CLAN OF THE HORSES

S12 43 - Meet Mark Rashid

In today's episode, you'll meet Master Trainer Mark Rashid. He is a soft-spoken horseman, skilled in martial arts (Aikido) and one of my favourite quotes from the episode is: Going slower is always a…

S11 42 - MAYDAY

- I have learned so much about pressure and control, but if you get a real connection you can just ask the horse and wait and it will happen, says Jasmin Schacht. We met for the first time about 20…

S11 41 - Am I safe?

S10 40 - Meet Ivana Ruddock

It's crucial to bring this perspective with us: we must remain humble and remember that horses expressing pain, discomfort, or uncertainty should always be taken seriously. Just because we don't…

S9 39 - The Whistleblower

Photographer and fine artist Crispin Parelius Johannessen has been called "a man on a mission," and he certainly is. A man with a self-imposed mission to remind us that we cannot trust our own eyes…

S9 38 - Let's talk about pressure & RELIEF

- Often, when our strategy is to increase pressure, taking a step back—allowing the horse to breathe and process—is a far better way to move forward. Synchrony is what horses want, and what they're…

S9 37 - Meet Janet Jones PhD

- Janet Jones earned her PhD from UCLA and taught the neuroscience of perception language, memory and thought for 23 years. But what caught my attention and piqued my curiosity was her understanding…

S9 36: Groomed into violence?

This week’s podcast guest is fine artist and photographer Crispin Parelius Johannessen, who has spent more than 15 years photographing horses in equestrian sports. I hope you view this episode as an…

S8E35 Judgement Day in Equestrian Sports

Have Grand Prix Dressage on international level been reduced to a culture dominated by silence, greed and money? A culture where good people are reluctant to speak their minds when they should be…

S8E34 #LetHorsesSpeak

In this episode, I revisit Sue Dyson, one of the initiators Horse and Hound referred to as top equestrians when we launched our petition campaign New Era for Equestrian Sports #LetHorsesSpeak in…

S8E33 An Open Letter to the FEI

A horse can certainly be forced to do whatever we want it to do because they are sensitive flight animals seeking safety and survival. And if events organised by the FEI do not crack down on ugly…

S7E32 Meet Elaine Butler

- Sometimes the horse exhibits behaviour that we mistakenly interpret as disobedience, but it's actually a cry for help. In such cases, it's not effective to ride for a trainer who instructs you to…

S7E31 Biomechanics meets AI

- I really call this disruptive technology because from this point on there is no excuse anymore not to measure lameness objectively. It's practical, it's scientifically proven and it's validated,…

S7E30 Meet James A. Serpell

- We need to start with the assumption that animals aren’t looking for conflict. They don’t want conflict any more than we do. But animals will become aggressive if they become frightened. So the…

S6E29 It's all about connection

- Good ridning means that you stop disturbing the horse, and that is one thing I find it important to tell everybody; get out of the way, cause you are the problem, says Arne Koets, who during his…

S6E28 Meet Jeff Sanders II

- Rather than focussing on the footfall of your horse, feel the rhythm in the movement of his spine. It is like the rhythm of a song, and you can move with it, says Jeff Sanders. Photo: Amanda…

S6E27 Meet Jeff Sanders

- We have a running joke in the US about how California and Texas got into a fight about horsemanship and Texas won, says trainer Jeff Sanders.

S5E26 Scentwork for horses

- Offering our horses scentwork and exploration exercises not only reduces stress and make them more confident. It can also be a brilliant tool when horses struggle with what we often refer to as…

S5E25 Meet Sue Dyson

- We’ve been conditioned that many behaviours exhibited by the ridden horse are normal, when they are in fact often a reflection of underlying musculoskeletal pain. And if we resolve the pain, the…

S5E24 Meet Amy Skinner

- What I teach can be tricky to teach people because they often expect a series of steps, but what I try to teach them is how to be more aware, more intuitive and more creative, says horse trainer…