Long Ride Home

01/25/2025

Check out these photos and testimonial from Helios member, Leana Tank and her fjord mare, Sunniva in Michigan:

"Takhin completely transformed my 21 year old Fjord mare and has been a magical key to accessing movement I didn’t think was possible for a 13.3 hand chunky draft pony! After one year of learning and incorporating these tools, she has aged backwards and is full of energy, lightness and joy in our work together. Incredibly, most of our training was done virtually, as the techniques are actually very simple and so clearly explained. Takhin integrated seamlessly into my current dressage practice and rooted us in an ancient equestrian lineage while opening us to a kind of sacred geometry of dressage that unlocked a higher level of understanding of the purpose of each movement and posture for myself and my horse. I can’t recommend Takhin more highly if you are someone who would like to pursue dressage as an art form and practice that promotes the vitality and well-being of your horse regardless of breed or age."

01/17/2025

📢 New Podcast Episode! 📢
https://youtu.be/Q7lzSph2IiM

Join us for an inspiring conversation with Rebecca Didier, managing editor of Trafalgar Square Books, as she shares her incredible journey in equestrian publishing. In this episode of Live Free, Ride Free, we dive into:

✨ The power of storytelling in preserving equine culture.✨ Rebecca’s path to becoming a leader in equestrian literature.✨ The challenges and triumphs of publishing in a digital world.

In this episode, Rupert Isaacson chats with Rebecca Didier, managing editor of Trafalgar Square Publishing, about her incredible journey in equestrian publis...

01/03/2025

🎙️ New Episode is Here! 🎙️

🎥 Watch now on YouTube: https://youtu.be/I3m0zZMRuSg
In Episode 18 of the Live Free Ride Free podcast, Rupert Isaacson reconnects with Ari Honarvar, founder of Rumi With A View. 🌟

Ari is a writer, artist, and peacebuilder who uses Persian poetry, music, and dance to help communities heal from trauma and bridge divides. Through her Resilience through Joy workshops, she brings movement and art to those who need it most, creating powerful connections and fostering hope. 💖

🎧 Tune in now to hear about Ari’s incredible journey and how dance, mysticism, and art are transforming lives.

💡 What’s inside the episode?
🌟 How art, music, and dance heal trauma
🌟 The role of Persian poetry in fostering connection
🌟 Mysticism and activism in action
🌟 Ecstatic dance as a tool for finding joy and unity

Join us for a captivating conversation with award-winning writer, artist, and peacebuilder Ari Honarvar, founder of Rumi With A View. Ari’s work blends Persi...

12/10/2024

🎙️ New Podcast Episode Out Now!
🎥 Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/9RPZU6-S3co

Dive into the world of technology, racehorses, and storytelling with our latest Live Free Ride Free episode featuring Victor Bahna! 🐴✨

Victor is a tech industry veteran, thoroughbred racing enthusiast, and the author of the thrilling novel Heliacal Star. In this episode, he shares:
🌟 His journey from tech to racehorse ownership.
📚 The inspiration behind his suspenseful novel, Heliacal Star.
🐴 How retired racehorses taught him trust, emotional regulation, and balance.
💡 His thoughts on the future of ethical horse racing.

🎧 Listen on our website: longridehome.com/npex

📖 Grab Heliacal Star: amzn.to/3ZG87qq

12/07/2024

🌟 Webinar: Magic Touch Points in the Horse for Piaffe and Passage 🌟

Join us on Saturday, December 28th, 2024, for an exclusive webinar where we'll uncover the secrets to advanced horse training. Discover the subtle yet transformative “Magic Touch Points” to bring lightness, harmony, and precision to the piaffe and passage.

📅 Date: Dec 28, 2024
⏰ Time:

8 PM Berlin (CET)
11 AM San Francisco (PST)
2 PM New York (EST)
6 AM Sydney (AEDT, Friday)
💻 Where: Zoom
🔗 Register here: https://longridehome.com/2354

🎉 Special Offer for Premium Members:
This webinar is free for premium members, and you can register a friend free of charge!

💲 Non-members: Join us for just $25.
❓ Contact us at [email protected] for more information.

Don’t miss this opportunity to deepen your understanding, expand your training toolkit, and strengthen your connection with your horse.

🐴

10/22/2024

🌟 Upcoming Webinar: Starting the Young or Green Horse 🌟

Join us this Thursday for a transformative session focused on training young or green horses, while embracing the joy and belonging that are at the heart of Long Ride Home.

🗓 Date & Time: Thursday, 10/24/2024
9 PM GMT+1 (Germany)
12 PM San Francisco
6 AM Sydney (Fri 25th)

💻 Where:
Via Zoom — Register here

✨ Who should attend?

Premium Members: FREE
Non-Members: $35

This is your chance to deepen your connection with your horse and learn how to guide their growth from the very start! Don’t miss out on the wisdom shared through our Long Ride Home approach, which blends practical training with personal well-being.

🔗 Secure your spot today!

10/17/2024

My horse is my horse, but that is no good if I am not there for him. So I want him to be everybody's horse for his own benefit. I think it is actually dangerous for the horse to have a "special horse" that "only I can ride". If I am not there anymore then what?

I truly believe that the best I can serve my horse is to make him so universal that anybody can take him out and have fun! Join our online course to learn how! LongRideHome.com

05/06/2024

https://youtu.be/jd_rkh0WHrU
That the Carradine family is a Hollywood dynasty is common knowledge.

Less known is that one of its scions – Kansas Carradine, daughter of legendary actor David Carradine (Kung Fu, Kill Bill et al) has become possibly one of the most self actualized people of her generation and is going around the world helping others to do the same.

Kansas Carradine is an amazing talent: a professional trick rider and rope since her childhood, a stunt rider and actress, a therapist with the legendary HeartMath Insititute which conducts research into the electromagnetic fields of hearts and how this affects the human nervous system, brain and immune system, a diplomat and peace broker with the G20…as well as a wife and mother.

Kansas Carradine is that rare thing – someone who has come through the maestrom of celebrity life without their ego going supernova, and who has emerged an approachable human being in service to the common good in a level that is frankly breathtaking. Listen on and learn how to look at life through the lens of the heart – it will change your reality.

That the Carradine family is a Hollywood dynasty is common knowledge.Less known is that one of its scions - Kansas Carradine, daughter of legendary actor Dav...

04/25/2024

2 slots still available join Rupert in Norway for Horse Boy Method 1 &2 certification courses May 9&10!

Rupert Isaacson will be back at Lundehagen 9th-10th of may 2024! Join us for an intensive two-day event, completing BOTH Horse Boy 1 and 2. 🐴

After his last visit, we have had many inquiries as to if he could come back and do both methods again. So we decided to make a new event! Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the best, Rupert has extensive experience in working with children with challenges especially in autism spectrum. 🌿

His methods has shown to be super effective and enjoyable also for a wide variety of populations.💛

Sign up for the event here: https://www.lundehagen.no/offers/URPRKyyz/checkout?fbclid=IwAR3DZrnU_wp16Q-GU6ZxW-RJRgpod4ET7UStpnb3PgvueKsf-q4ivDH8nOU

03/24/2024

https://wholebodyrevolution.lpages.co/healingthehorseandrider/

ONLINE WORKSHOP:
HEALING THE HORSE & RIDER

A masterclass on pain science and optimal performance with Sukie Baxter & Rupert Isaacson.

"Is it pain?"

Every equestrian has pondered this when facing a horse's behavioral issues, training hurdles, or subpar performance, often leading to costly vet visits and extensive imaging. But what if pain is more complex, intertwining physical and mental aspects?

In our upcoming class, we'll explore the neuroscience of pain, drawing insights from the latest human pain science research to holistically understand and manage your horse's symptoms. You'll gain practical knowledge to maintain both your and your horse's well-being.

This session is ideal for equestrians of any age aiming for longevity in riding, and it's particularly valuable for those managing horses with past injuries, anxiety, trauma, or those simply striving for optimal health and performance.
Additionally, we'll introduce the Old Masters Training System with Rupert Isaacson, blending ancient equine training methods with modern practices. This approach, akin to yoga, enhances a horse's strength, flexibility, and mental state through gentle, progressive exercises. You'll learn foundational patterns to foster a deep bond with your horse, leading to mutual joy and a harmonious rider-horse relationship.

Join us to unlock the secrets of ancient wisdom and contemporary science for your horse's ultimate well-being.

02/21/2024

One of the best horses that ever walked the planet. He'll find plenty of long gone friends to boss about on the other end of the rainbow! 🌈

02/20/2024

Just before Christmas we had the pleasure to have the incredible Baxter at ours playing with ponies.
Check out the clip of Sukie explaining what she sees when looking at the in hand patterns which are one of the main components we teach as part of our system.

🎥 👉

This is our first episode of "In The Arena With..." today Sukie Baxter of Whole Body Revolution is joining us. Sukie Baxter is a YouTube Influencer and offer...

02/18/2024

A THREE PART SERIES WITH SHEA STEWART & RUPERT ISAACSON:
‘Learn how to make your horse happy in body and mind in the way of the ancient old masters’

PART 2 - Body Intelligence

In this the second, in our three part series on using the Old Masters training system as a healing tool, Shea will talk about embodiment, sensory perceptions, and deep listening.

She will guide you on a journey through these aspects from a unique perspective of ourselves and our potential, and how this creates a deeper co-species relationship.

In his section of the webinar, Rupert will guide you through the first actual exercises.
First with your own body so that you have muscle memories to guide the horse from and then how you give the horse their first steps along this hero (ine)'s journey.

We look at the equipment we need for the first exercises: the cavesson or bosal,
the surcingle and how to adjust its balancing reins, how to hold the stick so that you can easily touch each part of the horse with ease - how to walk in the first two patterns - a leg yield in the circle and a counter shoulder-in along the wall or fence - which begin to put both hind legs under the horse's center of gravity… which will eventually become a soft collection.

We will work together live over the zoom, breaking the body's movements down into small pieces each of which is easy to do, and then put them together into a slightly more complex whole - so make sure you have a little bit of space to walk in while we zoom(!).

Lastly we'll look at a video of how to guide your horse through the first patterns, which you'll practice between the second and the third webinar, when we show you how to develop the first patterns into the next stage of the in hand work.

Alongside the technicalities of what to do and how to do it, we discuss the healing and rehab value of each piece of the puzzle for the horse's body and mind, for both the young horse and the veteran.

We hope to see you there!

When: Feb 29 12PM CST (check your time zone here: https://everytimezone.com/s/4efac17f)
Price: $150 per module
Register Here: https://www.equinebalance.net/all-course/

The length of the webinar is 2 hours, with a Q&A session included.
There will also be a recording available to watch at your convenience.

02/07/2024

From our Blog: Lessons in Lightness
Full post: https://longridehome.com/lessons-in-lightness/

``Stop putting so much weight in your stirrups Rupert! You’re blocking your horse! You have to ride lighter!’

I stopped. I mean physically stopped the motion of the horse and stood there in the arena a few moments, the light streaming in from the arched stained glass window along its western wall. I needed to compute this. I needed the horse had to be immobile for a moment so that I could think without worrying about the next corner coming up, before attempting the next failed half pirouette. I looked at my dressage instructor.

“But I am riding light aren’t I?” I protested, “I mean, I’ve got nothing in my hand!’ And it was true. There was no weight of contact on the rein. ‘And I’m sitting like you told me, feeling for my balls, not with my arse full in the saddle!”

“Yes,” said my instructor in her skeptical European purr. “But your legs. They are so heavy!”

Surely no heavier than most anyone else’s, I thought. What did she mean exactly?

The words spilled from my mouth even as I thought them: “What do you mean exactly?”

But as was so often the case, my dressage instructor could not say what she meant exactly. Only that I was “blocking.”

Ok she was right; the attempted pirouettes weren’t working. But it’s not enough, as so many of us have found out while on any learning curve, to only be told what isn’t working. One needs to be told how to do what will work.

“Your legs. Why so much weight in the stirrups?” she gestured towards my lower limbs with evident disgust. “Look how down are your heels!”

“That’s not a good thing? I’ve always been told that’s a good thing!”

Read more... https://longridehome.com/lessons-in-lightness/

01/31/2024

THE CAVE OF BRAHMA - Blog by Rupert Isaacson
Read whole blog at: https://longridehome.com/89e9

"God Rupert you're so ego-defended!“

The comment stopped me in my tracks, I looked at my girlfriend in confusion, wondering what she meant. Ego-defended. I hadn’t heard the term before.

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you so invested in being right?”

It was a good question. Good enough that - even in mid lover’s spat - the question staunched the flow of words about to emerge from my mouth. I had a mental image of warriors bursting out from a fortress to do battle suddenly sitting down and scratching their heads and saying to each other. “Hold, on, why are we doing this?”.

“Well…” I paused, thinking. “Isn’t trying to be right what we’re supposed to do when we argue?”

Where it went from there I don’t recall. It was the question, not the argument, that stayed in my head. Truth is we were both trying to be right. We were always trying to be right – whether we were arguing, or whether we weren’t. All the time. It was as if we knew no other way. That was we didn’t know any other way.

In fact, I realized, trying to be right was what almost everyone I knew did. Like, all the time. And when I came to think about it, it was little wonder. Ever since we were little, it had been do or die, be ordered about or push back. Bully or be bullied. At school and often at home, a constant round of fight, debate, argue, tussle, compete. Student days – argue the case, argue the case. Jobs were the same – lose a debate and you might lose your job. In fact it was almost a certainty you would.

Was it possible, then, given our society and our conditioning, to be any other way?

Much later, perhaps twenty years later, after spending a lot of time with San Bushman hunter gatherers, the original, oldest human culture on the planet, I realized that there was indeed another way to be.

The original way.

You see, it seemed we weren’t really born to fight. Hunter gatherers co-operate, because competition means fragmentation, and a fragmented clan can’t catch food, gets eaten by hyenas.

Now we have become the hyenas it seems, ...

Finish blog at https://longridehome.com/89e9

01/29/2024

HALFWAY UP THE MOUNTAIN - Blog by Rupert Isaacson
Read full blog at: https://longridehome.com/48p6

Halfway up the mountain I discovered love. I don’t mean that I fell in love. More like I fell into love.

I’d been fighting off a fever for a few days. And for greater background, I was in South Africa, where I’d been hired to write a guidebook to South Africa . The year was 1993, just as Apartheid was falling, Nelson Mandela was about to take power, and the country was about to open up massively to tourism. I was also working as a freelance journalist driving all over the southern African sub-continent covering stories on the political shenanigans of the various competing political factions all vying to get the biggest share they could of the new power structures to come. Fascinating stuff. Also dangerous. I’d logged many thousands of miles, had had several violent, directly life-threatening encounters, and – almost a year in - was exhausted. I’d felt a fever coming on for a week or so but had been fighting it off as one does when one has a mission to accomplish, knowing all the while that there will be a collapse at some point.

It came halfway up Table Mountain. Like a storm on the mountainside itself. We’ve all felt this, the sudden onset where a fever can no longer be resisted, when it overtakes you like the ocean. I and my two friends Priya and David– both medical students as it turned out - were perhaps two miles from the car, just at the point where the tree line became open fynbos heath– a thousand shades of silver, purple, shiny grey green and yellow. These tough, moorland plants – which by themselves comprise one of the world’s seven botanical Floral Kingdoms – grow all over the mountains of the Cape. One moment I was admiring them and watching a group of three little klipsringer antelope who, perched on rocks, were watching us back. Next moment, the three antelope, the colours of the upland shrubs, the mountainside itself broke suddenly apart and swirled into a vortex in shards and pieces before my bewildered eyes.

Finish blog at https://longridehome.com/48p6

01/29/2024

Still time to sign up! In just a couple of ours Rupert & Shea Steward.

Jan 29th 12PM Central time - 9PM UK

REGISTER: https://www.equinebalance.net/all-course/

01/20/2024

✔️ https://www.equinebalance.net/all-course/ ✔️

📅 January 29th, 2024

A THREE PART SERIES WITH SHEA STEWART & RUPERT ISAACSON:
‘Learn how to make your horse happy in body and mind in the way of the ancient old masters’

Like yoga, the ancient horse training methods created by the first masters of Central Asia over 4000 years ago provide a series of exercises that allow the horse to develop itself to its maximum potential in strength, suppleness and mental and emotional well being in a way that is gradual and gentle, not hard and violent.
And just as yoga is based on a series of very simple patterns (sun salutations, upward and downward dog) and then builds out from there, the same holds true for the patterns devised by the ancient masters, whose first writings under the Hittite master Kikkuli were written down in 1375 BC but are in fact much older.

Rupert Isaacson will introduce how to introduce these exercises to yourself and your horse - building relationship and bonding as you go.
As a complement to Shea Stewart's cutting edge equine craniosacral work, the patterns of the Old Masters will bring you and your equine partner to your optimum joy - both as horse and rider, and as a centaur synthesis of you both.
Come be initiated into the ancient Mysteries.

In Part 1 we cover the theory of how this system came to be and how it works plus the first simple exercises for the horse handler so you have muscle memory to bring to the horse before you begin - making you a better leader.
When: Jan 29 12PM CST (please check your time zone)
Price: $150 per module