Emotional Horsemanship by Lockie Phillips

08/02/2025

Quietly as I can, announcing that my February schedule is open and there are limited spots available.

For the last 3 years my schedule was booking out sometimes 6-9 months in advance, with a high volume of lessons. This was wonderful but caused some management issues.

One of the things I am managing better, is my time. And as such I would love to let my community members present and interested know:

1. I do not allow any single person to monopolise my time. Privilege and wealth is not a tool I allow anybody to use to book more than their fair share of lessons or services with me. Because there are many people and limited spaces. One of our founding principals is to help the right people, in the right way, at the right time. And we believe community is key to building reform for horses and horsemanship. So, I no longer offer private clinics, or encourage dozens of successive bookings from singular people, so we can stay in alignment with our values.

2. I solemnly swear, to not over-work ever again. Promise. I show up well rested and well resourced to appointments. Now, and in the future. It is now part of the structure of the schedule and our operations.

3. Professional admin. We have a dedicated administrator who is kind and friendly, and handles all your questions about tech, bookings, websites... everything. So that you and I can show up and be present.

4. Teamwork. I work in a team with Kristy and Michelle. Kristy and Michelle were hand selected for complimenting and not competing with each other. And the three of us together create a multi-disciplinary approach to assisting your horse. Please explore all 3 of us! We are equal to each other!

I have some limited spots available for February, because I have managed to control bookings and prioritise things so that folks don't have to wait months or weeks to get some assistance any more.

I block off my schedule and release only one month at a time, so that we can ensure that time management is correct.

Dropping the links below for you to find out! Hope to see you there!

07/02/2025

Wishing a very Happy Birthday to my friend and colleague, Kim Hallin.

I am passionate about forging real and deep connections to peers that resonate with me. Across disciplines I am always hunting for people who both SAY they are here for the horses 100% and display ACTIONS that are in full alignment with that notion. Afterall, we cannot be here for the horsE 100% if we prioritise people. That's putting the cart before the horse.

Kim puts the horses first by coaching their people. In her heart and mind, I know there is only a wild landscape of free and happy horses.

Kim is kind, gifted, talented, whip crack intelligent and a fabulous facilitator. I believe in her work and person so much, that one week ago, I stayed up until 1am in the night, to join her latest Coaching Program (Dismounting Gracefully) as a guest instructor. I went to bed at 3am with my eyes tired and heart full. Kim really is doing the work that has been long neglected and long overlooked.

Her business is not a monument to her ego. She integrates with mystic and shamanic elements, and emotional, agricultural and personal realities. But you won't ever see her get lost in those elements. She knows how to bring her work home to the horses.

Today, I wish you to join me in celebrating Kim's Birthday. I encourage you to visit her website, sign up for one of her programs, and throw your full weight and heart behind her work. The horses have been waiting for someone like Kim. And having known her now for almost two years, speaking with her regularly (lately almost every day) and seeing her work behind the scenes, I can fully and without reservations recommend her as a place where your horses will never, ever be compromised in the name of anything.

Thank you Kim. We love you here at EH. I am grateful for your friendship. And Happy Birthday!

Unbridled LLC with Kim Hallin
https://www.kimhallin.com/

As the new year begins, I want to take a moment to thank the incredible people who help to bring light to this space. Social media isn’t always the most positive or supportive place, yet here, on this page, I am continually reminded of the goodness and grace that exists in the world–– and yes, even within the horse industry.

If you've been active (or even just a friendly lurker here) over the past year, thank you for being respectful, thoughtful, reflective, and kind. Thank you for asking questions (even challenging ones) with maturity and self-control, and for showing up with open hearts and inquisitive minds. It’s a gift to be able to share my unique reflections, perspectives, and offerings (I'm well aware that the topics I post can sometimes be uncomfortable) with other humans who are not just open to hearing to these ideas, but often validate them.

Thank you for leaning into your own growth journey, even when it’s hard. Thank you for trusting your intuition (and your horses) and for valuing wisdom and truth over tradition, industry standards and the status quo. Together we're finding the courage to sit in our individual and collective discomfort, the strength to advocate unapologetically for our horses, the integrity to honor our own voices, and the grace to show up authentically, even when the path forward feels uncertain.

Your presence here inspires me. Your ability to engage with complex ideas, to reflect on your own experiences, and to celebrate the profound connections we share with horses makes this space feel like a safe haven for me to be myself, share my heart, and do my work in the world.

As we step into 2025, I feel hopeful—not just for the work I get to continue to do through Unbridled, but because of the remarkable people I continue to meet along the way. Including all of you. Your wisdom, kindness, generosity, and openness remind me why this work of equine-inspired personal growth matters so deeply.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for who you are. Thank you for sharing the wisdom of YOUR horses. Thank you for engaging with me and others in meaningful dialog. I’m endlessly grateful.

06/02/2025

Spring/Autumn Clinics 2025.

Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

We are not going everywhere in the world. But I am taking a one-way ticket from Europe, Australasia, USA. Going all the way around. So technically, I can call this a "World Tour". But I am not Taylor Swift, so we can calm that down.

I was born in Australia but I immigrated to Europe at 18. My whole adult life has been outside of Australia, and I have not been in Australia for 9 years. This is my first visit to Australia to present four Emotional Horsemanship clinics, in Perth, South Australia, Melbourne and Dorrigo (Near Coffs Harbour). Unfortunately a QLD clinic did not fit the schedule at this time.

Then, I am making a pit stop in New Zealand on my way to USA. I will be at the Kapiti Equestrian Centre near Wellington at the beginning of May, I have not been in New Zealand since I was a little boy, I love New Zealand and look forward to a brief but meaningful visit.

Jumping across the Pacific I will start my fourth North American clinic schedule in Arizona, Cave Creek. My first time in Arizona. Then Taos New Mexico. The Taos clinic appears to be a meeting point for a lot of our students and community members, something like an EH jamboree. Hope to see you there! From Taos I will be on the east coast. First, partnering with the incredible Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue for a clinic in Mt. Airy, Maryland. And finishing in New Hampshire at a wonderful equi-central stable, also the location of my team member Kristy Foley.

Summer this year I will be at home developing my horses, working with long term clients and surfacing my small outdoor arena. I will have small retreats at the farm this summer- if you are interested get in touch to discuss. I am also potentially considering an intern for the summer. Also get in touch if that interests you.

October this year I will be on the road again, Buffalo NY, Ottawa, Edmonton and we hope a Vancouver area clinic- but stay tuned for details on those soon.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the persons who applied to host me for a clinic, past and present. And thank Michelle & Belinda, Elise, Meagan, Kate, Lynda, Jennifer, Robin, Lorin and Stacia for stepping forwards to host these clinics this year. I am so grateful for you. We work very hard to to deliver a turn key clinic, all our hosts are paid a commission, I handle all my own travel bookings, and we handle all tickets. Our hosts are free'd up to... host. We handle the rest.

These clinics are all of them brand new locations, to new communities. Many existing community members will be present. But the vast majority of people I meet at clinics are the general public who are curious.

These clinics are introductory clinics. They are a low-dust clinic. There are no sticks, no spurs. No ropes will be shaken and no flag will be waved. We will present day 1, moment 1 of how to begin working with horses with just your body, just your feel, and your radical willingness to listen to and prioritize the horse.

Auditors are welcome, and on Day 1 of this clinic, we engage in exercises that involve the auditors if they wish. Each day ends with a Q&A or discussion, and I promise I am the most patient one there, I stay until there are no more questions or concerns spoken.

Riding is on the menu. But probably not for every horse who attends. We allow the horses to tell us if they are ready for that in the clinic environment, or if they are ready for that at all. Non-ridden horses, mules, and mini's are welcome. Stallions and horses under the age of 4 are not appropriate for this clinic.

Horses must be a minimum age of 6 to ride with me in a clinic. Sorry not sorry.

Day 1 is a group clinic. Day 2 presents a short group session and then shifts into private lessons.

No two clinics have been the same. They can be intense, funny, interesting, still, active, academic, emotional... everything in between.

Anything the horses need is what we will focus on. Including but not limited to leg handling, relationship to pressure, yields and draws, Mare & Foal Bonding, Spatial Relationships, Classical Posture, Postural Abudance, Lunging, Lateral Work... its often normal at these clinics to be working on gentle c**t starting with a mustang, AND teaching an older horse shoulder in, at the same time.

I seek to juggle it all.

The clinics are not my performance, I am there to support the horses and their people, and give voice to bigger issues facing the equestrian community that is willing to actually face the issues, instead of thinking of their feelings, but think finally of the horses feelings. I demonstrate in instances where persons are visual learners, or when a really tricky to recognise element needs to be recognised. I am not there to show off.

I am not for everyone, and not trying to be. But I do my best to be absolutely myself.

The clinics are not cheap, because it is ridiculously expensive for me to travel for business like this. But we promise a high value event that respects your investment.

We hope to see you there, and welcome any questions in the comments below!

05/02/2025

I have had a large number of messages since I returned to work.
The most common has been...
"Where did you get the saddle for your Andalusian?"

The answer is Allegany Mountain Saddlery Staci Saulter.

I have had a long history with saddles. For a few years, I was the busiest distributer and consultant for treeless and alternative tree'd saddles in Eastern Europe, before immigrating to Spain. I still have a variety of alternative saddles in my tack room.

In some cases, as it is with Sureño de Centurion my 11 year old PRE, his underlying physical health puts him a hairs width away from being 86's from riding. If any of his X-rays we did last summer came out even a tiny bit worse than they did, I was ready to retire him from riding. Despite the fact his father is Fer Bago, a Spanish Dressage Champion, and his mother Malagueña is a morphology champion, and he has talent and desire out his ears, if his body was even half a degree worse than we found it out to be, I would find it unethical to expose him to riding.

As it is, due to the X-rays, I retired him from the free riding and ba****ck riding I was exploring with him a year ago.

His spine, his neck, has zero room for error. He needs a saddle that distributes weight and gives him room to expand.

We have a fitted dressage saddle for him, but like most dressage saddles these days, the balance points of the saddle keep instructing my riding body to brace against the knee blocks I have removed, and fill the cantle I want to leave inviolate, to remove all compression from his T16-18. It is a great saddle that fits him, but it is an off-the-rack tree with custom flocking.

We needed something better.

Enter Staci Saulter at Allegany. After meeting her as a clinic host (We have done 2 clinics together and planning our third) I was immediately blown away by her expertise. Her mentors in fitting saddles are the Who's Who of todays saddle world. But more than this, Staci is kind. Down to earth. Hard working. Compassionate. And exceptionally honest. These are rare qualities.

The saddles are handmade in Western New York state by Amish craftsman. I know some folks are concerned about the treatment some horses have experienced in Amish communities. Last time I was in NY with Staci, she took me to the workshops as she collected saddles and I met with the Amish families who make these saddles. I asked if I could go into their barns and meet their horses. I found happy, healthy, hard working horses, well cared for. Immaculate, peaceful farms and humble, kind and respectful people who met me with curiosity.

I literally met with my maker!

The craftmanship of an Allegany Mountain Saddle speaks for itself... just look at them. And the fit... my god the fit.

Staci can send anyone in the world a box with saddle forms and a set of instructions. Staci fits over 400 saddles a year this way and is committed to ensuring the success of the saddle.

A simple and effective digital fitting service follows and deep consultations too. Staci chose a combination of two different tree's for Sureño's saddle. And fitted me to it as well, quote
"If anybody else was going to use this saddle I would give him a different shaped tree. But because it is you, I will give you this shape that creates maximum room for topline development".
Did I mention this saddle is light for a western, at 12.5kg? And lighter models are available, because you can fully customise every aspect of your order.

Straight out of the box, this saddle caused Sureño's head shaking, that occured every time I untacked him, to evaporate. He stays smooth and calm and comfortable during our sessions.

His topline is better. And within 6 months of using this saddle, he recovered his high level movements once again.

I cannot recommend AMS enough, I have two saddles from them and will be arranging a third for Oki when the time comes. I make no income off this recommendation, Staci sponsored Sureño's saddle kindly, but I paid for my second and will insist on paying for my third.

They are not expensive, starting at $2500USD, and going up from there. And tells me she wants these saddles to be accessible.

Thank you Staci and AMS, we love you guys.
https://www.alleganysaddlery.com/

04/02/2025

The horse industry is confused. Two camps have begun to appear; Horsepeople who employ horses in jobs, and Horsepeople who have horses for the love of having horses. The confusion is often pitching these two camps against each other.

Folks who rely on horses for ranches, or in sport, for their livelihood, often look at leisure owners and their horses as spoiled, indulgent perhaps.
“Good for them!”, they say.
“But my horse needs to respond when I need them to respond.”
Sometimes, there is a sneer, often the condescension is hidden or couched better. Most often however, there is just plain detached bewilderment, that there exists millions of horses and horse people for whom the purpose of the horse is undefined to the folk who rely on horses for a job.

Camp 2 is often no better. Folks who have horses in their life as an elective pleasure, or artistic hobby, can often look over at horses employed in specific tasks and see pressure, pressure, pressure. Problems, problems, problems. Clutch pearls and grabbing pitchforks. Lighting flaming torches and embarking on witch hunts in which the “witch” is some obscure ethical yard stick folks decided they had the right to measure other folks with. Lambasting the rider of the ranch horse and the producer of the sport horse with curses against their character and with noses in the air, making sworn statements to never subject their equines to the same treatment.

I know this because at varying times in my career- I have been both people.

I have not been a working dancer for a long time. I have spent more time working with horses than I did in the dance industry. I consider myself a horseman since childhood, who had an interesting brief sojourn in dance, so that I could learn what it felt like to be;
- a creature of movement
- without a voice
- working often with violent leaders, yet forced to perform.
- Or, working with incompetent people who wasted my motivation on their endless, self absorbed anxiety or allowed my talent and training to die due to not knowing how to employ it.

It was the best possible empathic preparation for horses.

I have been both “horses”. I have been both horse people.

To the horse-folk who employ horses, I know safety is your number 1. Often, safety is the reason we hold onto practices which can wobble between violence and being effective. Like, we retain the right to force compliance in the same of safety, by any means necessary. A friend of mine who recently attended an Olympic level equestrian clinic was shocked to discover that relentless whipping for refusal of a task was “The only way to do this”. Because refusal of a task, in some circumstances, can mean death to the horse and the person.

But I want you to know, safety is EVERYONE'S first priority. And there are options that don't involve violence to the vulnerable animal in our employ.

What you don’t know is that I spent more than a decade of my short life on again-off again, working trail horses for the public in the last untouched wilderness of Europe, the Sierra Nevada National Park of Andalucia. I found my heart horse there, he is below my window now.

I have seen horses fall off cliffs, with clients on board- because they did not have sufficient training. I have had to “Rock Climb” to go and rescue those horses, on my own. I have seen horses flip over backwards on people who then needed helicopter evacuation, because the lead horse wouldn’t go forward in a crucial moment. I have known people lost legs, because they got stuck in equipment on a bucking stallion, spurs cutting the leg free from their body. I have had clients lose their lives, months after I tried to intervene and begged them to prepare their horses better.

Today, I work mostly for the private owner. Not ranchers, not sportsman. I work for private owners, many of them are horse pro’s. As a horse pro, my horses are also my livelihood. If I cannot demonstrate my work to a high level in tutorials on my own horses, I get no international clinic bookings, produce no courses, book no lessons. And this is my sole income, that employs now six people together with me. My horses have jobs too. But I have developed a job structure that centres my horses always before the results of the job... because I chose to make that career change, and chose to do it this way. I walked away from traditional equestrian work for this reason.

One of the biggest misnomers is that “folks like me” abandon the Doing-ness of horses, because our horses no longer have to perform a day job according to what day jobs have looked like for generations. Yet our horses need all the same skills all horses need. A rider is still dead, regardless how they die. Anybody who elects to swing a leg over requires a safe horse to work with, regardless where they are in the world or what they do.

If we have any luxury that perhaps was not a part of society until now, it is that of time. We do not have to force compliance in any sort of time frame. That gift of time allows us to spend a little longer asking the horse some questions. Often the answers to those questions are
1. This horse shouldn’t be ridden, ever. No matter the training.
2. This horse is not ready for riding.
3. This owner is not a good match for this horse.
4. This owner is not acting in a responsible manner.
5. This horse is over-faced by the owners expectations.
6. This horse is genetically, or medically, not healthy enough for what the owner wants out of the horse.

And in those circumstances “people like me” are often able to keep and safe-guard those horses that others would deem “useless” and sell down the river to God knows what fate.

Yet, anyone who elects to ride horses, needs horses who are trained and communicative. But not only riding. People die on the ground plenty around horses. Unless we release horses to sanctuaries where they are without human contact, all domestic horses need the same skills, all horses need.

Electing to teach them without devices that induce pain or discomfort if the horse is in conflict with the aids or request, is not bypassing safety. It is guaranteeing it. I understand that good handlers can use potentially volatile equipment without harm. But folks who are not equestrian professionals shouldn’t use tools that are volatile, and the most time poor owner in the world- the Working Equestrian Professional, often doesn’t have the time or energy to get those tools right for their clients, or their own horses.

A rancher might be able to tinker with a tool all day, and the next. A recreational owner might get 20 minutes after work. A working equine pro might not touch their own horses for months or years, if they still have their own private horses.

So turns out, ALL horses everywhere are often under the same pressures in different guises. When all is said and done, all of us have work to do for our horses. All of us.

Professionally, I won’t put tools in the hands of folks that don’t have the time to get them right or that should be handled by pro’s. I won't let people play with fire on my watch. Techniques that induce excessive pressure, yet remove the time required to finesse those techniques, can ruin a horse real quickly. A recreational owner who pi**es off their horse, or hurts them regularly, or uses them inappropriately, is headed for disaster too. Titanic.

In fact, I met people working trail heads and Guiding in the mountains who were in grave danger with horses and had no idea. I have met with clients in stables all over the world who were struggling, regardless of their background, or desired outcome. I have also seen exceptionally happy and well trained horses in every category.

I saw a gaping hole in the industry, that the "newer" people were without leadership, teachers, or methods that understood them. “Harriet the Hacker” and “Rachel Recreation” cannot thrive with tools and techniques designed for “Rob the Rancher” or “Sam the Sportsman”. They are oil and water. Some systems of training before us have tried. And largely failed to honour the horse. They tried to augment ranching/sporting traditions for the now growing base of the industry. And crashed and burned. Yet private aspirational ownership is on the rise. And they are paired with horses who are often struggling.

This is big work in the industry. Are we tired of binaries and partisanship that patronise the way “people who are not like me” work with horses?

Until the recreational owner and the trainers that focus on them are seen legitimate by traditional horseman, the industry is headed for an iceberg. Hubris. Look at the FEI, lemmings in jodhpurs running for a cliff.

Until the recreational owner respects the 5,500 years of tradition that came before Henry Ford invented the internal combustion engine, and learns to understand honoured practices AND redact the violence out of them, we are all headed for a dead end.

So what is the answer? How are you doing better by your horse, and yourself today? You tell me below.

03/02/2025

I am Lockie Phillips, but that is not important.

I retired from a career as a classical ballet dancer with the Polish National Ballet seven years ago, after working for eight years as a dancer across Europe but that is not important.

I taught my first lesson with horses and riders thirteen years ago. I am almost 35 years old, and I have lived many lives. My work with horses has long since outgrown the work I did in dance. Yet now with the horses, the dancing never stops.

This page, this platform such as it is, is an echo of my home. A home for my horses, my team, our work, and perhaps the growing number of people for whom us and our work resonates with.

But most importantly, this page, this platform such as it is, is an echo of the horses represented by the people for whom we work for, and assist.

We are here for the horses.

We do our very best to perceive the needs, desires and preferences of the horses that the people we work for, represent. For it behooves us -pun intended- to put the horses first. To do our best to perceive the needs of the horses and act as their mouthpiece. Their advocate.

Last year, and in years prior, our ethos was a little different. The ethos was;
"Horse work is people work. Prioritise the people and the horses will follow."

And in principle, your personal needs are still important to us. In the delivery of now over 1200 private services annually, international clinics, large and small mentorship programs, and free offerings such as YT and our Podcast, we offer a discerning focus on the person before us. Coaching, teaching, training- this and more is required by us, for the people who link arms with us. Yet we found a stumbling block. Too frequently, when we put the human before the horse, we can get stuck on ourselves. And we cannot assist horses if someone is experiencing themselves as an overwhelming presence. As equestrian professionals, this cannot do, because our job is with the horses, so we need to reach the horses.

We need you to put yourself first. We cannot put you first, especially if you don’t put yourself first. We need you to put yourself first, take care of yourself, so that we can focus on the horses when we are with you.

There are too many horses, and not enough horsepeople. Horses need horsepeople to care for them. The act of care is fundamentally de-centering. If you are waiting for horsemanship to feel really centred -to you- then you are on a pathway to Self Centered Horsemanship. Where your horse may play second fiddle to your needs, your feelings, your desires and wants. Often, with very good intentions. Often with many consequences to the horses well-being.

Recent trends would have us believe that horsemanship is an act of centering ourselves, a “Self-Help” prospect for the new Millennium. I have come to find, horsemanship and horse training probably is best not used as a Self-Help modality. Horsemanship is best used as the act centering the horse.

So where do we focus on our inner work, in this crazy world, where do we center ourselves?

How about centering ourselves before going out to the horses? Center yourself without the horses around. Because when you go out to care for, handle, train or ride your horse, your focus must be on the horse- not you.

Paradoxically, in order to do this properly, you have to have centered and grounded yourself, on your own, first. If not, you will find yourself with a horse, at the end of your rope, your patience, your emotional balance. That is when people lose control and lash out at the horse. Because deep down, they might be confused and hurt that quality horsemanship doesn’t feel like a self-centering practice. So they may lash out, or freeze or Insert-Trauma-Response-Here. That is when discerning instructors and trainers should signpost people to leave the horse alone and take care of themselves. Horse trainers shouldn’t act as therapists, if our competency rests in half-halts, seat mechanics, feel and equine development. Ask your people to return when they can apply their feel, their emotion, to a horse focused place.

We need to ask ourselves; “Do I think horses should help me be centered personally?” If yes, is that appropriate? Is that working for both of you?

Perhaps your job is to center yourself. And to not ask vulnerable animals that are in our domestic care to ameliorate the personal inner journey you might be best doing with a therapist trained to do that safely. Then, when you go to your horse, understand that horsemanship is a different type of personal skill- the opposite of centering yourself.

Horsemanship- a bit like good parenting- is about extending yourself. Stretch. Leap. Try. Aspire. Explore. Inquire. You extend yourself, outside yourself. Consider it a fabulous holiday away from yourself. Away from the petty obsessions of your everyday life. Your inner work done prior to joining your horse, your inner work so strong, so consolidated, that you can project energies and extend yourself to center the horse, center others. So self assured you can be Selfless.

All meditation practices have this as a goal. To lose the self in the act of meditation. To be SO PRESENT that You disappear. Your ego, evaporates. Now, the ego is not all evil. Without an ego, none of us would brush our hair! But we need to stop asking horses to “Brush Our Energetic Emotional Hair”, and call that training. But have you ever spent so much time thinking about yourself that you get sick of being selfish? And want to apply your energies to something outside yourself?

Extending yourself into art, creativity, care, enquiry and exploration is a self-extension activity, not a self-centering activity.

Try and imagine the last time you watched someone ride or train a horse selfishly. Where was the horse in the result? It was all about the human? What did it look like? What were the stories people told about those results?

Now stop and think of the last rider or trainer you know where you almost didn’t see the human, you hardly saw the techniques, if you saw the techniques at all. Nothing seemed to happen in the human yet the horse was fully focused on what the human was doing, even if you were deaf and blind to what the human was doing.

You just saw the horse.

That is what Emotional Horsemanship is all about. Inspired by horses. Always inspired by horses.