The Equus Effect Meets The Somatic Enneagram
May 7-11, 2026 in Sharon, CT
Only 12 Spots Available!
When life’s challenges feel relentless, the nervous system can forget what safety feels like.This retreat invites you into a transformative partnership with horses—who embody presence, honesty, and coherence—and the Somatic Enneagram, a body-centered path to self-understanding.
Over four days, you’ll learn to recognize and relax your reactive patterns, reclaim your agency, and rediscover how to live from grounded presence. Horses, through their natural sensitivity and responsiveness, will guide you toward emotional clarity and embodied trust.
Special Event: The Equus Effect Meets The Somatic Enneagram
$2500 USD - Early Bird Rate
(Full rate of $2700 begins on March 7, 2026)
Enter an immersive four-day retreat where horses become mirrors of your inner world. With guidance from Marion Gilbert and Jane Strong, you’ll work with the Somatic Enneagram to relax reactivity, restore balance, and return to grounded presence.
Location: Sharon, Connecticut (The Equus Effect)
Accommodations: Booked separately by participant (details provided after registration).
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Find Capacity, Space & Freedom
This extraordinary offering is designed to reveal and resolve barriers and defenses that keep us from the grounded presence we need to face life’s challenges. Expand the space between stimulus and response for more freedom, choice and capacity in real time, right now.
The Context
Right now, the dramatic polarization of perspectives here and in other parts of the world have left many of us feeling overwhelmed and powerless to do anything but react rather than respond to situations – most of which are beyond our control. We spend a great deal of mental and emotional energy defending our positions, denying its impact on us or believing that if we have more information, we’ll feel safer.
As Elizabeth Stanley, PhD states in her book Widen the Window, “The thinking brain will never make us feel safer.”
It is the body that can inform and transform our ability to respond rather than react to whatever we face in the world. This is where the ‘juice’ is, as Helen Palmer used to say.
The more energy we spend on regrets, projections, stories and defense-based reactions to potential and symbolic threats, the less we have to invest in creative endeavors and practices that renew and build our capacity to meet life’s demands.
The choice then, is to recognize what we can control and what we can’t. It’s an inside job and horses get us there faster…as they have always done.
Why Horses?
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They’re both powerful and gentle.
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They’re honest but not judgmental.
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Their hearts are coherent.
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They connect and collaborate through trust.
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They resonate with congruence and invite emotional honesty
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They help us carve new neural pathways in real time, right now.
What You Will Experience
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Somatic practices guided by Marion Gilbert and Jane Strong
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Hands-on equine experiences that reveal your emotional patterns
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Real-time facilitation to support relaxation of type-based defenses
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Daily integration time to deepen awareness and reflection
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A small, intimate group of only 12 participants
What You Will Gain
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Increased emotional regulation and self-trust
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A deeper understanding of your Enneagram type’s reactivity in real-world settings
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Tools to expand the space between stimulus and response
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Embodied confidence, compassion, and connection
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An unforgettable experience of co-regulation and presence through horses
About Your Guide(s)
Marion Gilbert and Jane Strong bring together decades of experience in somatic healing and equine-assisted learning to create a truly transformative retreat experience. Marion, founder of the Somatic Enneagram™, and Jane, founder of The Equus Effect, unite their expertise in body-based awareness, trauma resolution, and experiential learning with horses. Together, they offer a deeply embodied path to rediscover presence, emotional regulation, and authentic connection—supported by the wisdom of the body and the honest reflection of the horse.
