The HorseTribe Podcast: Recent Episodes
HorseFest
Welcome to The HorseTribe Podcast, with the founders of HorseTribe, Thea and Heidi.
Each podcast is dedicated to you and your passion for everything horse! The HorseTribe podcast is for everyday equestrians, who want to hear from interesting and relatable guests.
We’ll be speaking to elite riders, equestrian experts and special guests – all focussed on bringing you inspiration, insights and learning in a way that our HorseTribe will enjoy!
Find out more about HorseTribe our membership community and HorseFest our annual summer festival at www.horsefest.org
Louise has an infectious personality and a hatred for Kissing Spines.
Originally from France, she is now a permanent UK resident, operating as an Equine Manual Therapist and Osteopath, with a specialism in treating Kissing Spines. In this episode Louise shares her first memories of falling in love with horses and plotting a career that involved equines, from age 10!
Listen out for her top tip for the horse tribe, her philosophy on treating horses in a way that prevents problems from developing and how her personality sparkles as she shares with us her funny stories about treating patients that relaxed more than planned.
To find out more about Louise and her knowledge on understanding and preventing back pain in horses, join her webinar for the HorseTribe or watch it on demand.
It's not unusual for Helen to watch the sunrise on the beach.
She does fitness work for eventing with her horses on the nearby beach, not far from Swansea. What a wonderful way to start the day and it gives an insight into the passion that Helen holds for horses.
Riding since she was around 4 years old, she has ridden and groomed for both an International Dressage rider and eventer. Helen has always ridden, alongside her developing career as an award-winning saddler, lecturer in saddle fitting and she is also currently the President of the prestigious Society of Master Saddlers.
Listen as we hear about the person behind the expertise and Helen shares her career highlights and challenges. We get an insight into the person that inspired Helen along her path to becoming a saddler and of course she shares the funny stories that come along with the job!
To find out more about Helen and her work, you can visit HR Saddler and for more insight into the work that the Society of Master Saddlers do, check out their website here.
Andrew is not only a super-bright academic, he's super-friendly and truly passionate about providing everyday horse-owners with practical insights that they can apply and help them to understand their horses even better. Having ridden from an early age, evented up to novice level, and worked as a riding instructor, he understands horses and horse-ownership. Listen as he shares his favourite horsey memories and how his academic career and research developed. Following a fantastic time at Aberystwyth University, completing his Degree and Masters, Andrew has spent 20 years at the Royal Agricultural University where he heads up the department that specialises in equine management and science. Andrew's specialist subject is the horse's brain and he spends most of his research time digging into this complex organ and it's impact on behaviour. It's these behavioural insights that we can use everyday to communicate more effectively and build a stronger relationship with our equine friends. In this podcast we get a fascinating behind the scenes glimpse into this important research combined with Andrew's amusing anecdote from his time working with horses. And what would Dr Hemming's top tip be for the HorseTribe? Well let's just say it's well researched and based on 55 million years of evolution....listen to find out more!!
She was captivated, the moment she saw the most beautifully crafted Victorian bit. That was it - Tricia Nassau-Williams knew what she wanted to be when she "grew up" - a Loriner, helping horse-owners with everything metal for the horse (except shoes) from bits to bridles and harnesses, they cover it all.
Her love of horses, however, started much earlier, age 3, with Tricia riding around on her pony "Lollipop" as soon as she could talk and say pony! She talks about the following happy years, doing cross-country, chasing across the countryside with the bloodhounds and showing Shetlands in hand to a high level - with a Royal Windsor and a Supreme Champion at Malvern happy memories.
Now the Lorinery consultant for BETA and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Loriners, her incredible knowledge and experience helps her have good conversations with horse owners to help them find the right bit for their horses that make the difference.
Listen as Tricia shares her career highlights and the challenges plus her top tips for the HorseTribe - and don't give her directions using Oak trees please?! (It'll make sense when you listen...)
When a friend invited her to try stunt riding in a lesson - Georgia Plimbley was hooked! In this week's podcast episode for HorseTribe, Worcestershire based Georgia tells us about her traditional pony-club background and her passion for horses from the age of 2, that acted as a platform for her work with horses.
Fast forward a few decades and Georgia is a talented liberty trainer and artist and an accomplished stunt rider, with many films credits under her belt!
She shares how she wasn't always confident and that this took a lot of time and work to develop. Part of this work was learning to fall off - safely!
Listen as she shares how becoming a mother changed her focus, how she believes that liberty can help horses with behavioural problems and some of Georgia's most memorable horsey moments.
And her funny story - well it involves a stallion!
We find out more about Trudi Dempsey, equine behaviourist, in this episode of the HorseTribe podcast. With a background as an engineer and an airhostess her career has been varied to say the least! Now passionately involved in training horses, and supporting owners to understand their horses, Trudi helps people work to solve problem behaviour, through positive reinforcement techniques. Find out more about positive reinforcement and the problems she helps solve, as we delve into her incredible insights, top tips, and funny stories from a life working with horses! To join Trudi's webinar for the HorseTribe on positive reinforcement, click to find out more HERE
If you want to laugh, have goose-bumps and learn loads, then this is the podcast episode! Caroline Ward has the most incredible job, helping change people's lives for the better at the Riding for the Disabled Association. As Communications and Insight Director, she gets to the heart of the activities and campaigns that have brought her "the most joyful horses moments you can imagine".
Her passion for horses began when she was about 7 years old and she shares fond memories of the pony called 'Polo' who really helped grow her confidence, but had a talent for breaking onto her parents front lawn!
Her career at the RDA has allowed her to experience the many and varied activities that they offer to their members, including carriage-driving, vaulting, in-hand work and a wonderful concept called "Tea with a pony", developed to support those with long terms conditions and dementia.
"The things I've seen horses help people achieve never ceases to inspire me" Caroline tells us.
You'll find her bubbly sense of humour and energy equally inspiring, as she shares her funny stories and relatable top tips for the HorseTribe.
Chris Ainscough and Sue Mart have both been involved in carriage driving since they were very young and their shared passion for the thrills and excitement of this relatively new competitive sport come through clearly in our latest podcast episode. Listen as Sue, who competed for team GB, tells us about the incredible history of Bennington Carriages, a coach-building business started by her engineering Dad, and how they have made carriages for HRH Prince Philip and the Cinderella wedding carriage for Disney! Chris had his first taste of carriage-driving aged just 3 and following a very successful competitive career, also went on to compete for team GB in 2019. He spends a lot of his time teaching and training now, and developed his own training system to help others develop their carriage-driving skills. They are a fun and inspiring pair, who share their horsey-highlights and top tips for the HorseTribe as well as the funny moments that have made them laugh along the way - listen out for Sue's shocking but funny anecdote about leaving an 'impression' at Sandringham, the much-loved country retreat of Her Majesty The Queen! See Sue and Chris in action as they demonstrate the thrills of carriage-driving at our summer festival, HorseFest, 8-10 July 2022 in Cheshire.
In an inspirational episode, we speak with Kate French, Olympic GOLD medallist and modern pentathlete, about her love for all things horse, her athletic career and life. We start as ever by understanding how her love for horses and riding began - "I've been riding all my life" Kate tells us.
She shares how she came to be a modern pentathlete, who inspired her and what has helped her become the highest placed modern pentathlete of all time, with medal success throughout her stellar career.
We also touch on her thoughts surrounding the sad & negative headlines from Tokyo, and the recent news that riding will be replaced as the 5th discipline in the modern pentathlon by another sport, yet to be confirmed.
Kate goes on to share further insights on her favourite horsey moments, her future goals and what it's like to try and teach your husband to ride! Listen out of course for the usual top tips (Olympic style this week) for the HorseTribe from Kate.
We visit South Africa (via technology!) in this episode to talk to Ray Erasmus, a passionate horseman with a desire to improve the lives of horses across the globe, by improving the way we as humans communicate with horses.
Ray is an accomplished Big Five Horse Safari guide, a career path that developed after specializing in walking safari's in big five environments across Southern Africa. Being able to negotiate his way through the bush with lions, elephants, black rhino and all other wildlife from horseback and on foot has cultivated great respect and insight in the way we communicate with animals, and has contributed to his equine training processes in particular.
We had a fascinating chat with Ray, hearing about his incredible equine journey and he shares some of the special horses that have impacted him along the way. His training methods are born out of experience and research - absorbing information and insights from lots of different equine and human mindset experts and blending this into his own training methods.
Is it possible to help a horse face-off a lion? Ray tells us that it is, with time and positive mindset training, encouraging the horse to become confident and trusting of their human in pressure environments. It's this training approach that he wants to share with the broader horse owning community, through his 'Horse Flow Academy' - "the only way to help horses is through people" he says.
Listen out for his story about the lady who got of her horse to go 'safari' in the bush and what caught her in the act!
To find out more about Ray, sign up to his webinar for the HorseTribe and check out our summer festival for horse lovers - HorseFest, visit horsefest.org
Ali Wakelin is a humble and grounded coach who has worked with some incredible trainers over her career. Integrating her biomechanics knowledge, solid coaching skills, learning theory and her own insights Ali has developed her own unique approach to developing horses and riders to be the best they can be. We were surprised to find out Ali's backstory didn't include horses - "I never went near a horse as a child. I looked for a live in job as a teenager and saw an advert for a trainee groom and riding instructor!". Ali is an accomplished trainer and she acknowledges the importance of input from Mary Wanless, Andrew McLean as well as many others. She is proud to be a Ride With Your Mind coach working with individuals, coaching clinics at her base and supporting Mary Wanless in delivery of her teacher training programme. Ali delivers online training through Dressage Training TV as well as running some short, fun online courses for a select group of clients. Ali has a down-to-earth philosophy and an easy way about her as she talks through her ABC's of horse-training. She starts with ground work basics, based on the principles of equine learning theory and then uses these basics to develop ridden work to high levels. Her sense of humour runs through this episode as she talks about being "sent the horse you need" rather than the horse your perhaps wants, and shares her top tip to "enjoy the journey" Join the HorseTribe membership group FREE to watch Ali's webinar for the HorseTribe and see her at our summer festival HorseFest!
As a horse owner and former 'nervous' competitor herself, Dr Tracey Cole knows all too well how it can feel to lose your confidence, whether that be in handling your horse, hacking, cantering or competing.
In love with horses since she was a little girl, she's now combining that passion for horses into her career as a NLP & hypnosis trainer and coach. Tracey had an interesting career journey, and was previously a research scientist, university lecturer and teacher!
In his episode, she talks us through her career path, the challenges she has faced in starting her own business and the funny stories when it doesn't quite go right with your horse, even as a mindset expert!
Tracey's love of helping riders of all levels combat nerves and ride to the very best of their ability is clear as she talks about the work she does and shares with us a top tip for the HorseTribe to takeaway from this podcast.
Tracey's webinar "Conquering Confidence problems", available to watch on demand here and she will be one of our amazing experts running sessions at our summer festival - HorseFest, this July.
Anne's love affair with the horse started when she was a toddler and she climbed over a wall to be with the horses in the field behind her house! Hooked on the smell of horses, she's been involved with them in her life and career ever since.
She tells us about her early years competing in Scotland and how she trained with the Bartles, which gave her the taste for reaching the next level in competition. Anne went on to be very successful professional rider at international advanced level in eventing & dressage, and also trained and examined pupils as a Senior examiner of the British Horse society.
This experience and understanding of the horse and rider helped her to become finely tuned to feedback from the horse, and started Anne on her journey to improve the interfaces between horse, saddle and rider, asking herself "why is it that horses don't like some saddles?".
She talks about founding the Saddle Research Trust in 2009, her PhD research into saddles and how they behave on a horses back and her saddle design work, which has been recognised with the Queen's award for innovation, as well as the fun she has every day with horsey people who simply have a "great sense of humour!"
Look out for Anne's webinar, on finding the best fit of saddle for your horse, later this year and meet her at HorseFest our festival this July.
Hayley grew up obsessed with horses, galloping around on her Shetland 'Bungle' and sometimes coming off when her Dad forgot to do up the girth! Fast forward to today and Hayley is an experienced veterinary physio, supporting owners with their horses and also dogs.
After she passed her degree in Equine Sports Science at Hartpury, followed by a diploma in human sports massage, her career began to take shape at an event yard, where she was inspired by the physios that she saw working with the horses there. She took herself back to University, this time to collect an MSc in Veterinary Physiotherapy, juggling study to hit the very high standards set on the course, with managing an event yard and producing / competing her own horses. (We were exhausted just listening to her life over those 2 years!!)
She tells us how this helped form her view that 'prevention is better than cure' with equine athletes and that, in addition to supporting horses with rehab, she believes physiotherapy can be a valuable tool for performance enhancement in horses.
Hayley shares with us her career challenges, highlights of horses she has helped, the funny things that happen in life as a vet physio and of course as ever we ask her for her top tips for the HorseTribe.
Hayley's work and more detailed advice will be featured in an upcoming expert article, a webinar and she will also be running sessions in person at our summer festival - HorseFest!! For more information and to stay in touch with updates, visit us at www.horsefest.org.
Claire Myers is a horse owner herself and so as a Pilates instructor she REALLY gets what we find difficult, where the aches and pains are and how we move as riders.
We hear how horses have been a life-changing experience for Claire and her journey with an amazing horse-mad family, that came late to horses but all learned to ride together!
Claire had been teaching pilates for many years, but she learned to focus on equestrian-specific needs, once she'd become "obsessed" with horses and was riding herself. Combining her Pilates expertise with her knowledge and understanding of biomechanics, she tells us about the importance of understanding how our bodies interact with the movement of the horse.
Pilates isn't always calmness and mindfulness as she covers in her funny story about LPP's (Lovely Pilates People) and join in as she talks through a simple top tip that EVERYONE can try whilst listening to the podcast!
For more focussed, achievable and rider-relevant tips, join Claire's webinar for the HorseTribe in February and she will have an expert article out soon on the members site. Click here to join the HorseTribe FREE and find more expert articles HERE.
You may not have heard of BETA (The British Equestrian Trade Association) but as a rider or horse-owner, you are FRONT of mind for them and their members! Cast you eye around your yard and you will probably see their logo on your feed and on your body-protector.
A keen horse rider herself, Kiwi Claire moved to the UK to take up the position of Executive Director of BETA, after she saw an advert for the role in Horse & Hound, back in 1999. In this episode we hear about Claire's love for horses and her passion for Lusitanos, born out of a trip to Portugal, where she fell in love with the breed after riding a Lusitano stallion.
Claire shares the work that BETA does to keep riders and horses safe and well, through several campaigns looking at rider safety, safe horse feed and feed suitable for horses with gastric ulcers, plus some new initiatives coming soon.
Of course there are the usual funny stories and top tips that we ask EVERY guest to share - listen in to hear Claire's!
To find out more about BETA and how their work can help you, here are links to their YouTube Channel, Website and Facebook pages.
Horse-riders that are injured whilst hacking far from home, competing or even at the yard, need special assistance when their location is inaccessible by land-ambulance. That's where the team from Midlands air ambulance step - or rather fly-in with their incredible "mobile A&E department"! In a fascinating episode, we hear from Trauma consultant Richard and fundraising exec Maria, their horsey backgrounds, some of the incredible missions that they have supported and the funding required for each mission to rescue and support a rider or other member of the public from a life-threatening situation. Of course there are the usual funny anecdotes too, this week involving mud and also nudist camps! And it wouldn't be a HorseTribe podcast without some useful top tips to help you if you are injured and where every second counts. To donate to this incredible organisation that is funded wholly by charitable donations, you can visit their website HERE.
"Never stop learning" is the mantra of Justine Harrison, and she has role-modelled that approach for almost 2-decades. Catalysed to change her career in 2004 from Graphic designer to Equine Behaviourist, in the pursuit of answers for her own behaviourally challenged 4 year old Dutch Warmblood Boris, she now helps countless horse-owners understand and resolve their horse's behavioural problems.
The product of horsey-parents, Justine has been riding and involved with horses from the age of 3 and entertains us with a "funny but not for the right reasons" story of riding in front of the Queen at Windsor Horse Show!
In this podcast episode Justine shares her passion for supporting horse-owners to recognise the early signs of fear and stress that their horses may be communicating, BEFORE those signs get to a more dangerous level. She discusses how early recognition and positive reinforcement are important skills for horse owners to develop, and can lead to early diagnosis and resolution of underlying issues - to the horse and owners benefit.
Justine will be delivering a webinar for our membership community, The HorseTribe, on November 18th 2021 and will be joining our line-up of experts at HorseFest our annual summer festival starting in summer 2022. To join the HorseTribe FREE click here and you can keep in touch with updates about expert webinars, articles and festival announcements!
Can you help Mary King with her next challenge - raising money for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital? Listen to our latest episode to find out how!
Eventing legend Mary King's glittering career includes representing her country at six Olympic Games, as well as numerous world and European championships. A former world number one, Mary has won Badminton, Burghley, Kentucky and the British Open at Gatcombe.
In this episode, she talks to us about her fascination with horses from a very young age and how her time working at Sheila Wilcox's yard helped form the way she produces her own eventers. Mary goes on to share her current goals and the exciting new chapter she is pursuing, producing and selling some wonderful homebred eventers, from her yard in Salcombe Regis.
"I've always been someone who has aims" Mary tells us. her recent non-horsey achievements have included sailing across the Atlantic, joining the crew in the Clipper Race leg from South Africa to Australia and now she's training for this year's London marathon in aid of the incredible Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.
Join the HorseTribe, to help Mary raise as much money as possible for this wonderful charity, click HERE to find out more.
"It's nothing really, I just fell off my horse...." It's the classic equestrian statement, playing down injuries when they are finally dragged to A&E. Dr Di Fisher has heard it many times in her role as a Consultant in major trauma and emergency medicine, and is on a mission to change how horse-owners describe injuries to medical professionals. We were absolutely blown away with the energy, drive and passion that pours out of Di and that she clearly puts into every aspect of her life. An accomplished rider, her world changed after a non horse-related accident that required 16 operations on her left leg. She has recently been through a challenging and long para-grading process and is now focussed on reaching a future Olympics as a Para Dressage rider. This is alongside her role as a trauma consultant and new additional responsibilities as Chief Medical Officer for the British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA). She tells us how her social media campaign, through her Facebook and Instagram pages "All the King's Horses" have helped her use this medical and equine knowledge to inform and educate fellow riders to help themselves and others with key medical insights, explained in a relatable and understandable way. Join us in this episode as we hear about Di's motivations and journey, with a very funny anecdote from her medical career and some important top tips for all equestrians. To find our more about Di and to read her incredibly informative Medical Monday posts or to watch her monthly rider clinics with inspirational guests, check out her Facebook page here or Instagram page here.
Jason Webb fits firmly into the HorseFest mould of experts - knowledgeable, fun and wants to help our HorseTribe develop. As a horse-trainer, Jason describes his mission "to empower riders of all levels and aspirations, from those wanting a safe hack to competition riders excelling in a range of disciplines".
We spent a fun and fascinating hour with Jason, hearing about his childhood on a 4,000 acre farm near the Snowy Mountains in Australia, how his own methods of horsemanship have been shaped by generations of horsemen in his family, and his international career representing the UK in the high octane (and highly sociable by the sounds of it) sport of Polocrosse!
Jason shares the philosophy and natural curiosity that have helped him develop the MO:RE4 process, using positive reinforcement as a “motivation” for the horse. He's helped countless horses and horse-owners with his methodology, through napping, spooking, planting and many other common challenges, as well as starting off young horses for owners.
He has of course had MANY funny moments along the way, which he shares with us, along with some fantastic top tips for our HorseTribe.
Look out for our HorseTribe webinars with Jason and watch him at HorseFest the festival summer 2022. For more information, great experts articles and to stay in touch with what's on, join the HorseTribe for FREE here.
We love collaboration and organisations trying to help each other for the benefit of horses and riders, so when we got the opportunity to speak to Squadron Leader Kim Leach from RAF Shawbury here in Shropshire, we jumped at the chance. Kim is a huge horse-enthusiast, having ridden since she was 6 years old, so she is perfect for the role of community engagement with local horse-owners and riders around the very busy RAF base of Shawbury in Shropshire, where helicopter pilots from all 3 services receive instruction. In this episode, we find out more about Kim, her riding experiences and how she was hauled in front of her commanding officer for a horse-related "incident" at an RAF base she was on duty at. We also hear about her liaison work with horse-riders. By working with the British Horse Society, RAF Shawbury have developed an award winning campaign to help pilots and riders be as safe as they possibly can be, called "Be Seen Be Safer". The premise of the campaign is to help pilots see horses being ridden from a greater distance, so that they can take the safest action possible to avoid spooking a horse wherever it is possible. For more information you can visit the RAF Shawbury website here and read a guide to low flying safety for horse-riders here.
We spent a fascinating time with Simon Cocozza for this podcast, discussing his life's work and how it has come together in the concepts he now shares across the world, in his book Core Conditioning for Horses.
The first non-French national to become a trainer for the Federation Francaise d'Equitation (FFE), it's clear that Simon has researched, tested, adapted and curated a way of working with horses that has their well-being in mind and is delivering incredible results!
Listen as we hear him talk about his philosophy and the journey he has been on to find the methods he uses with horses today - getting them on the bit, naturally.
Of course it wouldn't be a HorseFest podcast without the sharing of amusing anecdotes, top tips for our HorseTribe and memorable horse-moments. Dive in to this week's episode and hear how using yoga techniques can support transformations in your horse, even those with kissing spines.
Simon will be at HorseFest 2022 and will also be delivering a series of webinars for the HorseTribe. To stay in touch and find out more, join the HorseTribe for FREE here.
Jonty is bright, determined and has an infectiously positive outlook on life. Join us in this episode as we hear about his equestrian career and reflections on the journey so far.
From his first pony Rosie, galloping around the Welsh Mountains, to the incredible 5 star 'People's horse' Cooley Rorkes Drift, or 'Art', Jonty talks with passion and emotion about his learnings and his future goals.
Sharing his key influences from peer role models such as Pippa Funnell, and from working at event yards with riders such as Andrew Nicholson, we hear that Jonty is a focussed and driven equestrian, with a passion for improving and breaking down barriers to his goals.
Listen as he shares stories with us about his first yard in the Cotswolds, his stand out career highs so far and his emotional praise for 'Art', the incredible horse that has helped him on his recovery from serious injury to competing again in the sport he loves.
Oh and of course we have the usual funny stories and relatable advice for our HorseTribe!
To hear more from Jonty, join us in September online for 'An evening with Jonty Evans' for our HorseTribe membership community, which you can join for FREE here.
Jade is a powerfully positive individual with huge personal drive and an infectious zest for helping others. She describes herself as "challenged by disability" and has required support from others including the RDA, to facilitate her passion to ride, for many years.
Her horse-of-a-lifetime, Odin, has been immortalised in a children's book that she published during lockdown, hoping to give back to Riding for the Disabled, and raise much needed funds for this special organisation, that is also supported by HorseFest.
Not satisfied with supporting just one charity - she has started a second campaign for World Horse Welfare. Her equestrian leisure-wear is branded "Horse Power" and raises funds for them with each sale.
Listen as she describes what motivates her, where her passion for horses started, how other equestrians have inspired her along her journey.
Suzie LOVES loading horses - with a passion like no other, "It's my favourite thing!" she says and she's helped so many anxious horse owners with this common challenge, using her skills in horsemanship.
Join us as we hear about Suzie's obsession with helping horses and owners build their confidence, overcome anxiety and deal with problems in a "natural to practical" way.
We hear how she was introduced to horsemanship and her career-change from working for a pharma company to helping horse owners full time. She revisits memories and funny stories with us of the characterful horses she has had in her life, and she passes on her wisdom, advice and enthusiasm for helping equestrian partnerships have good experiences together.
Suzie is incredibly energetic, fun and knowledgeable and will be running webinars for our membership community HorseTribe this Autumn - find out more about this FREE to join community HERE.
Tim is ALWAYS positive and smiling! Which is probably the secret to his long and successful career in equestrian marketing - working with lots of major brands and equestrian events over 2 decades, with his company Tim Smith Marketing.
One of 3 brothers, all mad about horses, he cut his teeth on a black and white pony called 'Pinto' and very quickly progressed to horses, trying his hand at showjumping, eventing to Novice and then he settled on showing horses with a passion and with great success, reaching both HOYs and Royal International.
We touch on his career as a journalist and how he came to be able to combine his love of horses with a long and successful career with his own business, supporting brands and events in the equestrian world. Tim walks through his career and equestrian highlights, challenges and offers advice on getting into equestrian marketing as well as his top tip for our HorseTribe.
It's always a joy to speak with Steph Croxford, she really does feel one of the HorseTribe! In this episode she shares what it's like to be back out competing again and her routine training 'Thug' her Irish Cob cross that has just been selected for his first ever International 'Big Tour'.
As ever she is frank, open, hilarious and relatable. She gives an insight into how she juggles training and competing her horses with family life and her work as a geologist, from her farm base. As if she wasn't spinning enough plates she also opens up about her passion for bringing dressage together through the Facebook group "Sh*** Dressage United" (SDU) and how this safe space to share bloopers and epic fails has helped the confidence of so many riders.
Join us as we chat and giggle with Steph, listening to her stories and tips for our HorseTribe. Watch out for the HorseTribe webinar, 'An Evening with Steph Croxford' a date to be confirmed for this Autumn. For more info on our membership community and webinars, click HERE.
Marc Jerram is a focussed and driven farrier, who lights up when he talks about the difference his work can make to both horses and their owners. He trained over 17 years ago but hasn't stopped being curious and taking on more and more qualifications and CPD, to better serve the horses that he loves.
A keen horse-owner himself, he relaxes by driving round the country lanes with his Dad and their driving cob and he also hunts with his 16.2 Irish Draft cross, Maisie, who sounds like so much fun!
We canter through his career, which took him to the other side of the world, working in New Zealand, he shares his biggest career challenges to date and of course he gets us laughing with the funniest of client stories!!
This Friday's podcast features part of Team HorseFest, Scot Rowley, who run's equestrian marketing and athlete management company SRPR from his base in Cheshire.
Involved with horses from an early age, and having tried many disciplines including eventing, (listen out for his disastrous but funny eventing-story) he has settled more recently in the showing sphere, having won a County Showing Supreme Champion with his stunning ID x WB Cromwell.
With tips on how to transition into a horse-based career from something completely different, advice on being yourself on social media, as usual we canter through a range of topics with Scott, finding out about the person behind the marketing expert that works with so many equestrian brand and athletes.
Russell is incredibly passionate about applying the huge volume of research he has undertaken, and this really came across in our podcast with him. With a PhD in Equine Biomechanics and a really fun, friendly open personality, he has a great blend that makes you feel you can ask any question about this relatively complex subject.
We discover more about about his work, through his company Centaur Biomechanics, and how he helps riders and horses of all levels to understand and make positive changes in their position and equipment, to benefit the horse's comfort and way of going.
As ever we also find out about the person behind the expert, and Russell is really frank and open about his dyslexia and challenging school days, when horses gave him an escape and ignited his passion for riding and working with them. From a cheeky-Shetland (aren't they always) to competing at a high level in dressage, following his dreams, learning from mistakes, his positive philosophy on life is infectious!
Russell will be running a webinar for the HorseFest membership community HorseTribe on 30th September and you can keep in touch with the expert content on our website here.
Grab yourself a cuppa and a comfy chair...
Andrew McLean is the latest HorseFest expert to share the person behind the expertise.
Andrew is a world leading expert in equine behaviour, specialising in horse training and behaviour modification.
He shares his early experiences in Australia galloping bareback along the beaches, when his passion for animals was triggered, how his lifetimes’ research can help riders understand and communicate with their horses, and so much more.
We know you'll enjoy listening to Andrew as much as we enjoyed recording this!
To join the webinars that Andrew will be delivering for our HorseTribe, join our membership community FREE at www.Horsefest.org/jointhetribe
The highs and lows, pressures and stresses of life and horse-ownership can impact equestrians in different ways at different times. This week we spoke to Liz Daniels, from Riders Minds, an organisation dedicated to supporting all equestrians with mental wellbeing.
Riders Minds was formed in 2019, the brainchild of 5* event rider Matt Wright and his wife Victoria, Director of Caunton Manor Stud. Matt openly shared his mental ill health struggles, regularly blogging about his experiences to raise mental health awareness and understanding. Sadly Matt lost his battle and died away earlier this year.
His legacy is never more important as we raise the profile of mental well-being in Mental Health Awareness week. Liz is candid and open about the range of mental well-being challenges that equestrians feel and offer plenty of advice, top tips and places to find help, through the Riders Mind online resources and 24 hour, FREE, confidential helpline.
Her message is clear - don't suffer in silence, there is someone who can help you at Riders Minds. To find out more about the help they can offer, no matter how large or small your challenge, click HERE. To donate to Riders Minds and support their cause you can donate HERE.
1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental issue at some point in their lives - it's a must listen to understand where you can go for support either for yourself, or others you care for.
Clare Poole is based in Gloucestershire and is a 'go to' producer and re-trainer of ex-racehorses for many trainers. She also supports and mentors other riders, to transition these wonderful horses to happy new careers, after their time on the track is over. In this episode we hear where Clare's burning passion for ex-racehorses was lit and how she came to love and be very successful in showing, reaching HOYS many times.
We also touch on both the challenges she's had to work through, which has helped her develop a 'process' that really works to transition ex-racehorses successfully. She shares her highs and lows, with her being turned away from HOYs one year and of course the funny side when a riding judge got a LOT more than he bargained for on one of her ex-racers!
Clare is incredibly knowledgeable and relatable - listen out for her top tip for our HorseTribe and join the HorseTribe FREE to access her webinars later this year. Here's the link to JOIN and if you'd like to see what webinars are coming up click HERE.
Jay Halim, famous for being an international showjumper, event rider, breeder, trainer and exceptional party animal, talks to Jonty Evans about his training philosophy and what he will bring along to HorseFest in 2022.
Trainer to both Laura Collett and 7 year old clients, Jay is adaptable, relatable and huge fun! He shares memories of a demo with a horse that was an "utter, utter nightmare" on one day, plus an insight to his background and journey as a horse trainer, competitor and rider.
Jay is one of the headliners at HorseFest, Weston Park 22-24 July 2022. For more info visit www.horsefest.org and join the tribe!
Donna Case is an independent horse feed nutritionist with an incredible pedigree and years of experience supporting some of the top dressage riders, eventers and showjumpers, as well as many everyday riders across the UK and round the world. Her interest in nutrition as a career was sparked by an article in PONY magazine and now with more than 15 years experience, she is helping horse-owners understand and manage their horse's performance and behaviour with her expertise and knowledge. Donna's bubbly, relatable character belies her deep knowledge and we enjoyed hearing about her long held love of Haflingers, being asked for nutrition advice for sheep and the single most important tip she can give to every horse owner... Donna will be running sessions at the HorseFest festival in July at Weston Park and prior to that - come and meet Donna through her webinar on 24th June 2021 7.30pm. For more information and to book festival tickets and a webinar place visit www.horsefest.org.
From her early horse-owning memories with Shetland mayhem and a family horse that went onto great things, Bea covers how her passion for horses developed through a long career as a qualified master saddler (QMS). She talks through the detail that a QMS will go into, to support finding the best saddle for a horse owner, and some of the funny moments along the way!
Look out for Bea’s article on saddle fitting on our website soon at www.horsefest.org. It will be available to read for members of our membership community HorseTribe, which has a FREE membership option - join here www.horsefest.org/register/free and receive 15% off HorseFest tickets for our festival this July.
Jonty Evans chats to Charlie Unwin - performance psychologist and Gillian Higgins - anatomy and biomechanics specialist from 'Horses inside out'. They share their joint passion for sharing relatable learning and how they will pass on their experience and knowledge to the HorseFest festival in July at Weston Park. How does an understanding of anatomy and biology help us improve the way we ride, train and manage our horses? How does defining what success looks like, help manage nerves and confidence in riders? It's all touched on in this episode with 2 of the equine industry's foremost experts - as well as hearing what they are looking forward to most about this "Glastonbury with horses"!
For more information about HorseFest the festival at Weston Park 23-25 July 2021, visit www.horsefest.org and join our FREE membership group today for 15% off entry tickets by the end of April 2021.
Dee is an energetic force in the equestrian world - passionate about supporting horse & rider combinations to be the best the can be, through her combination of performance analysis and rider / horse strength and conditioning work, she works with some of the top partnerships in the UK.
In this episode, Dee tells us about her global experience, working with horses from Mozambique to London 2012. She shares where her love of horses all started and an insight to her philosophy in treating riders as athletes, plus a funny story about being lost in France (careful who's listening!) and her top tip for our HorseTribe.
Dee will be sharing her energy and expertise at HorseFest the festival this July - remember there's 15% off tickets if you join our HorseTribe FREE here https://horsefest.org/register/free and buy your tickets before the end of April - we hope to see you there!
We love our listeners to get to know our experts as people, hearing about their passion for horses their career journeys, the funny stories they have collected along the way and their relatable top tips for our HorseTribe. In this latest episode we talk to world renowned vet Dr Sue Dyson, who is legendary for her work, in particular helping horse owners identify sources of discomfort or pain that may be causing lameness or performance issues.
Listen and get to know Sue with us, as we chat about her obsession with horses from a very young age, cantering her pony 'Poppet' through Epping forest, all the way up to her proudest 'horsey moment' - selling a home produced horse that 2 weeks later competed at the Seoul Olympics.
We cover her career as a vet , her biggest challenge in that career and Sue tells us about her desire to share her research widely and help more horse-owners. From galloping with zebras to jumping out of start boxes - there's a lot to listen to!
Sue will be delivering a series of online learning sessions for our HorseTribe - starting on April 22nd at 7.30pm GMT - with this first session focussed on how to recognise what is 'normal'. How should a 'normal' horse look in terms of it's posture, muscle development and it's movement - in order to identify when a horse is 'abnormal', therefore recognising and being able to take action at the earliest possible stage for your horse.
Join the HorseTribe membership FREE at https://horsefest.org/register/free to get a 15% discount on HorseFest festival tickets purchased before 30th April and to book onto the online-learning session with Dr Sue Dyson for the special member's price of £5.95, we look forward to seeing you there!
This week we wanted our HorseFest listeners to get to know the lovely Liz Daniels. She's been a pro-groom for Olympic showjumper Geoff Billington and now works for the British Grooms Association, as well as juggling lots of other equine roles!
From hacking mishaps, tips on becoming a pro-groom, getting to ride not just Valegro but also Geoff Billington's amazing showjumper Otto, and her top tip for our HorseTribe, there's so much packed into this one episode.
Liz is passionate about helping others learn from her experience and she will not only be at HorseFest the festival in July, but she's also kicking off our online Live-Learning series. On April 15th at 7.30pm GMT, she will be running a fantastic session on getting your horse or pony tidied up after winter and ready for spring - whether that's hacking, clinics or getting out and about at some competitions.
Join the HorseTribe membership FREE at horsefest.org/register/free to get a 15% discount on HorseFest festival tickets purchased before 30th April and to book onto the live-learning session with Liz for the special members price of £5.95.
Jonty Evans chats to 2 of the most relatable riders in Dressage. Steph Croxford, International Dressage rider, who only started riding aged 26 and is famous for horses such as Mr President, Mr Hyde and Mr Ben, joins Sam Turner, Grand Prix Dressage rider and biomechanics coach, famous for producing her gipsy cob Billy Whiz to GP level. In this episode, we hear how they got into riding and how they both plan to transfer their learnings and skills to the HorseFest audience. "It doesn't matter what the background of the horse is" says Steph Croxford "with the right connection and partnership you can get to any level that you choose to."
In this episode one of HorseFest’s headliners, Irish Olympic eventer and all round nice guy Jonty Evans, chats to another of the festival headliners, the super-lovely, Ben Atkinson from Atkinson’s Action horses This is a really candid and open chat by Ben about his love for horses, how he learns best from making mistakes and his passion for logical Yorkshire horsemanship, which was passed onto Ben by his Grandfather.
Steph talks to Heidi & Thea about her equestrian writing career, which has seen her write for all the top equestrian magazines - Horse & Hound, Your Horse, British Horse - the BHS magazine, to name but a few, as well as now being part of team HorseFest - and she's also the author of 2 books!
She tells us about her long-standing family link with the Appaloosa breed and how she's recently got back in the saddle, after a 6 year break to start a family, with her gorgeous 8 year old Appaloosa Mare Tilda.
We cover questions from our horse-tribe such as top tips for getting into equestrian journalism, who's made Steph star struck in an interview and listen out for the moment when we lose it, as she tells us about an encounter with one of the UK's leading show producers and trainers...
Heidi & Thea chat to British born event rider Lydia Heywood, who competes for the Caribbean island of Jamaica. Lydia tells us about her journey with horses and into Eventing as well as her mentoring work with urban riding club Ebony RC and the Cool Ridings project. Listen out for her top tip at the end of the podcast!
In this first episode of The HorseFest Podcast, Irish Olympic eventer and HorseFest headliner, Jonty Evans, asks us about HorseFest’s new, annual, summer festival. We talk through the inspiration for HorseFest and what’s on over the packed weekend – filled with inspiration and learning, delivered in a fun festival atmosphere for our horse-tribe. Join us in future episodes as we talk to more elite riders, equestrian experts and special guests.