OUR ORGANIZATION: STAFF
| MARY LEE BRIGHTON Founder, Director, Trainer, Facilitator |
Mary Lee is a teacher, horsewoman, and a seeker. She has devoted her life to teaching and to being a student of the horse. By the age of 18, Mary Lee had won two California State Championships in Western Horsemanship. While attending Fresno University, Mary Lee trained colts and soon became a professional horse trainer. In addition to training horses, Mary Lee taught high school science in Utah. As Mary Lee's career progressed, her interests moved toward the training of Hunter/Jumpers and she quickly became an expert trainer and coach.
In 1988, Mary Lee opened her own equestrian center, Brighton Meadows, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The center specializes in hunt seat equitation and sponsors the Brighton Meadows Show Team. The team has taken top honors in Utah, California, Arizona, and Colorado. Show Team members have been the equitation champions in Utah for over fifteen years and have qualified for and placed in national competitions. www.bmec-online.com
Mary Lee’s passion as a student has lead her into many holistic and healing studies as well as working with expert trainers such as George Morris, Bob McDonald, Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Linda Tellington Jones, Peggy Cummings and Peter Campbell. Mary Lee is always asking the questions: "How can I help the horse do his job more easily?" and "What gets in the way?" She believes becoming a better observer and understanding the horse’s perspective has been a key in her success. Additional studies in learning through motion and developing one’s intuition have also added to her ability to re-make sour and abused horses.
In 1996, Mary Lee acquired her first mustang from the BLM Wild Horse Adoption Program and wild horses have transformed her life. The mustang’s keen awareness, intelligence and athletic abilities captivated her. Mary Lee started teaching workshops. Since then Mary Lee has founded Windhorse Relations™, and the Windhorse Mustang Herd has grown to 30 teachers. Her M.E.E.T. the Mustangs, Where Heart Meets Horse™ Workshops are expanding into a variety of fields and touching the lives of many people.
"Wild horses are my teachers. I have learned how to integrate my service as a teacher, my skills as a horse trainer, and my need for spiritual connection in M.E.E.T. the Mustangs,Where Heart Meets Horse programs. My mission is to guide wild horses and assist them in the full expression of their unique capabilities and greatness."
| MARCIA THAYNE, M.Ed. MSW & CSW Co-Founder, Program Director for M.E.E.T. The Mustangs Where Heart Meets Horse™ |
Marcia is a gifted communicator and teacher. Her empathy and skills have changed lives and directed others along the path of excellence that she has walked so well herself.
After being undefeated for six years as the Utah State Amateur Champion, she turned into a reknowned golf professional.
Marcia taught Honors English in Salt Lake City, Utah, for 25 years. Subsequently, she attained an MSW from Boise State University. During her educational experiences at Boise State, she worked with severely and chronically mentally ill patients, homeless children, adolescents and families. She also worked as a clinician in a non-profit mental health clinic setting with individuals and couples. She also facilitated groups on anger management and parenting.
After graduating, she moved back to Utah and obtained a CSW. She has worked as a clinician in drug and alcohol addiction. She facilitated groups for opiate addiction, relapse prevention, cognitive restructuring and after-care. She has also worked with domestic violence victims and perpetrators.
Although homework assignments, written tasks and discussion are valuable components of treatment plans, she saw the value in experiential techniques and felt they would be a valuable component of all therapeutic models. As a result, she was excited to discover Windhorse Relations™ and see the potential of partnering with various therapeutic groups to aid them with there treatments. She joined Windhorse Relations™ in 2002 and has been intensively working with the mustangs and at workshops and camps.
