About
Sheri Scurr
My sincere desire is to share the power of horses as teachers so that others may experience the transformational gifts horses offer. Horses teach us about ourselves in ways no other being can.
Qualifications, Experience & Education
I am an E3A certified equine-assisted experiential learning professional and a connection-based horsemanship coach. In 2021, I founded Heart Connections Horsemanship, LLC, in Montana, where I have been conducting and facilitating equine-assisted learning workshops and healing retreats since 2021. These workshops and retreats supported individuals and groups with many different backgrounds and life experiences, including women healing from abuse, men and women recovering from addiction, veterans battling PTSD, young people navigating gender identity issues, mental health and addiction counselors seeking professional development, and college students studying equine-assisted services.
I also developed and implemented an equine-assisted curriculum for a 30-day inpatient addiction recovery center, was a featured presenter and clinician at a regional equine-expo, and provided specialized training, including curriculum development and horsemanship coaching, for other practitioners seeking to enhance their equine-assisted programs.
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Heart Connections Horsemanship remains my foundational experience and has evolved into the services I am now able to offer as Pathways to Authentic Connection based in Mesa, Arizona.
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​Organizational & Leadership Development Experience.
Before dedicating myself full-time as an equine experiential learning professional, I worked as a nonpartisan (meaning no political party affiliation) research analyst and bill drafter for the Montana Legislature. My responsibilities included policy analysis, oversight of public agencies, project management, and the facilitation of numerous committee meetings and working groups. I also facilitated negotiations between legislators and various stakeholder groups and framed executive decision-making sessions. I retired from the Montana Legislative Services Division in 2021, after 30 years of service.
I am an ROTC graduate and served 13 years in the Army Reserve and National Guard as a commissioned military intelligence officer. This service included a company command and special active-duty tours outside the United States. ​​​​​​
Personal Growth Philosophy
Fundamental to my approach in crafting experiential learning sessions for self-discovery and personal growth is my understanding the paradox in self-improvement, because it is only when we stop trying to "fix" ourselves and begin to embrace the gifts in our imperfections that we are able to embrace our inherent worth and express our full potential.
As one of my favorite authors and speakers, Eckhart Tolle wrote: “To know yourself as the being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love, and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment.”
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From another of my favorite authors and speakers, Brene Brown: "Worthy now. Not if, not when, we're worthy of love and belonging now. Right this minute. As is.”
And from Debbie Ford (The Secret of the Shadow): “Once befriended, our shadow becomes a divine map that when properly read and followed reconnects us to the life we were meant to live, the people we were meant to be, and the contributions we were meant to give.”
I believe in the body's innate wisdom and that we all have an internal intuitive guidance system -- an inner compass that if we awaken it and trust it, it will always guide us to our true north.
My own journey of awaking this inner guidance system led me to dive deeply into nervous system awareness and the neuroscience of feeling safe. Feeling safe is an internal state of being where, no matter the circumstances we face externally, we can return to a sense of well-being, notice our limiting perceptions and patterns without feeling threatened by them, and embrace change in our lives.
I am also a student and practitioner of heart/brain coherence and nervous system well-being. My work is grounded in the evidence-based principles and practices offered by HeartMath Institute and the principles of nervous system regulation taught by the Polyvagal Institute. I also embrace and apply the work of many leading experts in the nervous system and epigenetics, including Deb Dana (Rhythm of Regulation), Dr. Sue Morter (The Energy Codes), and Dr. Bruce Lipton (The Biology of Belief), among others.
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My services are therefore informed by the understanding that nervous system awareness, authenticity, and connection is foundational to personal and professional growth. ​​
Horsemanship Experience & Philosophy
Horses have been my teachers and guides since childhood. I have owned and trained many different types of horses for pleasure and competition -- each with special gifts and challenges. My horsemanship journey has included many styles and disciplines. I have learned from experience that the fundamental ingredient to partnership and performance with horses is trust and authentic connection that honors the horse's choices and genuine willingness to partner.
I learned in-person from some amazing horsemen and horsewomen, including Federic Pignon and Magali Delgado (Cavalia), Karen Rohlf (Dressage Naturally), and Caroline Beste (The Tao of Horsemanship). I also embrace the work of Warwick Schiller, Linda Tellington Jones, and Mark Rashid, who so eloquently stated: “Horsemanship is the art of mastering our own movements, thoughts, emotions and behavior. Not the horses.”
I believe the fundamental ingredient to authentic connection with horses is nervous system awareness, compassionate self-regulation and co-regulation, and the safety of authentic connection -- this is the foundation of my work with humans as well as with horses.
