What is the Healing with Horses Somatic Grief Retreat?

The Healing with Horses Somatic Grief Retreat, also called the Healing with Horses Retreat, is Angela Schellenberg's Malibu grief retreat for women. It combines equine-assisted healing, somatic grief work, psychotherapy-informed grief education with Angela and co-facilitator Claire Bidwell Smith, chef-prepared meals, and a small circle of women who understand loss.

Where can I find a grief retreat in Malibu or California?

Angela Schellenberg leads Healing with Horses, an equine-assisted grief retreat at Shakti Ranch in the hills above Malibu, California. National Geographic named it one of the world's best grief retreats, best for equine therapy.

How often is the Malibu grief retreat held?

The Healing with Horses retreat runs as intimate eight-bedroom circles twice a year, in spring and fall. When one circle closes, the next is already taking shape, so you can join the waitlist any time and hear the next dates first.

Is there a grief retreat for women who lost their mothers?

Yes. Angela's retreats are designed for women carrying grief, mother loss, and the mother wound, blending equine-assisted somatic work, psychotherapy-informed grief education, and a small circle of women who understand.

Is the retreat a substitute for therapy?

No. Healing with Horses is a retreat with psychotherapy-informed grief education, somatic practices, equine-assisted learning, and group support. It is not a substitute for individual psychotherapy, medical care, crisis care, or an ongoing therapeutic relationship.

Is there a travel grief retreat outside California?

Yes. In addition to the Malibu equine retreat, Angela hosts a travel grief retreat in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for women ready to step away and do this work in a restorative setting.

What makes Angela's grief retreat different from other retreats?

It pairs equine-assisted healing with real clinical depth and grief education. Angela is a licensed trauma therapist and attachment-focused EMDR practitioner, and Claire Bidwell Smith joins as co-facilitator and bestselling grief author, which is why the work centers grief from both body and meaning.

Do the private rooms at the Malibu retreat have a private bathroom?

The Ruby Room, Palm Room, and Koi Room are the most private sleeping options for one guest. Ruby is a private king room. Palm is a private king room with a powder room nearby and a full bathroom just down the hall. Koi is a private room. The Cloud Room is now a shared two-bed room with its own balcony.

Can I see inside the Malibu retreat house before I book?

Yes. The retreats page includes a full walk-through video tour of the entire Malibu estate and its grounds, along with photos of each bedroom and the shared bathrooms, so you can see exactly where you will stay before you reserve a bed.

How much does the Healing with Horses Malibu grief retreat cost?

Every bed includes the full retreat: every session, every chef-prepared meal, lodging, and the work with the horses. Pricing is by bed. Shared-room beds range from 5,000 to 7,600 US dollars, and private rooms range from 6,100 to 6,200 US dollars. Prices are per person for the retreat held October 22 to 25, 2026 in Malibu, California.

Is there a payment plan for the retreat, and how does it work?

Yes. At checkout you can pay in full or choose a payment plan, and either option reserves the same bed. Each room has its own plan: a non-refundable deposit followed by three monthly payments. Deposits range from 1,400 to 1,600 US dollars, and monthly payments range from 1,200 to 2,000 US dollars depending on the bed. Payments are processed securely through Stripe.

How do I book or reserve a bed at the retreat?

On the retreats page, choose the room that feels like yours and select Reserve to pay in full, or Payment Plan to pay over time. Checkout is handled securely through Stripe. There is one bed per guest, and when a bed is booked it is marked sold and removed from availability, so beds are reserved first come, first served. If your preferred bed is already taken, you can join the waitlist to hear about the next retreat.

What is the difference between a private room and a shared room at the retreat?

The estate has eight bedrooms and fourteen beds. The Master Suite is the largest shared room and sleeps three guests, each in her own bed, with two ensuite baths. The Terrace Room is the second-largest shared room. Courtyard and Blush are similar in size, with Courtyard slightly larger. Cloud is a shared two-bed room with a balcony. Ruby, Palm, and Koi are private sleeping options for one guest. There is no bed-sharing.

Retreats with Angela Schellenberg

Named one of the world’s best grief retreats
Best for equine therapy

Healing with Horses
Somatic Grief Retreat

Rooted in somatic wisdom, stillness,
and soulful connection.

Next retreat · Healing with Horses · Malibu, California · October 22–25, 2026 →

Some grief cannot be talked away. It lives in the body, and it softens in places where the body finally feels safe. Healing with Horses is a sacred pause in Malibu this October: equine-assisted healing, psychotherapy-informed grief education with Angela and co-facilitator Claire Bidwell Smith, and a small circle of women who understand.

Reserve Your Bed View retreat details →

Angela laughing with a white horse at Shakti Ranch

a sacred space to tend to your grief...

with care, curiosity, and compassion.

Forget pushing through. Forget keeping it together for everyone else. Here, you are invited to soften, exhale, and gently reconnect with the parts of yourself that have been carrying pain for a long time. Through equine-assisted learning, psychotherapy-informed grief education, group grief work, somatic practice, and stillness, healing gets room to unfold at its own pace.

Malibu, CaliforniaHealing with HorsesOctober 22–25, 2026 Chiang Mai, ThailandHealing with ElephantsJuly 18–23, 2027 For Teams & CompaniesCorporate RetreatsCustom dates

if you’ve been wondering...

Is a retreat for you?

Angela has held this work with hundreds of grieving women, so she can say this with a full heart:

This retreat is for you.

You have lost your mother, father, partner, or someone who shaped your world, and it feels like life kept moving while you stayed behind.

You identify as a motherless daughter, whether through death, estrangement, or emotional absence.

You feel stuck in your grief: numb, overwhelmed, or unsure how to move forward.

Talk therapy has helped, but you sense your body is still holding what words cannot reach.

You carry childhood wounds that shaped your nervous system and your relationships.

You are craving real connection, with others, with nature, and with yourself.

You are curious about healing with horses, even if you have never stood beside one.

You simply need a supported pause: a place to soften, breathe, and begin again.

No prior experience with therapy or horses is required.

Flagship Retreat · Malibu, California

Healing with Horses

The Healing with Horses Somatic Grief Retreat at the Malibu Dream Resort is a luxury retreat rooted in somatic wisdom, stillness, and soulful connection. Three nights at the resort, with a floating sound bath, a private high-end chef, equine-assisted healing at Shakti Ranch, and psychotherapy-informed grief education with Angela Schellenberg and co-facilitator Claire Bidwell Smith.

Featured as one of the world’s best grief retreats
Best for equine therapy

A retreat guest greeting a white horse at Shakti Ranch

Fall Circle · October 22–25, 2026

Healing with Horses Somatic Grief Retreat

3 Nights · 4 Days · Thursday–Sunday · Malibu Dream Resort + Shakti Ranch

Heal with horses, grief support, psychotherapy-informed teaching, and soul-nourishing connection. These intimate eight-bedroom circles gather twice a year, each spring and fall, so there is always a next one forming. Our next circle gathers Thursday, October 22 through Sunday, October 25, 2026. Arrive by 4:00 PM Thursday, departing by noon Sunday. Every room is open to reserve below, bed by bed, and each bed is one seat in the circle.

5 hours of equine-assisted learning at Shakti Ranch
Psychotherapy-informed grief education with Angela Schellenberg and Claire Bidwell Smith
Yoga and a floating sound bath to settle the nervous system
A private, high-end chef preparing seasonal meals, with dietary accommodations
3 nights at the Malibu Dream Resort, steps from the ocean

Reserve Your Bed

The Stay

A retreat within a retreat

Eight serene bedrooms with king-sized beds, cozy linens, and tranquil views. Shared rooms host two to three guests with no bed-sharing, and high-end rollaway beds are available on request.

The Horses

Healing words cannot reach

Horses read the nervous system with startling honesty. Guided equine-assisted learning at Shakti Ranch invites a kind of healing that often unfolds beyond language.

The Support

Held with clinical depth

After the horse work, the circle returns to grief education and integration with Angela Schellenberg and co-facilitator Claire Bidwell Smith, blending somatic practice, EMDR-informed care, and space for whatever rises. This is delicate work, held safely.

The Extras

Bodywork & energy healing

Optional massage and reiki sessions are available at an additional cost, so you can deepen the unwinding your body begins in the pasture.

Watch the Info Session

Come sit with me for a few minutes and let me walk you through what these days in Malibu really feel like.

A short introduction to the Healing with Horses retreat: who it is for, what we do together, and the kind of care that holds you at Shakti Ranch.

“

The Venue · Malibu, California

Step inside the Malibu Dream House

A private Malibu hilltop estate with sweeping views out over the ocean. It is where our very first retreat was held: sunlit rooms, gardens with their own waterfall, and quiet corners made for resting between the deeper work. Press play on the feeling.

The Terrace

The House

The Gardens

The Pool

Reserve Your Bed

Reserve Your Bed · October 22–25, 2026

Choose the bed that is yours

Eight rooms. Fourteen beds. One circle of women. Every bed includes the full retreat: every session, every chef-prepared meal, every moment with the horses. Find the room that feels like yours and reserve your bed right here. Each room is part of a shared house designed for rest, connection, and the kind of friendships that can begin when women are held together with care.

The Ruby Room: a private bedroom with a deep red velvet honeycomb headboard and soft cloud-mural wallpaper

The room

Private Room · Sleeps One

The Ruby Room

A jewel box in deep red velvet, all your own. One king bed and deep quiet, with a marble spa bath just across the hall, shared only with the Cloud Room.

$6,200 · private room

Select & Book →

King bed · private room

One guest · private room · shared spa bath

$6,200

Or pay over time: $1,400 deposit, then $1,600/mo × 3

The Palm Room: a bright, spacious private bedroom with a king bed, beamed ceiling, and plantation shutters

The room

Private Room · Sleeps One

The Palm Room

A bright, spacious room with a beamed ceiling and a wall of built-ins, yours alone. A powder room sits just outside, and the main floor bath is shared with Koi as part of the easy rhythm of the retreat house.

$6,100 · private room

Select & Book →

King bed · private room

One guest · private room · powder room nearby, shared main floor bath

$6,100

Or pay over time: $1,600 deposit, then $1,500/mo × 3

The koi room

Private Room · Sleeps One

The Koi Room

A one-of-a-kind private room on the lower level, with a twin bed, designer sofa, lit koi-pond windows, a drop-down projector, and soft mood lighting. The powder room and main floor bath are shared with Palm, an easy part of the house rhythm in a small circle built for community.

$6,100 · private room

Select & Book →

Twin bed · private room

One guest · private room · shared powder room and main floor bath

$6,100

Or pay over time: $1,600 deposit, then $1,500/mo × 3

The Master Suite: a king bed, marble fireplace, sitting area, and ocean views past the balcony

The suite

The Master Suite · Sleeps Three

The Master Suite

The largest room in the house, by far. A marble fireplace, a sitting area, the Pacific stretched out past the balcony, and two full ensuite bathrooms of its own. Three guests share this one, each in her own bed.

From $6,000 · sleeps three

Select & Book →

King bed

One guest · the suite’s main bed

$7,600

Or pay over time: $1,600 deposit, then $2,000/mo × 3

Twin bed

Two available · a high-end twin rollaway, freshly made up

$6,000

Or pay over time: $1,500 deposit, then $1,500/mo × 3

The Terrace Room: a warm, light-filled shared bedroom with a king bed and French doors to a balcony

The room

Shared Room · Sleeps Two

The Terrace Room

The second-largest shared room after the Master Suite. Warm and light-filled, with French doors to a pine-view balcony, a walk-in closet, and a private ensuite with two glass showers. Two guests, two beds, no bed-sharing.

From $5,700 · per bed

Select & Book →

King bed

One guest

$6,900

Or pay over time: $1,500 deposit, then $1,800/mo × 3

Twin bed

A high-end twin rollaway, freshly made up

$5,700

Or pay over time: $1,500 deposit, then $1,400/mo × 3

The Courtyard Room: a roomy shared bedroom, with a king bed, plantation shutters, and palm art

The room

Shared Room · Sleeps Two

The Courtyard Room

Similar in size to the Blush Room and slightly larger. A private ensuite with a marble steam shower, a walk-in closet, and its own small entrance foyer. Two guests, two beds, no bed-sharing.

From $5,400 · per bed

Select & Book →

King bed

One guest

$6,400

Or pay over time: $1,600 deposit, then $1,600/mo × 3

Twin bed

A high-end twin rollaway, freshly made up

$5,400

Or pay over time: $1,500 deposit, then $1,300/mo × 3

The Blush Room: a shared bedroom with a blush velvet king bed, mirrored gold closet, and soft light

The room

Shared Room · Sleeps Two

The Blush Room

Similar in size to Courtyard, just a touch smaller. Soft rose and gold, with a walk-out loggia balcony over the palms and a private ensuite with a double vanity and marble steam shower. Two guests, two beds, no bed-sharing.

From $5,300 · per bed

Select & Book →

King bed

One guest

$6,100

Or pay over time: $1,600 deposit, then $1,500/mo × 3

Twin bed

A high-end twin rollaway, freshly made up

$5,300

Or pay over time: $1,400 deposit, then $1,300/mo × 3

The Cloud Room: a spacious, light-filled shared bedroom with plantation shutters and a calm palette

The room

Shared Room · Sleeps Two

The Cloud Room

Spacious and calm, with a curved stone balcony over the gardens. The marble spa bath sits just across the hall, shared with the Ruby Room. Two guests, two beds, no bed-sharing.

From $5,000 · per bed

Select & Book →

King bed

One guest

$6,400

Or pay over time: $1,600 deposit, then $1,600/mo × 3

Twin bed

A high-end twin rollaway, freshly made up

$5,000

Or pay over time: $1,400 deposit, then $1,200/mo × 3

One bed per guest · every bed includes the full retreat · deposits are non-refundable and the retreat is non-refundable in full · travel insurance is warmly encouraged

Not ready to reserve a bed? Join the waitlist to be first to hear when a bed opens or a new circle forms.

Join the Retreat Waitlist

Amenities

Everything around your room

After you choose your bed, this is the world around it: the pool, gardens, quiet corners, and gathering spaces that make the estate feel generous without ever feeling crowded.

Pool
Jacuzzi
Spa
Fitness gym
Tennis court
Zen garden
Koi ponds
Pizza oven
Lighthouse
Gardens & grounds
Free parking
Estate-wide WiFi

The Full House Tour

Now find your room inside the whole house.

You have seen your room up close. This is everything around it: a slow walk-through of the entire Malibu estate and its grounds, so you can picture exactly where you will land when you arrive. No narration this time, just the house itself.

“

Who Holds the Space

Your guides

A circle of clinicians, equine facilitators, and somatic practitioners, each chosen for the depth and care they bring to this work.

Facilitators

Angela Schellenberg

Therapist & Lead Facilitator

Trauma and grief therapist, Mother Hunger® facilitator, and equine therapy practitioner. With a background shaped by personal loss and deep clinical training, Angela creates spaces where healing feels not only possible, but sacred.

Claire Bidwell Smith

Co-Facilitator · Bestselling Grief Author & Therapist

A bestselling grief author and therapist whose work has supported thousands through the landscape of loss. Claire co-facilitates the grief education and integration portions of the retreat, helping the circle explore the emotional and spiritual layers of grief with honesty and grace.

clairebidwellsmith.com →

Alexis Kimball

Adoption Grief Loss & EMDR Therapist

Drawing from her own journey as a Black adoptee raised in predominantly white spaces, Alexis offers a holistic, attachment-based approach that honors the complexities of identity, belonging, and healing.

alexiskimball.com →

Equine Facilitators

Rose Mary Riggs

Equine Facilitator · Shakti Ranch

Founder of Shakti Ranch and a gifted equine facilitator. Her connection with the horses, and her deep understanding of their intuitive power, creates an environment where healing unfolds in ways words often cannot reach.

shaktiranch.com →

Emma Barnosky

Equine Facilitator & Somatic Practitioner

A certified Equine-Assisted Learning Facilitator and somatic practitioner whose work bridges science, spirituality, and the healing power of the horse-human bond.

emmabarnosky.com →

Lara Plutte

Equine Facilitator & Grief Therapist

Associate Clinical Social Worker (MA, MSW, ACSW) and Certified Mindfulness Teacher who helps hold the equine work at the ranch. Lara blends grief therapy, mindfulness, and somatic practice with the healing presence of the horses.

larapluttetherapy.com →

Somatic Practitioners

Ace Yoga LA

Yoga & Sound Bath Facilitator

Healing through breath, movement, and vibration. Ace’s yoga and sound bath sessions are trauma-informed and deeply restorative, an invitation to settle the nervous system and return to the present moment.

aceyogala.com →

Angel Rae Okino

Certified Somatic Facilitator & Coach

Certified Somatic Coach & Facilitator, Reiki and Qi Gong Master, Sound Healer, and Laughter Therapist. Rae promotes balance, healing, and self-discovery for those seeking embodied living and nervous system regulation.

raeokino.com →

Dori Lancaster

Massage & Somatic Bodywork

A master-level, deeply intuitive bodyworker with 30 years of experience in Swedish, deep tissue, trigger point, and pre and postnatal massage. Dori weaves in somatic bodywork to guide a profound nervous system reset, leaving you restored and reconnected to yourself.

dorilancaster.com →

Healing With Horses Presents

Dance of the Wild

An award-winning documentary · The journey back home

Our equine facilitator Rose Mary Riggs is featured in this film about our timeless bond with wild horses. One evening of the retreat, the hilltop lawn becomes an open-air cinema. Blankets, warm drinks, the Pacific behind the screen, and a story that belongs to the same work we do here.

one evening, under the stars

An outdoor screening of Dance of the Wild on the hilltop lawn at dusk, the circle wrapped in blankets on loungers with lanterns glowing and the Pacific behind the screen

Award Winner

Berlin Indie
Film Festival

Winner

AIMAFF
2026

Official Selection

Golden State
Film Festival

Purple Stone Productions presentsA Chance Foreman Film featuringRose Mary Riggsour equine facilitator · Shakti Ranch screeningUnder the Starson the lawn of the Malibu estate

danceofthewild.com →

The Malibu estate at twilight: a white Italian villa with a bell tower, terraced gardens, palms, a lit pool, and the Santa Monica Mountains behind — Why This Place

A place that can *hold* your grief

Grief work asks for privacy, beauty, and enough space to move between deep feeling and real rest.

The retreat house sits on a secluded Malibu hilltop, with the Pacific on one side and the Santa Monica Mountains on the other. For four days, the estate is reserved for this circle only.

There are bedrooms to retreat to, gardens to wander, shared meals to come back to, and quiet places where the body can begin to feel safe again.

Acres of privacy

10,000

Sq. ft. villa

360°

Ocean & mountain views

Bedrooms

Private

Gated & secluded

The Story of This Place

A timeline rooted in place

The history here is bigger than the house. These are the touchpoints we can name with care, from the hilltop villa to the ranch, the fire, and the restoration that followed. Move through it with the arrows, or keep scrolling.

The Malibu estate villa and terraced grounds at twilight

1994

The hilltop villa takes shape

Public real estate records date the villa to 1994. By then the hillside had entered a private chapter: broad gated grounds, and a house built to look out over Malibu rather than disappear into it.

An Andalusian horse standing among trees in the Malibu landscape

19972018

Vineyards, horses, and gatherings

In 1997 the Rotters began the chapter the land still remembers as Rancho Sol del Pacifico: a second home of vineyard and pasture, a Cabernet that ranked among California's finest, more than one hundred Andalusian horses, and gatherings beneath the oaks for as many as four hundred and fifty guests.

2018

The Woolsey Fire moves through Malibu

The Woolsey Fire ignited on November 8, 2018 and was contained on November 21. It burned across Los Angeles and Ventura counties, through Malibu and the Santa Monica Mountains. Here it took extensive ground, including the winery and several of the horses the family loved.

A restored view of the Malibu estate and gardens

2020

The estate is renewed

The Rotters could not rebuild on their own, but they wanted the estate returned to its former glory. New owners took it on after October 2020 and invested more than a million dollars into restoration, bringing the grounds and the house back into the green, tended place guests find today.

Women sitting together outdoors during the retreat

2026

A place for women to gather

Now the estate holds a quieter kind of gathering. For four days it becomes a private retreat home for grief work: shared meals, horses, rest, and the kind of friendship that can form when women are held together with care.

The point is not to romanticize loss. It is to choose a place with enough beauty, privacy, and care to support the work of becoming whole around what happened.

Timeline sources include the Malibu Dream Resort history for the Rancho Sol del Pacifico era, public property records as shown on Zillow and Realtor.com, and the Woolsey Fire photo by Cyclonebiskit, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Rhythm of a Day

One day, held gently

No two days are identical, but every day moves at the same unhurried pace: gather, go to the horses, return to the body, and let the evening hold you.

The group gathered in the living room for a morning circle — Morning

We gather

Coffee, soft chairs, and a circle where whatever you carry is welcome.

Women standing with the horses in the corral at Shakti Ranch — Midday

We meet the horses

Pasture work at Shakti Ranch, where the healing often goes beyond words.

Poolside yoga session under white umbrellas — Afternoon

We return to the body

Yoga, breath, and bodywork that lets the nervous system finally exhale.

Lanterns glowing by the pool at dusk — Evening

We are held

Candlelight, sound baths, and dinners that feel like family.

and when the sun goes down...

Candlelit sound baths, floating rest, and skies that ask nothing of you.

moments from the retreat...

Real women. Real horses. Real healing.

Polaroid collage: horses on the trail, guests at the Malibu Dream Resort, poolside candlelight dinner, and a garden yoga circle

Polaroid collage: two guests above the Malibu coastline and the group sharing a meal together

imagine giving yourself this much room to breathe...

in their words...

What the women experienced

“I’ve done decades of talk therapy… but the change I noticed in my body and nervous system was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.”

Jennie · Therapist

“Even when you say life-changing, that doesn’t quite do justice to what we experienced.”

Jayne

“I’ve never done a retreat like that, ever… I have no words for it, really. It’s still unfolding.”

Jen

“My heart is choked up, in the best possible ways. These are some of the best human beings I’ve ever gotten to know.”

Jessica

“It felt so good… and now I’m starting to get excited about the next one.”

Alexis

When You’re Ready

Come as you are. Leave changed.

Between the equine sessions and the grief circles, this is where you land: a soft bed, a warm kitchen, sunlight in every room. Your only job here is to rest and receive.

Join the Waitlist

From the Circle

Moments we keep

The circle meeting a horse together at the ranch

Guests painting at easels during the creative workshop

Three guests smiling together in the house

The garden firepit glowing in the evening

Poolside cushions and blankets arranged for an evening gathering

The Fine Print, Held Gently

Good to know

Reservations

Your bed is yours the moment your reservation goes through. Deposits are non-refundable, and the retreat itself is non-refundable in full. Because each circle is intimate by design, reservations are final and refunds cannot be offered for any reason. Travel insurance is warmly encouraged.

Rooming

Private and shared rooms are available. Shared rooms host two to three guests with no bed-sharing, and high-end rollaway beds can be requested.

Photography

Moments from the retreat may be photographed, always with care for the privacy and comfort of the group. If you prefer not to be photographed, just let us know before or during the retreat; we are happy to honor that and help you feel at ease.