The Equestrian Connection

Susan Tenney is the founder of Elemental Acupressure, where she has trained animal professionals in Five Element Acupressure and EnergyWork™ for over three decades.

Originally certified in shiatsu and acupressure at the Shiatsu Institute of San Francisco, Susan built her equine practice in Northern California before expanding into an international career that blends Classical East Asian Medicine with modern bodywork, anatomy, biomechanics, and the EnergyWork™ system she co-developed with her husband, Jonathan Cohn.

Her client roster has included school horses and elite competitors alike, among them the Swiss Equestrian Teams and Gold Medal–winning teams and riders for the USET. As her practice grew, Susan began teaching across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, leading equine acupressure certification programs in several countries and teaching for internationally recognized schools such as Equinology. She is the author of Basic Acupressure for Horses, published in English and German, with her writing appearing in leading equine publications worldwide.

Now based in Seattle, Susan leads the Elemental Acupressure Certification Program and a range of online trainings that draw students from more than 40 countries. She is known for making complex concepts genuinely accessible — and for the lasting impact her method has on both practitioners and the animals in their care.

Connect with Susan:
Website: https://elementalacupressure.com/
Free PDF: https://elementalacupressure.com/wehorse-1

Kelly Wendorf is the founder & CEO of EQUUS, an executive and personal coach, published author, spiritual mentor, and socially responsible entrepreneur.

Her early experiences were vitally and deeply shaped by the natural and ancient world around her where she learned a way of listening to forces within people, nature and moments. Throughout her life she has lived and worked around the world, studying with many spiritual and Indigenous leaders in India, Africa, Indonesia and Australia.

Kelly founded, edited and published Kindred magazine, an evidence-based publication that explores the social, cultural and biological underpinnings of a compassionate society. Here she spent 15 years immersed in the field of neuroscience and neuropsychology and its relationship to social justice and transformative cultural change. Kelly also authored and Edited Stories of Belonging, an anthology from authors around the world, including the often excluded Indigenous voices. Her latest book, Flying Lead Change, was released in December 2020.

As the founder of EQUUS, and as an intuitive lifelong horsewoman, she also developed The EQUUS Experience® — an award-winning equine-assisted transformational learning process.

Together with her team, Kelly continues to develop and grow The EQUUS Experience, Wisdom Circles, and EQUUS’s other complimentary processes that curate various awareness-based frameworks that create breakthrough learning and discovery.

Connect with EQUUS:
Website: equusinspired.com
DIscount Code: EQUUS10KW (valid for two weeks post-publication)

Dr. Steve Peters is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and internationally recognized equine neuroscientist. With more than three decades of experience in brain research and clinical practice, he brings together human and equine neuroscience to support thoughtful, science-informed horsemanship.

For more than a decade, Dr. Peters has presented neuroscience concepts to equestrian audiences across the United States and internationally. And in recent years, he founded Horse Brain Science Clinics, combining classroom instruction, live horse demonstrations, and equine brain dissections to provide clear, practical insight into behavior, learning, stress, and welfare.

His vision is that understanding the horse’s brain is the most direct path to better communication, reduced stress, and deeper connection between horse and rider — science serving the art of horsemanship.

Connect with Dr. Steve Peters:
Website: https://www.horsebrainscience.info/

Shannon Beahen specializes in teaching her own consent-based approach to natural dressage and liberty, equine care and co-living, as well as the creation of species-appropriate habitats that promote dynamic movement and autonomous equine lifestyles.

She is passionate about exploring and articulating the ethics of embodied horse-human relationships. And her hope is that, through teaching a deeper awareness of human-animal and human-environment relations, equestrian education ceases to be a privileged pastime that replicates outdated domination logics; and instead may just provide some of the seeds to birth a new earth.

Shannon has been an Equestrian Canada certified Competition Coach since the late 90s, studying topics related to human-animal ethics, language and philosophy since 2008 (BA, MA, PhD Candidate). She holds certifications in horse-human trauma-recovery and lives on Vancouver Island where she tends acreage with her multi-species family.

Connect with Shannon:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/humminghorse_sb/
Website: https://www.humminghorse.com/

Elisa Walfish (also known as the Data-Driven Equestrian) is a biologist by training, host of the EquiScience Podcast, and a certified Equine Manual Therapy practitioner through Equineology (EEWB), specializing in Functional postural rehabilitation, Myofascial and nervous system relaxation and Equine sports massage.

Elisa’s approach combines a scientific understanding of the body with targeted manual techniques to guide the horse towards greater comfort, balance and overall well-being.

Her platform of the Data-Driven Equestrian explores the intersection of biology, physiology, and horsemanship to offer evidence-based solutions for improving the physical and mental well-being of sport horses. Through a scientific lens, Elisa aims to optimize care practices to promote not only peak performance but also longevity and happiness for the equine athlete.

Connect with Elisa:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedatadriven.equestrian/
Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ZXRgWpbKBKw36ivyJPNM3?si=6f891e4a010540ee