The Bible, The Barn& The Horses: When the 17-Hand Horse Walks Toward You

What My Horses Are Teaching Me About Nervous System Regulation, Calling, and Building Rooted Health

There was a time not long ago when sitting in the middle of my paddock would have felt unwise.  

Scarlett is 17 hands tall —a Thoroughbred/Warmblood with presence, power, and instinct.  When she first came home, her size felt overwhelming.  Her movement felt big.  Her reactivity felt unpredictable.  

Even though she was never actually threatening, my body would brace.  

And if I’m honest, that’s exactly how Rooted Health has felt.  

Big.

Expansive.

Powerful.

And honestly sometimes overwhelming. 

The Moment That Shifted Something in Me

Recently, I was sitting in the middle of the paddock contemplating all that I wanted Rooted Health to be and represent.  Wanting to get it all right.  I had just had a full circle moment with Waimea in the barn.  I had just put a new halter on her.  She allowed me to oil her wind burned, ashen face with coconut oil.  She stood quietly as I conditioned and braided her mane.  That was the ah-ha full circle moment.  I hadn’t thought about it since I was a child, but I would take my play horse to church (never was a Barbie doll kind of kid) and braid it’s mane and tail.  A dream I had 40+ years ago had come to fruition.  It was so much bigger and better than I could have imagined and it came at a perfect time in my life.  

Then as I sat in the middle of the paddock reflecting on that moment, I saw Scarlett watching me from the barn.

Then she walked toward me.  

She lowered her head.

She gently smelled me.

She stood for a few seconds.

Then calmly returned to the fence.

And I felt something unexpected:

Relief.  Calm.  Peace. 

Because previously, sitting on the ground while a 17-hand horse approached would have triggered at least subtle fear in me.  Not panic —but bracing.  Calculating.  Preparing.  

This time?

I felt calm.  

I felt happy.  

That told me something important:

It wasn’t just the horse that had changed.  My nervous system had. 

Nervous System Regulation and Why It Matters (For Women, Leadership, and Healing)

In women’s health —especially midlife —we talk often about hormones.  But underneath hormones is something even more foundational:

The nervous system. 

When we live in a heightened state of stress for months or years, our bodies adapt to survival mode:

• Elevated cortisol

• Shallow breathing

• Muscle tension

• Hyper-vigilance

• Difficulty resting

I have been in that state in more ways than one especially recently.  

Launching a concierge women’s medicine practice is not a small decision.  The financial responsibility.  The family implications.  The calling question.  The pressure to “get it right.”

My body has been bracing.  

Horses don’t respond well to bracing.  

They read tension instantly.  

They mirror dysregulation.  

They soften when we soften.  

The day Scarlett walked toward me, I wasn’t performing confidence.  

I wasn’t trying to control the moment. 

I was simply present. 

And my body believed I was safe.  

That’s nervous system regulation in real time.

When Big Things Feel Overwhelming

When Scarlett and Waimea first came home, everything about them felt big especially to me as a first time horse owner:

• Their physical size

• Their needs

• The responsibility

• The financial investment 

• The unknowns

I questioned myself constantly.  

Was I capable of this?

Had I overreached?

What if I can’t handle it?

Those same questions have echoed in my heart about Rooted Health.  

Rooted Health is big.  

The vision is big.

The financial investment is real.  

The responsibility toward women who trust me is sacred.  

And sometimes I wonder:

What if this isn’t my calling?

What if I am the stressor?

What if I have made something too large for my life?

Scarlett’s size didn’t shrink.  My internal response to her did.  

A Faith Reflection: “Be Still”

There is a verse that says:

“Be still, and know that I am God.”—Psalm 46:10

Stillness is not passivity.  It is regulated trust. 

Sitting in the middle of the paddock while something powerful walks toward you is an act of stillness.  

So is building something meaningful without bracing against its size. 

If we believe we are created in the image of God, then perhaps our calling will feel weighty.  Holy things often do.  

But weight is different than threat.  The horses are teaching me to discern the difference.  

The Big Thing Isn’t the Enemy 

The same 17-hand horse than once felt intimidating now feels magnificent.  

The same vision for Rooted Health that sometimes overwhelms me is also the thing that brings me alive.  

Maybe overwhelm isn’t proof that we are wrong.

Maybe it’s proof that we are stretching.

Maybe leadership doesn’t look like standing tall and controlling the field.  

Maybe it looks like sitting grounded in the middle of it —breathing slowly—while something big approaches.  And trusting that you are steady enough to stay.

What This Means for Rooted Health

At Rooted Health, we don’t just treat lab values. 

We care about:

• Nervous system regulation

• Hormonal balance

• Emotional resilience

• Faith-integrated healing

• The whole woman

Because so many women are living braced.  

Braced in their marriages. 

Braced in their careers.  

Braced in their bodies.  

Braced in midlife.

What if healing begins when we can sit in the middle of the field and feel calm again?

What if your body doesn’t need to be fixed —but regulated?

The day Scarlett lowered her head toward me, I realized something:

The “big thing” isn’t always danger.

Sometimes it’s invitation. 

And sometimes growth looks like relief.