Category: Podcast

What’s the difference between a horse that dances when you are on him and one that doesn’t? This is the question that this week’s guest, Visconte Simon Cocozza answers in his fabulous book, Core Conditioning for Horses, and the launching point for our conversation around how to mobilise and optimise the core when working together with our horses.

Simon himself is a performance coach, an examiner for FFE (La Fédération Française d’Equitation) and one of Europe’s leading biodynamics researchers. His methodology is based on yoga principles for humans applied to a ridden system for the horse that conditions their core and allows for optimal mental and physical harmony.

In this episode, we discuss:

⭐️ The design of the horse and how this impacts and informs the approach and design of an effective training program

⭐️ Common issues that arise from a weak core

⭐️ Understanding the relationship between form and function,

⭐️ The importance of the warmup and key exercises to incorporate

⭐️ How to assess your horse’s “core score” and the importance of a strong core for the health and happiness of our horses

You can tune your listening ears in here:

If you want to find out more about Simon, or purchase his book ‘ Core Conditioning For Horses’, here are the places to do so:

Buy The Book On Amazon

Buy The Book On Book Depository

Visit His Website

Happy Listening!

Patterns! We all have them, we all repeat them and most of us don’t use them to our advantage. I’m always saying that if you have a pattern of behavior or experience that’s coming up for you time and time again, then what you essentially have is a crystal ball… you can predict the future in advance! And that means that you can get to thinking about how it is you would like things to go and dedicate yourself to actioning a solution.

This episode is a storytime one where I take you through my most recent clinic experience and identify a pattern in myself that I have since called Day Two Syndrome.

Day Two Syndrome goes something like this:

1. I have a 3 Day Clinic
2. On Day 2, I come up against an internal feeling (resistance) that’s familiar to me
3. Post-ride I feel something that I call positive or construction frustration where I know that I had the ability to do better than I did (not in an Itty Bitty Shitty Committee way, but in a fair analysis way)
4. I go in for Day 3 ready to bust out of those comfort zone blocks and step up to the plate (cue all of the home run metaphors)

I’ve been three Day Two Syndrome on the last couple of clinics I’ve been to and as a consequence, have put a plan in place that I believe will allow me to not only recognize the process sooner but navigate it more easefully and skillfully when it does.

And what’s more, I’d love to hear about any patterns you might be stuck in and how you can initiate your own Day Two Syndrome remedy also!

Happy Listening!

❤️ Jane

It’s another person of radness in this week’s podcast! A professional trainer and clinician, Ellie O’Brien has been a longtime friend and support to me in my horsing life, and we both share the passion of how to work with our horses in a way that preserves their natural spirit and curiosity.

When I first decided to bring Dee under saddle myself, I went through Ellie’s Start Your Own Horse Course (highly recommended to anyone in a similar position) and we spent many hours chatting about different approaches, techniques, and ways of going about things. In this episode, we discuss what inspired Ellie to put together this course in the first place and the different considerations that go into working with a horse from the beginning.

Another thing that I find particularly fascinating is how it is we can encourage our horses to release tension in subtle and non-invasive ways. Ellie tells an amazing story of a troubled horse she worked with and how he inspired her to a slightly different approach that she’s developing as her mind and body technique.

All that and more in this week’s episode!

If you want to find Ellie, you can do so via the links below!

Website
Facebook
Instagram

Comfort zones! We are all aware that in order to expand or progress, we need to gently elasticize the edges of our comfort zone. The thing is, most of us are unaware of both the subtle and not-so-subtle forces at play that we need to overcome in order to do so, and as a consequence, we can find ourselves engaging in self-sabotaging behaviors or simply not doing what we need or want to do.

The first thing to get your head around is that your comfort zone is an expression of what’s most familiar to you, which may lie in stark contrast to what you actually want or desire.

For instance, if your modus operandi is to operate on a level of high stress, that sets your internal equilibrium point. Everything in nature seeks to maintain homeostasis (including us!), meaning that any movement outside of that- even if it’s for our ultimate benefit- is going to result in a level of internal resistance.

If you’re not aware of this, it’s easy to buy into the voices of the Itty Bitty Shitty Committee (who really come to the party at this point) or get sucked back into your normal mode of functioning simply because it’s the rest point you are most used to.

I talk about this and so much more in this episode, including:

⭐️ The importance of letting go of old ideas of progress as a linear progression, and instead understand the expansive and contractive nature of forward movement.
⭐️ Why it’s impossible for you to “go backwards”: How to reframe your understanding of experiences that feel like they are repeating
⭐️ Understanding anticipation anxiety as a call for preparation
⭐️ How to stand in the power of what it is you are feeling

I’d love to know what you think! Please feel free to share, or if you are listening on iTunes or Apple Podcasts, leave a review!

❤️ Jane

 

If horses were given a choice, would they let us ride them?

Two documentary movies and a whole new way of approaching things later, that question was somewhat of a sliding doors moment for Elsa Sinclair and one that I and many others have infinitely benefitted from.

As a member of her Taming Wild Insiders Patreon community and having done her online course, I’m constantly blown away by her skill, sensitivity and understanding when it comes to developing a deeper level of communication and trust between horse and human. Her approach, called Freedom Based Training is based on a simple principle:

“If we train and work with our horses without any tools or food rewards, they have the freedom in every moment to tell us how comfortable it is for them- and if it’s not comfortable, they simply walk away. This tasks us to develop feel and timing, and we learn to develop both within the comfort zone of the horse.”

In her first movie, Taming Wild, Elsa works with an untamed mustang and develops a relationship with her (including riding) using only Freedom Based Training Methods. Her latest adventure (an idea conceived on in collaboration with the wonderful Andrea Wady) explores relationship development in movement, taking two rescued horses across Costa Rica, culminating in the newest movie release Pura Vida.

In this episode we explore:

⭐️ The principles and practices behind Freedom Based Training

⭐️ The leadership scale: Passive, assertive & dominant leadership

⭐️ Width and depth in training; relationship and skill-based training

⭐️ Flow and harmony in horsemanship

⭐️ Pura Vida: The adventure of crossing Costa Rica with two rescue horses

You can tune your listening ears in here!

If you want to find out more about Elsa or purchase her movies, here are the links for you:

Taming Wild Website
Join the Patreon Group
Facebook
Instagram

Just prior to recording this episode, I pinged my friend Katy Negranti a Facebook message and said, do you mind if I reference you? I’m just about to hit record and the conversations that we’ve been having seem really relevant!

Actually, I added, if you are free now, wanna jump on and do this thing together?

As one of my besties, Katy is always someone I’m chattering with (traveling across the US and spending an entire month in each other’s pockets for the World Equestrian Games will do that to a girl!), but our conversations of late have been about stuff that I feel is relevant to everyone…

The expectations we put on ourselves to show up a certain way.

The fear of failure or of somehow making a fool of ourselves.

The pressures we face when it comes to literally and metaphorically stepping into the arena.

Both Katy and I have some stuff we are prepping for; I have some clinics coming up and Katy is diving into doing some roping. Both are set to challenge our skills and require us to look a little deeper at what’s going on so we can shed some previous stories that are holding us back and embrace what’s ahead with an open heart and mind.

This episode is a fly-on-the-wall experience; Katy and I bring some of our own murky fears to the surface and share what our own hang-ups have been in the past, and how we are breaking free of them moving forward.

If you’ve ever felt like you are getting in your own way, have been hamstrung by what other people think, or can see that your own expectations are hindering rather than helping you, then this one is for you!

It’s all about letting all of that go so we can show up as we are; fully committed to the process, unattached to the result (more of that in the episode!).

We hit on some really important topics that I know we all deal with- certainly in my work with riders, I’m seeing examples of it all the time. Both Katy and I would love to know how you find it and what your takeaways were from the episode. You can screenshot it and tag us in on social media (@confident_rider and @katynegranti on Instagram)- that always makes us do a happy dance!

To running your own race ?

❤️Jane

Want to know where to find Katy? Check out the links below!

Website
Course Site
Facebook
Instagram

At the end of last year, I started working together with Ben Longwell from True West Horsemanship and was so impressed not only with his skills and horsemanship, but his kind and generous manner with both horses and humans alike. Hailing from Colorado, Ben is based (almost) full time in New Zealand, training and starting horses and teaching at his home in Canterbury, and hosting a full calendar of clinics, both locally and overseas.

Over several conversations chatting with Ben, I was really excited to get him on the podcast- not only to share his horsemanship thoughts but to talk more about the Vaquero tradition and the Californian Bridle Horse (something he has an incredible knowledge around). I really hope you enjoy it!

In amongst a whole lotta things, Ben and I discuss:

How to create a transferable conversation from the ground to the saddle using your position, life, and space
Horsemanship with purpose
The Vaquero tradition and the Californian Bridle Horse; the history and training progression

We would love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to comment and share this post, and screenshot the episode and share to social media (be sure to tag us in!).

Want to find out more about Ben? You can find him at the links below!

True West Horsemanship Website
Facebook Page
Instagram
YouTube

Dreams! What are yours?! This time of year, we naturally think, hear and plan more for around our goals and aspirations than any other. Often, though, the tricky part is not actually creating the goal in the first place but developing the confidence to follow through on them. In this episode, we chat about exactly that including:

⭐️ The importance of being discerning about who you share your dreams with (and why it’s important!)
⭐️ Infusing the spirit of play and no-big-deal-ness into your actions moving forward
⭐️ How and when to create your plan so you aren’t ruled by the mood of the moment

Let me know what you think! What are some common stuck points for you in bringing your dreams to life? Let’s chatter about it and I will see if I can help!

❤️ Jane

Look peoples! It’s our first podcast back for the year and who better to kick off the new year with than the glorious Tania Kindersley. It’s true, my voice here is just a filler. You can kick back and relax listening to Tania’s dreamy tones (and consider, along with myself, as to whether Tania is secretly actually a member of the royal family)

Let it be known that the nasal inflections of my accent caused me to mispronounce her name for the first ¾ of the podcast, and what’s more for my entire life up until this point, but I have since course corrected and now, we are away!

With that important point out in the open, let’s get into what we are actually talking about in the podcast! Tania and I chatter about something dear to both of our hearts- writing, creativity and how that spills over into and informs our horsing lives also. As a professional writer and teacher, Tania has a liberating view of creativity and how we can inject more of it into our lives and riding for the benefit of ourselves and our horses.

I hope you enjoy it! Comment and tell us your thoughts and please feel free to share the love around!

Want to know where you can find Tania? These are your go-to places!

Write For Your Life
The Red Mare
The Happy Horse

It’s the final podcast for the year! I actually had different plans for December but owing to one thing or another (I explain in the episode itself) that didn’t happen, and I took the message from the universe to reboot things for January.

That said, I didn’t want to leave you just hanging. Ain’t no one got time for that. So this is somewhat of a celebratory wrap-up episode, and what better way to finish the year (decade even!) than with a celebration of enough-ness.

The thing is, it’s very easy for the last moments of a year, and the first of a new one to drive you into a slight panic-nee-existential-crisis about what it is you have been doing with your time, what it is you ARE going to do with your time, and what it is you have or haven’t done. In other words, instead of celebrating what has been and relaxing into what is, we see the end of year deadline as a point of looming judgment as to whether or not what we’ve done- and even more than that, who we are- is enough.

With that in mind, what I’m encouraging you to do is celebrate your enough-ness. To understand that where you are now is the perfect place to continue from and to rest in for the moment- even if that point is far from what you had in mind for yourself.

I hope you enjoy it!

Get your listening ears ready, I have a fun one for you today! In this episode, I’m talking with Kelly Wilson, one third of the dynamic team that is the Wilson sisters and an accomplished author, photographer and wild horse trainer.

Kelly has just released her 13th book, Taming The Wild, that details all of the knowledge she’s gained through her extensive work with wild horses, and that she shares over the course of her month long wild horse workshops. On her home turf of New Zealand, Kelly and her family have done an incredible job bringing the plight of the Kaimanawas, New Zealand’s wild horses to the attention of the public and she continues to be an advocate and voice for wild horse’s across the world.

I would love to know what you think! Please feel free to share the link or screenshot the episode and post to your social media (and make sure you tag us in!).

You can find out more about Kelly on these links:

Website: https://kellywilson.nz/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KellyWilsonAuthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellywilsonnz/

We are freestyling again this week! I had the inspired thought before recording this to ask the in my JoyRide Member’s Group what was front of mind for the peeps in there and said I would roll with the first comment that came up. Running with that, this episode is all about where to take things when you’ve lost your purpose and drive (but still have the desire).

We talk about:

⭐️ What to look out for in the first instance if you feel that motivation is flagging
⭐️ The importance of learning to sit with discomfort and experiences that may not feel that great
⭐️ How to navigate your way through those “flat zones” where you feel like everything has taken a dive

Click here to read the full transcript!

As per, I would love to hear your thoughts! Please feel free to screenshot and share on social media if you enjoy it (tag me in too!). I really hope it’s useful.

❤️ Jane

A big question I used to muse on a lot:

How do you know how far to take things in training? How do you know when to push through, and when to hold back?

The answer exists in the connection. The moment you lose the mental and emotional connection with your horse, and even before that, the connection with yourself, is the moment you’ve gone too far.

In this episode, I talk about this and so much more including:

⭐️ How to recognise the difference between pre-patterned emotion and emotion that’s true for the moment (so you don’t go to war with yourself)
⭐️ Training with kindness (training yourself that is!)
⭐️ Moving out of your head and into your heart

Click here to read the full transcript!

If you like it, please share and review it! I LOVE seeing the podcast shared with likeminded peeps (you can screenshot it and share to social media) ?? And reviews? Well, on iTunes, they count for a lot.

❤️ Jane

Combining horsemanship and classical dressage, Patrick King is a wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to a holistic approach to training. Some of you will have caught my conversation with Patrick live a couple of weeks back on Facebook, but I am super excited to bring it to you again in this week’s episode.

Among the many things we cover, Patrick discusses:

⭐️ The difference between groundwork and in-hand work
⭐️ Better understanding contact, and the relationship of the jaw and tongue connection to relaxation
⭐️ The primary and secondary function of the aids
⭐️ How in hand work translates to under saddle

I can’t wait for you to dive into it…. let the awesomeness commence!

You can find it on your favourite podcast app, or this link will shoot you to the episode on my website:

Click here to read the full transcript!

You can find Patrick in the following places:

Website: www.pkhorsemanship.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PKHorsemanship/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patrickkinghorsemanship/

Happy listening!

❤️ Jane

It can be a really tough gig when things start to spiral in a negative direction and throwing the towel in feels like the best (or only) thing to do. I totally get what that feels like and it’s a very unfun place to be. I had different plans for this week’s episode but then a couple of conversations I’ve had this past week or so made me change course and want to talk about how easy it is, firstly to get stuck in a story of our own creation, and secondly, why sometimes the best course of action is to seek relief rather than a solution.

For the most part, all of the thought loops that we cycle through are stories that we are telling ourselves. When we lose our objectivity and are unable to understand our thoughts as experiences rather than absolute truths, it’s easy to lose yourself in a story that serves little constructive purpose.

The other thing is that when you have got yourself into a stuck place, your headspace is such that it can be really hard to be open to solutions. This is why seeking relief- anything that moves you towards better feeling thoughts- it’s often the best start point to soften the edges of your resistance and open you up towards positive possibility.

I hope you enjoy it!

Click here to read the full transcript!

Well team, I so looking forward to sharing this episode with you! I’m talking with the amazing Karen Rohlf, internationally recognized horsewoman and founder of Dressage Naturally. We discuss what it means to create a happy and empowered partnership with your horse by bringing together the best of the worlds of dressage and partnership-based training including:

• The Happy Athlete Training Scale
• Healthy Biomechanics and gymnastic development
• Self-responsibility, feel, trust and communication in training

There are so many gems in here, I can’t wait for you to listen to it!

Feel free to spread the awesomeness and share it with your friends ❤️

Click here to read the full transcript!

You can find Karen in the following places:

Dressage Naturally Website

Facebook

Instagram

Guys, I am really excited to share this one with you! You know when something clicks for you? I had one of those experiences last week. Although it presented as a challenge at first, what it actually was one of the best upward cycles of progress I have ever experienced and I’ve reached a whole new level of alignment as a result.

The Double Down method started as a personal process to bust through a limiting belief that I uncovered and evolved to become the latest course that I’ve added to JoyRide, my online program. It encompasses the four main areas that I always seek to pay attention to in my work; the spiritual, the emotional, the logical and the physical and centres around the thought:

I am no longer available to believe that my dreams are unavailable to me.

The spiritual element is faith and trust in myself; the understanding that support is all around me, and that if I just soften the edges of my resistance and back myself, I can attach myself to the thought that I am no longer available to the idea that what I want is unavailable to me.

Emotionally I need to practice the feeling of what it is that I want, well before it’s a part of my physical reality. Essentially, I have to get ahead of what it is I want to experience. Getting ahead of our experience is a true demonstration of our creative power.

Logically, I needed clarity around the process. Confusion and ambiguity are dream killers. So I sat down, identified what it is I am looking to create and how it is I are going to make that happen.

And physically, the commitment to showing up and taking action.

In this episode, I share the story behind the Double Down Method and lead you through the beautiful alchemy that is taking aligned action.

If you enjoy this episode, please share it!

You can tune in here:

Click here to read the full transcript!

❤️ Jane

A lot of emails and messages find their way into my inbox, and more than a good handful of those are from other people with Equestrian businesses or riders who are wanting to know how it is they can grow in a professional capacity. Now I’m all for collaboration and lifting each other up, and if there is one thing I know, it’s that we need more amazing people out there doing their thing in the horse world… and your thing is not a lotta good to anyone if you don’t put yourself out there. Trust me, I know what a tough gig this can be, but I don’t want those of you who do have something to share in a professional capacity hiding behind the mounting block any longer, so I decided to bring someone in to help out. Today I am talking with the very lovely Rhea Freeman, equestrian and country business coach, on how to do exactly that: How to supercharge your business and get yourself out there

Click here to read the full transcript!

You can find Rhea in the following places:

Website: www.rheafreemanpr.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RheaFreemanPR/ or the Small & Supercharged Facebook group

We are continuing on with the story time theme this episode! The episode before last I shared with you what I considered to be the main threads that have brought me to where I am now. Off the back of that, I had a number of people ask me the how and whys behind my work, and specifically the different components that led me to put together my membership program.

So! With that in mind, I decided to share the various elements that I see blend together to create mental strength, resilience and confidence, but beyond that, how it is we can gift ourselves with the skills to move towards better feeling spaces and show up for our horses in a way that is congruent and aligned.

There’s quite a lot in this one, but at the heart of it, it describes the movement away from a transactional approach to working with and riding horses, and towards understanding our partnership together as one of transformation. I hope you enjoy it!

❤️ Jane

Click here to read the full transcript!

I am SO looking forward to you listening to this episode! Not only is Kerri Lake the author of one of my favourite books, Listen Like a Horse, but hearing her words is like plucking jewels out of the ocean; full of learnings and understanding of horses and humans alike that I think you will find enriching and transformational.

In this episode we discuss ways to develop your sensory awareness, what our horses are communicating to us through feeling and expression and ways to develop relationships with compassion, kindness and acceptance.

If you enjoy it, please feel free to share and leave a review!

You can find Kerri in the following places:

Website: https://www.kerrilake.com/

Facebook:
Listen Like a Horse (https://www.facebook.com/ListenLikeAHorse/)
Generation of Harmony (https://www.facebook.com/generationofharmony/)

Grab a cup of tea for this one because it’s story time! A couple of weeks back I got invited to speak on another podcast and inevitably I got asked the question, “Jane, how is it that you got to be doing the work that you are now?” Truth be told, I find this one of the most difficult questions to answer simply because, I have no idea where to start. My horsing life right back to when I was a little girl, involvement with different facets of mental health, my time overseas working in trauma and aid relief and my adventures studying yoga therapy have all combined as an unlikely but essential mix to bring me to where it is I am today. The interview sparked off the desire to answer that question more completely, which exactly what this episode is- a combination of snapshots from behind the scenes that have come to form the fabric of who I am.

It feels personal and at times a little raw, but I’m a big believer in the value of telling our story, and I hope that in sharing mine, you will feel motivated to share more of yourself also.

Happy listening!

❤️ Jane

I’ve SO been looking forward to sharing this episode with you! Not only is Katy one of my favourite people, and someone I am constantly deferring to for training advice, but I really believe she is someone we can learn a lot from. In addition to helping riders like myself, Katy works with what we might typically describe as problem horses- horses who have been deemed dangerous or undergone some kind of traumatic event or circumstance to move them towards being productive members of society. What I love about Katy is her compassion, her understanding of the principles of training and her attention to the basics and we decided to dedicate this episode to just that. So here it is for you, my conversation with Katy about the ABC’s of horse training.

You can find Katy in the following places:

Website: www.katynegranti.com
Facebook: Katy Negranti Performance Horsemanship (https://www.facebook.com/Katy-Negranti-Performance-Horsemanship-150321735067290/)

In this episode, I share the questions and processes I have been working with to ensure that I am making the best use of my time and energy, and filling my days up with the things that are important to me. Energy management in particular is so important; quite often we might have time to ride but our energy levels aren’t supportive of us getting out there and doing our best work. Grab and pen and paper and work through these questions together with me as we get to the core of what serves the highest and best use of your time.

If you enjoy this episode, please feel free to share and leave a review!

Returning to riding and renegotiating what your riding life looks like after you have a baby can be a really tough gig! In this episode, I get together with fellow riders and mums Ellie O’Brien and Sarah Attwater to talk about our own stories and discuss the challenges and adventures that come with combining motherhood, horses and riding.

If you enjoy this episode, please feel free to share and leave a review!

Links mentioned in the show:

Ellie O’Brien

Finesse Equestrian 

Working From The Inside Out Podcast

Sarah Attwater

Healthy Horse & Happy Hound Facebook Page

Health Horse & Happy Hound Podcast

Jessica McLaren

Little HoofBeats Blog

Consistently showing up is a superpower. Not only does it create momentum but it ensures your continued progress in ways that may not be obvious to you from session to session. 

In this session, I talk about my own commitment to showing up, the transformation that it’s created in my training and with my horse, and the fixed ideas we have about success that get in the way of us getting out there and doing what is important to us.

If you enjoy this episode, please feel free to share and leave a review! 

Clicker Training has come to be a big part of the work that I’ve been doing with my horses, and I’m becoming more and more aware of what a powerful training tool it is. Georgia Bruce is not only an accomplished rider and trainer but one of the best in the business when it comes to clicker training and positive reinforcement.

In this episode, I talk to Georgia about the benefits of incorporating clicker training into your own work with your horse, how it works, and her own journey to being a dual medallist at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

You can learn more about Georgia on the links below:

Website: http://clickertraining.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GeorgiaBruce.ClickWithHorses/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clickwithhorses/

Remember to subscribe and share if you enjoy the show!

If I were to ask you what first comes to mind when you think of “applying the aids”, chances are you would jump immediately to the physical; to how it is you organize your body and what prompts you apply in tangible terms to influence the direction, position or energy of your horse. Thinking of aids only in these terms, however, limits us; it prevents us from transcending a line of communication that begins at the most subtle level, and for any physical manifestations to arise from that place.

The application of the aids does not begin with the physical; it begins with thought and intention. Developing an awareness of and stepping into the practice of fine-tuning your intention opens a world of potential that maximizes you and your horse’s creative possibilities, which is exactly what we are talking about in this episode.

If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe to the podcast and leave a review! 

Creating mental strength and emotional resilience is as much about what you DON’T do, as what you DO do! When it comes to making constructive changes that benefit you both in and out of the saddle, a good place to start is to look at habits and patterns that AREN’T serving you or are getting in the way before you summon all of your energies on new ways of going about things.  With that in mind, we’re going to run through the 7 things that you can STOP doing to optimize your brain space and get your heart and mind in tune with how it is you want to feel, who it is you want to be, and what it is you want to think.

Remember to hit subscribe if you enjoy this podcast, and if the fancy takes you, leave a review!