In this episode, Steve Halfpenny explores one of the most important moments in a horse’s life — the very first rides. The way a horse is started under saddle will shape its confidence, trust, and relationship with people for years to come. Too often, young horses are started with methods that rely on domination and pressure, leaving them anxious, defensive, or shut down. Steve shares stories of horses he’s worked with that came back from a rough start and needed months of rebuilding trust — and contrasts that with the smooth, willing progress of horses started with clarity and kindness.

In this episode, Dr. Rena gives us an overview of the polyvagal theory and how it relates to horses as well as generally talking about horse-human communication.

Lately, a few of my students have been talking about Shelly's approach to horsemanship, so I thought it would be great to catch up with her here and have a chat.

John Saint Ryan and Tim McGaffic talk with Steve about the film they have recently finished. It goes into how the ideas and techniques that Tom Dorrance used to work with horses can be explained using equitation science and learning theory.
You can access the Get The Mind and the Feet will Follow movie here : https://johnsaintryanhorsemanship.vhx.tv/products

Steve talks with John about what he learned from Tom Dorrance about presenting things to horses and students in a way that helps them both learn. This episode is for over an hour in length and as usual John and Steve drifted of the topic a few times! John always talked of Tom with great reverence and it is always a pleasure hearing him share lessons learned from Tom.

It was great to talk to Dr Susan Fay about her book Sacred Spaces and her journey to connecting with horses on a spiritual level. I found the book very insightful and explained a lot of the unseen attributes of great horsemen.

I recently listened to John's Audio book "A Voice For The Horse" on Audible and found Johns explanation of the terms used in Equitation science learning theory invaluable. As a result I asked John to talk a little about it in this podcast. It is always great to catch up with John and as always there are stories thrown it about lessons learned from Tom Dorrance. 

Link to John's book on Audible

Lester Buckley is an unusual, multi-disciplinary teacher of both horsemanship and the principles of Classical Dressage. He is respected among his peers as one of the most accomplished equestrians and gifted teachers in the business today.

Lester grew up in the historic cattle country of North Texas. He earned his B. S. in Equine Science from Sul Ross State University in Texas. As part of his college education, Lester worked with Ray Hunt in colt starting and horsemanship classes over a four-year period. After graduation, Lester went on to starting colts for the King Ranch in Texas and the Parker Ranch in Hawaii, personally starting over 3000 horses. He apprenticed with National Cutting Horse Hall of Fame rider Willie Richardson for seven years, and was a successful cutting competitor himself, earning a rank of #2 in the World Open Senior Horse Cutters in 1999.

It was great to talk to John about how he got into horses and his time with Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrance. John became a close friend of Toms and works to keep his legacy alive.

You can find out more about John and buy Tom and Ray's books as well as other items on his website.  www.johnsaintryan.com

It was great to talk with Jeff about why the Californian Central Coast were so different. We and also chatted about gear, some of the misinformation out there about how the Vaqueros trained their horse. Jeff's second book is nearly ready for sale so we spent some time talking about his books and if he will write another one. ( Yes we will)

 Jeff Sanders was born in Merced California and raised on the Central Coast, right in the heart of Vaquero country. Jeff is a 6th generation Californian. He is one of very few teaching the California Vaquero style of horsemanship
who was raised in the traditions and is truly a Californio himself.

Jeffʼs family has a long history of running cattle and riding stock horses in California, starting over 160 years ago. Jeff’s great, great, great grandfather started working as a vaquero in Petaluma California when he was a teenager in 1854, over a decade before the first big Texas cattle drives. This tradition followed down through Jeffʼs family and he can trace his horsemanship all the way back 160 years on one side of his family and over 100 years on the other side.

Having been raised in the California horsemanship traditions since childhood, Jeff’s parents passed the knowledge down to Jeff the same way it had been done for a couple of hundred years. Staying true to the Vaquero tradition of passing knowledge from generation to generation Jeff learned his horsemanship directly from the source. While books are good, nothing can replace learning both the oral traditions and the practical application directly from those who had it passed down to them from the old time California Vaqueros.

Jeff and his parents took the skills of the old time Vaqueros and applied them, not only on the ranch but also in the competition arena. Jeff credits his as well as his parentsʼ success in competitions to the fundamental principles of old style California horsemanship.

He has also been fortunate to have had the opportunity to apply the skills and philosophies of the old California Vaqueros while day working on ranches in California, Colorado, Wyoming and Nevada.

Jeff still day works when he is home but is steadfast in his dedication to spreading the traditions of the California Bridle Horse throughout the world. Traveling throughout the US, Australia, Western and Eastern Europe and even Israel teaching this style of horsemanship, Jeffʼs hope is that this proud tradition that respects the rider and honours the horse will not just survive but will once again flourish.