Starr Horse Retreats

01/27/2026

✨ Rancho Rico Is Coming to Market ✨

We will be officially listing Rancho Rico for sale on April 1, timing it so the trees are in full bloom. 🌳🌸

That said, those of you who have been out there don’t need leaves to understand the magic of this place.

If you know someone who may be interested, please feel free to share these links with them. The first includes extensive photos of the property, and the second is a dedicated YouTube channel with video footage. I’ll be adding more videos.

📸 Photos & details:
https://www.starrhorseretreats.com/ranch

🎥 Rancho Rico YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/-s4w

We are being called toward an equally magical property in Grass Valley, California, closer to my... NEW GRANDAUGHTER!!!! — who will be arriving in early July! There is so much movement right now, so many new beginnings unfolding, and I’m feeling very excited about what’s ahead.

Rancho Rico has held us for 20 years. It hosted eight Burning Girls, four GAIA Gatherings, and many other retreats. The horses also joined us there for family vacations a few times. We are deeply grateful for all that this land has given us—its river, trees, wildlife, and the countless lessons it offered.

Saying goodbye is bittersweet, yet I truly believe few properties have been as loved, honored, and enjoyed as Rancho Rico. It may very well be one of the most photographed properties on the planet. 😊 Thankfully, we will always have those images—and memories—to carry forward.

If you or someone you know would like to speak directly with the realtor, please reach out to me. I’m happy to connect you.

With gratitude and excitement for what’s next 🤍

01/23/2026

First Ride on Wild Mustang
Halo is a three-year-old wild Mustang, and this is the first time she's been ridden. It was awkward, honest, and tender, much like a child learning to ride a bike. When she became anxious, we realized the issue was the environment. So we brought another young horse nearby, and everything changed. A reminder that horses are relational beings and behavior is often communication, not resistance.

****ckRiding

01/22/2026

Watch how young Solar, a three-year-old horse, learns to transfer guidance from the target to the rein and leg cues through patience, trust, and positive reinforcement. This is how riding begins when relationship leads the way.

01/21/2026

Teaching Halo, a three-year-old wild Mustang, to prepare for her first rides using clicker training and positive reinforcement. By following the target instead of the arm, Halo learns choice, confidence, and clarity as mounting becomes a calm, rewarding experience from the very beginning. Filmed at Starr Horse Retreats.

01/20/2026

Valentine was deeply scarred by rough hoof handling before she was even a year old. Every farrier quit when she kicked to protect herself. Until we find a truly positive reinforcement trimmer, I carefully file her feet myself. Watch to the end to see who she really is when I climb on her back.

****ckriding

01/19/2026

01/17/2026

This video captures my first ride in several months with Feather, the buckskin, working completely tack-less using target and clicker training grounded in positive reinforcement.

From the mounting block to the cones, every step of this ride is guided by clarity, choice, and communication rather than pressure or force. Time off doesn’t mean starting over. It means listening more closely, rebuilding rhythm, and meeting the horse exactly where they are that day.

This is how we work at Starr Horse Retreats. Holistic clicker training that honors the horse as a conscious participant in the process, not something to be controlled or overridden.








****ckRiding

01/16/2026

First Ride After Getting Bucked by a 3-Year-Old Horse

This video marks the first time I’ve gotten back on 3 yr old Solar after he bucked me off. It wasn’t malicious. The herd was having fun, and in that moment, he thought I was part of the herd and wanted to buck and play, not realizing that when you do that with a human on your back, they fall off!

I jumped off and landed with nothing more than a scraped elbow. He, however, was a little shaken by the incident. After that, Solar showed hesitation at the mounting block and didn't want any riders.

Today was the first day I was able to get fully back on him, completely bitless and ba****ck, of course. We took our time and kept it short.

Solar was born at Starr Horse Retreats and has only known clicker training, R+ methods, and has never had a bit in his mouth.

This is how we work with horses. Relationship first, communication always, and honoring the learning process on both sides.






****ck

01/14/2026

Gate Training Bitless and Ba****ck with Clicker Training and Positive Reinforcement

I spent two sessions training River to open a gate with me on his back using clicker training, completely bit-less and ba****ck.

When River came to me at 2 yrs old, he had never been ridden. He has since only been started using clicker training and bit-less riding.

The first several youtube videos I watched showed riders wearing spurs, horses ridden in bits, with bodies held so tightly in equipment that compliance was physically enforced. The level of pressure being applied was surprising.

Training, when approached as relationship, becomes a living language. It becomes a way of listening, responding, and co-creating movement together. Through this language, a bridge forms between horse and human, grounded in trust and presence.

Some people say we should never train horses at all, that they should be left completely wild. Others say training is necessary to keep horses manageable and safe. What this work is really addressing is something deeper. It is addressing centuries of domination, control, and disconnection from the sacred bond between horse and human. That old paradigm is crumbling.

Bit-less riding and clicker training reflect partnership and attunement. This way of working restores ancient codes of connection and speaks to the hearts that sense that another way of being with horses has always existed.




****ck

01/13/2026

This is an organization that has secured 22,000+ acres for a permanent mustang refuge on private land. It’s a major private-land effort that contributes to humane conservation options. Let’s do more of this!

They finally gave wild horses the space they evolved to need. 🐎

A conservation organization has secured more than 22,000 acres of land to create a permanent refuge for American mustangs. That’s more land than Manhattan, reserved not for confinement, but for freedom.

For decades, wild horses have been chased, fenced, and relocated as public lands shrink. Roundups often separate family bands and place animals into long-term holding facilities far from their ancestral ranges.

This refuge takes a different approach. By protecting habitat instead of removing animals, it allows horses to live as they naturally evolved, roaming in bands, raising foals, and migrating across open landscapes.

Wild mustangs also shape ecosystems. Their movement spreads seeds, maintains grasslands, and supports biodiversity. When herds are removed, those systems can weaken.

Conservationists argue that land protection like this is one of the most effective, humane, and sustainable ways to preserve wild horse populations for the future.

Source – American Wild Horse Conservation: Land-based Wild Horse Protection Initiatives