Tea Time with Elsa

Chatting about: Choices…

In this episode I talk about choices creating a point of stress. Choices can be something that is difficult in our own lives, and our horses’ lives. Whether it’s having too many choices and the pressure of choosing the right one, or not having enough choice and lacking in freedom and independence. We talk about the motives and reasons for the choices that our horses make and the dynamics of choices in our relationships with our horses.

Originally aired on: November 2nd, 2021

Chatting About: Stories…

In this episode I talk about the similarities in storytelling and horse training. Whether it’s in storytelling, teaching, something that we’re learning about, or in a relationship we’re building, how can we find a balance between predictability, where there's a sense of familiarity and understanding, and novelty, where there's a sense of newness, variety and excitement? We talk about novelty and predictability on a spectrum and how the balance between the two affects the way our horses feel around us and our training and progress with them.

Originally aired on: October 27th, 2021

Chatting about: Zohari…

In this episode, my daughter Cameron joins me to share our memories of my horse Zohari, in celebration of his life.

Originally aired on: October 20th, 2021

Chatting about: Normalizing appreciation…

In this episode I talk about appreciating our horses for who they are and what they can do. The idea of “never ending improvement” is very normalized and encouraged in today's horse culture. In Freedom Based Training™, it’s not about improving a behavior in the moment, it’s about appreciating the feedback our horses give us, gathering information about our horse and learning from those moments so we can ensure that we are in the right place at the right time and so we can slowly develop the horse’s behavior in low pressure ways in the low stress moments for the future.

Originally aired on: October 12th, 2021

Chatting about: Working on a difficult day…

In this episode I talk about whether or not we should work with our horses when we’re having a bad day. We discuss if it’s fair to expect things from our horses when we are in states of higher emotions. When we come to our horses each day, to attune to our own emotional capacity, as well as our horses we can ask the questions who am I today? Who is my horse today? What is something easy that we can do together that will be a positive experience?

Originally aired on: October 5th, 2021

Chatting about: Touch…

In this episode I talk about the desire for touching in our relationships with our horses. As humans, our relationships with our horses tend to revolve around our desire for touch. I talk about the idea of asking our horses what their preferences are and what they find important in the relationship and how they would like the dynamics in the relationship to be, and seeing what happens when we prioritize the horse’s desires and preferences over the human’s. We talk about how we can tactfully work our way into our horses’ space in ways that are kind and harmonious and see when touching is appropriate, at a time that feels good to both horse and human.

Originally aired on: September 30th, 2021

Chatting about: How fair is freedom?

In this episode I talk about the mental impact of freedom in our horses in different situations and environments. While the thought of freedom for our horses is romanticized and idealistic, the reality is that our horses don't always feel the same way and their ideas of freedom may be different from our own. We discuss the reality of how much freedom we really give our horses and the way that can impact their stress levels and sense of safety, as well as how we can help our horses develop their decision making skills so they can stay safe and find comfort in freedom.

Originally aired on: September 21st, 2021

Chatting about: Attachment styles…

In this episode I talk about being aware of the attachment styles of our horses and nurturing them into the best versions of themselves. I discuss how we can understand our horses better by understanding how they meet their needs in the ways that feel best to them, so we can help them meet their needs in ways that feel good to our relationship too. 

Originally aired on: September 14th, 2021

Chatting about: Who do you want to be?...

In this episode I talk about the dynamics that we develop in the relationships with our horses and who we want to be as horse trainers. I speak about creating a culture where we can take as much time as we need to do the things we want to do with them, while helping our horses as they are, develop into who they want to be, not just who we want them to be. Rather than creating problems to solve and learn from, we can start from the ground up, with a horse that is as they want to be, and build from that.

Originally aired on: September 8th, 2021

Chatting about: When irritation leads to intolerance…

In this episode I talk about the things we can be more aware of and the skills that we can develop to help us improve our timing when we’re working with horses that have habits of irritation to prevent it from leading to intolerance. When we meet a problem with our horses, the simple answer is always that something was too much, too soon. I talk about figuring out what was too much, too soon for Czechoff, my horse friend from Belgium, and the lessons that I learnt about feel and timing and predicting behaviors while working with his habits of irritation.

Originally aired on: September 1st, 2021