The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton

On this potent Whole Horse Podcast, I connected with Hillary Schneider of Epona Rise to explore her journey from the breeding industry to her current role as steward and empowering partner of a herd of 20 rescue horses. We unpack myths, share personal stories, look at the medicine each horse brings, and challenge current beliefs in the horse world. Enjoy! 

Hillary Schneider is a coach, mentor, equine guided facilitator and retreat founder.  Her passion for her horses has been the catalyst for her success and is a space she is deeply passionate about empowering for those that are called to the partnership of horses. She currently owns and runs a 80 acre retreat facility, where she partners with her herd of 20 rescue horses, where she trains those called to this work, facilitates group and private retreats for her clients that travel all over the world to come and work with her, and mentors both equine facilitators and women entrepreneurs to empower their leadership through what they feel is their higher calling in life. 

You can find more about Hillary at www.hillaryschneider.com

This week on the Whole Horse Podcast, I connected with the incredible Lucie Klaassen in the Netherlands, fresh on the heels of her first New Zealand/Australia clinic tour. I never know quite what to call Lucie, as her combination of tools and way of working with horses is truly unique and defies labels. In her own words: "I do not follow one method or trainer, I love to learn from different teachers and I try to stay open to everything and then find my own way. Now I have a huge 'toolbox' that I can use. I think there is not ONE method that fits every horse and rider. Every horse is unique so I do a lot by intuition and feel.  The horse will tell me what he needs..." 

Here are a few of the treasures in her tool box: Straightness Training Instructor, Centered Riding instructor, EAD coach (Equine Assisted Development), Masterson Method Certified Practitioner, Holistic massage therapist (for human). 

Lucie offers international Body Awareness workshops and Balanced Rider & Horse clinics and has had the pleasure of teaching in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK and is very open to traveling to new places in the world to share this work! 

Learn more about Lucie and her work at https://lucieklaassen.com

In this Whole Horse Podcast, Breanne Ellison of West Coast Animal Massage and I brought one of our wonderfully geeky conversations about all things body work and manual therapy out of the saddle (we usually have them while trail riding together!) and into this fun and fascinating hour.  In our time together, Breanne shares why body work is so important for horses, why the equine pelvis can be site of many issues, and introduces some simple awesome ways to assess your horse's balance and help them feel happier in their skin.

Breanne is not only a good friend and relatively close-by neighbour here in the Cowichan Valley, but she is also Diva's go-to body worker (and that's saying a lot!), an Equine Sport Therapist, a member of the Equinology Equine Bodyworker Association and a Certified and Insured Equinology Equine BodyWorker. She's also a guest instructor on the Whole Horse Apprenticeship and will be co-facilitating the Whole Horse Apprenticeship Retreat with me this June!

You can find out more about her work at www.wcanimalmassage.com

In this potent episode of the Whole Horse Podcast we connect with Equine Behaviour Specialist Michelle Atterby and tap into her deep passion for Behaviour Science and its ability to support horse owners in developing a mutually trusting, respectful and safe relationship. She believes that to enter into a partnership with a horse requires learned skill, confidence and mindful presence. Our horses reflect who we are in every moment. They also learn from us each moment, sometimes inadvertently. I admit to being a beginner when it comes to behaviour science, so we have a great time clarifying the key concepts of this work, learning easy ways to apply it, and opening up some incredible possibilities for more partnership and connection. Definitely inspiring!

Michelle has been trained in a range of modalities including somatic therapy, equine facilitated learning, mindfulness training, centred riding, classical dressage training and applied animal behaviour. She lives just down the road in the beautiful Cowichan Valley and is ‘parent’ to fourteen beautiful horses of assorted ages and breeds.

Connect with Michelle and her awesome work with horses at the Spirit Gate Farm FB page

I knew this Whole Horse Podcast episode with Anastasia Hirst, co-creator of the upcoming documentary series Equus: Healing Through Horses was going to be potent, and I was right! Whenever we come together, we can't help getting in to the big stuff, and this conversation was no exception, as we dove into how horses support healing and growth, their innate ability to work with trauma, and how her own deep trauma of her father dying was supported by horses. She also shared about some of the cutting edge work starting in the world of equine therapy, the big perspective changes she's experienced on her journey and her excitement about those who are working to increase accessibility to the equine therapy and horses. 

Anastasia Hirst is an Equine Facilitated Mental Health worker who is passionate about decreasing the stigma around mental health issues. She and her partner John Fulton have travelled 22,000km across North America and interviewed over 70 professionals and happy clients working within the field of equine therapy. Equus: healing through Horses is a documentary series that celebrates people struggling with life challenges who step away from failed conventional therapies to discover healing with horses. This series is the first of it's kind to validate the field of Equine Therapy by interviewing the leading facilitators and the people who have benefitted from this work.

Find out more about their amazing work and how you can support at www.equusfilm.org

Find out about the creation of happy horses and hooves with Hoof care professional Christina Cline in this episode of the Whole Horse Podcast! She shares about her current passion projects, her new in-depth book on hooves (The Essential Hoof Book), the keys to healthy feet and happy horses, and what's on the horizon for her in 2018. 

Christina Cline became a certified trimmer through the American Association of Natural Hoof Care Practitioners in 2004, and has trimmed full time ever since. In her career, she has worked on thousands of hooves of every size and description. She is an instructor with the Equine Sciences Academy, a mentor with Pacific Hoof Care Practitioners, and was on the Board of Directors with the American Hoof Association.

She has mentored directly with Pete Ramey, Cindy Sullivan and Jaime Jackson, and has broadened her knowledge base by attending workshops with Dr. Robert Bowker, Dr. Debra Taylor, Brian Hampson PhD, Dr. Kerry Ridgway, Katy Watts, Cindy Nielson DVM, Dr. Tomas Teskey, Dr. Deb Bennett, and saddle maker Dave Genadek, among others. She also received a certificate in Equine Massage from the Northwest School of Animal Massage in Redmond, WA, and co-authored The Essential Hoof Book with Susan Kauffmann.

What a great episode! Heather is a wealth of information and hilarious to boot - we dove into all the ways that not riding our horses can be awesome, how we can cultivate balance and health in our horses on the ground, all the fun and creative ways we can connect with our horses out of the saddle, and how we can clear our "not riding" shame for good.

Heather Nelson is a liberty training specialist, known for starting from the beginning without the lines and inspiring horses through connection. She combines her background in ground work, classical dressage, intuitive training and liberty to help horse lovers like you tap into your own innate ability to earn a big YES from your horse so you can coach your horse to develop to their highest potential in self expression and balance. Heather is sought after for her engaging workshops and demonstrations where she teaches people to access leadership and respect through creative play, which is just as out of the box as it sounds.

Find her at http://www.heathernelsonlibertytraining.com/

An awesome hour spent with Jackson Holm, a Natural Balance Equine Dentist born and raised in southern Alberta with a deep love for horses and riding, for a brand-new episode of the Whole Horse Podcast.

Jackson has been a life-long student of the horse and finds himself always looking for ways to improve his horsemanship and the performance/well being of his horses. He shares in this podcast how his journey into Natural Balance Dentistry has changed how he relates to horses, what he notices in the horses around him and how the balance of the teeth and mouth affects everything!  

We also have a chance to geek out on some anatomy and physiology, and dive into the inextricable connection with bodywork, my happy places. He is a wealth of information and humble too, which makes me a big fan! Find Jackson at his FB group JH Equine. 

Find out more about his training in Natural Balance Dentistry here.

In this Whole Horse podcast horse trainer Elsa Sinclair and Alexa discuss the differences between dominance and passive horse training, the role of stress relief in training, the core steps to connection and the creation of her documentary Taming Wild. She also opens up about upcoming projects, her hopes for the future and her wild adventures this February in Costa Rica. Find out more about Elsa and her work at www.tamingwild.com.

Enjoy! 

In this episode of the Whole Horse Podcast, One Spirit's Laura Bird and Alexa Linton take on some the big questions about pet loss, including the biggest of all, how to navigate tragic transitions and circumstances, which can be far too common with horses.

Get your tissues out and join us for this essential journey - we promise it will be worth it! 

Find more details on Laura's work at www.onespirit.com.au.

Find Alexa's book at http://bit.ly/deathsucks