Along with Nadia, Dee has also come back into full-time work, and it’s so exciting to be able to observe your progression in ways that

It’s always interesting to listen to discussions around whether or not the different environments that we ride in are supportive or not. I’m thinking competitive

Overthinking is the product of a system functioning from sympathetic mode. When we are in a place of sympathetic dominance, the parts of our brain

Last week, I shared some thoughts on empathy and how my understanding of survival patterns have made me more aware of my responses and how

Prior to this moment, I had just been tinkering away, doing my thing. Compared to my previous competition life (when even the slightest hint of

Well, true to the plan, Nadia and I ventured out for our first Working Equitation Competition and much giggle snorting ensued! For those of you

Most of us humans have a pretty skewed relationship with bodily sensation. Depending on our experiences, labels, and stories, we categorise certain feelings in the

This is not necessarily a new discussion, but one that’s interesting to have, nonetheless. These days, it’s not uncommon to go to an event or

Nadia and I cantered past the barrel with the long pieces of dowel sticking out that were doubling as makeshift garrochas. I reached my hand

One of the fundamental shifts and changes I have made over the last 12 months has to do with my understanding of empathy. It used

{This week, I asked my JoyRide members if they had any questions or thoughts they would like me to share in my daily posts. My

{This week, I asked my JoyRide members if they had any questions or thoughts they would like me to share in my daily posts. My

Nadia and I have decided to enter a local winter series for Working Equitation that’s coming up in a couple of weeks. At first, I

Normally I’m quite a productive little creature. I don’t really notice this about myself until I have a day where the inspiration just isn’t flowing,

My riding has become an exploration of responsiveness. I understand now that as soon as I require my leg to be here, or my arm

I saw a meme the other day that said something along the line of “Anxiety is not of the mind. Anxiety is of the body”.

The other day was one of Those Days. Those Days are tricky because they often sneak up on you. You can even have a streak

When I started playing the Ukulele, there were some chords that were easy to get my fingers around and there were others that… weren’t so

The thing with much of what I’m teaching now is that it’s not really a quick fix. I’m cool with that. I’m not sure anything

I’ve got to reading another book recently called The Electricity Of Every Living Thing. It’s by Katherine May- you might remember a couple of posts

I was told once that failure is nothing more than a blind spot in our awareness where new information can enter. I love this definition.

If I have the belief that there is a right way to do something, I’ve eliminated all possibilities for learning. My quest for “right-ness” can

I’ve been playing with this definition of resistance for myself. If I understand learning to be a releasing of old patterns as much as it

On Saturday, it began again. I went outside, grabbed the halters, and one by one, I worked all three of my horses in the arena.

Those of us in the southern hemisphere are noticing the days becoming gradually shorter and the light change from a white milky brightness to a

Who’s had a chance to listen to this week’s podcast? I’ve plucked this quote out of the conversation because whether or not the actual subject

Changing your future experience is simply a matter of paying attention to your present experience. If it’s change you are seeking, figure out how to

“I just want to get back to normal” A sentence that I hear all the time. But in this instance what truly does normal mean?

“You know Jane, it’s always about the letting go. An unwillingness to let go is always going to be the biggest stuck point”. I’m paraphrasing

I was making up horse feed the other day, listening to the radio, and they were discussing various the various funding cuts and allocations being

Something that you hear a lot around discussion of the nervous system are the terms regulation and dysregulation (and if you’ve read my posts or

What if every moment you find yourself in is not about having to fix yourself or get better or be better… What if instead it

Micro-dosing is my new favourite word. I don’t use it in relation to medication. Instead, I think of micro-dosing as a means to increase vitality

I get a lot of questions asking if my programs are suitable for someone who isn’t currently riding, is returning from injury, is “just” working

We are all products of so many things. The school systems we were a part of. The cultures we grew up in. Our particular family

A lot of what we perceive as “personal problems” or “weaknesses” are more often than not explainable reactions and responses that we lack context and

When it comes to working with my own horses (and really, we can expand that out to encompass life generally), I don’t set goals anymore.

There’s a lot of discussion around relaxing and releasing tension- but not so much about what we are releasing into. The fact is that tension

How’s this for something to practice? When it comes to evaluating or reflecting on a training session, it’s easy to become outwardly focused. “My horse

If you have a similar obsession (or even interest) in learning about the body, you might also enjoy learning about the origin of some of

My relationship to rest is such a curiosity to me. I am in the enviable position of being passionate about the work I do and

This morning, when I sat down to write, I fell into a familiar feeling that sometimes meets me when I’m thinking of what to share.

So many of us have a complicated relationship with sensation, energy, and activation in the body, meaning that any time we feel the stirring of

Any resistance that you have in your mind has a corresponding pattern in the body. If you are finding that you have no idea where

The last year or so, I’ve been working more and more with people who are coaches and practitioners themselves, and doing that kind of work

If there’s one thing that I am continually reminding myself of, it’s that you have to play the long game. The long game is not

You know, Dee, I’ve realized something. I used to think that to be mentally strong meant that you didn’t deviate from the plan. That you

When you think of being calm and centered, what comes up for you? How do you picture this experience in your mind’s eye? How do

I thought I would share a little story with you, because I’ve had a couple of 1:1 sessions with people lately who needed to hear

In the podcast that was sent out today, I talked about how my horsemanship for me has become a practice in everyday activism. As I

Just before Christmas, I jumped on the phone to talk to my friend, and she asked the standard question we all do in those moments:

You can’t train a horse out of their horse-ness. You can’t train a human out of their humanness. Let’s think about spooking. A question I

Something for you to play with, should you fancy. In my work, whenever I begin a discussion with someone and it’s clear to me that

What my horse has taught me about… dealing with confrontation. Let’s start by defining what I mean by confrontation. Confrontation in the context of this

When we feel safe, we play. When we feel concerned, we control. If you find yourself clinging to the need to control, seek out more

How about this? How you feel about your body is learned. Those parts that you don’t like? You learned to think of them that way.

The other day, Sausage and I decided to go for a walk on the inlet together. It’s been an exciting time for us- she was

Where is the point that you stop yourself? At what stage does the self-consciousness arise? What is the thing that you don’t allow yourself to

I’m fascinated at how quickly you lose rapport with your horse when your attention deviates. Many a time, I have been working on something and

The scene is set. There’s a palpable sense of tension that streaks across the screen. They are standing in what looks like a drawing-room. Every

Here’s an example of how this story unfolds: Person A- let’s call her Suzie- has a question. She starts to type and finds after a

I came to a really great definition of learning recently: Learning is not the process of accumulating, but the process of giving up. The bigger

In the beginning, a dream is a fragile thing. When it’s felt in your belly and makes itself known in your mind, it can feel

You know, Dee tells me, it seems to me that humans worry about failing a lot. We ride softly across the sand. Huh, I tell

The other day I was participating in a Facebook thread around nerves and anxiety, and one of the commenters asked if the person in question

Investigating the source of our nerves is secretly a call to ask more beautiful questions of ourselves. It’s an opportunity to observe those parts that

Wait, wait, mum, I want you to watch! I turned around to see a complicated series of structures that all fed into each other. A

“Stand still. The trees ahead and the bushes beside you  Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here, And you must treat it as

What do you think it would look like if we all just practiced trusting ourselves? How do you think that would make things different for

One of my favourite parts of JoyRide, my membership program, is the weekly Q&A session that we have. It’s such a great platform for discussing

Another conversation I have been reading online that I’ve been musing about and wanted to chime in on. Let’s break it down into two parts:

Over the Christmas break, I got tagged in a post of a group I am a part of that was considering the concept of “free-floating

In ancient Greece, Cassandra was one of the Trojan Princesses of Apollo. As the story goes, Apollo took a bit of a fancy to her

All this talk of red mares is nothing new. Feisty. Furious. Opinionated. Difficult. Unpredictable. The category of options in the red mare handbook written by

I had a conversation the other day and something was mentioned to me that I had never heard of before: A silent disco. What, I

Confidence is something that we are all in dynamic relationship with, and I am in constant conversation with riders who tell me that they have

With a handful of exceptions, most riders I work with have a pre-disposition to the flight and freeze response and as a consequence, I’ve developed

If you need to rest, you should do that. Life is not a race to fill in the gaps. ❤️ Jane

Vitality: exuberant physical strength or mental vigor; the capacity for survival or for the continuation of a meaningful or purposeful existence; the power to live

There’s a great quote from Jack Nicklaus which is: The most important part of winning is losing. I’ve come to understand the importance of this

Imagine that standing next to you there is a little girl (or a little boy).   They come with you everywhere that you go.  

I’ve spent a good part of my life not being very nice to my body. It’s kind of been like a low-grade relationship with the

In the field of horses and humans, there is so much knowledge around. We know about the nervous system, training systems, methods of managing our

Nadia and I often adventure around the farm.   She’s mostly brave mixed in with a little bit of not-so-braveness. In her not so brave

Now this one… this is something that you need to continually practice. And you know why? Because every time you leave yourself *off* the list,

This one has stung at times, but here’s the thing you have to remember:   Standing up for yourself…   Operating within your own integrity…

“You know that the antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest? … The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness.” ~ David Whyte   Wholeheartedness, you now

Moving has become your anti-freeze practice. I mean, granted, you’ve always moved. For years you’ve done yoga and walked and run and been diligent about

It’s interesting, because a few years ago if someone had asked you to describe the word “anticipation”, it’s like that you would have paired it

With so much going on in the world at the moment, it’s important to realise that you are more resilient than you might give yourself

Well, this year has been quite the time. There’s been stuff come up which has never really crossed your radar in terms of being on

Outsourcing your power to trainers, clinicians, coaches, people at your barn. It’s a conversation that I am having with riders I work with all the

A big little thing that makes all the difference not only to how I evaluate my training sessions but also in my ability to stay

One of the most common “deflation points” I see with riders that I work with are feeling of failure or disappointment around situations “coming back”

I talk about how important it is to exercise our superpower of showing up a lot, and someone recently asked me what I think the

You know, it can be really tough weighing in on conversations around dealing with fear. There are so many different philosophies that people subscribe to,

How long does it take to come back? One of the most important questions to ask. When you feel afraid, how long does it take

Developing your confidence requires midwifery. Us humans, we have fooled ourselves into thinking that we need to go about things alone. We maroon ourselves on

It’s easy to lose yourself in trainings, theories, and teachings that are focused on finding solutions to your stresses, anxieties, and challenges. But in our

Like many others no doubt, I’ve been struggling a bit recently. The nature of my work means that I spend a lot of time online,

Many years ago, when I was quite young, a cat adopted me and took up residence in my barn. She was wild enough to make

I’ve has several conversations with people the last few days and a personal experience yesterday that all relate back to a similar core theme: Many

So this picture here captures one of the most fun days I have had riding since I was a kid. I just felt… joyful. I

I love these words: There is no such thing as balance, only balancing. So much of what I do has been transforming what we might

I’ve been thinking a lot about community lately, and we’ve also been having a lot of conversations in JoyRide around belonging, connection, and even loneliness.

Yesterday, I booked in for a dressage lesson in a week’s time and a working cow clinic not long after that. Truth be known, I

Kickback. One thing that’s important to realise is that we train people how to treat us. Just like with horses, if you have allowed yourself

A sense of humour is something that I really value. I know mine has served me well. But I’ve also noticed a tendency I’ve had

Capacity is a word that I frequently use in my work. Much of what I do revolves around finding ways to increase it… To increase

Maybe 20 years ago now, I sat in the office of someone I had booked in to talk to so I could discuss the struggles

When we come to strongly identify with feelings of anxiety, worry or concern, it’s easy for our awareness to switch on only during the moments

At the moment- even more so than usual- there’s a lot of stuff out there ready and willing to soak up your mental and emotional

I often get tagged in the comments of various posts in response to someone asking for help dealing with riding related fear. Maybe they’ve had

A theory that I’m working on that brings together three different areas of current (and ongoing) fascination for me: brain mapping, riding as an embodied

Let’s talk about the Itty Bitty Shitty Committee for a second (or those little voices in your head that you tell you what you can

In one of the last sessions of the day I had over the weekend, I was asked a question about dealing with pressure at competition.

Want to be able to see into the future? Tell me in a sentence or two about your horse and I’ll let you know the