About Leading With Horses

Leadership development, taught by horses — and translated by two people who know both worlds.

Leading With Horses is an equine-assisted leadership practice on the San Francisco Peninsula, led by equine professional Joan Brennan in partnership with leadership coach Ranger Kielak of Within Range Coaching.

We work with executives, founders, and leadership teams who have outgrown conventional training. In ground-based sessions beside the horses — never in the saddle — participants receive immediate, honest feedback on presence, communication, and trust, then translate it into how they lead at work.

Sessions are private, small, and designed around each group. They are held at two barns: Ember Ridge Equestrian Center in Moss Beach, on the Coastside, and Westwind Community Barn in Los Altos Hills, for Silicon Valley teams.

A Leading With Horses group working with horses in a coastal pasture

The people

One reads the horses. The other reads the room.

Joan Brennan, Principal of Leading With Horses
Principal · Leading With Horses

Joan Brennan

Equine-Partnered Coach

Joan has guided leadership and personal-development experiences with horses for eight years. She serves as Director of Curriculum at Startup Patterns, where she co-created the Mindful Leadership program taught to executives at a billion-dollar company. With a master’s degree in ecology and a portfolio of equine-assisted learning certifications, both the horsemanship and the curriculum are in expert hands.

  • USDF medalist and USEF-certified trainer
  • 20+ years at the highest levels of competitive dressage
  • 8 years guiding equine-assisted leadership experiences
Ranger Kielak, leadership coach
Leadership Coach · Within Range Coaching

Ranger Kielak

Leadership Coach & SBDC Business Advisor

A former agricultural inspector turned regenerative leadership coach, Ranger created the G.R.O.W.T.H. Framework and advises small businesses through the San Mateo SBDC. He walked 2,642 miles across America, one step at a time — and now applies the same principles agriculturalists use to rebuild their soil to helping leaders rebuild themselves, with every session pointed at real business outcomes. He is completing his PATH Intl. equine certification.

  • Creator of the G.R.O.W.T.H. Framework
  • SBDC advisor and founder, Within Range Coaching
  • 2,642 miles walked across America

How we work

Regenerative principles, business outcomes.

Every engagement runs on the G.R.O.W.T.H. Framework — Grounded in mission and values; Recognizing the sabotaging voice; Overcoming obstacles; Worldview expansion; Tend relationships; Harvest through action. Healthy systems renew themselves. So can the way you lead.

01

Private, always

No open groups mixed with your team, no canned curriculum. Your session is designed around your people and your goals.

02

Ground-based & safe

All work happens on the ground beside the horse, supervised by a USEF-certified trainer. No riding, no horse experience assumed.

03

Follow-through included

Written 30-day plans, a two-week debrief, and a sponsor report are standard — the work is built to keep working after the day ends.

Start with a consultation

Or call (650) 479-4398 · Half Moon Bay, California

Scroll to Top