About Saddle Up: A powerful journey of learning with horses.
Meet Our Team
About Saddle Up Life Skills
Build a sense of courage and confidence.
At Saddle Up Life Skills, we offer an outdoor, interactive classroom experience that grounds your soul, warms your heart and opens your mind to possibilities delivered with a large dose of Aussie humor & accent.
We facilitate powerful, transformative, and positive experiences that uncover inner speed bumps impacting personal and professional effectiveness and provide systems that build skills for greater success!
MEET THE OWNER & FACILITATOR
Meet Genevieve Nicholas
Well, other than being horse mad and a little bit out there, wherever that is, Gen is a seasoned entrepreneur who has a passion for horses and being outdoors. Originally from Victoria, Australia, Gen now lives in the state of Texas, on the other side of the Pacific Pond, having made the move with her husband and two children back in 2012.
A previous franchise owner of the most successful cafe chain in Australasia, with five branches across Sydney, backed with a strong career in corporate accounting and extensive leadership experience with a global corporate company, Gen is no stranger to success.
That said, hitting her forties with a life most women could only have dreamed of Gen was uninspired and done with the corporate life. She was also done with the BS that went with it, and ready for a fresh start doing what she loved, with women who inspired her.
Her no-nonsense approach to life and getting to the ridiculousness of situations with a giggle and a stern look, is proving to be a winning formula. Working with already successful women who are ‘DONE with it all’ and looking for a lifestyle change, ready to scale their solopreneur business to the next level, Gen brings a fresh perspective, and not just because of all the time she spends outside. She gets her clients to dig deep and explore effective methods to help develop boundaries in their lives and improve communication with family, friends, and colleagues.
Her ideal clients are ladies and teen girls who love the outdoors and are ready to roll their sleeves up and muck out the old, making way for a new kick-ass life, leaping over hurdles, and relaxing with the sun going down. These ladies are in for a treat though, because not only do they get Gen to work with, but they also get to work with Gen’s co-coaches, her unicorns:
Spirit, Moose, Breeze, Pinky, and Remy.
Genevieve's Story
Up until 2019, Gen's felt a continual sense of dissatisfaction with her life in general. She was continually searching for her purpose/passion. When she started to work on herself - mindset/hiring a coach/finding clarity/journaling - she started to realize that she could not be the only woman in her late 40s feeling this way. Her self-development/growth was spurred on by completing her Life Coaching Certification in 2020 and she was further excited and committed to helping women who felt as lost as she did to reclaim back the missing piece within themselves. Then when Gen found Equine Connection, she knew this was her soul calling to piece everything together to provide a complete service for women ready to take action and find themselves.
For youth, especially teen girls, Gen has always had a soft spot for seeing them grow and reach their full potential. Part of this inspiration came from working for 10 years with McDonald's Australia Ltd. Gen managed so many teens from all different walks of life. Helping them to learn, grow and mature brought her so much joy. This feeling and inspiration was heightened when she had her daughter. Over the last 8 years, watching her deal with so many mental health challenges and the struggles she has faced plus trying to parent a child dealing with these issues has been one of the hardest experiences and lessons Gen had to deal with. While it is not over and mental health problems are a daily struggle it has been a joy to see glimpses of happiness and peace on her daughter's face when she has interacted with the horses. Gen knows in her heart that if she can make a difference in one teen girl's life and help with her growth and development to provide some relief as well as tools she can utilize, she will have succeeded in her life mission - to change someone's world one human at a time!
OUR HORSES
Meet Our Teachers
Meet Breeze
Miss Breeze is a registered Paint horse, aged 19.
She has come full circle in where she has landed. Originally born in Aubrey she ended up at the SPCA in McKinney. Never broke to ride and having spend her entire life as a pasture ornament she was a prime candidate for 4-H training. Unfortunately due to an injury this training was cut short and she was back for adoption with the SPCA until she was rescued by us.
Breeze is a calm teacher who will test your boundaries, problem solving and focus skills. Don't be fooled by her curiosity - she is sizing you up! She is the first one to walk up and greet you. She is very curious about humans and she loves nothing more than having her "butt" scratched.
Meet Moose
Not much is known about little Moose. He is a rescue mini, stands 40” tall and is aged in his mid 20s.
He loves his humans and as we get to know him, he will totally be a love bug for all the humans that are fearful of the size of a regular horse.
Meet Pinky Pie
Little Miss Sassy Pants is the other name for Pinky. She's a brown and white Shetland pony standing at 47 inches tall. We don't know much about her past life except we know that due to her blue eyes she only sees shadows so is head shy.
Pinky looks sweet as pie with 2 blue eyes and large personality but she will test your leadership, focus and alert you with her body language if your mind wanders.
Pinky loves to make everyone at Saddle Up Life Skills run. She enjoys teaching and testing our patience skills daily.
VALE Spirit
Sadly Spirit passed away June, 2023. He was the Leader of the Teachers and the Co-CEO of Saddle Up Life Skills.
His memory will remain strong through the lessons he taught past clients, and the confidence he instilled in his owner; Gen!
VALE Spirit: fly free