🎙 Episode 82: Thresholds, Tantrums, and Trust: Why Your Horse (and You) Might Be Ready to Blow

Hosts: Amber Lydic and Shayleigh Evans Replay available for: Betrayal & Boundaries: ~41 minutes

💥 Summary Ever feel like you’re holding it together until you absolutely can’t anymore? Same. And guess what? So does your horse. In this episode, we talk about what happens when horses (and humans) are pushed past their thresholds. From bolting and bucking to internal shutdowns, we unpack the signs of overwhelm and why they’re often ignored until it’s too late. We dig into the difference between intention and impact, the sneaky ways conditional love shows up in training, and why liberty work is basically relationship therapy with hooves. There are rants, laughs, a few truth bombs, and some personal stories about being kicked, grounded, and having your bedroom door removed. You’ll never look at a round pen the same way again.

🕰 Timestamps and Talking Points

00:00 – Why do we wait until something breaks to listen?

01:00 – Horses are screaming, and we’re still riding

02:15 – Good intentions can still have damaging impact

04:00 – Horse culture and the ride-through-it mindset

06:00 – Nervous system 101: regulation, resilience, reality

08:30 – Antifragility and helping horses carry unbalanced riders

10:00 – When trying to stay out of the horse’s way makes things worse

13:40 – Conditional love and performance-based connection

15:15 – What happens when horses aren't allowed to express

18:20 – Movement as medicine, and doing it safely

20:00 – Boundaries first, then expression 24:30 – You can only know your horse as deeply as you know yourself

26:00 – Feeling your horse's emotions vs. your own

30:00 – Liberty work and the stories it brings up

33:00 – Childhood wounds, compliance, and halters as control

36:00 – Somatic shaking, screaming, and horse-approved releases

38:00 – Functional freeze, slow starts, and titrating intensity

40:00 – Final reminder: you are not entitled to your horse’s body or being

🤔 Questions for You Which version of your horse feels the safest to you? Why?

Have you ever mistaken obedience for willingness?

Do you allow your horse to express big energy, or do you shut it down?

What stories do you carry into the barn from your past?

What would change if you could hold your discomfort without fear?

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Every follow, like, and review helps other horse-humans find their way to conversations like this one. And hey, if this brought stuff up for you, our Betrayal & Boundaries webinar replay is live. It’s packed with insights, a beautiful workbook, and a process to help you move through those sticky places where self-betrayal shows up. 👉 https://www.amberlydic.com/Betrayal_to_Breakthrough_Replay