Awakening in the Land of Beautiful Horses: Türkiye’s Timeless Call
Abbas Tabaja and Terry Newton, in Turkey, 2025
There are journeys we plan, and others that seem to call us home. After more than thirty years away, I felt that call pulling me back to Türkiye and the Land of Beautiful Horses. What began as a simple trip to reconnect with old memories became a pilgrimage of the spirit. From the cliffs of the Black Sea to the ancient valleys of Cappadocia, where horses run beneath skies painted with hot-air balloons, I rediscovered not only the beauty of this sacred land, but something far deeper: a remembrance of soul, of purpose, of love. Together with my dear friend Abbas Tabaja, we rode through history, met the true horsemen of Turkey, and planted the seeds of what will become Ride Into Infinity—a spiritual horse journey for all who seek connection, peace, and transformation.
Day 1 — The Call to Return
Dawn rose softly over the sleepy Caribbean town of Puerto Viejo as I lifted my bags into the taxi. The jungle still whispered in dreams, but my heart was already flying east. After thirty-one years, I was returning to Türkiye — the land that once shaped me.
In my youth, during the 1970s and 80s, I lived aboard sailboats with my family, wandering from port to port along Türkiye’s shimmering coastline. Those years were quiet, before mass tourism — when fishermen still mended their nets on the docks, and the scent of woodsmoke drifted from the hills. It was a time of salt air, freedom, and belonging.
Now, decades later, I was returning not as a sailor’s daughter but as a horsewoman and yogi, drawn back to reconnect with that energy — to merge who I was with who I have become.
As I boarded the first flight north, I reflected on the strange symmetry of this journey: passing briefly through Montreal, my birthplace, then over Denmark, a nation whose balance with nature I deeply admire. These were just waypoints, glimpses of other worlds, before I would finally arrive in Istanbul — a city of memory and metamorphosis.
Arrival — The Meeting of Worlds
When I last lived here, Istanbul was still a city of calm rhythm, ferry horns, and tea glasses clinking on wooden tables. The Türkiye I knew was intimate and coastal; the Istanbul I returned to had become vast, electric, home to over twenty million souls.
After hours of traffic, the chaos gave way to trees, to countryside, to stillness — and to Abbas Tabaja, my dear friend and spiritual collaborator. Together, we set out to rediscover the sacred bond between horse, land, and human. Our mission: to find the true horsemen and horsewomen of Türkiye — those who live in devotion, not domination.
Connection without command — Abbas with Mevlut’s mare by the Black Sea, heart to heart, breath to breath. A meeting born of trust, tenderness, and silence.
Approaching the Black Sea.
Bareback and bridleless, Terry rides Mevlut’s Arabian mare, a dance of breath and balance, spirit and sea.
The Black Sea — Wind, Waves, and Horses
Our first stop: the cliffs of the Black Sea, near the town of Şile. The air smelled of pine and salt, and the horizon rolled endlessly beneath a silver sky.
There we met Mevlut, a master horseman whose Arabians were not trained, but loved into trust. Watching him move among them was like watching a prayer take form. His mare Aygiz carried Abbas at liberty along the cliffs — wind, waves, and heartbeat as one.
We swam the horses in the cold surf — colder than the Caribbean, but no less alive. I laughed out loud, saltwater in my hair, heart bursting with gratitude. This was what we had come for: moments of pure connection, free of performance or pretense.
Abbas and I knew then that what we were building was not another trekking route — it was a spiritual horse journey. A new way of travel where riding becomes meditation, and every horse is a teacher.
Cappadocia — The Land of Beautiful Horses
From the sea, we drove inland, crossing plains until the land rose into stone cathedrals. Cappadocia — whose ancient name means Land of the Beautiful Horses — unfolded like a dream.
Each dawn, I awoke to dozens of hot-air balloons lifting into the pastel sky, their flames roaring softly above the fairy chimneys. The echo of the adhan, the Muslim call to prayer, reverberated through the valleys, merging devotion and nature in perfect harmony.
Terry and Abbas on their way to explore Capadoccia
Arriving at Capadoccia
Horse treks with balloons all around
Riding through this otherworldly landscape, I felt time dissolve. Every hoofbeat carried the memory of civilizations past — Hittite, Persian, Greek — and something older still, something star-born. I sat in a small cave one afternoon, meditating among the stones, and felt the energy of the land rising through me like light. I remembered who I was.
The Horse Masters of Cappadocia
We met Ercihan, one of Türkiye’s top endurance riders. His words struck like truth:
“You do not learn from me — you learn from the horse.”
He believes a rider’s first task was to observe, to listen, and to understand. When that bond exists, he says, a human can learn to ride in five days. Without it, five years are not enough.
Ercihan and his farm, was a paradise of apple trees and quiet streams. His Arabians approached us with curiosity and softness — proof of a home built on love. One evening, I rode beneath a rising moon, and felt my heart expand until it filled the entire sky.
And there was Hezir, a luminous Arabian stallion whose eyes held galaxies. His presence was beyond words — ancient, sentient, divine. To be near him was to be reminded of how close heaven really is.
Sema, The Whirling of Spirit
One evening, Abbas and I sat in reverence before the Whirling Dervishes of Cappadocia. Their ceremony, the Sema, is a moving meditation — each turn a prayer, each breath a surrender.
As they spun in devotion, I felt the same current that flows between rider and horse: motion within stillness, stillness within motion. It was all the same dance — of love, remembrance, and union.
Rebirth in Stone
In the quiet hours after our rides, I wandered through Göreme, a town where cave dwellings and modern life coexist. One morning, I climbed high among the stone pillars and found a cave that seemed to hum with energy.
Sitting in meditation, all fear and uncertainty dissolved. I knew peace would come — to me, and to the world.
It felt as if every lesson, every heartbreak, every teaching had led to this moment of surrender.
I realized:
I was already everything I needed to be.
Through surrender, I was reborn. Filled with peace, I saw clearly that Love is the ultimate power, the force behind creation itself.
The Vision, Ride Into Infinity
From these experiences, our Spiritual Horse Trek Journeys were born — a collaboration between Abbas of Ride Into Infinity and myself of Kindred Spirits, dedicated to guiding others through transformative journeys on horseback. Abbas and I met when he came to Kindred Spirits for the 200h YTT and Equine Yoga Teacher Program. From the start our connection was deeper than that, as though we’ve known each other from lives past. Abbas’ family comes from Lebanon, and he has also lived in Africa’s Ivory Coast and in California. Since his yogic awakening he’s continued his spiritual journey in India with Sadhguru himself - and the journey has led here.
Our goal is not tourism, but transcendence: to invite seekers to rediscover their essence through horses, sacred landscapes, and silence.
Abbas bareback riding through Salt Lake, Turkey.
Terry meditating in the still, high-frequency silence of the Salt Lake.
Taking in the Turkish landscape, the energy and a new path, here with the incredible horse Hezir
Morocco,Where Desert Meets Devotion
Now, as I write these words, Abbas rides through Morocco, following the ancient Berber trails. He moves among the Amazigh — the “Free People” — where horses are still sacred companions.
In this land, dawn begins not with coffee but with caring for the horses. Their breath mingles with the morning wind; their eyes hold the history of nomads and warriors. The desert teaches humility.
Under starlit skies, the call of the wind becomes prayer. Here, adventure meets awakening. Each hoofbeat carries the memory of ancestors; each gallop dissolves the illusion of separation.
In April 2026, we will invite others to join us in this new chapter — Ride Into Infinity: Morocco, a journey through dunes, mountains, and timeless culture. It will not be a tourist trek. It will be a pilgrimage of the heart.
Moroccan camel rides
The Path Continues
From the jungles of Costa Rica to the cliffs of Türkiye, and soon to the sands of Morocco, this path of Kindred Spirits continues to unfold — uniting horse, human, and Spirit in harmony.
May all who ride with us remember:
The horse does not carry you across the land,
It carries you back to yourself.
🩵
— Terry Newton, Kindred Spirits X Ride Into Infinity
Türkiye 2026
Waitlist is already filling up.
All details coming soon in November.
Morocco 2026
Waitlist is already filling up here too. Abbas is in the midst of final investigations in Morocco and these details are also coming soon in November.
