A Riding Adventure Wellness Retreat
Hey there! I have some exciting news. I have just released the first Coach Notes for our Women of the Rancho wellness adventure retreat. Want to know more? Keep reading!
Life is unpredictable. I led a women’s wellness horse retreat in Colorado at C Lazy U ranch, called Women of the Rockies, for seven years. It was a life-changing retreat that women returned to year after year. It was transformative but also an annual event that delivered adventure and fun for all of us.
Then, I was ambushed by a series of catastrophic events. My husband’s health worsened, COVID hit, a big fire burned through the ranch, and my heart horse Lady passed away. Suddenly, I faced several challenges, but the biggest one was readjusting my life to my husband’s illness. I had new responsibilities as a 24/7 caregiver and I realized I couldn’t continue retreats in Colorado with David’s health.
Women of the Rancho Will Help Build Resilience
At our past retreats, I talked about the Buddhist universal law of impermanence- that anything can happen anytime to anyone. I have been in medicine and life long enough to see this happen to others over and over again. In life, uncertainty and unpredictability can be a source of anxiety and suffering because we desire the opposite: security and assurance. Like my husband’s health changing and not getting better, having to sell our dream home in Colorado, being a caregiver for my husband, and losing Lady, who was the best horse I owned. I had been talking about this to encourage others to develop resilience as our lives change, but now it has come home to me. Once again, I realize we teach what we need to know ourselves.
For me, the most powerful lessons come from nature. I have a small lemon tree in my yard that produced clusters of lemon blossoms followed by buckets of lemons only this year after terrible years of threatening fires, drought, downpours from atmospheric rivers and record-high and low temperatures. My lemon tree endured years of the worst weather to produce the biggest lemon crop. Like my lemon tree, through adversity, I have learned to weather the changes, persevere, and begin to search for the perfect place for a new women’s wellness retreat with horses, Women of the Rancho. In late 2023, I found that in Alisal Ranch, outside of Solvang, California.
Alisal Ranch: Women of the Rancho’s Home
Alisal Ranch is in the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, about 30 minutes from Santa Barbara. The ranch has a 200-year history, going back to the Spanish vaquero days as a cattle ranch, later a place for celebrities to train their racehorses and produced a Kentucky Derby winner, and finally, in 1946, it became a guest ranch. There are 72 cottages, 120 horses, and a 100-acre lake on 10,000 ranch acres today. Alisal Ranch is known for its scenic property, excellent Western horse program, gourmet dining, well-appointed cottages, and fine hospitality.
In this first year of Women of the Rancho, our wellness adventure will emphasize a wellness retreat for like-minded women who love to ride. Six horse activities are offered over three nights and four days, beginning with a one-hour ride on the first afternoon with your horse chosen for you based on your riding experience.
Other activities include early morning gentle yoga on the first and second morning before breakfast, daily heart-centered, mindful meditations, a branding campfire event, a Leading with Your Heart workshop, an opening and closing ceremony, and ending on the last day a breakfast ride to the historic adobe ranch house. Lunch is on your own either on the ranch at the Chuckwagon or in town 5 minutes away. There is downtime for journaling, relaxing by the pool, or a spa treatment.