Whole Horse | Perspectives on compassion fatigue + a chat about spines with Dr. Tracy Rainwaters
The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton
Release Date: 08/10/2023
Whole Horse | Making the hardest choice with Diana Waters
The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton
In this moving episode I am joined by horse trainer Diana Waters of Responsive Equine. We begin with an overview of some of Diana's formative equestrian experiences, including her passion for training at the walk and its many benefits to the equine-human partnership, and then head into a vulnerable conversation about her journey rescuing a horse whom she diligently and compassionately attempted to rehabilitate, only to ultimately make the incredibly difficult choice to end his life. I am very grateful for Diana’s courage to share the story of her time with this young gelding, Forrest,...
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Whole Horse | Allowing room for Emergence in our relationships with our horses and their habitats with Shannon Beahen
The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton
It was such a pleasure to have Shannon Beahen back on the show today for an impassioned discussion about our mutual interest in stewarding and cultivating relationship with land - with special attention as to how that endeavour relates to keeping horses, obviously! We wandered together through the topics of land having its own nervous system, what it feels like for us to be on a path of evolution as horse people, and how we can benefit from navigating our relationships with the land, our horses and ourselves through a lens of emergence, rather than one of fixed ideals and blueprints of...
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Whole Horse | A call for collaboration to support horses with Dr. Rachel Heart Bellini
The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton
This week on the podcast I was joined by holistic veterinarian Dr. Rachel Heart Bellini for her perspective and experience of the scope of vet med and the ways in which she’s supplemented her education over the years in order to be of better service to horses. We had a really interesting conversation about the gap and, at times, inconsistencies between body workers and veterinarians, and discussed possible solutions for bridging these professions in a way that optimizes care and treatment for our equines. Whether you’re an equine care provider or a horse owner, this episode...
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Whole Horse | All about track systems for horses with Amy Dell
The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton
I was excited to be joined by Amy Dell of Abbotts View Livery for this episode, who wrote the book Horse Track Systems and runs her own track livery in England. What I loved about Amy’s book is how it laid out the steps and tips for creating your own track system in a very thoughtful and practical way, and it was great to be able to go into more detail about many aspects of tracks systems within this episode. Our discussion ranged from footing, to forage, to considerations for shelter and integrating new herd members. It was truly inspiring to hear how successful Amy has been at...
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Whole Horse | Leading with relationship with Jodine Buydens
The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton
This week I was joined by my long-time friend and colleague Jodine Buydens (pictured here with her mare Breeze) for a beautiful conversation on the horses who have shaped her life and given her the tools to be able to help humans receive the many teachings of their own equines, or, for some folks, encounter horse wisdom for the first time. We talked about what it can look and feel like to have soul contracts with our horses, and how those lessons and missions differ depending on each unique horse. Jodine also shared how she’s learned to tune into and differentiate between her own nervous...
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Whole Horse | Restoring functional movement through fascial chains + rib sling work with Christy DiColla
The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton
Tune in to this episode with equine sports therapist Christy DiColla for a great chat about her latest work and area of research: rib entrapment and fascial chains. Christy filled me in on how she was seeing common patterns of posture and muscular appearance in her equine clients and how these dysfunctional presentations were chronically affecting movement and performance. She then shared how, through her human bodywork training, she discovered that working with the ribs - due to the nature of their attachments - provided release of these patterns in a number of horses. This has since become a...
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Whole Horse | Centring the horse in our horse keeping and training with Lockie Phillips
The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton
It was lovely to have Lockie Phillips back this week for his fourth time on the podcast. We got to chatting about how he’s feeling and what he’s been up to since his big move across the country to the North West of Spain last summer, which I have been excited to talk to him about! Unsurprisingly, he’s been busy turning his new property into a super functional, horse-centric environment and learning how to manage best amidst some pretty wet weather conditions (think: Atlantic hurricanes). Throughout our discussion Lockie emphasized the Horse in Horsemanship, leading him to share...
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Whole Horse | Healthy Land, Healthy Horses with Jane Myers of Equiculture
The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton
I was so excited to welcome Jane Myers of Equiculture onto the podcast for our first episode of 2024! Jane is a wealth of knowledge on the subject of land and pasture management, and an expert on equine grazing behaviour. We covered a lot of ground (pun intended!) chatting about the ways in which horse owners can learn to keep horses in a way that creates a mutually beneficial interaction between the land and the horses who live on it. We also discussed the importance of keeping horses in herds, prioritizing access to forage and grazing, and how these management practices ultimately create...
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Whole Horse | Holistic + horse-first hoofcare with Kendra Skorstad
The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton
In this episode with farrier Kendra Skorstad, our conversation covers my many (and maybe yours too!) hoof-related questions from both the perspective of horse steward and body worker, including the interplay between horses' posture, body, and the health of their feet, as well as specific inquiries surrounding navicular, high-low syndrome and heel first landings. It was so refreshing and affirming to hear how Kendra approaches hoofcare from a holistic and horse-first perspective, where making choices such as whether to go barefoot, wear metal shoes or use other tools such as composite shoes or...
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Whole Horse | Geek out with Alexa and Elisse: Senior Horse Care + The Rule of the Artery
The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton
Today’s conversation with Elisse Miki is a special edition podcast episode that we are affectionately dubbing a ‘geek out’, and we want to hear what you think! This episode is the first of what will be a four-part series together over the next year, and could eventually turn into its very own show if people like you are curious and hungry to listen to more in-depth anatomy and physiology-based discussions. If getting nerdy is your jam, you may even want to start with our previously recorded chats before hitting play on this latest one! We opened up this episode with a look at...
info_outlineIt was so great to have Dr. Tracy Rainwaters back on the podcast this week. Tracy reached out to me after listening to my last episode - Unpacking the impact of burnout and adrenaline poisoning in horses and humans with Lockie Phillips and Elsie Reford (Episode 104) - to express how much that conversation landed for her. As the two of us got to talking, it became clear that she and I have been on a parallel path as of late, navigating serious health events and discovering how to find more sustainable ways forward in our professional lives. We delved into the compassion fatigue and grief that can often accompany us in our role as equine care providers, and how learning to hold space for the hard moments rather than working to “fix” them is an ongoing journey. I was grateful for Tracy’s vulnerability in continuing this important discussion, and delighted that we also managed to keep our promise to finally talk about spines!
Mid-way through this podcast we switched gears and Tracy shared how she has come to appreciate the spine as a gateway for health and well-being. It was fascinating to hear how she has woven her shamanic, energetic and spiritual lens into her scientific and chiropractic understanding of this incredibly important structure. I hope this episode is both as supportive and interesting for you as it was for me!
Dr. Tracy Rainwaters is a human and equine chiropractor with over 16 years of experience in helping animals and their humans thrive. Tracy brings a whole-being approach to healing by looking at a being from the perspective of the energetic/spiritual & the mental/ emotional in order to bring harmony & vitality to the physical body. Tracy uses her skills as an intuitive channel to anchor in the wisdom & healing from the highest aspect of a being, along with her shamanic healing techniques to provide a powerful healing container for animals and their humans.
Tracy obtained her Bachelors of Science degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Exercise Physiology. She obtained her Doctorate in chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic, West and her animal chiropractic certification from Options for Animals where she was on the teaching faculty for 6 years. Tracy’s equine practice quickly revealed her animal intuitive abilities as animals started showing her what was occurring energetically and spiritually with themselves and their humans. Horses have been Tracy’s greatest teachers and have ushered down her spiritual path. She spent 2 years training in shamanic energy healing with The Four Winds Society. The shamanic healing practices have profoundly influenced and enhanced how she helps animals and humans heal.
Tracy offers classes on intuition development & animal communication, 1:1 healing sessions for people & their animals as well as healing workshops on her farm in western Washington that focuses on allowing the horses to be our guides through a journey of transformation using shamanic medicine wheel as the foundation.
Website: www.tracyrainwaters.com
Instagram: @dr.rainwaters