Tea Time with Elsa

Chatting about: Response based living…

In this episode I talk about the differences in reacting, responding and thinking, and the effects that each have on our relationships with our horses. Thinking and reacting are on two opposite sides of a spectrum. Responding is about the middle ground between the two. We talk about the level of curiosity associated with each end of the spectrum and how we can understand what side of the spectrum our personal tendencies lean towards, and what side of the spectrum our horse’s lean towards at different points in our relationship with them.

Originally aired on: May 19th, 2022

Chatting about: Interest without anxiety…

In this episode I talk about developing functional levels of curiosity without causing dysfunctional levels of stress. We can tell the difference between anxiety and curiosity by how easy it is to be in harmony. When horses are anxious or concerned, their self preserving instincts cause them to think about themselves and how they feel. This means they have less capacity for cooperative thinking and the feelings of others so harmony feels more difficult. When horses' stress is lower, they have more capacity for interaction and community so harmony feels easier when the horse is on the more curious end of the spectrum. In this episode we talk about what we can do to nurture confident curiosity in our horses in ways that help the horse prevent their own stress from getting too high and that feel good to the relationship.

Originally aired on: May 10th, 2022

Chatting about: Waiting or causing…

In this episode I talk about having good feel and timing to know when to wait for the horse to change, or when to cause the horse to change. We talk about the differences in waiting versus causing and the different effects and dynamics they have in our relationships with our horses as well as when we might choose to do either and why we might chose that.

Originally aired on: May 3rd, 2022 

Chatting about: Distance…

In this episode I talk about the benefits of working with our horses at a distance and how we can adjust our feel and timing to attune to the space. When we work at a distance, we gain either one of two benefits. Either the horse does notice that you’re still responding to them from afar, which will increase the connection and trust in the relationship as they see they’re still important to you even when there is a lot of space between you both, or the horse does not notice that you’re working with them and you get to learn about the horse and practice your timing with no consequences if you get it wrong.

Originally aired on: April 26th, 2022 

Chatting about: Community…

In this episode I talk about meeting our horses needs for community, interaction, and herd structure. When our horses are in big herds they have the freedom to pick and choose their experiences of attention, interaction, and comfort. When our horses are in smaller herds or pairs, they have less variety and less freedom to be able to choose their experiences within the community. We talk about our horses’ herd dynamics and their need for community in a domestic environment and how we can develop our horses' emotional maturity, our relationships with them and their living environment to give them the best quality of life possible.

Originally aired on: April 19th, 2022 

Chatting about: Phobias…

In this episode I talk about our own fear and phobias giving us empathy for our horses. In Freedom Based Training® we accept the horse as they are, irrational fears and all. We learn all about them and then we can slowly begin to shape their fears and behavior to help them create new habitual patterns that help them feel better and keep them safe.

Originally aired on: April 12th, 2022

Chatting about: Environmental impact…

In this episode I talk about the impact that environmental changes have on our horses and how we can use familiar patterns to help lower our horses’ stress. The idea that the environment always has an impact on our horses' stress levels helps us navigate our relationships with our horses. We can notice what patterns cause higher stress and what patterns cause lower stress throughout the day with our horses and then use this in the moments that we want to create a change in the horse’s stress level to help them feel better. In Freedom Based Training® we aim to develop the horse’s ability to manage their own stress levels to keep themselves safe and help them feel good.

Originally aired on: April 7h, 2022

Chatting about: The space between differences…

In this episode I talk about harmony and flow being the space between the differences. It’s the response we give to the changes in the horse. In most training we consider how we can cause change, how we can make the right changes at the right time. I prefer to consider the space between those changes. The real skill is in the timing of what we do between the actions.

Originally aired on: March 29th, 2022

Chatting about: The adaptability of horses…

In this episode I talk about observing horses adapting to the preferences of people in clinics. As we get to know a horse, their likes and dislikes and what they find important, they also learn about us and our own preferences. We talk about watching horses problem solve to figure out how to meet their own needs while learning about each individual’s preferences for the relationship in a clinic setting.

Originally aired on: March 22nd, 2022

Chatting about: Honoring the individual…

In this episode I talk about honoring the uniqueness and individuality of each horse. The more that we can learn about, understand and respond to what is important to the individual horse that we’re working with, the better we can meet their needs. Only once the horse feels their needs are met, will they have the capacity to be more community minded and consider our needs. In Freedom Based Training®, as we work with our horses, we find ways to meet both the horse’s needs and our own in ways that are collaborative and feel good in the relationship.

Originally aired on: March 16th, 2022