Whole Horse | How empathy creates safer spaces for humans and horses with Michele Arana
The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton
Release Date: 12/01/2023
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_outlineIn this potent conversation with Michele Arana of In Stride Equestrian, we dive into the parallels between advocating for more ethical horsemanship in the equestrian industry and practicing allyship for BIPOC members of our horse communities. She shared how prioritizing diversity, inclusion and equity can make being with horses better for all. We also had a chance to nerd out about Michele's volunteer work for Equus-Soma Equine Osteology and Anatomy Learning Centre (a.k.a. the Bone Room) and talk about the value in horse trainers educating themselves about what's going on beneath their horses' skin. I am so appreciative of Michele’s willingness to offer her perspective and share solutions and ideas surrounding these important topics, as well as her emphasis on empathy as a guiding standard when it comes to working with horses and humans. I hope you learn something new from our chat, and that it motivates you to take action in your corner of the horse world to help push forward much needed change to make our industry more inclusive, equitable and diverse.
Michele Arana is the founder of In Stride Equestrian, a lesson and training facility that is dedicated to inclusion and education in the equine industry. Michele’s program ties two of her passions, activism and horses. As a Nuyorican woman, she is more than familiar with the discrimination BIPOC people in the equine world face and looks to have horses bridge that gap in her program. As an ethical and education based trainer, her lessons are very informative and help students truly understand their equine partners while also connecting on a much deeper level while having fun!
You can read Michele's great blogs posts on her website https://www.instridequestrian.com and follow In Stride Equestrian on FB, IG and TikTok.