Jennifer Garland

Owner - Founder - The Mane Intent Inc.

Life is Sunny with a Chance of Tornado

I was 48.  My nest was empty and I was feeling a little bored.  After 25 years as a communications and management consultant I was professionally comfortable-perhaps even coasting.

Then we bought the farm.

My husband, Chris, and I said goodbye to city living in Toronto in 2001 and embraced country life in a small rural community near Peterborough, Ontario.  When our daughters grew up, in 2010 we found a new home on a historic farm in Indian River, Ontario.  One year later, a beautiful palomino Tennessee Walker named Sunny found me on Kijiji and invited me to take my career in a new direction.

With Sunny, I experienced the profound gift of working with horses as natural coaches.  Sunny taught me patience, resilience and courage.  He guided me through my own journey to enhanced self-awareness and personal wellness.  With him I faced my fears. With him,  I realized I was ready for change.  He pulled us both towards our new shared intent.

I was drawn to deep education in the unique field of equine assisted learning, earning certification in 20134 and established The Mane Intent Inc. a year later.  the Mane Intent offers horse-inspired trauma-informed, wellness programming; team building; individual coaching and leadership development.  It’s an opportunity to slow down with the support of our horses and in this space, build greater self-awareness, confidence, leadership and readiness for change.

It is beyond rewarding to be a witness to the profound unfolding that occurs when people work in partnership with horses.  It is work that I never expected to be doing, certainly not at this stage of my career and life.  I am drawing upon a lifetime of corporate and lived experience.  I am doing my “heart” work and it fits.

Today, my nest is filled with 11 horses, a donkey, three dogs, two cats and four goats.

Life is full and I wouldn’t have it any other way.