Dressage Life with JJ Tate

What if the anxiety you feel in the saddle has little to do with riding? JJ welcomes Sarah Louise Lilley to explore Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), also known as tapping, and how this approach can help riders address fear, performance anxiety, and the physical responses that sometimes hold us back.

Simply pushing through isn't always the answer and often doesn't work. Sarah shares how learning to work with your nervous system can help you rediscover the joy of riding.

Sarah Louise Lilley is a Clinical EFT practitioner and educator specializing in helping equestrians overcome riding fears, performance anxiety, and emotional blocks. Drawing on her own experiences as a rider, Sarah helps others understand their nervous system responses and develop practical tools to rebuild confidence, strengthen their connection with their horses, and rediscover the joy of riding.

For more info and your free audio EFT guide, go to https://www.emotionalfreedomwithsarah.com/

Our horses are always paying attention, but what are we really communicating to them? In this episode, JJ explores how confidence, clarity, and expectations shape our relationships with our horses. Through personal stories and a few thought-provoking examples, she challenges us to consider how we show up for our horses and what that means for our partnership.Want to learn more with JJ? Explore Team Tate Academy, our online dressage training community featuring hundreds of instructional videos, a new video every week, and opportunities to get your questions answered directly by JJ during live sessions.

Start your 7-day free trial and discover what the Academy has to offer!

https://www.teamtateacademy.com/info

Meet Laura DeCesari - a dressage trainer and International Grand Prix rider whose self-made journey through the sport is taking her to the Dressage World Breeding Championship for Young Horses in Verden with the fabulous 5-year-old VP Ice Man.

Meet Laura DeCesari - a dressage trainer and International Grand Prix rider whose self-made journey through the sport is taking her to the Dressage World Breeding Championship for Young Horses in Verden with the fabulous 5-year-old VP Ice Man.

Laura is also currently competing at the International Grand Prix level with a horse that she began developing as a 3-year-old. She shares with JJ how she started with a $500 Quarter Horse and created a program that includes ground work and long lining, and always with the development of the horse's trust and confidence the main objective, no matter the age or level.

Help Laura and Ice Man make the journey to Verden, and follow along as this exciting homegrown partnership represents the United States on the world stage!

Support their trip:

https://gofund.me/8dda6bc13

Follow Laura:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laura.decesari/

Facebook: [https://www.facebook.com/laura.a.decesari"

JJ is joined by Gallop for Life founder Lily Bisson, an event rider and breast cancer survivor who discovered firsthand that horse girls tend to meet life’s hardest challenges a little differently.

Her diagnosis and treatment inspired her to create Gallop for Life, a community specifically for equestrian cancer patients and survivors. The organization offers support, financial assistance, and a place to connect with other riders who truly understand.

You may also have seen Novella’s new Summersby shirt. Created in collaboration with JJ and Novella, the shirt honors Summersby, while its pink details reflect JJ’s commitment to supporting equestrian cancer patients. A percentage of every shirt sold goes directly to Gallop for Life. You can find both versions of the shirt here: https://shopnovella.com/collections/summersby

To learn more about Gallop for Life or make a donation go to https://www.gallopforlife.org/ or email Lily directly at [email protected]

Show season can be a wild ride; big highs, deep lows, and everything in between. The story you tell yourself after a bad ride or a great one is everything. Because what happens in the ring is only part of it - the meaning you attach to it is what shapes what comes next.

In this episode, JJ shares the real journey behind a 70% Grand Prix, including the very difficult ride that came just before it, and how she worked to move through the doubt, fears, and anxiety to refocus and come back stronger. It’s a reminder that progress isn’t linear, and the story you choose can either help or hinder.

This episode marks JJ’s return to sharing what’s been on her mind. A recent injury forced her to slow down and confront how easily self-care slips when life gets busy. She reflects on the idea of doing less, sooner - in life as in riding - and why small daily adjustments are far better than waiting for a big correction.

From there, she shifts the focus to what’s happening beneath the saddle pad. What should the horse’s back actually feel like? Should it be “working” or something more subtle? JJ breaks down what loose, swinging, rising movement truly means, and why paying attention to what’s happening there needs to be be part of our regular check-in every time we ride.

Want more JJ? Check out Team Tate Academy with our 7-day free trial: https://www.teamtateacademy.com/info

In this episode, JJ welcomes fellow dressage trainers Liz Austin and Kate Poulin to the podcast. All three of these remarkable women share a bond beyond horses: each was diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age. They share three different journeys that echo one another and quietly underscore how vital it is to listen to our bodies and advocate for our own care.

They speak candidly about the fear and uncertainty of living through diagnosis and treatment, and the support systems that helped carry them through.

They also reflect on how this experience changed them, bringing new perspective and a renewed passion for their work, their relationships, and the lives they are intentionally creating now.

In this episode, JJ talks with Natalie Hummel, whose breakthrough work in nervous-system-based performance and self-mastery is changing how we approach pressure, performance, and personal development.

Natalie’s shares her path from the equestrian world into psychology, how her work grew out of her own experiences in sport and as an educator, and why understanding the nervous system, emotions, and mindset plays such a powerful role in how we ride, train, and show up; not only under pressure, but in everyday life.

This is an inspiring conversation about development, presence, and what it means to pursue something you truly care about.

Join Natalie's free webinar Thursday, January 15, 2026: https://limitless.nataliehummelcoaching.com/

More about Natalie and her programs: https://nataliehummelcoaching.com/

In this episode, JJ sits down with long-time friends Kate and Martin Kuhn, the husband-and-wife team behind StarWest in New Berlin, Illinois. Together, they do it all: from selecting and purchasing top-quality US-bred foals to developing them all the way to Grand Prix, all while balancing teaching, mentoring, and raising a family.

They share how they choose the young horses they invest in, what they look for in trainers and coaches, and how their experiences coming up through a system, including the Young Rider program, continues to shape their philosophy and program today.

We’re thrilled to welcome Olympic champion and world-class horsewoman Ingrid Klimke to the podcast! 🐴🎙️

In this special episode, Ingrid shares a peek into her daily life balancing family, horses, and international competition. Ingrid shares her typical training schedule and some thoughts on the current state of dressage.

🎧 Don’t miss this behind-the-scenes look at one of the most respected riders in the world—listen now on your favorite podcast platform!