About Pamela

The Founder’s Story

From childhood dreams to corporate burnout to discovering a deeper way of partnering with horses.

The Beginning: A Childhood with Horses

I grew up with horses because my mother read all the horse books she could get her hands on. That simple act, a woman reading books about horses, set the course for my entire family.

We lived in the Wisconsin countryside, near Lake Michigan and rode the Kohler-Andrae State Park Trails. My parents were always bringing in untrained horses that needed a home. Our mother was the main character of our herd of horses, but I and my three younger sisters were always at her side, all of us learning about and taking care of them.

We learned from scratch through trial and error and the 4-H Horse & Pony Project long before today’s horsemanship methods existed. It wasn’t always easy. Horses fell into the swimming pool. They decided the grass was greener on the other side of the fence and broke through. Some had no boundaries and needed patience we didn’t always have.

But we figured it out. And the horses became my best friends, especially after difficult days in middle school dealing with bullies. Our herd of fifteen horses was my foundation, my safe place, my home.

Then my parents got divorced. No more horses.

We moved to the city. I missed my friends, the horses, and the scenic countryside. I often thought of them in my dreams. Years later, I’d drive around the countryside with two young sons in the back seat, looking at beautiful landscapes and imagining living with horses again.

Then my dreams came true.

After my difficult divorce in 1994, I bought a horse. Two years later, I purchased a house with stables in the beautiful northern part of the Kettle Moraine Landscape. Shortly after, four more horses joined, and my herd grew once again.

I was home.

The Corporate Years & A Calling

While working in the corporate world as a property and casualty adjuster, 17 years total, I felt successful on the outside but disconnected on the inside. I was climbing someone else’s mountain, and the higher I climbed, the more I lost sight of my own view.

Then in 2006, while still working corporate, I discovered something that changed everything: Prescott College offered a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Equine Assisted Mental Health and Learning. It was a pioneering program, highly recognized, and the moment I read about it, I knew I had to go.

I enrolled immediately and began traveling to Prescott while maintaining my corporate job. I interned at Chaps Academy Counseling Agency in 2007 and 2008, learning how horses provide individual and group counseling services to youth and families.

From 2006 to 2018, I traveled the United States attending workshops and field experiences, wanting to learn as much as I could about the horse-human relationship. I was hungry, not just for knowledge, but for a way of being with horses that felt true.

In 2009, I established Meaningful Life Counseling & Coaching. I counseled and coached clients with and without horses. A couple of years passed, and people began approaching me, wanting to learn how to do the work I was doing.

I was an early pioneer, and I was being called to teach and mentor others. This wasn’t something I planned, it was something that emerged naturally from the work itself.

A Teacher Who Changed Everything

In 2013, I stepped far outside my comfort zone.

I met Chief Phillip Whiteman Jr., a Northern Cheyenne cultural consultant (known for his work on the film Hostiles with Christian Bale), horse trainer, and rodeo saddle bronc champion. For six years, I attended his weekend workshops at a horse ranch in Door County, Wisconsin.

Chief Whiteman taught his Medicine Wheel Model to Natural Horsemanship, a spiritual approach to a system that once favored domination. But as he explained, this work extended far beyond horses.

“It is much more than just working with horses,” Phillip said. “It is a simple philosophy for life and shows the connection between man, animal, and all living things.”

Phillip introduced me to a new way of life with horses. Horses were becoming my biggest teachers, and I’m deeply grateful he shared these sacred traditions with me. Native American traditions are deeply sacred and private, and his willingness to teach was a profound gift.

I’ll never forget what he said to me, and to many others, after a workshop: “I love you, and there is nothing you can do about it.”

The Moment Everything Shifted

It’s early 2017, and I’m about to have an experience that will change my work forever, though I don’t know it yet.

I heard about Cavalia: A Magical Encounter Between Human and Horse, a theatrical show scheduled to perform in Chicago. I bought a ticket and found myself seated in a huge peaked tent, glued to the stage below.

Horses and performers moved together at liberty, no halters, no lead ropes, no domination, no forced control. Just respect and freedom. When a horse left their spot, they weren’t corrected back into position. Instead, we observed the horse’s self-expression, and it became part of the show.

I was mesmerized.

Then I learned that Cavalia’s co-founders, the original stars of the show, husband and wife Frédéric Pignon and Magali Delgado of France, were coming to the United States to offer a 3-day training clinic in summer 2017.

As soon as I confirmed this, I knew I was going. I wanted to know their story about horses and humans. I wanted to understand their approach to communication and connection.

I saw and learned so much watching Frédéric explain his libery horsemanship skills and his approach to guiding owners in partnering with their horses. I traveled two more times, to Texas and Tennessee, to absorb as much as I could.

Liberty offered a different conversation.

Working from the ground without force or restraint, I began noticing how horses respond to intention, clarity, body language, breath, and presence. They are exquisitely honest partners. The clearer and more consistent may work became, the stronger our connection grew.

Horses, as living mirrors, showed me how to move with intention, regulate my energy, and trust my inner guidance, skills that extend far beyond the arena and into every area of life.

Lessons from Life’s Hardest Moments

Along the way, life threw me challenges I never expected. A car-deer collision that left me unconscious. A vicious pit bull attack while riding my horse Ollie that resulted in broken bones, surgeries, and PTSD.

These experiences didn’t define my work, but they refined it. They deepened my understanding of safety, freedom of choice, and self-trust. They taught me the importance of slowing down, being present, and meeting both people and horses exactly where they are.

My Work Today

Today, my approach blends equine-assisted coaching, liberty horsemanship, and nature-based awareness. This isn’t about fixing or diagnosing. It’s about creating space for insight, self-discovery, and grown, guided by horses and grounded in relationship

I teach horse lovers, coaches, healers, therapists, and horse owners who feel called to a more holistic way of partnering with horses and supporting others. Many come seeking clarity, confidence, and practical skills. Through this work, they learn to listen more closely, communicate more effectively, and lead with presence rather than force.

The Equine Assisted Coaching Association was created to train and mentor individuals who want to partner with horses consciously, without force, pressure, or the need to be licensed therapists. We focus on developing presence, communication skills, confidence, and the ability to guide others through meaningful, horse-led experiences.

Horses continue to be my greatest teachers. They remind us to slow down, notice more, and show up with clarity and confidence in our lives, our relationships, and our work.

From that young girl with fifteen horses in the countryside to a Master Equine Assisted Coach and founder of a training association, the journey has been anything but linear. But every turn, every loss, every teacher, and every moment with horses has brought me here.

And I wouldn’t change a thing.

Pamela Kachelmeier, BA, MA, MEAC
Master Equine Assisted Coach, Mentor, and Educator
Founder, Equine Assisted Coaching Association™
Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology/Equine Concentration (Prescott College)