Yukiko Lunday is the author of two books on parenting and reading aloud to children, published (in Japan) in 2012 and 2016. She has also created successful online programs for Japanese mothers interested in learning about early education, bilingualism and parenting. The online group has more than 10,000 members, of whom 1,200 have completed the premium training program.

After discovering her passion for horses, Yukiko moved to Bastrop, Texas, where she has hosted Japanese mothers and children for summer workshops combining horsemanship, parenting, nutrition, and self-efficacy.

Growing up in Tokyo, Yukiko was encouraged more than other modern youth in Japan to study Japanese traditions such as ikebana (flower arrangement), kendo (the way of the sword), and chado (tea ceremony. Her mother and stepfather created a business dedicated to traditional Eastern medicine, a focus that Yukiko has continued by learning similar alternative approaches to well-being here in the United States. She has practiced yoga and meditation for nearly twenty years, during which time she has been completely free of the asthma and panic attacks that plagued her youth.

Though she has taken many directions in her working life, each endeavor has been connected to helping people see the world differently, and with greater integration of body, mind, and spirit. In the 1990’s, her work as an art consultant and gallery owner emphasized the meeting of East and West, and often involved her own aesthetic as well as cross-cultural business sensibilities. She has been a sought-after interpreter due to her gift for understanding and communicating both sides of a negotiation between Japanese and American participants. As a long-time resident of Texas (and before that, Massachusetts and California), Yukiko has thrived as a strong individualist, but has helped many Japanese mothers re-think their own roles as women in the more-collectivist society of Japan.

Yukiko’s work with horses focuses on listening rather than whispering. Her method emphasizes the understanding of ideomotor effects, which are body motions influenced by unconscious intentions. As a writer, Yukiko has realized that there is knowledge beyond words -- and that partnering with horses is an ideal way to convey the precept: “Don’t think it -- feel it!”

Yukiko and Ms. Monica Davis, the owner of Davis Ranch Retreat, have partnered to provide a comfortable and safe environment for equine-based learning.