Josh Nichol: On Leadership, Connection & Relational Horsemanship

Share this article with your friends and family

A little while back, a friend of mine sent me a video of a trainer working with a horse who was suffering from significant anxiety. I watched them work together and loved not only the principles he followed but his thoughts about what was happening, and his intentions for creating trust and connection.

Josh Nichol was the horseman in that video, and I had the great pleasure of sitting down together and having a conversation about his work, and our shared passions and interests.

Our time together covers a lot of ground; we discuss Josh’s Relational Horsemanship approach, his definition and thoughts on leadership and the body-mind connection.

I look at relational horsemanship and reactive or emotional horsemanship. To me, relational horsemanship means that when a horse’s needs are unmet, they will demonstrate that through their physical being.

It’s our job then to exemplify what leadership feels like. So for any of us, when we feel when we have someone who we desire to be around or we look up to, it’s generally not just because of the things they’ve done. That may be what draws us in at the beginning. But the people we see or feel a desire to be around the most are usually the ones that emanate something we desire to have within ourselves.

So I look at leadership, at its essence as a sense and confidence, an awareness that we have within ourselves, a piece that the horse desires to have within themselves as well.

~ Josh Nichol

You can tune your listening ears in here:

I hope you enjoy it!

❤️ Jane

One thought on “Josh Nichol: On Leadership, Connection & Relational Horsemanship

  1. Absolutely loved this! He is wonderful! I love his slightly different view and take on things.. Loved it!

    Thankyou for having him Jane ! I am with you..

Comments are closed.

Have you checked out the Confident Rider Podcast? Don’t forget to subscribe to the show and share if you enjoyed it! The podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play and Spotify.

Subscribe to The Confident Rider Podcast 🎧 below and discover why thousands of other riders are tuning in each week!

Join me for a free, 21-day challenge to incrementally expand your comfort zone and put some daily deposits in your Brave Bucket!