The Equestrian Connection

Beccy Smith is the CEO and founder of Holistic Reflections CIC & Holistic Equine. She is an independent equine podiatrist and barefoot trimmer, equine body worker, consultant, therapist, wellness coach, equine facilitated learning practitioner, Reiki master, and healer.

Beccy has over 30 years of equine industry professional experience and is a highly proficient and respected holistic equine podiatrist. She is qualified in advanced equine podiatry and her body work qualifications include being a SCENAR-cosmodic therapist, Equine Sports Massage therapist, a Heart Math Coach, and Lazaris Nerve Release Method Practitioner, and she considers herself an independent lifelong pupil of the horse.

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Amelia Newcomb is a USDF Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medalist. She has trained and competed close to 50 horses in almost 500 competitions, and has trained several horses that she started as youngsters all the way up to the Grand Prix.

Her online platform, Amelia Newcomb Dressage helps to develop a trusting and confident relationship between horse and rider. Using elements from both natural horsemanship and classical dressage, Amelia creates a holistic approach to dressage training that adapts to fit the needs of each individual horse and rider. Starting with basic groundwork and progressing to the Grand Prix, Amelia emphasizes trust, understanding, and relaxation for both horse and rider.

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Steffi Spielhaupter is an Equine Scientist and Holistic Horsewoman.

With a Bachelor's and Master's in Equine Science, Steffi has dedicated her life to helping horses and their humans build deeper, more meaningful connections. Her goal is to support you on your individual journey of conscious horse-human connection and personal growth, training your eye for the subtle shifts in not only your horse’s, but also your own, state.

Steffi’s passion is working with the fine nuances of your horse's soundness (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual states) and helping you distinguish between them, always considering the health of your horse's nervous system in the process.

Since founding Science for Soundness in 2014, Steffi has worked with horse enthusiasts across the globe, using science and heart to guide them out of survival mode and into a space of trust, safety, and genuine partnership with their horses.

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Baylee Summer is a marketing and business strategist expert, dedicated to helping the equestrian industry. She works with ethical horse trainers and helps them create, launch, and sell out online programs, so they can work less while making more profit and impact. Her goal is to help them create profitable businesses by leveraging social media.

In this episode, we discuss what horse trainers are missing with their marketing, why leaving social media or outsourcing it to someone else isn’t always a good idea, why large followings aren’t important, what to do when you don’t know what to post, and so much more.

PS: Baylee created a FREE download for you to kickstart your 2025 social media marketing! Download it here: https://baylee-summer.mykajabi.com/ultimate-guide-to-social-media-marketing

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bayleejoysummer/

Jochen Schleese, the founder of the internationally recognized saddle company, Schleese.

Jochen is a former member of the German young rider’s 3-Day Event team, and qualified for the European Championships in 1984. Unfortunately, he had to retire his horse due to lameness, which abruptly ended his riding career. Years later, through research Jochen discovered his horse’s lameness was caused by damage to the scapular cartilage from an ill-fitting saddle. This was the catalyst for Jochen’s life-long mission to prevent saddle related damage for all horses.

In 1985, Jochen became a certified Master Saddler, and throughout his work, he later discovered that many female riders struggle with pain and health issues from riding in saddles designed for male riders (due to pelvic and anatomical differences).

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This is a replay of our classic episode, originally recorded and aired in late 2022. Christian Kroeber, wehorse CEO, traveled to Denmark to interview the dressage superstar in person.

Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour is a Danish dressage rider who is currently ranked 2nd and 3rd in the world, as of July 2022. Cathrine is an olympic athlete, having competed in 2016 at Rio and 2021 at Tokyo, and she won double individual silver as well as helped her team win gold at the 2022 World Dressage Championships in Herning, Denmark.

But apart from her career success, Cathrine embodies much of what the dressage world wants in a champion - her riding skills, love and understanding of her equestrian partners that led her to become one of the world’s best.

Connect with Cathrine on Instagram

Noor Slaoui is the first rider to represent Morocco in Olympic eventing as well as the first person from the Middle East and North Africa to compete in Olympic eventing.

She started riding when she was very young, riding mules through the mountains of Morocco with her family. As a teenager, Noor attended the École Nationale d'Equitation de Saumur in France. It was here that she developed her riding skills as well as trained to be a groom.

Noor’s success in the saddle could be accredited to her focus outside of the saddle, while caring for the horses on a daily basis. She has said that a partnership with a horse just doesn't happen when you ride it; it happens when you're on the floor.

We’re going to be discussing everything from the lessons she learned from grooming, the connection she has with her horse, her journey to the Olympics, and so much more. Let’s dive in!

Connect with Noor on Instagram

Chiara Poscente is a Mindful Horsemanship Coach, Horse and Rider Biomechanics Trainer, and BTMM Rider Pillars Apprentice Instructor. Zak Maytum is a Mindful Horsemanship Coach, Equine Behavior Specialist, and Innovative Traditional Western Saddle Maker. Together they have founded Un-Natural Horsemanship.

Un-Natural Horsemanship is not a method, doctrine, or school. It is an Idea: Both horse and human can be equally valued and worthy parts of a balanced partnership. The highest goal is to find a good feeling for ourselves and for our horses. Beyond that, it can be fun to see how far we can carry it together.

On this episode, we discuss how Un-Natural Horsemanship came to be, as well as biomechanics, behaviour, and mindful horsemanship.

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Martha Cook is the managing director of Trafalgar Square Books, a publishing company serving the horse industry with beautifully illustrated, well-written books to supplement the growth and development of horse people. Martha runs the daily operations of Trafalgar Square Books, as well as handling contracts, print buying, rights, and promotion and marketing.

Trafalgar Square Books believes that, with the help of their authors, we can all learn to ride better; teach our horses to perform better; feed them and house them more in accordance to their needs; care for them when they fall ill and help them recover from injury; and above all, treat them in a fair and just manner, as they deserve.

On this episode, we’re chatting all about books and the publishing of education materials to support the growth of the horse industry.

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Cheryl Eriksen is an author, blogger, horse midwife, and eternal student of the horse-human connection.

While earning her MSW from Western Michigan University, Cheryl took a special interest in the effects of trauma on the developing brain, and she applied that learning, along with her personal experiences as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, into her memoir, Follow Me, Friend.

Additionally, Cheryl has spent decades as an equine professional and extensively studied equine behavior and how it is influenced by what the human brings to the relationship. Through her work in the field of equine assisted psychotherapy and learning, Cheryl has seen and experienced firsthand the healing power of the horse-human relationship. Her books (current and upcoming) and her blog explore this powerful relationship.

Cheryl has also developed and taught continuing education courses on Equine Assisted Psychotherapy as a viable adjunct therapy, and on Trauma, Resiliency, and Horse Sense for social workers.

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