Program Director and Owner: Hilary Anthony 

Hilary Anthony is the Program Director for SkyHorse Academy.  She started her Certification as an Equine Guided Educator in 2018.  Hilary grew up on a horse ranch on the Central Coast of California. She always felt there was something much deeper to her relationships with the horses, despite being surrounded by the competitive showjumping world where horses were viewed more as a tool to be used than as sentient beings.  Growing up on a ranch gave her the opportunity to connect to animals and the natural world in a way that has brought her much reverence for nature and the ways of the wild.

She has a Bachelor’s in Science from Cal Poly State University.  While attending University, she met her husband who had recently transitioned out of the Marine Corps after three combat tours to Iraq.  After the birth of their first child, her husband’s Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) quickly went from manageable to severely debilitating. It was through their relationship and watching him struggle with Complex PTS over the years that she naturally found her way into the work she does now.  Hilary saw that there were missing pieces in the recovery process for her husband and spent years researching, learning, and training in different modalities and techniques to help bridge that gap for people. 

She is a trauma-informed practitioner who has trained in Traditional Breathwork, Holistic Coaching, EFT, Advanced Ancestral Clearing, and of course Equine Guided Education.  She blends her varied background to create meaningful experiences and containers for her clients to connect with their innate wisdom and move forward with a greater sense of ease. She believes that each person holds the key to their own transformation and that connecting to yourself as a whole person-mind, body, and spirit- is essential for growth and healing. The main focus of her work has been working with Veterans, Women’s Leadership, and Intergenerational Mending. 

SkyHorse Faculty: Rilana Vorderwülbecke

Rilana Vorderwülbecke lives and works in Berlin, Germany. In 1998, she received her BA in Fine Arts in Sculpture and Art History at Boston University (USA). In 1999, she received her MA in Art Business in London (UK) at the University of Manchester/Sotheby's. She worked as an artist and art dealer in her Berlin businesses. In 2008, she founded an art school for children and trained as a Pikler pedagogue. She also expanded her education by studying Expressive Art Therapy at the Medical School in Hamburg, focusing on Expressive Arts Therapy by Paolo Knill.

For the past two years, she has again deepened her experience by continuing her education in Integrative Psychotherapy, EMDR Coaching, and Collective and Individual Trauma Work. In recent years, one of her most significant growth and learning experiences has been working with Ariana and the horses as her healers.

Through Skyhorse Academy, she offers individual training and workshops in Germany / Europe that combine the fundamentals of healing with horses and Expressive Arts Therapy.

To find out more about Rilana's work, visit her website by clicking here.