The Odysseia Approach
Odysseia Equestrian offers a training approach that is pan-discipline, opting to frame every interaction as a step in a journey toward a true partnership that can accomplish anything.
The creation of Odysseia Equestrian was conceived as a result of bearing witness to innumerable instances of humans putting their goals and ambitions ahead of the development of their relationship with their equine partner, and watching as, rather than bigger goals being accomplished quicker, the essential elements of the relationship needed to achieve bigger goals were sacrificed.
By focusing on the developmental journey of not only the horse’s nervous system, resilience, and capacity but the human’s, the Odysseia approach builds an unbreakable foundation from which an incredible relationship grows with ease.
Whatever the age, ability, or interest of horse or human, the Odysseia approach will aid you in creating the relationship of your dreams, not only with your horse, but with yourself.
About Us
The Human
Odysseia Equestrian was founded by Stephania Leombruno in 2026. After spending several decades away from horses, Stephania rediscovered her boundless love for all things equine after a hard reset of her life during the Covid years. She has slowly developed this approach after intense study and practice alongside a variety of trainers, plucking and exploring the golden threads of wisdom derived from all. Equestrian performance art at liberty has emerged as the clear favorite and pursuit of a lifetime. Not only does performing require nerves of steel and a rock solid relationship with your performance horses, but it is a medium that is universally powerful, moving non-horse people and horse people of any discipline to intense, often unexpected emotions.
Simultaneously, Stephania is in pursuit of a Master of Social Work degree at the illustrious Smith College School of Social Work in Northampton, MA. This knowledge and experience is at the heart of the Odysseia approach to training, using principles of clinical psychology and neuroscience to inform training the human for success, the horse for success, and the partnership they form together to be unbreakable.
The Horse
Antiope, or Poppy, is a nine year-old Medicine Hat quarter horse paint mare. A series of unlikely, lucky events brought her to Stephania in 2024, and as far as first horses to train go, she has been an incredible teacher. Poppy came to Stephania a dysregulated, failed lesson horse stuck in nervous system shutdown and dealing with old injuries and dysfunctional movement patterns. Over and over again, Stephania was forced to accept not only Poppy’s limitations, but her own, forcing her to add tools to her toolbox and plumb creative depths of connection seeking she never would have otherwise. The horse that slowly emerged has become the stuff legends are made of; curious, gentle, loving, fiercely loyal, and endlessly expressive in both body and mind.
Now moving together as a team into the arenas of public display like demos, performance, and exposition events, Stephania and Antiope will continue to showcase the incredible result of approaching the horse-human partnership as a journey and not a destination.