Live Free Ride Free with Rupert Isaacson

✨ "For me, competition has always been real feedback, not what I think is good." – Sinead Maynard

✨ "There's nothing about me that's gonna make you do this. You gotta love it, and we gotta love it together." – Sinead Maynard

Sinead Halpin Maynard was born in Fort Worth, Texas, to Irish immigrant parents and grew up in South Carolina, where she stumbled into eventing via a hunter-jumper barn that didn't approve of her mother's black saddle. At 15 she drove herself to Middleburg, Virginia, as a working student, went on to train with David and Karen O'Connor, and after losing a horse on course, moved to England to ride for William Fox-Pitt. On the French-bred Manoir de Carneville ("Tate"), she finished third at her first five-star at 30, was first reserve for the London 2012 Olympics and rode on the US team at the 2014 World Championships in Normandy. Today she and her husband, Tik Maynard, run their farm in Florida, teach clinics, and Sinead commentates on top-level eventing and serves as a US team selector.

Rupert and Sinead talk candidly about the money and hustle behind a competitive career, why she still loves competing, and how she uses competition as honest feedback on her partnership with the horse. They explore sports psychology and narrow-versus-broad focus, whether riders have the right to ask horses to compete at all, and the difference between training from fear and training from play. Sinead explains retreat and approach, why she'll swap a bigger bit for a rope halter, how rider selection now weighs horse welfare, and why fitness and varied terrain are the foundation of a sound, happy horse.

A frank, funny and wide-ranging conversation between two eventers at heart.

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What You'll Learn in This Episode

00:03:19 – Why eventing's camaraderie comes from competing against the track and your own preparation, not other riders

00:17:59 – The honest truth about money, sponsorship and getting a "leg up" in upper-level horse sport

00:37:58 – William Fox-Pitt's two pieces of advice: go five-star by 30, and don't let anyone change a horse's natural style

00:52:15 – Why Sinead competes: taking the relationship out under pressure to find the flaws you can't see at home

00:56:00 – Narrow focus, broad focus and visualization: the sports psychology that turned fear into a skill set

01:06:07 – Do we have the right to ask horses to compete? Matching the horse to the job and calling it when it isn't a fit

01:09:26 – Fear versus love, the role of play, and how skill sets and familiarity make room for joy

01:17:42 – Why "tough it out" training fails, and how retreat and approach builds a horse's confidence in you

01:34:36 – How to watch a top-level horse: expression, balance and why independent balance means safety

01:45:20 – Fitness as the foundation of welfare: varied terrain, interval work and heart rate monitoring

Memorable Moments from the Episode

00:19:33 – Karen O'Connor tears up Sinead's lesson check; years later she pays David with her first big prize money

00:33:04 – Sinead takes a 30-quid ferry to France to see a "skinny and ugly" horse who becomes her five-star partner

00:36:00 – Days after arriving at William Fox-Pitt's, a surprise pony provokes Tate into kicking through a metal door

00:55:32 – David O'Connor's "one jump at a time" gets a terrified Sinead around the course after breaking her femur

01:38:00 – An Italian rider jumps off his horse one fence from home at the World Championships because something feels wrong

Guest Contact & Links

Copperline Equestrian (Sinead & Tik Maynard): https://www.copperlineequestrian.com

About Sinead Maynard

Sinead Halpin Maynard is a five-star event rider who represented the US at the 2014 World Championships and was first reserve for the London 2012 Olympics with Manoir de Carneville. She learned her trade as a working student in Middleburg, with David and Karen O'Connor and as a rider for William Fox-Pitt in England. Now based in Florida with her husband, Tik Maynard, she combines competition with a horse-first approach built on retreat and approach, play and honest feedback. She teaches clinics, commentates on top-level eventing and serves as a US eventing team selector.

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✨ "Dressage should be for the horse — the horse should not be for dressage." – Mark Russell, quoted by Patrick King

✨ "Speed is the enemy of balance." – Patrick King

Patrick King is a classical dressage trainer based in Lexington, Virginia, who came up through Western horsemanship — 4-H as a kid, an apprenticeship with legendary colt-starter Ray Hunt, then mentorship from the late Mark Russell before he found his way, like Rupert, to Luis Valença and the Portuguese school. He's since studied with Charles de Kunffy and Bettina Drummond, earned bronze and silver dressage medals, and now teaches through his online Academy for Classical Horsemanship and clinics from his farm.

He and Rupert trace how diagonal balance actually works and why the word "driving aids" gets lost in translation from the German, why competition pressure changes how horses and riders move, and how Western pleasure and saddle seat drifted from practical function into pure fashion. Patrick also walks through his simplest test for good training — could the horse explain to its paddock mates what you just asked of it — and why he stops mid-exercise to wait for a full diaphragmatic breath before asking a horse to go forward.

It's a wide-ranging, technically rich conversation between two horsemen who share a mentor but arrived from opposite directions — and it's only part one. They run out of time before finishing, so a follow-up conversation is coming.

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All Books Mentioned: https://longridehome.com/books

What You'll Learn in This Episode

00:01:50 – A shared mentor, Luis Valença, connects two very different paths into classical horsemanship

00:04:21 – Patrick's apprenticeship with Western horseman Ray Hunt and learning to "get to the mind through the feet"

00:08:29 – Mentor Mark Russell's insight that the feet are an extension of the spine

00:19:49 – The real difference between submission and relaxation in horse training

00:34:28 – Mark Russell's guiding principle that dressage should serve the horse, not the other way around

00:45:00 – Training the test versus testing the training, and how competition pressure changes the ride

01:23:06 – Diagonalization explained: how horses balance on diagonal leg pairs, and what that means for every transition

01:31:18 – Luis Valença's "position, balance, execute," and why "prepare, don't repair" beats fixing a movement mid-stride

01:36:36 – The "driving aids" mistranslation from German, and the physical, mental, and emotional dimensions of the half halt

01:54:37 – Why "is my horse breathing?" might be the most overlooked question in training

Memorable Moments from the Episode

00:13:44 – Patrick's story of an abusively trained Western pleasure horse that once cornered him in a stall as a teenager

00:27:38 – Rupert's breakdown of dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin, and why riding this way feels so good

01:06:52 – The surprising history of dressage as a European import tied to wealth and status

02:01:00 – Two hours fly by, and Rupert and Patrick agree on the spot to record a part two

Guest Contact & Links

https://pkhorsemanship.com

https://academyforclassicalhorsemanship.com

About Patrick King

Patrick King is a classical dressage trainer based near the Blue Ridge Mountains in Lexington, Virginia. He grew up riding a wide range of breeds in Western Pennsylvania, apprenticed with Western horseman Ray Hunt, and was later mentored by the late Mark Russell before training with Luis Valença in Portugal and riding as a guest student at Spain's Royal School. He teaches a busy clinic schedule, competes occasionally — earning bronze and silver dressage medals with encouragement from Charles de Kunffy — and runs an online Academy for Classical Horsemanship with monthly live lectures. His approach blends the Western horsemanship principle of "getting to the mind through the feet" with classical dressage biomechanics, with a particular focus on balance, breath, and treating the horse as an active participant in training. 
Website: pkhorsemanship.com.

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✨ "You do it by offering before you ask, connection before direction." – Jenifer Zeligs

✨ "Look with appreciation. Look with delight. Look with interest. Look with curiosity." – Jenifer Zeligs

Jenifer Zeligs has spent her life reading animals of every kind, from cheetahs and wolves to sea lions and horses. She started at the National Zoo at nine years old, mentored by exotic animal trainer Casey Cover, and went on to a career that helped shape modern liberty horse training. She is also the person that legendary horse trainer David Lichman credits with the "come bearing gifts" philosophy that underpins his own work.

The conversation ranges across the two foundational techniques of animal training, why prevention beats correction in a crisis, and the true story of training sea lions to film humpback whales in the open ocean. Jenifer and Rupert also explore how a childhood horse allergy set her on this path, why individual variation matters more than breed or species, and how her practice as a Buddhist has shaped the way she teaches fearlessness and calm to horses.

A wide-ranging, generous conversation between two people who have spent decades thinking about what animals need from us.

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All Books Mentioned: https://longridehome.com/books

What You'll Learn in This Episode

00:04:23 – How a childhood horse allergy led Jenifer into a lifelong career as an animal behaviorist

00:10:18 – The two foundational techniques of bridging (reward markers) and targeting that changed how she trains any species

00:14:13 – The "come bearing gifts" principle: offering trust before ever asking for anything in return

00:35:42 – What actually makes you a safe space for an animal, and what makes you unsafe

00:41:31 – Systematic desensitization, and why announcing your intentions changes everything

00:52:15 – The difference between behavioral and environmental enrichment, and why horses are missing out

00:56:00 – Why consistency matters for communication but variety matters for motivation

01:09:19 – The extraordinary story of training sea lions to film whales in the open ocean

01:28:00 – "Contra freeloading," and why animals (and humans) are wired to want to work for things

02:08:24 – Teaching a horse to find calm through a simple "head down" cue

Memorable Moments from the Episode

00:14:43 – Jenifer describes conditioning trust with cheetahs, mountain lions, and wolves through patient, positive interactions from behind a safety barrier

01:14:43 – A sea lion caught between orcas and open water swims 20 miles home, then leaps into the boat exhausted

01:40:18 – Jenifer's reminder that the best trainers "don't get into the crash" in the first place

02:10:00 – The story of the notoriously aggressive horse David Litchman connected her with, and how a new paradigm transformed him

02:15:00 – Rupert traces the story of the Buddha's own horse, Kantaka, and its place in Buddhist legend

Guest Contact & Links

animaltraining.us
Books: Animal Training 101: The Complete and Practical Guide to the Art and Science of Behavior Modification https://amzn.to/3UA43YZ
Mindful Partners: The Zen Art and Science of Working with Animals https://amzn.to/4xM2KVw

About Jenifer Zeligs

Jenifer Zeligs is an animal behaviorist, psychologist, and author who has spent decades working with species ranging from horses and dogs to cheetahs, wolves, and sea lions. She began her training career at the National Zoo at nine years old, mentored by exotic animal trainer Casey Cover, and later became a foundational influence on liberty horse trainer David Lichman, who credits her "come bearing gifts" philosophy as central to his own approach. She is the author of Animal Training 101 and Mindful Partners: The Zen Art and Science of Working with Animals, and teaches online courses at animaltraining.us. Now based in Oxford, England, she brings together decades of hands-on behavioral science with a practicing Buddhist's approach to trust, safety, and fearlessness.

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Links to books and products may include affiliate tracking. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the show.

✨ "I think love is just not blocking out your connectedness to anything else." – Warwick Schiller

✨ "The same action with a different intention has a different energetic signature." – Warwick Schiller

Warwick Schiller joins Rupert Isaacson for a wide-ranging conversation on altered states of consciousness in horsemanship, a subject the two first began exploring together on Warwick's own podcast. Rupert opens with the story of his son Rowan's healing ceremony with Kuku Yalanji shamans in Australia's Daintree Rainforest, and the two trace the theme from there into what "consent" and so-called horse slapping actually look like through a horse's nervous system.

From there the conversation moves through the deep history of horse worship, from the goddess Epona and Xenophon's writings to Roman cavalry rituals and Mongolian shamanism, and lands on a central idea both men keep circling back to: that intention itself changes the energy, or as Warwick puts it, the "energetic signature," of any action, whether that's patting a horse, backing one up, or riding into battle.

A wide-ranging, unhurried conversation that moves from hardware stores and rodeo bulls to henbane, King Arthur, and a closing reading from the Hadith.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

00:00:36 – Rupert opens the episode by introducing the theme of altered states of consciousness in horsemanship

00:05:24 – Rupert recounts his son Rowan's healing ceremony with Kuku Yalanji shamans in the Daintree Rainforest

00:11:03 – Warwick unpacks consent, "horse slapping," and what it means to actually be present with a horse

00:24:13 – Why Warwick loses all sense of time while running clinics, and what that says about altered states

00:38:38 – A journey through the ancient history of horse worship, from Epona and Xenophon to Roman cavalry and Mongolian shamanism

00:44:49 – What it might look like to bring ritual and reverence back into everyday training

01:09:20 – Warwick on his real job as a teacher: "busting" people's long-held truths

01:27:00 – The henbane story, and how intention changes the "energetic signature" of an action

01:41:00 – How a Horse Boy fox hunt became a bloodless, inclusive tradition for kids with special needs and refugee children

01:51:24 – Ancient horse divination rituals from the Baltic to Rajasthan, and the Hadith reading that closes the episode

Memorable Moments from the Episode

00:56:21 – Warwick's story about trying to buy "starter cord" from a bemused hardware store clerk

01:01:14 – Rupert admits he prays before every clinic or talk, weaving together Christian and Germanic horse-god iconography

01:28:56 – The Elizabeth Gilbert and Raya story: the same purse-saving gesture, told twice, with two very different meanings behind it

01:57:15 – Warwick closes with a line from the Hadith that, as he puts it, ties the whole conversation together

01:59:24 – Rupert describes something "coming out of the cliff" and speaking to him during a retreat in Sweden

Warwick Schiller https://warwickschiller.com

Journey On Podcast Warwick's own podcast, referenced throughout the conversation as the place he and Rupert first began discussing these ideas

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Links to books and products may include affiliate tracking. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the show.

✨ "Everyone knows that the conqueror writes his story." – Louis Hook

✨ "I stood up. I told my son, 'That's not true.' And from there, I started a research path." – Louis Hook

Louis Hook is a founding member of the Compton Cowboys, the decades-old therapeutic riding program based in Compton, Los Angeles, and previously featured on Rupert's Equine Assisted World podcast. He carries an MIT PhD program background and a Harvard Business School education, and for the last several years has redirected that analytical training toward an independent research project: documenting the African cavalry traditions written out of mainstream history. The catalyst was watching the film The Woman King and being stunned to see a Black cavalry on screen — a moment that sent him down a research path he is still on today.

Rupert brings his own family history into the conversation, including a 19th-century surcoat, chain mail, and sword taken from a Mahdist cavalryman at the Battle of Omdurman by his ancestor, George Spotswood Sparks. Together they trace the arc of African equestrian power — the Moors' 800-year hold on southern Spain, Mansa Musa's cavalry-protected gold empire in Mali, the Kanem-Bornu Empire and Sokoto Caliphate, and the horse cultures of the Sahel that, as Rupert notes, never went away and still produce true Barb horses in Senegal today.

From there the conversation moves to the American side of the story — the "brain drain" model of slavery that targeted skilled horsemen, blacksmiths, and rice farmers, and the land-grant gated-horse tradition of East Texas that Rupert witnessed firsthand. A wide-ranging, deeply researched conversation.

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What You'll Learn in This Episode

00:01:44 – Rupert's family connection to African horse cultures, sparked by a 19th-century surcoat and chain mail taken from a Mahdist cavalryman

00:07:23 – How watching The Woman King sent Louis on a research journey into Africa's erased cavalry history

00:11:19 – The Moors' 800-year conquest of southern Spain and their overlooked African identity

00:23:00 – Mansa Musa's cavalry-protected gold empire, and Louis's case that he ranks among history's five greatest men

00:35:19 – Why true Barb horses survive today only in Senegal

00:37:43 – How the Catholic Church whitewashed Christian imagery and helped embed a racial hierarchy

00:53:29 – The "brain drain" model of slavery — how expert horsemen, blacksmiths, and rice farmers were targeted and bought at a premium

00:58:00 – The land-grant horse culture of East Texas, where freed slave families built a gated-horse tradition still alive today

01:13:29 – Louis and Rupert trace the likely African roots of dressage rising star Nashon Cook

01:30:04 – The "horses to heal, horses to harm" philosophy — how the same training system can wound or heal

Memorable Moments from the Episode

00:04:02 – Rupert describes the surcoat, chain mail, and sword hanging on his family's wall, taken from a Mahdist cavalryman by his ancestor

00:09:36 – Louis recounts standing up in the theater during The Woman King and telling his son, "That's not true"

01:00:13 – Rupert recalls roughly 200 Black riders on gated horses passing his Texas home, beer trucks blasting hip-hop

01:19:43 – Louis describes the emotional experience of visiting "The Last Bath," the Ghanaian site where enslaved people were bathed before auction

01:34:38 – Louis walks through using AI to fact-check erased history, using the Benjamin Franklin slavery example

Guest Contact & Links

Louis Hook's book, Black in the Saddle: From African Cavalries to Modern Cowboys https://amzn.to/4htcuPf

Louis is a founding member of the Compton Cowboys, the Compton, Los Angeles-based therapeutic riding program also featured on Rupert's Equine Assisted World podcast. https://educatedhoodrat.com

About Louis Hook

Louis Hook is a founding member of the Compton Cowboys, a therapeutic riding program serving Compton, Los Angeles for several decades. He brings an MIT PhD program background and a Harvard Business School education to his independent research into the African cavalry cultures erased from mainstream history. He is the author of Black in the Saddle: From African Cavalries to Modern Cowboys, with a second volume in progress tracing his own ancestral roots to Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso.

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Website: https://ntls.co

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Links to books and products may include affiliate tracking. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the show.

✨ "I've never used Baucher to train anything. I've always used Baucher to heal." – Nahshon Cook

✨ "Does your horse feel good after you've done what you've done with them? ... That's connection." – Nahshon Cook

Nahshon Cook is a classical dressage trainer based in Colorado whose path began riding donated horses as a kid at the Urban Farm at Stapleton, an inner-city youth program in Denver. Two mentors — Cynthia Spalding and former Cadre Noir rider Jean-François Fabier — introduced him to dressage before he was out of his teens, and after a detour through divinity school, Southeast Asia, and a stint training show and race horses in Thailand, he returned to Colorado and built a reputation for taking on horses other trainers had given up on.

The conversation moves through Nahshon's approach to kissing spine, poll and TMJ tension, and how he reads a horse's tongue as a barometer for what's happening throughout the rest of the body. He walks through three distinct flexion positions he uses to unlock the hips, stifle, and hocks, and describes rehabilitating horses diagnosed with DSLD and a herniated disc using Baucher-based flexion work, treats, and nervous-system regulation.

A rich, wide-ranging conversation that moves between technical dressage detail and questions of safety, mercy, and what it means to truly listen to a horse.

FREE Helios Harmony Intro Course: https://longridehome.com/onoutpout

All Books Mentioned: https://longridehome.com/books

What You'll Learn in This Episode

00:02:07 – How riding at the Urban Farm at Stapleton in Denver opened the door to dressage

00:06:13 – What mentor Cynthia Spalding taught him about feel, not just technique

00:11:21 – Learning from ex-Cadre Noir rider Jean-François Fabier and matching training to each horse's breed

00:19:18 – Leaving divinity school for Southeast Asia, and training horses in Thailand

00:31:14 – Why he swore off training for clients, and how horses get used as "bait"

01:05:13 – The real cause of kissing spine: tension in the poll and TMJ

01:07:38 – How to use a noseband correctly so it helps the horse feel safe

01:15:44 – Reading the tongue as a map to the horse's fascia and poll

01:26:16 – The three flexion positions that unlock the hips, stifle, and hocks

01:30:45 – Treats, poll work, and grooming tools for regulating the nervous system

Memorable Moments from the Episode

00:38:31 – A client asks a 15-year-old Nahshon to fake a South African accent to hide his age

00:49:34 – Healing a chronically colicking horse with stones and touch

01:14:33 – Popping a horse's spine and ribs back into place with Baucher flexions

01:28:06 – A herniated-disc horse's dramatic physical release during a flexion session

01:55:15 – Nahshon closes the conversation with an original poem

Guest Contact & Links

https://www.facebook.com/NahshonCookHorsemanship/

About Nahshon Cook

Nahshon Cook is a classical dressage trainer based in Colorado who began riding at 13 through an inner-city youth program and went on to study with mentors from two different dressage traditions before he turned 18. His approach centers on reading tension in the poll, TMJ, and tongue as the key to unlocking a horse's back and hind end, and he's known for taking on horses — including cases of DSLD, PSSM2, and herniated discs — that other trainers and vets had written off. He now holds small working gatherings in Wisconsin rather than teaching public clinics.

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✨ "Your horse does not anticipate. He simply reads your mind." – Dominique Barbier

✨ "I want people to smile when they ride, because if they don't smile, why are you riding?" – Dominique Barbier

Dominique Barbier grew up in France with no horsey family background, but an early and almost uncanny sensitivity to horses that set him apart from the biomechanical training he encountered in England and France. After training and competing across multiple disciplines, he made his way to Portugal to study for two years with the legendary Nuno Oliveira, absorbing lessons that would go on to shape the French-Portuguese school of dressage he now teaches worldwide from his base in California.

This conversation centers on Don Giovanni, the volatile, nearly-destroyed stallion who became Dominique's greatest teacher, and the three-step process of "getting out of the way" that Dominique developed to earn his trust. Dominique and Rupert also dig into descente de main and descente de jambe, the difference between riding physically and riding mentally, and Dominique's blunt take on spurs, competition, and the pursuit of joy over technique.

A candid, wide-ranging two-hour conversation from one of dressage's most original voices.

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All Books Mentioned: https://longridehome.com/books

What You'll Learn in This Episode

00:03:00 – Dominique's unusual early sensitivity to horses and how his father let him follow his passion

00:12:00 – Why Dominique says a horse doesn't anticipate — he reads your mind

00:16:00 – The nine months Dominique couldn't ride, and what he discovered about the intellectual mind blocking connection

00:20:00 – Dominique's 90/10 philosophy: staying out of the horse's way

00:39:00 – How Dominique met and nearly lost the chance to save Don Giovanni, the horse who taught him the most

00:48:00 – The three-step process Dominique used to earn Don Giovanni's trust

00:52:00 – Reading a horse's true preferences through nature, play, and "crazy time"

01:04:00 – The story behind descente de main, descente de jambe from Dominique's time with Nuno Oliveira

01:13:00 – Why Dominique now teaches people to smile when they ride

01:50:00 – Fear as simply "what you don't know," and how Dominique helps students move through it

Memorable Moments from the Episode

00:42:00 – The dramatic story of winning the right to bring Don Giovanni home — a horse marked for destruction

01:26:00 – Dominique's candid reflection on Nuno Oliveira's complicated inner life, and why he never wanted to "be" his master

01:42:00 – Dominique's confession about once owning 300 spurs, and why he regrets it

02:00:00 – Dominique reveals his upcoming book, simply titled Consciousness

02:16:00 – Dominique's parting invitation to share a glass of Merlot with Rupert in California

Guest Contact & Links

Dominique Barbier Website: https://dominiquebarbier.com

About Dominique Barbier

Dominique Barbier is one of the leading figures in classical dressage, known as an exponent of the French-Portuguese school. Raised in France with no equestrian family background, he trained across multiple disciplines before spending two formative years studying under the legendary Nuno Oliveira in Portugal. He has authored numerous books, including Dressage for the New Age, with a new book titled Consciousness forthcoming, and continues to teach and train worldwide from his base in California. His approach emphasizes visualization, presence, and reading what a horse genuinely enjoys over rigid technique.

🐎 Want to go deeper? Join the Long Ride Home membership — weekly live sessions, exclusive content, and a community of riders seeking real connection with their horses. 👉 https://longridehome.com — just $24.95/month

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✨ "The difference between destruction and creation kind of just disappears, and this is a beautiful thing to be able to do." – Arne Koets

✨ "Are you making a foundation for a skyscraper or are you making a foundation for a shed? Those are not the same foundations." – Arne Koets

Arne Koets is a historical dressage teacher, jouster, and practitioner of Rossfechten — mounted sword fighting — who trained at the Fürstliche Hofreitschule in Bückeburg, Germany, reaching the level of Hofberater (courtly rider). His work draws on European martial arts manuscripts dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries, blending biomechanics, classical in-hand work, and the disciplines of combat horsemanship into a living, practiced tradition.

In this conversation, Rupert and Arne trace the deep connections between martial arts on horseback, tango, and the finest ideals of classical dressage. They explore how the same biomechanical principles that make a good fighter also make a good dancer — and how understanding this can transform the way we train and relate to our horses. The conversation moves through in-hand work, the role of the schoolmaster horse, the philosophy of building community, and what it actually takes to get a beginner riding with confidence and joy from the very first lesson.

A far-ranging, intellectually rich conversation that will delight history nerds, dressage geeks, and anyone who has ever wondered what riding was really for.

Timestamps

• How Arne's background in reconstructing European martial arts led him to historical dressage and Bückeburg [00:01:00]
• The connection between Argentine tango, wrestling, and riding — and why the line between building balance and destroying it is thinner than we think [00:10:00]
• Why teaching the collection work first, not last, is the old way — and why Steinbrecht actually agrees [00:16:00]
• The concept of unificare — inviting the horse to come up into an embrace with the rider — versus driving the seat bone down [00:25:00]
• Why confused definitions (what does "forward" actually mean?) have degraded the modern system of riding instruction [00:32:00]
• Arne's step-by-step in-hand training sequence: figure-of-eight, lateral movements, piaffe steps, and preparing for the first rider [01:03:00]
• The role of the "ground monkey" and "sky monkey" — why team work is not optional in breaking young horses [01:13:00]
• How Rossfechten (mounted sword fighting) builds community, releases ego, and teaches riders to feel what their horse is doing [01:26:00]
• Why horses become genuine strategic partners in mounted fencing — including Arne's story of a horse who executed a spontaneous 360 to protect his rider [01:41:00]
• How "deliberate hacking" — making conscious choices in the terrain — builds the horse's back and collection as effectively as arena work [02:30:00]
• A beginner sword fighter with zero riding experience sits piaffe on a stallion during his first lesson, then rides one-handed with a sword in canter by his tenth [00:16:00]
• Arne recounts confronting an FN clinician about why German riding schools don't follow what Steinbrecht actually says on page three [00:20:00]
• The horse who competed fully blindfolded by accident — caparison covering his eyes — and never put a foot wrong because rider and horse were one [01:44:00]
• Arne describes a group cavalry skirmish with 200 infantry and 48 mounted riders — and how the horses learn to aim the sword [02:13:00]
• The moment Arne's horse spontaneously executed a 360-degree bullfighting spin mid-sword fight, placed the weapon to parry an incoming blow, and then resumed the attack — entirely the horse's idea [01:41:00]

Arne's Website: www.arnekoets.com

Rosswochen Symposium (first weekend of May — academic lectures, workshops, tango night, mounted demonstrations): www.arnekoets.com

Fürstliche Hofreitschule Bückeburg (the Princely School for Riding Art referenced throughout): www.hofgestut-bueckeburg.de

About Arne Koets

Arne Koets is a Dutch-born historical dressage teacher, jouster, and the foremost practitioner of Rossfechten — mounted sword fighting in the tradition of the European fighting manuscripts. He trained at the Fürstliche Hofreitschule in Bückeburg, Germany, achieving the rank of Hofberater, and spent years interpreting equestrian history at the Royal Armouries and the Dutch Army Museum. He now teaches clinics internationally and hosts students and riders at his home in Thuringia, Germany. His approach synthesizes biomechanics, classical in-hand work, and the martial arts manuscripts of the 14th through 16th centuries into a living, teachable system. His events attract riders from across Europe, the US, and beyond.

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✨ "All social species seek connections. People and horses are no different. Safety and comfort are the core elements to build strong social bonds regardless of species. “ – Mary Ann Simonds

✨ "The best tool we have is be the best human you can be. You don't have to know everything. You just have to be clear on yourself and be pure and be silent, and then help your horse be the best horse it can be." – Mary Ann Simonds

Mary Ann Simonds has spent more than four decades sitting at the intersection of wildlife biology, consciousness studies, and horsemanship — and almost none of it has looked the way science was supposed to look. She grew up in California riding hunter/jumpers, earned her BS from the University of Wyoming in Wildlife Conservation and Management and a minor in Range Management studying wild horse ecology and whole systems approaches.   She was appointed to the National Advisory Board for Wild Horses and Burros in the early 1990s after years of field research on wild horse behavioral ecology.  She has worked for oil and gas companies as a reclamation specialist, pioneered ecotourism partnerships with ranchers in Wyoming and Oregon, taught interspecies communication at Nippon Veterinary and Life Sciences University in Tokyo, earned a graduate degree in Inter-disciplinary Consciousness Studies and has spent years working quietly behind the scenes in the sport horse welfare world near her home in Wellington, Florida.

Her new book, A Horse by Nature, published by Trafalgar Square, draws on all of it — wild horse social behavior, domestic horse psychology, welfare ethics, and practical communication tools — organized in red, blue, and green tips so riders can go straight to what they need most. It is, as Rupert and Mary Ann agree at the end of this conversation, Part One of what will be a longer series.

This is a conversation about what happens when rigorous science and genuine animal communication occupy the same person — and what that has to teach anyone who lives and works with horses.

FREE Helios Harmony Intro Course: https://longridehome.com/onoutpout

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• 00:05:30 – How Mary Ann first recognized, at age 11, that a trainer couldn't hear what a horse with a headache was saying — and why that question drove her entire career
• 00:13:00 – What double degrees in range management and wildlife biology taught her about the gap between academic science and what animals are actually doing
• 00:39:00 – The dietary overlap study she conducted as an undergraduate — and how it became the data cited to justify mass BLM removal of wild horses decades later
• 00:44:00 – How BLM's gate-cut removal policy destroyed wild horse social structures and caused reproductive rates to skyrocket
• 00:47:00 – Why a Nevada rancher admitted he hated the wild stallion eating his alfalfa — and what that revealed about the real psychology behind mustang persecution
• 00:56:00 – How she converted ranchers into ecotourism operators years before the concept had a name — and why she calls herself a solution finder, not an activist
• 01:04:00 – The discovery that studying nature with a quiet mind produced completely different wildlife sightings than looking at it with scientific intent
• 01:20:00 – Why she went to graduate school to study human consciousness after watching a BLM official throw a briefcase at a rancher in a public meeting
• 01:38:00 – How she taught interspecies communication at Nippon Animal Science University in Tokyo, and why Japanese vet students grasped it almost instantly
• 01:44:00 – Why a horse's first two years determine everything, and how not knowing a horse's early history is one of the most common mistakes buyers make
• 01:49:00 – What A Horse by Nature offers: how to teach a horse to be a functional horse, the OFFER technique, and why eye contact, nose bump, and buddy scratch transform the relationship
• 01:51:00 – The red, blue, and green tip system — and why safety and comfort, not food, are a horse's primary motivation for bonding with a human

Memorable Moments from the Episode

• 00:12:00 – Mary Ann describes sleeping with rattlesnakes as an 18-year-old after refusing to leave the field — and what it taught her about looking with nature rather than at it
• 00:43:00 – She discovers her own undergraduate data, filed under her maiden name Canny, was the study used to justify mass wild horse removals — and the range manager confirms it was never statistically significant
• 00:49:00 – An Oregon rancher comes to her door late at night to confess he killed a band of horses because they looked too pathetic to live — and her response: "So if you look like that, should I shoot you too?"
• 01:33:00 – A Wyoming cowboy's horse jumps into the back of his pickup truck with his dog, unprompted and untrained — and that moment becomes the seed of her interspecies communication research
• 01:42:00 – Rupert describes aloud, for the first time, all the prayers and invisible preparation he does before every training session — after an audience member tells him he didn't ask the horse permission

Guest Contact & Links

A Horse by Nature by Mary Ann Simonds (Trafalgar Square Publishing) https://amzn.to/4glHTCp

Mary Ann Simonds website and contact: www.maryAnnsimonds.com

About Mary Ann Simonds

Mary Ann Simonds is a wildlife biologist, behaviorist, and consciousness researcher who has spent more than four decades studying the relationship between horses, nature, and human awareness. She holds double degrees in range management and wildlife biology from the University of Wyoming and a graduate degree in consciousness studies. Her fieldwork spans wild mustang populations in the American West, dolphin behavior research, ecotourism development, and interspecies communication programs at veterinary universities in Japan. She has served on the National Advisory Board for Wild Horses and Burros, worked as a reclamation specialist for oil and gas companies, and spent years advocating for welfare reform in the sport horse industry near her home in Wellington, Florida. Her new book, A Horse by Nature, is published by Trafalgar Square.

🐎 Want to go deeper? Join the Long Ride Home membership — weekly live sessions, exclusive content, and a community of riders seeking real connection with their horses. 👉 https://longridehome.com — just $24.95/month

See All of Rupert's Programs and Shows: Website: https://rupertisaacson.com

Follow Us:

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Website: https://ntls.co 
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Affiliate Disclosure:

Links to books and products may include affiliate tracking. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the show.

✨ "The best teachers and coaches are the horses. It's important for us to learn to listen to them and see them." – Mario Contreras

✨ "There is a big word I always feel is missing from the training scale — and that's joy. Where's the joy? These are movements that horses do when they feel passion." – Rupert Isaacson

Mario Contreras is the head trainer at Medieval Times Chicago, the man responsible for the standard of horsemanship that stops knowledgeable riders cold in the middle of a crowd of beer-drinking tourists who have no idea what they're witnessing. Third-generation horse trainer, born in Texcoco and raised in a family rooted in the Alta Escuela and charrería traditions of Jalisco, Mexico, Mario came to the US in 1990 with no English and a lifetime of classical riding in his bones — and built a 35-year career inside one of the most demanding equestrian entertainment operations in North America.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Rupert and Mario cover the deep roots of Mexican horse culture that most American dressage riders have never heard of, how Mario trains complete beginners to become knights performing before 1,500 people in under three years, and why cross-training, liberty work, and genuine joy are the true secrets to keeping horses and riders performing at their best. They also dig into the lost art of schoolmaster training, the in-hand and ground work that underpins everything Mario does, and the vision — still unfinished — of building Mexico a national horsemanship school at the level of Jerez or the Spanish Riding School.

A rich, warm conversation between two horsemen who share a deep reverence for the old masters and a conviction that horses teach us more than we teach them.

FREE Helios Harmony Intro Course: https://longridehome.com/onoutpout

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• • How the Contreras family built a three-generation tradition of Alta Escuela and charrería in Mexico, and how it led Mario to Medieval Times [00:02:35] 
• What charrería is, why it matters, and how Mario's father blended it with classical Alta Escuela to create something unique [00:08:46] 
• The role of Andalusian horses in promoting Mexican culture — and how the Aztec horse breed came to be [00:03:19] 
• Why Medieval Times hires actors and athletes with no riding background — and how Mario turns them into skilled knights in three years [00:20:37] 
• How Mario's brother Marcial pushed him harder as family than he would have pushed anyone else, and what that taught him about leadership [00:27:46] 
• 
  
• The value of getting your hands dirty: why Mario still cleans stalls and brushes horses, and why that's inseparable from great horsemanship [00:30:11] 
• The case for in-hand and ground training before ever mounting a horse — and how Mario uses it to teach piaffe, passage, and the Spanish walk [00:32:18] 
• Why schoolmaster horses are the missing ingredient in modern dressage training, and how the old masters always put beginners on the best horses first [00:51:24] 
• Cross-training as the antidote to burnout: how mixing dressage, Alta Escuela, liberty, working equitation, and games keeps horses genuinely joyful [01:34:10] 
• Mario's approach to stallion management, redirecting energy, and why isolation is the worst thing you can do for a difficult horse [01:15:07]

Memorable Moments from the Episode

• Rupert describes watching a rider perform three caprioles in a row at Medieval Times while the crowd sips beer — and no one in the room understands what they're seeing [00:01:32] 
• Mario recounts the moment he first rode for Medieval Times in California and was so hooked he never looked back [00:26:56] 
• Mario describes being deported from the US, spending four years in Mexico without his family or friends, and then getting a call from Medieval Times offering to bring him back legally — via a detour to Cancun as a pirate [01:53:59] 
• Mario was invited to ride Claudio Castilla Ruiz's Olympic Grand Prix horse Jade — in jeans and tennis shoes — during a visit to Spain in 2008 [00:58:19] 
• Rupert and Mario agree that joy is the word missing from the classical training pyramid — and that a horse in the arena performing with passion is the only thing that makes the audience feel they spent their money well [01:32:11]

Guest Contact & Links

Mario A. Contreras — Facebook and Instagram: Mario A. Contreras MC Horse Training (Chicago area / Maple Park, IL): mchorsetraining.com (currently being rebuilt) 
Phone: 630-415-9788

About Mario Contreras

Mario Contreras is a third-generation horse trainer from a family rooted in the Alta Escuela and charrería traditions of Jalisco, Mexico. His father, Jose Trinidad Contreras, was co-founder of the Escuela de Jinetes Domeq and helped introduce Andalusian horses throughout Mexico. Mario joined Medieval Times in 1990 and has spent 35 years building and running the equestrian program at their flagship Chicago castle — the largest in the company, seating 1,500 people per show. Outside Medieval Times, he teaches at his own facility, MC Horse Training, in Maple Park, Illinois, specializing in Alta Escuela, classical dressage, and in-hand training on schoolmaster horses.

🐎 Want to go deeper? Join the Long Ride Home membership — weekly live sessions, exclusive content, and a community of riders seeking real connection with their horses. 👉 https://longridehome.com — just $24.95/month

See All of Rupert's Programs and Shows:

Website: https://rupertisaacson.com

Follow Us:

Long Ride Home 
Website: https://longridehome.com 
Facebook: https://facebook.com/longridehome.lrh 
Instagram: https://instagram.com/longridehome_lrh 
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@longridehome

New Trails Learning Systems 
Website: https://ntls.co 
Facebook: https://facebook.com/horseboyworld 
Instagram: https://instagram.com/horseboyworld 
YouTube: https://youtube.com/newtrailslearningsystems

Affiliate Disclosure:

Links to books and products may include affiliate tracking. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the show.