I put my heart and soul into motivating and training people and their horses. My greatest motivation is to turn weaknesses into strengths and strengths into superpowers.

Being a Parelli instructor means giving people and their horses a brighter future, or often a future together. Pat's system allows me to provide them with tools, principles, meaning, purpose, and values, enabling them to create understanding. I love teaching and representing Pat's system with full commitment.

Like many, I wanted to ride as a girl but soon realized I didn't think it was the right way to handle horses. So, my riding career ended before it could begin, after just a few riding lessons. It wasn't until I was 20 that my path led me back to horses due to a severe stroke of fate. Before that, my path was shaped by music and acting, as my father was a composer and music producer.

After a short time, "La Luna," the horse of my heart, came into my life. She was a sensitive, untrained mare who taught me patience and a close bond. The most beautiful gift she left me was my most loyal companion. Sisquo is now 23 years old, and it was with him that my journey with the Parelli program began.

My enchanting daughter, Franziska, was born in 2020. She also had her debut with Parelli at the Austrian Inspiration Days. Since then, her wish has been to become the greatest rider. She would like to film her Level 1 with her pony soon. She is only 3.5 years old. I couldn't be prouder because she shows me every day how natural and easy it is to deal with horses when you expect "nothing" from them except their trust and friendship.

My tale has to begin with the love my parents shared for horses. Thanks to them, I was born on a ranch, where my journey began.

They put me on a horse's back when I was three days old, right after I left the hospital. One could say that I never got down.

My father was training ranch and cutting horses and was teaching people to ride horses until one day, in 1989, he read an article about Pat in Western Horseman. He was very impressed, but we didn't have an instructor to teach the program in Italy, so he waited. In 1998, Pat came to Italy for a demo, and after witnessing with his own eyes, my father decided never to train a horse again without those principles.

That was our new beginning.

I was 11 years old when I participated in my first Parelli clinic and swore I would become a Parelli Instructor one day.

I carried my dream forward thanks to many horses, but the first one was a quarter named Buckaroo Quixote. He was a once-in-a-lifetime horse. The one that lets you learn the great lessons in life: to keep focusing on your dreams, stay humble and have fun with your horse.

Right now, I travel across Italy, and Europe for clinics, private lessons both online and in person. I have two headquarters: Double J Ranch, where I was born and raised, and JS Foundation Station, where, with my wife Silvia (also a 3-star Parelli Instructor), we train colts and hold intensive weeks and private lessons.

We've recently become parents, and I hope my daughter, Lily Rose, has the talent of a future horsewoman. We had to keep the tradition alive, so, just like me, she was put on a horse's back when she was three days old!

I want to share with you my highlight of this year's competition season. I was at a National Working Equitation Competition in Austria with my two mares, Saphira W and Pretty Romantic S. I started in two different difficulty classes with them.

Saphira was in the higher class with a lot of well-known riders and won all 3 disciplines (Dressage, Dressage Trail, and Speed Trail) and won first place overall.

Pretty Romantic did the same a class lower and won first place. What we didn't know was that during the whole competition, the judges secretly watched us preparing the horses and warming them up.

At the prize-giving ceremony, they revealed that all the riders from the whole competition (around 80 riders) were judged on how they were treating the horses and also who rode the speed trail with harmony and not just fast and brutal.

They announced that I won with my overall feel for my mares the Trust and Harmony Cup, which was the biggest win for me throughout the whole year. I feel honored and very happy that people see the difference when you apply the Parelli philosophy in sports. This award speaks for itself - no doubt about how the Parelli System creates happy athletes.

What does that mean, exactly?

As a Parelli 3*, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), and an Equine Assisted therapist, I watch the horse-human interaction intently.

Did you know science has shown that all hearts have a measurable magnetic field?

It's literally a bubble that surrounds our hearts and our horse's.

Interesting, since we often talk about our bubbles and not allowing a horse into our bubble without permission. We teach that when you enter a horse's bubble, do it with respect and awareness. Pat Parelli often tells how he was taught to walk into a horse's stall how we want someone to walk into our bedrooms. A human's magnetic field is 10-12 feet. The horse's is 45-60 feet. Picture this invisible bubble surrounding us. It's the interaction of their bubble and ours that is fascinating. The effect and quality of that interaction are determined by intention.

Several replicated studies have shown that being with a horse can lower stress levels and reduce anxiety, depression, and anger. Being with a horse increases feelings of self-esteem, empowerment, and trust. Is it our intention to become partners with our horses? If so, it seems our horse's heart pulls our heart into a synchronous pattern that lowers our blood pressure and heart rate, increasing beta-endorphins (pain suppressors), dopamine, and oxytocin (bonding chemical)—no wonder we become addicted to being with our equine partners.

Have you ever heard Pat say, "Do your thinking at night and your feeling in the day?" Because you have to be in your heart to feel. Have you ever heard him say, "Put your heart in your hand and reach out and touch your horse with it?"

Horses need all three: Love, Language, and Leadership. And so do we, for the full benefit of horse-man-ship.