hosted the opening leg of an international series of equine-guided workshops and retreats in December 2025, organisers said, as the H.E.A.R.T World Tour 2026 prepares to continue with stops in several countries.
اضافة اعلان
The launch activities were led by Christina Marz, a Germany-born practitioner whose work centres on structured interaction with horses to explore emotional awareness, stress and communication. The Jordan events took place on December 19-20 at Shuna Mirage Experiences in the Jordan Valley and were hosted by Raya Al-Adwan, a Jordanian horse-guided empowerment (HGE) facilitator.
Marz spent three weeks in Jordan in December, during which she held a retreat, led training workshops and met with local and regional practitioners in connection with the tour’s opening activities.
“Horses sense our state before we speak,” Marz said. “They respond to tension or calm immediately, and that response gives people direct feedback.”
Participants in the retreat took part in guided exercises with horses, focusing on attention, body awareness and communication. Sessions included observing herd behaviour and individual horse responses, which organisers said were used as starting points for reflection on stress and relationships.
“Horses do not judge,” Marz said. “They react only to what is present, and that simplicity helps people notice how their internal state affects others.”
Some participants described the experience as offering insights that were difficult to reach through conventional discussion. “Working with the horses offered a different perspective, one focused less on doing and more on being present,” said Maha Ismail. “I left feeling calmer and more grounded, struck by how much could be communicated without words.”
Another participant, Lara Ayoub, said the sessions encouraged a different kind of self-observation. “Their quiet presence reflected my own state and helped bring a level of clarity and self-awareness that is difficult to reach through conversation alone,” she said.
Al-Adwan said “horses have long been part of Jordan’s heritage”. “Working with horses offers a culturally grounded way to engage with mental wellbeing, without reliance on language or labels, at a time when constant stimulation and digital overload are becoming widespread.”
During her visit, Marz also conducted introductory workshops at equestrian facilities and held private sessions for riders interested in communication-based riding approaches. She met with leadership coaches from Jordan and neighbouring countries to discuss potential future programmes linked to the tour.
According to biographical information published on her official website, Marz grew up in Germany in what she has described as a difficult and emotionally complex home environment. She later moved to Ecuador, where she has lived for more than two decades, and is the mother of three children.
Marz said Jordan’s geographic location and accessibility for participants from both the Middle East and Europe were key factors in choosing it as the tour’s starting point.
The tour is expected to include additional stops in Costa Rica, Greece, Kenya and Argentina in 2026, with dates for some locations still under discussion.
