Equestrian Voices

In this Bonus episode, host Caroline Culbertson catches up with with US Eventing team rider, Doug Payne, as he is on his way to Tokyo for the Olympic Games with his horse, Vandiver.

Riding and training horses is a long game. You can work on it for a lifetime and still won't know it all. This is one of the best things about the sport, but it also means that - just like a long marriage - we have to work at keeping our minds right and continue to find the joy.

This can be even more profound when you're a top athlete in the sport and are often faced with major disappointment, heartbreak, loss, and tough decisions that come with advancing up the leaderboard, buying and selling horses, etc.

Luciana Diniz has managed to keep the joy alive in her own riding by making her connection to her horses a pillar of her training. Only a few weeks out from the Tokyo Olympic games where she'll represent Portugal, host Caroline Culbertson and Luciana talk all about why this mindset matters and how it gives her an added edge.

They also discuss:

• How we balance our priorities around advancing in our sport with our innate desire to connect with the horse - and why those two things can sometimes feel like they're at odds
• Simple practices that make Luciana more bulletproof in her own riding
• How ego can interfere and Luciana's own personal work around this
• How to bring joy into our riding even when daily care and training is a grind, and when things go wrong
• Luciana's advice to riders everywhere

"I can't get this horse into a frame!"

"Pick up the reins and put your horse in a frame, it's time to work!"

We've all heard some variation of these phrases. But let's break down what FRAME really means and refers to. There's so much more to it than just the shape of the horse.

Who better to break it down than Jacquie Brooks, a 2x Canadian Olympian who has trained 30+ horses (!!) up through the Grand Prix level in dressage. She coaches jumpers and eventers as well and knows all about the horse's frame across disciplines.

Warning - this episode is CHOCK full of detail and information. You may want a notepad for this one, y'all.

Jacquie and Caroline discuss:

• What 'frame' really refers to (hint: it's not about the head and neck).
• An effective visual exercise to understand your horse's energy and balance better
• At what point in a horse/rider's training do they need to worry about 'frame'?
• How to tell if the horse is looking posed versus actually working effectively
• The magic of a neck rope

[Trigger Warning: This episode discusses disordered eating and eating disorders.] We asked you, the community, whether or not you've experienced pressure around weight, body shame, or witnessed diet culture in action in equestrian sport. The response? Overwhelmingly yes - especially those in hunter and equitation rings, and especially those who were or are competing.

There's a lot at risk here - mentally, physically, and emotionally. We can't usher young participants into this sport and continue to have this toxic paradigm reinforced through trainers, judges, teammates, and beyond. The cost is too high and, as you'll hear in this episode, the effects are lasting. Join host Caroline Culbertson and Natalie Gavi, MS, RDN, as they unpack this topic and why it's so harmful and dangerous for athletes.

They say that everyone will know someone, love someone, or be someone who struggles with an addiction at some point in their lives. This is an important conversation that isn't talked about enough.

This week on the Equestrian Voices podcast, host Caroline Culbertson is joined by Elyse Hart, a 31-year-old dressage whose addiction to alcohol and drugs nearly killed her - multiple times. Now, five years sober, she has delved deeper than ever into her riding and horses in order to help maintain her sobriety. Elyse opens up and tells the harrowing story of the darkest years of her life and the perspective she has gained - and how that makes her the woman, mother, and rider that she is today.

Caroline and Elyse also discuss:

• Giving yourself grace as you make progress (and how progress is never linear - in horses or in life)
• Show ring anxiety and fear, and how to contextualize it
• How the horses helped ground her after the most out-of-control times in her life, and why that's a lesson she'll always come back to.

Have you ever dreamed of, seriously considered, or actually bought a young horse? *Raises hand*

Most of us fall somewhere on that spectrum, enticed by the seemingly infinite possibilities that the unknown of a young horse offers. With low or no "miles", young horses are exciting because we don't know what their ceiling is - and it makes us expand our minds on what our limits are, too.

Host Caroline Culbertson (@caroline.culbertson) is joined by 5* show jumper Kama Godek, who works with young horses on a daily basis and also has years of experience pairing horses and riders together. Kama understands what works, what doesn't, and what young horses require.

In this episode, they discuss:

• Main reasons why people seek out young or undeveloped horses (money is a big one!)
• Understanding if you have the setup and the skills for a young horse
• Kama's mental exercise of three main things to consider when considering a horse to buy
• Pre-purchase exams on young horses and what really matters

Do you know those riders, trainers, or grooms that horses just love being around? What is it about them that makes horses so drawn to them?

And how do we all become one of those people?

Dr. Sam Fielding coined the term "energetic intelligence" and much of her performance coaching focuses on how your mental state affects your horse. So, how do we become aware of how our nerves, or anger, or distractedness, are affecting our horses? And once we're aware, how do we fix it?

Host Caroline Culbertson and Dr. Fielding also discuss:

• How mares and geldings differ in their mannerisms and energy, and why some people don't seem to connect as well with mares
• Why there's a lot you can do from home to improve your performance in the saddle
• How the same things that get in your way in the saddle, are probably showing up in other areas of your life

After baby is born, we return to normal, right? NOPE.

New parenthood is filled with looming questions. From the small (will my breeches ever fit again?) to the profound (who am I in this new existence?), we're talking about the reality of our journeys becoming new moms.

Join host Caroline Culberson and guest Kate O'Hara discuss the realities of postpartum, getting back into the saddle, and navigating parenthood while balancing their careers.

Being a pregnant person is a wild ride. Being a pregnant adult amateur rider while trying to navigate riding/horses, your career and how it will be affected by maternity leave, and doing it during a pandemic? Yeah, it's a lot.

Host Caroline Culbertson is joined by guest Kate O'Hara to discuss the physical, mental, and emotional parts of this very delicate, exciting, and confusing time in life.

After an extraordinarily successful young rider career, Karl Cook wasn't sure what future he really had in the sport. In order to right the ship, he went full horse nerd and started learning everything he possibly could about feeding, riding, training, biomechanics, veterinary care... you name it. Host Caroline Culbertson sits down with Karl to talk about what this process looked like for him and how there's more to learn than we think or know.

Plus, Karl teaches Caroline how to taste bourbon (or in her case, wine), he tackles some Equestrian Masterclass member questions, and manages to relate riding to food - always a win in our book.