Client experiences and reactions after a session at La Sonria - Coaching with horses

To respect the privacy of clients, the experiences below are shared anonymously, and some have been translated from Dutch.

"I found it a really lovely experience and suddenly realised how much I had missed being around horses. When I am back in the Netherlands, I will pick that up again.
Thank you so much for everything!"

"It was remarkable how Dinora and Enero mirrored the relationship and the difference in connection between me and my daughter, and between me and my son.
It was beautiful to experience that, after the insight and awareness, I was able to adjust my approach with Enero, which immediately made a difference that could be felt and seen."

"The way Mara looked deeply in my soul, I really felt it.
Its like in the story with the horse in my card. She took my tears and I just felt really seen, but more then just in the visual being seen, if that makes sense. I feel more free ever since too...
You made me reconnect with myself again, did not even realise how lost I was and how bad it made me feel."

"It is a beautiful, peaceful environment, and being surrounded by nature makes the experience even more enjoyable."

"Standing there in the arena, with the horses around me, Sabrina’s spot-on questions, my family system set up, and the sun on my skin, I truly felt like that little 11-year-old girl again.
My drive, passion, and dreams brought me to Spain, where I am fulfilling my soul mission to inspire others to live their dream life too.
Underneath all the success, there is still the pain, the child, the protective mechanisms, and the responses to my surroundings. The horses brought those layers and that vulnerability to light.
Highly, highly recommended!
I will let it all sink in.
Dear Sabrina, thank you for your professionalism and skill."

"I found it a very beautiful and special experience, and it was unexpected to discover where the “problem” comes from."

"It was beautiful how the card I had drawn came back during the session with one of the horses.

For the first time, I was also able to acknowledge something about my father that I had not been able to until now."

Sessions in images

Leadership

During this session, the theme of leadership emerged in a beautiful way. The task felt simple: walk a short distance together with the horse.

Yet in that simplicity, much became visible. How do you stand? What do you feel? What do you think? And what signals are you unconsciously sending to the horse?

The participant wanted to walk away with Enero, but Enero stayed in place. The rope was tight, the posture tense, and a sense of uncertainty was present. In conversation, it became clear that his thought was primarily: he must come with me. We paused to reflect on what that means and how it feels, both for himself and for the horse.

I invited him to approach it differently. Not to pull, but to ask. Not to direct, but to invite cooperation. When he softened his posture, focused his gaze forward, and found more calm within himself, the movement changed.

The rope relaxed. The pace aligned. Enero walked alongside him, without force and fully in connection.

This is where true leadership emerges: not through control, but through clarity, presence, and trust.

Boundaries

During this session, it became clear in a very pure way how difficult it can sometimes be to set your own boundaries.

Enero stood close to the girl and gently nibbled at her arm. She said she did not mind, but her body told a different story. We took our time to pause and notice this. I invited her to feel what she was truly experiencing, separate from what she thought she “should” feel. Slowly, she dared to admit that she actually did not like it at all, but that she was afraid Enero would stop liking her and walk away if she set her boundary.

She was then able to experience for herself what happened when she did express her limit by asking him for more space. The moment she did, Enero stopped. He stayed near her, but with more distance and calmness, as if he was confirming: you are allowed to show yourself, I am not going away.

This moment captured the essence of coaching with horses: learning to feel, recognizing your own boundaries, and experiencing that you actually create more connection when you remain true to yourself.

The timeline

A chronological timeline of life events, allowing you to sense where something still needs your attention.

During this session we worked with a timeline, using different objects to symbolize important events in a person’s life.

The participant chose the objects herself, decided where to place them in the space and gave them their meaning. In this way, a personal and tangible story gradually emerged.

As we paused with each moment, the horses moved freely around us. As long as the deeper feelings were not yet fully allowed, Mara and Enero became restless.

The moment true contact with the deeper emotion was made, their behavior visibly changed.

During our conversation about a particular situation, I told the participant that I had placed a gate to symbolize what we had been speaking about, and that she was free to walk toward it and notice how it felt. She shared that she was not ready and that she was afraid of the emotions it might awaken. Shortly after, Enero walked toward the gate, rolled there, stood up and began to yawn. Dinora, who had been keeping her distance, came closer. As if she wanted to say: it is okay, you are allowed to feel this.

This is what makes coaching with horses so unique: what words cannot express is felt deeply, and from that feeling, change begins.