We had so much to talk about that we split our chat with Bonny Mealand into two episodes which are interlinked. We discuss how free-living equids offer vital insights into the needs of domestic horses, and why recognising how essential these inextricable links between these two worlds is for the future of meaningful equine care.

We explored how Bonny developed the HELP model which recognises that our presence, choices, and handling directly impact a horse’s emotional state and autonomy, leading to a focus on trust-based, low-stress approaches.

Bonny firmly believes that when we slow down, learn to observe well and pay attention, horses begin to teach us, revealing insights we could never access through intellectual knowledge, techniques and method alone. Learning toobserve with care and curiosity allows horses to become our teachers, showing us what truly matters to them, helping us let go of assumptions and develop a more attuned, responsive, and respectful way of understanding and being withthem. We explore how Bonnie's insights can be applied to everyday interactions with horses and we learn about Bonnie's "genie wish", one that is probably shared by most of our guests and listeners. Tune in and let us know your thoughts!

You can learn more aboutBonny’s work at these websites:

Touching Wild: https://www.touchingwild.com/

Learning Wild: https://learningwilduk.wixsite.com/learningwild?fbclid=IwAR3NJULaSPPUZDXdBbiCOvankZ6zLSrU2AjdLlTyl3h8ju2RAVjgG6YfRzU

The Equine Podiatry Association - https://www.epauk.org/?doing_wp_cron=1752481742.6105430126190185546875

Cristina Wilkins' online course mentioned by Bonny is available at this link:

https://www.openlearning.com/une/courses/une-equine-course/?cl=1&redirectTo=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.openlearning.com%2Fune%2Fcourses%2Fune-equine-course%2Fhomepage%2F%3Fcl%3D1

Summary

In Part 1 of our conversation with Bonny Mealand, she shares her journey into equine podiatry and the development of her HELP model, which emphasizes a holistic, horse-led approach to care. She discusses the importance of understanding horse behavior, building trust, and ensuring emotional safety in interactions. Bonny highlights the significance of observation in equine care and the important role of choice when developing meaningful relationships with horses. The conversation also touches on the challenges of rehabilitating traumatized horses and the potential for riding to be a positive shared experience when approached correctly.

Takeaways

• Bonny's work focuses on a holistic approach to equine care.
• The HELP model emphasizes safety and relationship building with horses.
• Understanding horse behavior is crucial for effective interaction.
• Observation of free-living horses provides insights into their natural behavior.
• Building trust with horses takes time and patience.
• The importance of emotional safety in horse handling cannot be overstated.
• Rehabilitating traumatized horses requires a long-term commitment.
• The HELP wheel serves as a framework for horse-human relationships.
• Touch should be initiated by the horse to ensure comfort.
• Riding can be a part of the relationship if approached correctly.

Kristen Closson possesses a unique trifecta of expertise.  As a rider that knows how it should feel, a coach who knows how to create it, and a judge who knows how to assess it. 

She has successfully competed through the FEI levels, and then diversified her attention to also include the coaching and the judging aspects of the sport.  She assists riders of all levels from young riders to International Grand Prix riders with her keen eye.

Kristen is remains active in education and sports administration, and holds two committee seats at Equestrian NSW, as well as being a coach educator and a judge educator.

In this episode we discuss promoting harmony in dressage through learning how to ask questions and interpret answers, and the role our self awareness plays in this ability.

You can learn more about Kristen's work on her website https://www.clossondressage.com/

Karen and Meta share an interest in Systems Thinking and its potential applications to horse welfare in sport. So when Dr Megan Ross and her co-authors published a paper on wicked problems and systemic issues in Canadian dressage she had to be a podcast guest!

Dr Megan Ross has a background in dressage and eventing. She has an applied science degree from the University of British Columbia with a focus on Animal Welfare and has applied this background (and Pilates certification) as a trainer and riding instructor to support the horse-rider dyad. 

She recently completed a PhD at the Atlantic Veterinary College and the University of Prince Edward Islandunder the supervision of Dr. Caroline Ritter and Dr. Kathryn Proudfoot. Her research focused on the human dimension of horse well-being/welfare, exploring owners’ perspectives of horse welfare in their daily life like management andtraining. 

She is now conducting postdoctoral research with Dr. Katrina Merkies at the University of Guelph assessing the influence of interventions on rider and horse behaviour during lessons.

Link to the paper discussed in the episode

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/388845023_A_wicked_problem_Systemic_issues_surrounding_Canadian_equestrian_dressage_and_dressage_horse_welfare

The map of the issues mentioned by Megan in the episode is available atthis link:

https://static.cambridge.org/content/id/urn%3Acambridge.org%3Aid%3Aarticle%3AS0962728625000028/resource/name/S0962728625000028sup001.pdf

Dr. Miriam Baumgartner is a veterinarian and equine scientist with over 15 years of experience researching horse-friendly husbandry. Her work focuses on how equine behavior and health reflect their living conditions, aiming to improve welfare and sustainability in horse management.

Miriam earned her doctorate in 2012 from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) in the field of ethology, animal husbandry, and animal welfare, specializing in the lying behavior of horses in open housing systems. From 2013to 2017, she contributed as a researcher at the Technical University of Munich-Weihenstephan, working on the Weihenstephaner evaluation system, for which she was awarded the Boehringer-Ingelheim Animal Welfare Medal in 2015. In addition to her academic endeavors, she gained practical experience as an equine veterinarian from 2010 to 2015.

Between 2018 and 2021, Miriam led the development of the BestTUPferd project, a collaborative research initiative based on her previous studies, aimed at developing an assessment system for evaluating animal welfare and environmental impacts in horse husbandry.

Since 2022, she has been a senior scientist in the Equine Team at Agroscope, working at the Swiss National Stud Farm, where she continues her dedication to advancing sustainable and welfare-friendly horse management practices. 

In 2025, she completed her habilitation on the topic: "Animal welfare in horse husbandry – how to measure, assess, and improve? Development of indicators for evaluating the welfare compliance of horse husbandry systems with regard to validity, reliability, and practicality as a basis for a digital advisory tool."

Miriam's research output is available at this link: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Miriam-Baumgartner

If you would like a complete list of her publications, email us at [email protected]

In this episode we chat with Prof Paddy Wall about his recently published report into the scandal involving a horse abattoir in Ireland in 2024.

Prof Wall is a vet and medical doctor and has awide-ranging resumé with contributions spanning public health, food safety, governance and education. He was the first Chief Executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and has held senior positions on international food safety bodies including the European Food Safety Authority. He is Professor of Public Health at University College Dublin. He has further qualifications in infectious diseases, business administration and corporate governance.

A keen horseman, Paddy has shown and judged young horses, produced riding horses for the Ridden Hunter classes, participated in hunter trials and one-day-event competitions, and ridden in Point-to-Points. 

He was co-author of the 2010 UCD report on Horse Welfare in Ireland commissioned by World Horse Welfare and was chairman of Horse Sport Ireland from 2013-2016.

In 2024 the Irish national broadcaster, RTÉ, screened an investigative documentary which alleged potentiallysignificant animal welfare breaches and fraud at Ireland’s only equine abattoir which was under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). In the wake of this documentary Paddy was asked by DAFM to carry out a review of the issues highlighted in the documentary, particularly around equine identification and traceability. The report was published in March 2025 and is available at this link.

The report was accompanied by an ActionPlan from DAFM setting out proposals to implement the recommendations of the Wall report.

Equine vets are at the heart ofequine welfare - working with owners to provide optimal health care and management whilst always striving to put the needs of the horse first.

Our guest in this episode is equine vet Imogen Burrows, who graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 2000. She is an equine first opinion vet in ambulatory practice and isthe current President-Elect of the British Equine Veterinary Association(BEVA). She is a Member of the  BEVA Education Committee and chairs theirEthics and Welfare Committee. She also represents BEVA on the BritishVeterinary Association Animals in Performance Sport Working Group.

Imogen’s professional interestsinclude animal welfare and ethics; education; clinical governance; internalmedicine; anaesthesia; ophthalmology and stud medicine.

We felt that Imogen was ideallyplaced to chat about how equine vets navigate the complex landscape of equinewelfare, and we weren't disappointed - she packed so much wit, wisdom andpractical insights into our chat that the time just flew!

Outside of work Imogen enjoys the outdoors:walking/mountaineering; skiing; scuba diving and more. And if you live in EastSussex or Kent you may come across her expressing her love of music by playingin brass bands!

Our guest Dr Gemma Pearson has so much to say that we decided to offer her episode in two versions - this one is the condensed version, in which Gemma discusses the highlights of her journey in equine behavioural medicine.

In her current roles, Gemma combines her time between research and outreach as Director of Equine Behaviour at The Horse Trust and running a referral clinic for clinical equine behaviour cases where she is based at the University of Edinburgh.

After working in ambulatory practice Gemma undertook a rotating residency programme in the equine hospital alongside an MScR investigating horse veterinarian interactions.

Subsequently she completed her CCAB (certified clinical animal behaviourist) exam and her PhD thesis ‘Stress in equids undergoing veterinary care and the development of interventions that positively influence the horses’ experience’.  As well as continuing with her own research she supervises several students at PhD, MSc and undergraduate level. Subsequently she has been recognised as the first species specific RCVS specialist in Veterinary Behavioural Medicine (Equine).

Gemma is frequently invited to lecture internationally, as a recognised expert in this field and an excellent communicator. One of the most successful projects was filming a series of short YouTube videos with the British Equine Veterinary Association aiming to reduce injury rates when dealing with difficult horses under the ‘Don’t break your vet’ campaign.

In her spare time she has competed up to advanced level endurance on a homebred horse as well as enjoying competing in affiliated dressage and eventing. Currently she is retraining a Thoroughbred recently retired from racing.

Gemma's research output is available at this link:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gemma-Pearson-2/research

Our guest Dr Gemma Pearson has so much to say that we decided to offer her episode in two versions - this one is the extended version, in which Gemma discusses with us her journey to equine behavioural medicine and her current roles, combining her time between research and outreach as Director of Equine Behaviour at The Horse Trust and running a referral clinic for clinical equine behaviour cases where she is based at the University of Edinburgh.

After working in ambulatory practice Gemma undertook a rotating residency programme in the equine hospital alongside an MScR investigating horse veterinarian interactions.

Subsequently she completed her CCAB (certified clinical animal behaviourist) exam and her PhD thesis ‘Stress in equids undergoing veterinary care and the development of interventions that positively influence the horses’ experience’.  As well as continuing with her own research she supervises several students at PhD, MSc and undergraduate level. Subsequently she has been recognised as the first species specific RCVS specialist in Veterinary Behavioural Medicine (Equine).

Gemma is frequently invited to lecture internationally, as a recognised expert in this field and an excellent communicator. One of the most successful projects was filming a series of short YouTube videos with the British Equine Veterinary Association aiming to reduce injury rates when dealing with difficult horses under the ‘Don’t break your vet’ campaign.

In her spare time she has competed up to advanced level endurance on a homebred horse as well as enjoying competing in affiliated dressage and eventing. Currently she is retraining a Thoroughbred recently retired from racing.

Gemma's research output is available at this link:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gemma-Pearson-2/research

This week, Karen and Meta discuss two recent events, and what they found interesting and potentially helpful in building a better future for equestrian sport.

We discuss World Horse Welfare's recent virtual conference titled:

"Accountability for welfare in equestrianism: Looking beyond the obvious"

https://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/accountability-for-welfare-in-equestrianism-looking-beyond-the-obvious

And also the latest offering from the Teagasc series, Let's Talk Equine, featuring our own Meta Osborne.

https://www.teagasc.ie/rural-economy/rural-development/equine/lets-talk-equine-webinar-series/

We hope you enjoy this bonus, and as always, reach out and share your thoughts and opinions and ideas for the future.

Our email is: [email protected]