Equestrian Voices

Vets are one of the unsung heroes of horse sport. Horses are unfailingly creative (and effective) at hurting themselves; from a mystery lameness to a sudden colic to every type of laceration you could dream up, a day that goes by without some sort of injury is a good day by default.

Because of this, having access to a good vet is a critical part of horse ownership, but the criteria for what makes someone a "good" vet is cloudy at best. How responsive and available should your vet be? What sort of equipment should they use? Is it better to work with one vet, or a team of several, and how do you go about putting that team together? And just how late is too late to text them?

In this episode, host Caroline Culbertson sits down with equine veterinarian Dr. Lauren Schnabel (who is, by all accounts, a Good Vet) to try to get some clear answers to these questions.

Dr. Schnabel is the Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at NC State University, and has over 20 years of equine clinical experience, and over 15 years of both equine and human research in the field of Sports Medicine.

They discuss:

• How important are credentials? Hands-on experience? Personality/bedside manner? What else?

• Rules of communication for the client/vet relationship

• Questions to ask when screening a new vet

• How to handle mistakes when they happen

• The steps to creating a good "team" for your horse, and who should lead that team

• The best way to break up with your vet, should that step need to be taken

• How important equipment and diagnostic tools are when choosing a vet

• What if a vet has a troubling "red flag" in their past?

If you ride horses and have been on the internet in the past two months, chances are good you've heard about "that" helmet study -- specifically, the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab's Equestrian STAR Helmet Rating Project.

On the plus side, we learned that a fancy helmet wasn't necessarily any safer than a basic, no frills (and much less expensive) helmet when it comes to protecting against brain injury and concussion. On the not so plus side, many of us suddenly found ourselves with lower scoring helmets and no clue what to do next.

We had questions that we hadn't seen answered yet - not just about the study and its findings, but about helmets in general. Host Caroline Culbertson sat down with Dr. Barry Miller and Sydney Moriarity to tackle things like:

What should the average rider take away from this study? How do riding helmets compare to helmets in other sports? What does Sydney, a rider herself, make of these findings and how could it inform our helmet shopping approach? What about helmets for different disciplines and levels? (Yes, there are differences!) Dr. Miller joined the VA Tech Helmet lab in 2018 as their Director of Outreach and Business, and was a part of the study from start to finish. Sydney Moriarty received her BS degree in Neuroscience from VA Tech and brought her first hand, practical experience to the table as an accomplished rider in the Hunter/Jumper discipline.

In this discussion, we also dive into:

• The study's methodology, and what the STAR rating means
• What was so surprising about some of the outcomes
• High Energy Impact vs Low Energy Impact falls, and why each type plays a huge role in helmet construction and safety
• How hair length and style plays into helmet fit and safety (spoiler alert, long hair is ok!)
• Why you probably shouldn't put your helmet in the dishwasher…
• How helmet companies are responding to the study, and what next steps for the sport might be

If you would like to see the full study, including the methodology, please head to the official Equestrian STAR Helmet Rating Project results and documentation page. Here's a summary of how the final Equestrian STAR Ratings was determined by Dr. Stefan Duma.

Mindset Check! Welcome to 2023. We're kicking off with a mindset conversation because even if you're riding less in the cold, dreary month of January, you can still be doing major work to improve your riding. This conversation will inspire you to pour some time, effort, and energy into yourself, not just your horse. (If you, perhaps, would like some equestrian-specific mindset coaching, EquestrianMasterclass.com offers courses on consistency, fear, and more.)

Today we speak with human performance coach and author of Ride Big, John Haime. John is a former pro golfer turned corpororate executive and athlete coach who has an interesting bird's eye view on equestrian sport. As he began to coach riders following a serendipitous request from an executive he was working with, he realized that equestrians frequently struggle with confidence. In this conversation, host Caroline Culbertson and John discuss: - John's take about the unique challenges riders face versus other athletes - An explanation of confidence - what it is, where it comes from - The reason you shouldn't say you "lost your confidence" - Why "fake it til you make it" doesn't work, and much more.

That's a wrap on 2022! In this episode, two Equestrian Voices listeners join Caroline to count down 5 of their favorite clips and moments from the pod this year.

We can't wait to learn, question, discuss, and celebrate more with you in 2023! Happy New Year!

As promised, we're back with Part 2 of Caroline's conversation with Amanda Anderson of Saddlefitting.us. We know many of you have been eagerly awaiting the rest of this chat, so let's dive right into the good stuff.

In this episode, host Caroline Culbertson and Amanda discuss:

• When it may be warranted to stay off your horse entirely (a hard truth, we know)
• A case for checking your horse daily - including your saddle
• Why it shouldn't be considered "normal" for a horse to have one "good" direction and one "bad" direction.
• The balance between saddle fit evaluations in the crossties versus under saddle with the rider up
• Half pad choice and how it can make or break saddle fit
• Sweat marks - good for evaluating saddle fit or no?
• How often to have saddle fit checked
• And more.

Are we collectively aware of how profoundly saddle fit can affect our horses?

As today's Equestrian Voices episode guest would argue, probably not.

Saddle fit can cause real (and, as far as we know, potentially irreversible) damage to your horse's body. That's the bad news.

The good news is, a well-fitting saddle doesn't have to be expensive or complicated - it just has to respect the horse's anatomy. And (for some this might feel like a relief, and for others it might be a point of worry) it has a lot more to do with the rider than most of us account for. That's right - one of the most important parts of saddle fit is how you ride. Eeeek!

Amanda Anderson of Saddlefitting.US has a unique combination of experience, certification and degrees in human and equine anatomy, bodywork, saddle fitting, and even traditional chinese medicine that have led her into a career of thinking critically (and outside the box) about saddle fit as it relates to equine wellbeing and performance.

In this episode, host Caroline Culbertson and Amanda discuss:

• What can we learn about saddle fit from equine necropsies
• The biggest problem with today's saddle market and saddle fitting approaches
• A couple of signs you can look for in your own horse that indicate scapular restriction as well as a way to test it
• Why a saddle fitting program that respects the horse's anatomy is usually very simple and doesn't require a bunch of fancy half pads and gadgets
• How poorly fitting saddles and girths can be directly counterproductive to what we're asking the horse to do
• Why the rider is the most important part of saddle fit

Before you hit the road with your horse again, give this ep a listen. Your horse will thank you.

Travel can be stressful on your horse and, in some cases, even harmful for his health. For the humans, traveling with our horses can be daunting because there are lots of elements you can't control (traffic, how well your horse eats or drinks on the trailer, weather, accidents, etc.).

Never fear. The thrill of those early-morning trailer trips to your favorite destination can still be yours, because there's actually a lot that you can control and can do to help your horse fare as well as possible.

Today's guest is an extremely experienced traveler with horses both as a veterinarian and as a rider. Kevin Keane, DVM has the unique perspective of being both a 5* three day eventing athlete as well as an equine veterinarian for over 40 years. Dr. Keane has served as the team veterinarian for the US show jumping team, the Australian eventing team, and the Ecuadorian eventing team. He has a number of olympic caliber clients and has his own practice in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

In this episode, host Caroline Culbertson sits down with Dr. Keane for a mix of information and practical tips that he's gleaned from veterinary science but also his own years of experience. A few of the topics they discuss:

• The horse's immune system and how travel affects it
• Shipping fever and respiratory concerns while traveling
• What you need to know about hydration and caloric intake while traveling
• The horse's experience in the back of a trailer (hint: it's loud, and a lot of work for them to balance!)
• How the horses' dispositions and prior travel experiences come into play
• Thoughts on shipping boots, wraps, tail wraps, and trailer configurations

Kasey Perry-Glass and Dana Glass may be married and in business together, but their backgrounds in horses couldn't be more different. But, that's what makes them interesting – and what makes their business work. In fact, it's almost like their secret weapon.

What can dressage and horsemanship learn from each other? How did they decide to integrate their businesses together, and how does it work? How did they meet, in the first place?

Today on Equestrian Voices, Caroline Culbertson sits down first with Kasey to dive into some dressage-related fan questions, and then with the couple together, to chat training progress, rider fear, differing philosophies, and why you'll never catch Dana on the back of Kasey's Olympic mount, Dublet.

They discuss:

• Tips from Kasey on: the sitting trot, downward transitions, and working through tension with an OTTB
• Competitive dressage versus classical dressage, and why they need to become one in the same (or at least more similar than they are now)
• How to handle tough moments with your horse when you feel like you should get off (they've got differing views on this!)
• What it's like when they ride each others' horses
• How when you've achieved great things like winning a bronze medal at the Olympics or a silver medal at the WEG, your business still isn't necessarily "made"
• And more

If you're in the horse world long enough, you or someone you know will probably experience trauma. For almost all of us, it has been – or will be – a part of life and the horse world is no exception. And horse people are really, really good at trying to ignore it or "tough it out".

Many of us can miss the signs of it or feel confused about why we're feeling overwhelmed, or irritable, or can't sleep, or just don't feel like ourselves. Horse people value grit and toughness and think that means ignoring those feelings and signs. But here's the thing: healing from trauma will improve your experience as a rider… and as a human.

What is trauma? Where do we begin?

In this episode host Caroline Culbertson is joined by Lisa Weiss, LCSW, and Meredith Varie, an amateur hunter-jumper rider. Through the lens of Meredith's experience, we explore:

• What trauma is and how it affects the brain
• The symptoms of trauma to look out for
• Meredith's experience with trauma evolving into more complex and very concerning symptoms
• Why we can't rely on white-knuckling our way through trauma
• Talk therapy vs EMDR for trauma
• What happens in a therapy session, how to get started, and how to break up with your therapist if it's not working out
• How medication can factor into the equation (sometimes, but not always)

Note: if you're looking for therapy and need help navigating the process, MiResource is an excellent place to start. Founded by an equestrian, too! If you or someone you know is in crisis, please go to https://988lifeline.org/

Have you ever whispered a silent prayer to the flying change gods to please let this change be clean? Have you ever felt a twinge of temptation to throw your weight to get the change, or pull on the inside rein?

Flying changes don't have to be dependent on luck (although luck always helps) – but many of us don't understand the flying change as deeply as we could.

There's a LOT to know about the flying change and this in-depth dissection will help you understand, train, and execute the change better – whether you're a dressage rider, jumper rider, eventer, western rider or beyond. International dressage rider and competitor Shannon Dueck is here to take us to the school of flying lead changes.

In this episode, Shannon and host Caroline Culbertson dive into:

• How changes differ between the disciplines
• The prerequisites both the horse and rider must have before starting flying changes
• How to introduce them
• What exactly are the horses' legs doing in a flying change, anyway?
• A good flying change vs a great one
• How should it feel? How should you sit? What's the correct timing of the aid?
• How to get a change you can RELY on
• A great canter exercise to build the canter that you need for a good change