MEET LAUREN TRUE CONNECTION GUIDE & TEACHER
TC CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
DIRECTED BY LAUREN
Meet another True Connection Team member – a group of highly talented, accomplished individuals committed to helping you develop an unbreakable bond through speaking the language of horses.
Today, I take great pleasure in introducing to you Lauren Cryan who will be conducting clinics with children using the therapeutic aspects of True Connection. Meet Lauren!
Name: Lauren Cryan
Born: Bethesda Naval Hospital, Bethesda, MD
Has Lived: Quantico, VA
Camp LeJeune, NC
Oslo, Norway
Virginia Beach, VA
Lives: Wilmington, NC
Education: B.A., art history, University of Virginia
M.P.A., non-profit management, George Washington University
Certifications: Equine Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) Equine Specialist
Grounded Kids Yoga Instructor
Reiki Level II
Work: Owner/operator “Seabreeze Horse Connection” Wilmington, NC
The turning point in her life with horses:
“Colonel Mac – a horse that was labeled dangerous, stubborn and disrespectful – came into my life as a rescue. Just nine years old, he had already failed at cattle driving, team penning and as a lesson horse. The harsh methods that had been used on him hadn’t worked, and I thought in my naivete that affection and kindness would help him become more willing and trusting, and I couldn’t have been more wrong. After a year with horse – a year of his bucking, bolting, rearing, biting and charging – I knew I was in over my head. I had no idea how to find the leadership in me that Mac needed. That’s when I found Linda and True Connection. Through hours of study and practice, I learned how to create a deep connection with Mac by speaking his equine language, being mindful and honest, and showing him honor for the special, sentient being he is. That turning point was six years ago. Mac and I now have a beautiful and deep connection that I could never have imagined was possible. He is my teacher and partner. He waited for me. He teaches me every day to exhibit the calm leadership within myself that he responds to. I am eternally grateful for all the lessons - scary and heartwarming - that I experienced with Mac. With time, clarity, respect and love, Colonel Mac and I are now one.”
Lauren has been drawn to horses her whole life. She grew up in Virginia Beach; her father is a former Marine at the U.S. Joint Forces Command and her mother is a retired Pediatric Occupational Therapist. Lauren credits her parents for inspiring and supporting her devotion to horses and service from an early age. Despite a decade of English riding instruction, which she liked, Lauren’s greatest joy came from time spent caring for and just “being” with the variety of lesson horses at Oceana Military stables.
In addition to her formal education, Lauren interned at the non-profit care farm Sanctuary One in Oregon, where she assisted in the care of 100 farm animals and tended to rescue horses. She also backpacked and volunteered with children and animals in Asia, Europe, Mexico and South America. Lauren held program associate positions at the UVA Art Museum, ATO Records and the Carnegie Institution for Science. Upon moving to Wilmington, NC in 2013, Lauren followed her heart and shifted into education. For five years, she was a teacher’s assistant at two Wilmington charter schools, teaching in the areas of early childhood and special education K-8.
In 2014 Lauren attended her first clinic with Linda, as she was seeking how to connect on a deeper level with her horse, Mac. For the next five years, Lauren took what she learned from Linda — in person and online — about the language of horses and started living this new, yet natural, language at her 20-acre grass only farm. She hasn’t looked back. The practice of communicating in a more authentic and clear way with animals is a language that resonates with Lauren. She believes that every horse is unique just as every human, and that it is mutual respect and trust that allows for healing and learning experiences to naturally surface. True connection cannot be forced, but the magic is possible with time, devotion, consistency and clarity. Lauren wishes to share with True Connection students the amazing experiences of healing through horses.
Lauren has a business, Seabreeze Horse Connection, located in Wilmington, NC where she conducts one-on-one sessions from toddlers to teenagers at the serene and historic farm, Egret Paradise. She has been a certified Equine Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) Equine Specialist since 2017. Her goal in working with horses and PreK— 8 Students is to help each person to find their true self -- perhaps a calmer, stronger, kinder version that dwells inside us all.
Lauren gained her certification in Animal-assisted Therapy in 2016 from the Oakland University Nursing Program and she is currently pursuing alternative licensure through Western Carolina University’s Teacher Training. Lauren is grateful that she can combine her renaissance-woman background in animal care, art, organization, teaching and healing into her equine-assisted learning business and the True Connection Horse Academy.
