Meet Our Facilitators

Program Director

Joanie Mankus is a professional Gestaltist who partners with horses to support individuals going through subtle or significant life transitions. Whether an individual is experiencing challenges related to family, relationships, career, or health issues, Joanie’s professional coaching leads clients to regain a clearer sense of their wholeness, purpose, and passion for living a fully expressed life. 

As an LCSW for nearly 10 years, Joanie counseled teens, families, and adults with a variety of life narratives including marital struggles and divorce, children of dysfunctional families, teen pregnancy, addiction, and trauma. She was a member of a first response crisis team at the Columbine high school tragedy. Throughout her professional career, Joanie has experienced firsthand how neglecting the inner human condition can manifest itself in tragic and negative ways. Deep introspection and self-study led her to examine the patterns, limiting beliefs, and behaviors that prevent people from moving forward in their lives with joy. Her extensive study in the field of Gestalt has offered both her and her clients’ solutions that break the cycle and allow change to happen organically. 

Joanie is proud to serve as the Program Director of Hope Held by a Horse. She continues to serve as Director and Secretary for Hope Through Horses, an organization dedicated to providing funding for organizations and individuals committed to and involved in improving the lives of individuals and horse partners through the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method. In addition, Joanie is a part-time instructor in the Touched by a Horse Equine Gestalt Coaching Certification Program based in Elizabeth, Colorado, and founded by EGCMethod® creator Melisa Pearce. Joanie also owns her own fulfilling private practice called Authentic Strides. She holds a Masters in Social Work from St. Louis University and is a Certified Equine Gestalt Coach.

www.authenticstrides.com

Equine Gestalt Coach

Julie Meyers is a master gestaltist who partners with horses to help humans heal the wounds of deep trauma. She works primarily with women who are aware of issues from their own childhood they don’t want to pass on to their children, and that they don’t want to recreate in relationships. Toxic relationships, sexual trauma, abuse, and neglect cause limiting beliefs that can paralyze us from moving through life in healthy ways. Julie also works with couples who desire a truly unique way of understanding themselves and each other. She supports her clients to uncover their negative patterns, discover who they truly are, and discard limiting beliefs they hold about themselves so they can move through life in joy. Julie has been an elementary school teacher for 18 years and has seen the effects of trauma on children and families, and on academic and social-emotional development. She has experienced firsthand that when we release the negative effects of stored trauma, we experience freedom. Her ultimate goal is to inspire others to find and become their dreams so that joy becomes the norm.

She is dedicated to empowering women to find themselves, stand in their truth, and truly love and embrace who they are. She is equally dedicated to educating others about the healing power of horses, and how much animals truly matter in our lives.

The true gift of the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method is the combination of the profound healing of Gestalt + the power of horses to heal + positive coaching + somatic awareness.

Julie is a dual certified graduate of the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method. She also owns her own rewarding private practice called Serenity Horse. She holds a Masters in Bilingual Education from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and is a dually Certified Equine Gestalt Coach.

www.serenityhorse.com

Equine Gestalt Coach

I say I have been around horses since before I was born, I was in my Mom’s stomach while she tended to the horses. Horses were my best and truest friends, and horses saved my life…period. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, CA in the 70s and 80s I spent much time alone on the back of my horse in the hills. I did not understand any of the science or woo woo nature of the horse then, I just knew it was the only time I felt really at peace. I was a Valley Girl, by definition of the 80s movie, and attended the Animal Studies Biological Sciences / Zoo Magnet at North Hollywood High School. I have worked since I was 13, during the summers and after school till I graduated. During the 90s I worked as an Investigator for a Private Investigative Company mostly tailing suspects for Workers Comp Cases.

I became a Domestic Violence Victims Advocate in the Los Angeles Police Department’s D.A.R.T. program. It was healing for me as I had been a victim myself. I enjoyed working together with the D.A.R.T. Officers and the camaraderie within the department. I was testing with several police departments during this time and made the decision to not pursue this line of work as I ultimately decided I was not comfortable with the possibility I could be in a situation to take a life, no matter how justified it may be. I still loved the thrill of investigating.

I decided to work in security, in the private sector and spent five years in Retail Loss Prevention. I then worked for Twentieth Century Fox in Corporate Security and had the pleasure of working closely with many departments in the course of my work there. I was a Reserve Officer with The Los Angeles School District Police Department during this period as well.

I took a few years off to take care of sick parents and made a move to the Boulder County area of Colorado. I was a Property Manager in Boulder, Colorado for over 8 years and currently work for Touched By A Horse in Elizabeth, Colorado.

In 2018 trying to find a way to share with others, the amazing connection I had always felt around horses, I found Melisa Pearce’s program for Equine Gestalt Coaching at Touched by a Horse. It was quite literally the road map to everything I was unable to articulate and more than I ever knew was possible.

I graduated from the EGCM Certification Program in 2020 and the GCM Certification program in 2022. I am a dual-certified Master Gestaltist™. I believe in the Butterfly effect. I am passionate about offering my service to First Responders and I feel a connection with them and understand the bond they share. If the work I do touches one First Responder’s life and they are able to unburden their unfinished business, I know all the other people they come in contact with will be positively affected. Asking for help is brave, there is NO shame in it and …Equus is listening, and so am I.

www.allearscoaching.com

Equine Gestalt Coach

I am proud to be a 2017 Graduate of the elite Touched by a Horse Equine Gestalt Coaching Method Certification Program. This two year curriculum includes over 400 hours of intensive hands on Core training, comprehensive weekly classes, private coaching sessions and a written exam. This certification also requires continuing educational requirements.

I am nature and animal lover. I have rescued, and hand raised many species of animals. When I was 12, I rode my bike 5 miles out of town and purchased 2 horses with my babysitting money, (without my parents knowledge or permission). I have shared my life with horses ever since. I am a small breeder of quality Paint and Quarter Horses. I am compelled to enrich other’s lives with these incredible beings, and to preserve & ensure the heritage of the all-around horse lives on. I have competed/shown horses in my past, but now focus on honoring the wisdom and healing gifts the horses have to share with us. I have two beautiful daughters & am blessed to live with my animals. I enjoy taking photos of sunrise and sunsets, and of animals both domestic and wild. I hope you enjoy my photos I have included on this site.

I thank the Good Lord for leading me to Melisa Pearce and the Touched By a Horse Certification Program, as I am called to Make a Difference.

Equine Gestalt Coach

About Kelli Rose – Inspired Possibility Coach & Gestaltist
Inspired to Make a Difference … H O M E S … H O R S E S … H O P E …
I grew up “in the country”. From the very beginning, I related to my horses as friends – they were family to me. I trained my own horses and became a top, competitive barrel racer in Texas. I attended Baylor University and graduated with a BA in Journalism then moved to Denver. Over the last 39 years, I developed a very successful real estate practice as an Associate Broker/Co-Owner with RE/MAX Cherry Creek. While I enjoyed living in Cherry Creek for many years, I’ve always been a “country girl” at heart and I eventually found my way back to a more rural lifestyle. My Family and I now live on a small 1-acre “ranchette” in Lakewood with our Fur Babies (3 Horses, 2 Dogs, and a Kitty). I love spending time with my Family, Friends & Fur Babies. I also enjoy music, cooking, golfing, hiking, campfires, hanging out in the barn, laughing & having good old-fashioned fun. I have always been committed to “Making a Difference” and, I am passionate about helping others create the “life they have imagined” through a journey of self-discovery inspired by the wisdom of horses. I am a Touched By a Horse Certified Equine Gestaltist. I am also a Touched By a Horse Licensed Facilitator.

About Inspired Cowgirl Coaching
My mission, in partnership with my Horses, is to help everyone discover their inspiration and live a life filled with freedom, passion, joy, and purpose.

I Partner with my Horses to help People Experience their Freedom, Discover their Passion, Find their Joy, Live their Purpose, and Pursue Dreams that INSPIRE their SOUL.

I Specialize in Helping Women get Unstuck, Connect with their Intuition, and Begin Living an Inspired Life.

I look forward to working together!

www.inspiredcowgirl.com

Equine Gestalt Coach

Annette Price is a certified Equine Gestalt Coach through Melisa Pearce’s Touched By a Horse Certification Program. It taught her Gestalt theory and coaching methods which have added more direction and focus to her healing practices.

She grew up in Missouri and spent a lot of time on the family farm. This produced her love for horses at an early age. She believes horses have an amazing ability to read the energy of everything that comes their way. She moved to Colorado in 1973 and has been in love with its beautiful country and varied terrain ever since. Her horse, Lakota, has been teaching her a new way of interaction, that has quietly woven into other arenas of her life, and enriched her personal journey on earth in ways that she never dreamed were possible.

Along with six other writers, she has self-published two books of memoirs. Please visit her blog at www.onthewingsofahorse.blogspot.com. On the Wings of a Horse is the result of her years of practical study, coupled with a strong desire to make a difference in the world, and her passion for the strength and beauty of her horse buddies.

Equine Gestalt Coach

I fell in love with horses at age 3 in a small Italian village, where I first saw a little black pony pulling a cart of apples. From that moment on, I was hooked. I read about horses, drew them, pretended my broomstick was one, and found any way I could to be near them—even if it meant mucking stalls or babysitting to afford a single lesson.

Though life took me away from horses for a while, my passion never faded. In 2022, I discovered the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method® (EGCM) through Touched By A Horse®. It was the perfect blend of my healing nature (as a former Physical Therapist), my life coaching skills, and my lifelong love of horses. After over 400 hours of study and training, I became both a Licensed Equine Facilitator and an Equine Gestaltist®. I’m now continuing my education at the Master’s level to bring even deeper transformation to my clients.

Today, I combine my work as a Realtor with my calling as a coach and facilitator. Also, through my practice, Greatness UnBridled, I help Caregivers of all kinds—Healthcare Workers, First Responders, Parents, Adult Children of Aging Parents, and more—find healing, renewal, and purpose alongside my incredible equine partners.

When I’m not coaching or selling homes, you’ll find me walking in nature, reading, journaling, or enjoying time with my partner Kimmie and our rescue cat, Harvey Wallbanger.