th grades. Working with the horses, students practice awareness, boundary setting, compassionate leadership skills, respectful peer interactions and self-esteem building. Camp includes riding, groundwork, team-building activities, arts and crafts.
•Read, Ride and Draw Camp: For boys and girls age 9-11 who love to read and play with horses! Program is 5 days long and includes riding, group reading of an age-appropriate book, discussions, journaling, horse games and art activities. (2025)
• Women & Horses™: Open to women with an interest in horses. Course is 3 days long and meets from 9am - 5pm each day. Content includes relationship building, horsemanship, creative self-expression, riding, obstacle training, and trail riding. Suitable for riders of all levels - beginner to advanced. (2025)
• Horses of the Goddess™: Six-day (intensive) professional training for instructors and therapists. Content includes relationship building, curriculum development, integration of equine and mental health professionals in therapeutic programs, creativity projects for equine programs, mental health theory and practice, somatic experiencing, horsemanship, riding, and discussion.
• Cancer Kickers™: FREE programs for those on the cancer journey. The program contains elements of skill development, artistic sharing, camaraderie and positive, forward movement into beliefs and practices of seeing oneself as healed. Participants move towards a place of joy and discovery where they can be challenged by new experiences and succeed. (2025)
• Saturday Superheroes: Saturday Superheroes is a FREE program that includes fun, camaraderie and empowering support for people who are currently in treatment for breast cancer, have completed treatment, or are in recovery beyond their treatment. (2025)
How does it happen?
Each student gets a horse during the summer months of the program. Groups are small and intimate, with personal and emotional safety maintained at all times. Riding and horsemanship skills are taught progressively in an arena, and when students are safe and comfortable with their horses, we ride out on the trail. Days are spent (rain or shine) out in the backcountry.
Journaling is a key component of the program. All students receive instruction in art and creative writing; everyone has solo time during the lunch break for working in their journals and reflecting. After journaling, we have time for optional sharing of our work and observations with the group. Then we continue with our riding throughout the afternoon.
In the non-riding months of the year, teen program participants meet monthly for day long art retreats/discussion groups. Discussions are adult supervised but student driven. This gives students a forum for exploring ideas, problem solving and sharing experiences. Students who need academic help are given free tutoring from our broad base of volunteers. We use the model of "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz as a framework for coping with peer pressure, maintaining confidentiality and removing emotional charge from much of what is perceived through adolescent filters:
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Be impeccable with your word
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Don't take anything personally
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Don't make assumptions
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Always do your best
We teach young people skills that enable them to have a solid, appreciated, and recognized voice in the world by cultivating healthy and creative self-expression. We teach, model, and encourage the values of compassion, kindness, personal responsibility and accountability, volunteer involvement with community, and respect for the well-being of ourselves, our horses, and our environment.
FACILITIES
Diamondfly Ranch is the home of the Horse Warriors™ residential retreats and equine professionals' training programs. With a bunkhouse, guest rooms in the main house, a 100' x 200' outdoor area, barn, tack room, and easy access to trails, it is a perfect place to relax and bask in the company of wonderful horses and like-minded horse enthusiasts.
OUR STAFF & BOARD
Priscilla Marden, CEIP-ED
Executive Director
PATH, Int'l. Certified Instructor; ESMHL
Priscilla is the co-founder of Horse Warriors™ and co-owner of Diamondfly Ranch. She teaches all phases of the programs. Priscilla is the former Co-Chair of the Certification Board for Equine Interaction Professionals, a former board member of the Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association, and is a current member of PATH, Int'l. She volunteers with the Jackson Hole Citizen's Mounted Unit and is a professional illustrator and designer, spearheading our year-round arts program and HW curriculum. She has been trained by horses since the age of 8 and is wildly partial to Mustangs and Corgis.
Nancy Waite-O'Brien, CEIP-MH
PhD; SEP; Licensed Psychologist; Visiting Instructor
Dr. Nancy Waite-O'Brien is a psychologist, educator, and author with over 30 years of experience in addiction treatment both in the U.S. and in the Caribbean. In 2004, she was named one of sixty most influential women in the field of addiction treatment by Counselor Magazine. She is a frequent lecturer on issues related to women's treatment, taught at Chapman University in Palm Desert, Ca. and published research on shame and depression in early recovery. Dr. Waite-O'Brien was associated with the Betty Ford Center for 18 years and in that capacity oversaw all clinical services and training. She is a former board and current advisory board member of the Certification Board for Equine Interaction Professionals, as well as a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner.
Cheryl Renzulli, MA; LAT
Board President; Counselor
Cheryl, current President of the Board, has been a part of the Horse Warriors™ organization since 2002, when she and her son participated in Power Ponies™. Since then, she has pursued her passion for horses and developed her equine facilitated interaction skills through our Professionals' Training and Women & Horses workshops, and through volunteering with our parenting classes. Since 2016, she has helped facilitate our family programs and is indispensable to our communication skills development! She has her own counseling business, Grand Teton Counseling, and she lives in Jackson with her husband.
Katie Mannen
Board Member
Katie brings her legal expertise and her lifetime love of horses to her involvement on the board. With her full-time practice at Mannen Browne in Jackson, and her adoring mom responsibilities, we are grateful for the dedication and time she gives to helping Horse Warriors™ thrive!
Peter Lagerveld
Vice-President; Treasurer
Peter is a retired head chef from one of Jackson's finest restaurants. Although we are sorely missing his delicious food we are happy to have him on the team! Pete's stepson was a long-time participant, mentor and volunteer in the Horse Warriors™ programs and Pete has first-hand knowledge of the powerful and positive changes the programs provide.
Mindy Gaieski
Secretary
Mindy is our newest board member and she is eager to jump in with both feet! We look forward to taking her out on some trails and introducing her to the many endearing personalities in our herd. First step might just be instruction in driving a manure fork??? Welcome, Mindy!
Mindy Cooley
Instructor/Horse Care
Mindy is a long-time supporter of Horse Warriors™ and took students on one of their first trail rides way back at the beginning of the program. (We like to say we have known Mindy since the last century!) She helps with all the programs and with horse care. A former successful event rider, she and her (now retired) steed, Buck, add expertise (and often hilarity) to the many programs at the ranch. We count on her in many "pinches" and are grateful for her many skills. (And Buck is a terrific ambassador for timid humans - what a sweetheart!)
Jolie Richards
Junior Staff & Horse Care
Jolie volunteered to help with horse feeding and was conscripted into being part of our growing staff! Actually, she was eager to take on more responsibility with the program and with helping train horses. Jolie is an excellent rider and has an innate knack for teaching. We are happy to have her on the team - she is dependable, an excellent communicator, and she shares our deep passion for the physical, mental and emotional well-being of all the horses. She is particularly fond of Shaker B. Baker!
Sophie Richards
Horse Care
Sophie is one of our upper level riders who loves helping with the care and feeding of the horses. She has stepped up to helping with their year-round maintenance, arranging her home school schedule so she can be on site as much as possible. She is quite dedicated to Landing, and he to her!