Emotional Horsemanship by Lockie Phillips

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Emotional Horsemanship by Lockie Phillips

Helping deeply caring equestrians create emotionally balanced horses with science, empathy and feel

16/12/2024

Rest
verb
1. cease work or movement in order to relax, sleep, or recover strength.
"he needed to rest after the feverish activity"
Similar:
relax
take a rest
ease up/off
let up
slow down
pause
have/take a break
unbend
repose
laze
idle
loaf
do nothing
take time off
unwind
recharge one's batteries
be at leisure
take it easy
sit back
sit down
stand down
lounge
loll
slump
flop
put one's feet up
lie down
go to bed
have/take a nap
nap
catnap
doze
have/take a siesta
drowse
sleep
de-stress
take five
have/take a breather
veg out
snooze
sn**ch forty winks
get some shut-eye
kip
have a kip
get some kip
chill out
kick back
catch some Zs
slumber
allow to be inactive in order to regain strength or health.
allow (land) to lie fallow.
"the field should be grazed or rested"
2.
be placed or supported so as to stay in a specified position.
"her elbow was resting on the arm of the sofa"
Similar:
lie
be laid
recline
repose
be
be placed
be positioned
be supported by
be propped up by
place (something) so that it is supported in a specified position.
"he rested a hand on her shoulder"
Similar:
support
prop (up)
steady
balance
lean
lay
set
sit
stand
position
place
put
(of a look) alight or be steadily directed on.
"his eyes rested briefly on the boy"
3.
be based on; depend on.
"the country's security rested on its alliances"
Similar:
be based on
be grounded in
be founded on
depend on
be dependent on
rely on
hinge on
turn on
hang on
pivot on
be contingent on
revolve around
centre on
place hope, trust, or confidence on or in.

There are many definitions of Rest.

I am not fluent enough in all of them. Not even close.

My entire adult life has been lived with speed and urgency. With a lot of thought, focus, effort and action. A lot of timing, support, collaboration and outreach.

Not all those things involved rest- not sufficient.

Next year will be another big year. I want to be fully present for it. I want to give my best. My absolute best. Not my economized consolation. My best.

And the best and highest use of my life- for the next few weeks, is to rest.

And, social media, being online, is no longer a place I can go for rest. So I have to log-off. Lay up.

I’m even taking these apps off my phone for a while.

I begin work in public on February 1. For any urgent matters you can contact [email protected].

Anyone I want to be in direct private communication with- I already am. But otherwise, if you want to find me? I will be out in my life off of here.

I will report back, what I learn from it.

Take care of yourselves. Thank you for a fabulous year.

13/12/2024

Calling all caring horse people! You need some key phrases, in your back pocket. Key phrases, you have practiced and prepared, to help you navigate being a horse person in the world.
Specifically, to help you navigate being a horse person in the world who does not force, manipulate, over-pressure, scare, enrage or harm their horses and call that training.

Pop these phrases in your back pocket, and deploy them next time someone comes inappropriately into your space, having no idea that they are not entitled to being in your space, and they do so with judgement, or to patronise you.

You know the people who unsolicited come over to you, in person or online and say things along the lines of;

"Did you know that X means Y and you're supposed to do Z?... (insert something you're very aware of, and already taking action on here)"

"You're doing something dangerous (Insert you doing something quiet, peaceful and patient with a horse that you have carefully studied and prepared)"

"When are you going to ride that horse? (Insert you developing a horse patiently, as afforded by scientific evidence of skeletal development)"

"You are too soft with that horse (Insert you teaching your horse skills that are bounded and structured so that you never need brutalism to make your point)"

You see, almost everyday, I also get people coming inappropriately in my space. Always have. Most of the time, they have no awareness that they have come into my space in a way I dislike. Because nobody has told them. Or my boundaries are ones they have not met before. But it is still my right to communicate that to them, and reclaim my time, energy and space. People do not need ill-intentions, to engage in poor behaviour towards you. And if they do it to you, they are probably doing it to horses too.

When I was at boarding barns, it was constant. And now I am online, it is constant. I think I am succeeding in building a reputation where folks know that I am not a public figure running for political office that they are entitled to engage with and ask me to change (for them), and that I am a business owner and a human being that sets a standard for how people are in my space, in my energy, the same way horses have certain ways they like to be approached. So, it happens all the time. And I have a few phrase I deploy to protect my energy, my time and my space, have used them for years.

No guarantee the person you say these to is going to like you for saying them. Often, if they are not aware of their transgression, and are made aware, they will say that they have good intentions, good meanings, as a "Get Out of Boundaries Free Card". But again, good intentions are not good behaviours. The two are not always happening at the same time. So, these phrases are best used if you have consolidated your fawn response and you're no longer afraid of displeasing people that cannot be pleased, or who are shocked to discover that there are specific ways you want to be talked to, and ways you don't. And they are not allowed to behave anyway they want to you. Unless you entitled them to be all over you.

Here are some phrases to save into your back pocket, so that you can navigate being a caring horse person, in a brutal and entitled world, without losing your mind.

"Thank you for your concern. I do not share the same concern."
"I understand that your intention is good by doing X, but that message/thing you said is inappropriate for me. Thank you for giving me space."
"Thanks for taking an interest. At this time I am satisfied with what I am doing, and how I am doing it. Thank you for leaving me in peace with my horse."
"No, thank you."
"No."
"Hey, can we talk about this later, I am busy with my horse right now. Want to have coffee/lunch/dinner and talk about this calmly?"
"Can you please in the future wait for me to ask you for advise before making a comment?"
"Thank you. I am already aware of/know that."
"Thank you for caring about my safety. That's important to me too. I just have different ways to stay safe."
"I see how you can see that. I don't see it that way. But I don't judge you for seeing my situation differently."
"Thank you, but I have my teachers in place, I am not seeking unsolicited advise at this time even if it is well intentioned."
"Please do not speak to me like that, or engage with me like this."
"Thank you for respecting my space, my peace and leaving that to me. I will do the same for you."
"I know that you care/are interested/want to help/want to engage with me, but the way you are doing that right now, is inappropriate for me. That's a boundary for me, and thank you for respecting that."
"I don't need anybody else to like or agree with what I am doing, but I do kindly request that you respect my right to be different to you, and leave me in peace."
"Leave me alone please."

And if these clear boundary setting phrases don't work. DEFCON-5 is to simply say, with your shoulders back, chin up, and with calm eye contact, or clear written english...

"Please mind your own business."

11/12/2024

Holiday Sales for 2024/2025!

Every year, at this time of year, I run a sale for the community. We place as much as we can on it, and this year is no exception.

All our online courses are for sale at 25% off for a limited time only.

Including the popular foundation online course, barefoot basics, our food rewards mini-course AND, this year we have a NEW online course available, fresh off the press.

Homecoming 2.0 Ahead of the Curve is just wrapping up, and you can enter into this course as a self study student and see over 70 hours of study materials, this year focused on riding. Not at all what you might predict it can be, this course is already being called a paradigm shifter, as we move away from selfish and harmful ways of riding horses, and move into the future we all dreamed could be possible.

Come and play in this years courses, by going to emotionalhorsemanship dot com, and navigating to the page called HOLIDAY SALES. See all the offers and links there!

07/12/2024

Stress Hormones, they are comfortably misleading us.

Cortisol. If you asked most horse people what cortisol is, they would say, it is a stress hormone. But upon closer analysis, cortisol is not a stress hormone. First, let us define exactly what stress is.

Medi-line Plus is the US National Library of Medicine and their website which is an official extension of the US Government, describes stress as:
"Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any event or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous. Stress is your body's reaction to a challenge or demand. In short bursts, stress can be positive, such as when it helps you avoid danger or meet a deadline."

Our layman's understanding of stress simply, is
Stress = Bad.
Stress = Unhealthy.
Stress = Poor Moral/Ethics/Welfare.

We need to know that this meaning of stress is not scientific. It is an implied emotional meaning to the word. It is a societal conditioning.

Yet if we detach ourselves from the implied emotional meaning that our society has conditioned into us as to what stress means, and look at the components of stress, we find ingredients of "stress" everywhere in the body in a whole host of functions.

If you fall in love, the neural-chemistry is very akin to negative-emotional-stress. In fact, more similar than it is different. Like how chimpanzee's share the majority of the DNA with us. So much so that studies of chimpanzee's have been used to influence human healthcare. Love and Negative-Emotional-Distress are chemically very similar in the nervous system.

Eustress.
Described by Miriam-Webster as
"A positive form of stress having a beneficial effect on health, motivation, performance, and emotional well-being."

Yet chemically, stress and eustress are almost (not completely) identical.

They both involve cortisol.

Did you know that without cortisol, you would faint every time you stood up after laying down? Without cortisol, you couldn't interpret a new recipe for dinner. You couldn't drive a car. You couldn't exercise. You couldn't engage with other humans socially. You couldn't care for horses. You couldn't learn to ride. You couldn't in fact, learn to do anything, and then do anything you have learned to do, without allowing your body to produce cortisol.

Because Cortisol is NOT a stress hormone. Cortisol is a metabolic regulator. Cortisol ensures that your body has the right systems online, for the right tasks. Without it, you actually dysregulate.

But the horse training world has not understood this. As a necessary departure from the Negative-Emotional-Distress we have witnessed for much too long in our industry, we have run head first into a total over-correction. We have demonised cortisol, often because we do not have enough healthy role models of trainers creating Eustress is horses, and horses enjoying Eustress. Or if we do, our leaders are not promoting it publicly, they promote it privately and silently, because they can feel that the community at large does not have the ability to recognise the difference between a positive and negative stress state.

So we err on the side of caution. And promote down-regulated parasympathetic nervous systems only. I have played a very strong part in this trend. And to this day, down-regulation IS my starting point with almost any horse.

But down regulation is not my Achievement Goal. It is not the ultimate version of horsemanship.

The ultimate achievement is a horse that can experience ALL that life has to offer, together with their human. All of it. I will take all of it. Up and down the nervous system. Side to side through valance and arousal. In and out of emotional meaning.

I wish for you to imagine the following allegory, to help you understand the potential negative effects, over-focusing on down regulation can have on your relationship with your horse.

Imagine you invite a friend out to coffee. You and your friend are not traumatised people, or recovering from trauma. You are both mentally and physically healthy and happy generally. Good moods, most of the time.

You go to the cafe. You start to tell your friend a story. As you tell the story you become animated. Excited. (Cortisol). You recount this funny and engaging story with facial expressions. With emotions. With hand gestures. You passionately describe the story to your friend you hope is listening and enjoying the story.

As you up-regulate your nervous system while you communicate with your friend, they do something strange now.

They stop looking you in the eye. They even look away from you into the middle distance. They deeply sigh. They fold their hands into their lap and go quiet. They disengage with you. You ask them what's wrong and they don't answer. They just deeply exhale again. They begin to meditate deeply while you are in the middle of your exciting story.

Eventually, the message you get from them passively, is that your excitement, your passion, your expression... IS NOT WELCOME with them.

So you copy them. You gaze into middle distance. Fold your hands. Get quiet. Behave yourself. Stop looking at them. And stop telling your story.

Then, and only then, your friend says
"Good!" And rewards you. Pats and strokes you. Then they smile at you and reward you with the return of their social engagement.

They repeat this pattern so consistently, that now every time you see them, you have been conditioned by them into being chronically subdued. Then eventually, coffee dates become dates at the gym. And the process is repeated there. When you try to recruit exciting nervous system and emotional states to help you feel motivated by the gym, your friends bizarre fixation on relaxing stops you in your tracks. And now you are lifting heavy weights, trying to cosplay a delicate, particular, pretty veneer of polite quiet confidence.

Trying to make it look relaxed. Which is anathema to offering effort.

All of this is not applicable, if you and or your friend are ill. Sick. Unwell mentally and physically. In the initial stages of healing the body and mind, down regulation is the easiest starting point, and the safest.

And I acknowledge the work of my colleagues who focus on down regulation as their clients generally present varying degrees of sick and unwell horses.

But as soon as horses have a base line of wellness, we are supposed to pivot, and teach ourselves how to power up, and enjoy high effort activities too.

Because that is the spice of life.

Everything else is just a bland mono-culture.

And here with EH, our goal is to ensure you and the horse are mentally and physically healthy, in down regulation, so that you can return to life. To joy. To excitement. To fun.

www.emotionalhorsemanship.com
----------

Some of the scientific literature I used in the building of this understanding and training approach:

Mommsen, T.P., Vijayan, M.M. & Moon, T.W. Cortisol in teleosts: dynamics, mechanisms of action, and metabolic regulation. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 9, 211–268 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008924418720

Elizabeth A. Young, James Abelson, Stafford L. Lightman,
Cortisol pulsatility and its role in stress regulation and health,
Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology,
Volume 25, Issue 2,
2004,
Pages 69-76,
ISSN 0091-3022,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2004.07.001.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091302204000184)

RT Journal Article
A1 Stalder, Tobias
A1 Oster, Henrik
A1 Abelson, James L
A1 Huthsteiner, Katharina
A1 Klucken, Tim
A1 Clow, Angela
T1 The Cortisol Awakening Response: Regulation and Functional Significance
JF Endocrine Reviews
JO Endocr Rev
YR 2024
DO 10.1210/endrev/bnae024
OP bnae024
SN 0163-769X
RD 12/7/2024
UL https://doi.org/10.1210/endrev/bnae024

Lauren A.M. Lebois, Esther K. Papies, Kaundinya Gopinath, Romeo Cabanban, Karen S. Quigley, Venkatagiri Krishnamurthy, Lisa Feldman Barrett, Lawrence W. Barsalou,
A shift in perspective: Decentering through mindful attention to imagined stressful events,
Neuropsychologia,
Volume 75,
2015,
Pages 505-524,
ISSN 0028-3932,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.05.030.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028393215300452)
Keywords: Decentering; Mental simulation; Mindfulness; Neuroimaging; Self; Stress

Michele M. Tugade, Department of Psychology, Vassar College; Barbara L. Fredrickson, Department of Psychology and Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan; and Lisa Feldman Barrett, Department of Psychology, Boston College.
Preparation of this paper was supported by a National Service Research Award from the NIMH (F32-MH64267) to Michele Tugade; grants from the NIMH (MH53971 and MH59615) and funds from the John Templeton Foundation to Barbara Fredrickson; and NSF grants SBR-9727896, BCS 0074688 and NIMH grant K02 MH001981 to Lisa Feldman Barrett.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2004.00294.x

Interoceptive Sensitivity and Self-Reports of Emotional Experience.
By Barrett, Lisa Feldman,Quigley, Karen S.,Bliss-Moreau, Eliza,Aronson, Keith R.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 87(5), Nov 2004, 684-697

Equine Stress: Neuroendocrine Physiology and Pathophysiology
Written By Milomir Kovac, Tatiana Vladimirovna Ippolitova, Sergey Pozyabin, Ruslan Aliev, Viktoria Lobanova, Nevena Drakul and Catrin S. Rutland. Submitted: 26 July 2021 Reviewed: 25 April 2022 Published: 09 June 2022
DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.105045

https://books.google.es/books?hl=en&lr=&id=bwi9DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=horses+positive+eustress&ots=R9CV5HX1lf&sig=2su0QXyicfeDrzc_jda2x_b-70g&redir_esc=y =onepage&q&f=false

04/12/2024

Unconscious movements muddy the waters.

Lately, I have found myself teaching something consistently, across levels, across countries, in lessons with my clients. I have been assisting my community in finding a base line in their body that they can rely on. And their horse too.

Imagine talking to somebody, and as you talk to them, they don't look you in the eye properly, they fidget, shift from foot to foot, scratch themselves, fling their sweater haphazardly, and change weight rapidly without meaning, and posture themselves in 13 micropositions, all without meaning.

Well, the meaning is there. The meaning is= meaningless movement.

This is nothing to feel ashamed about around horses. We all do it. We all find ourselves stuck in patterns that became unconscious and out of our control. We all do it. I remember where I was when I learned that the movement of a lead rope laid up in my hands, and its pendulum swing as I walked quietly was enough to perturb a very sensitive horse. All I had to do, was keep the rope well in hand and well controlled and I could make my communication through to the horse, more clean.

Because that's what I am talking about. Clean communication.

The same way I strive to say my mind plainly nowadays, even to a fault I'll admit, is the same skill I bring to horses and teach to my community.

Be aware. Then, be aware of your awareness. Then be aware of your awareness and its own awareness.

It is amazing really how congruent a horse is. Present to me a fidgeting horse, that "gets bored" easily, or struggles to stand still or dislikes quiet, and I will show you their handler/owner nearby who is exactly the same.

If we present ourselves with background noise, you won't have a quiet horse.

And the quiet horse is the keystone, the backbone, of really beautiful and sucessfull training and riding.

A horse who is base line quiet now has the mental and emotional capacity to put energy into discerningly exciting activities with people- if they want to.

And that starts with us, cleaning up our movement.

If you struggle with this, I do have a whole online course designed for human movement for equestrians. But if you don't have time for that, I challenge you to find your quiet, still position, one that cannot and won't be moved. Start there, and end there. Find your position and start and end all techniques you train with there.

Just like my Vaganova Classical Ballet training taught me to start in fifth position, and end in fifth position- even if nobody is watching. It is a discipline that brings organisation and clarity to what can sometimes be very muddy waters.

And I am determined to be here, cleaning this industry up. One loving horse person at a time.

03/12/2024

Based on recent research coming to light, I’d like to describe what I am evolving on, in the ever expanding work of Emotional Horsemanship.

1. I used to believe there were correct and optimal positions and movements to prefer. I now understand that these positions and movements are good and helpful if they are good and helpful, and they won’t always be. We need to give bodies options. Not minimal, reductionist, optimal and inflexible zones of safety. Options and variation, as much as we can afford them within their anatomical limits.

2. I no longer teach automatic associations between specific movements, body parts, and behaviors as automatic universal triggers to specific emotional states as the final answer. This is taught as an important stepping stone. Because we cannot understand the enormous variation and nuance that is the truth, if we have not understood some basic symbols. Horses don’t speak with their bodies in automatic button pressing, trigger meaning, action states. That feels intuitive but recent science has blown that out the water, as a naive first step in understanding horses only. It’s a helpful stepping stone in teaching progressive clients who are only starting to understand horses. But as soon as possible we need to get our students comfortable with interpreting not behavioural formulas like an alphabet, but exploring the abundance of variation that each horse present.

3. Homeostatic nervous systems are probably unhealthy. I used to promote consistency and sameness as the goal we might aspire to. I still believe it’s helpful for most horses to find a calm baseline. But not to live only and forever in that place. We understand now that healthy brains and bodies have ups and downs. Not flatlines in the middle. And we need to be training as such.

4. Emotions are not triggered. It feels like they are. But brains have prepared responses ready before triggers arrive- brains and bodies predict what’s coming. When the brain predicts something, and they predicted incorrectly, the brain feels very awkward and uncomfortable. The nervous system immediately is taxed and can be very jarred. The technical term for this poorly predicted discomfort is: learning.

5. Not all trauma is stored in the body. Not all disease is a result of trauma. I used to espouse this, it has now become a “sometimes” and “in some cases” factoid. Not an immediate draw card.

6. Horses are not in the moment always. Like us, they can be running simulations of the past, and predicting anxiously to the future. In fact- it’s very rare to find horses in the moment always.
A good task in horsemanship is to teach your horse how to be in the moment (with you). And maybe we learn how to do that as well.

This is an extremely brief and poorly written synopsis with many missing holes, of the things I have pivoted on this year. Evolved. That’s my job. To teach from the best that I can but immediately move to the next best layer as soon as it reveals itself. And some of the research that went into these findings was only published and reviewed this year. No, I’m not giving references here today. I have other places where I cite my research.

I’ve just spent 12 weeks meticulously teaching all of this and more, in great detail, in a course focused on riding, to 125 people. We have one week left, and then I open intakes for self study. So you can see exactly what I am talking about.

30/11/2024

If your training worships at the alter of posture... without respecting the anatomy underlying the posture, you are likely building a house of cards.

Your humpty-dumpty horse will come falling down. And all the kings horses and all the kings men, won't put them back together again.

I want you to imagine a hinge of a door. A square, perfect hinge. It opens, and closes. Just like the joint of a skeleton. This hinge can move perfectly square, because it is made perfectly square.

Now imagine an asymmetrical hinge. It opens and closes wonky. Because it was made that way. Good, now hide that hinge inside muscle, tendons, ligaments, fluff and the skin of your favorite four legged friend.

Enter- a trainer, or system of training. They tell you to ask-make-train-create-force-manipulate a lovely square posture. They tell you this posture is called Correct. Correct feels very safe if you are inexperienced or have a tendency to err on the side of fawn to authority. So you ask-make-train-create-force-manipulate a square position in the horse, then drive them forwards, making that joint open and close.

"That horse is crooked!". Someone says. That feels scary, dangerous, amorphous but also a storm crow of impending disaster. More Correct movement-apparently the answer.

The more you force your concept of correct onto a horse with unknown joint asymmetry, and the longer you are trained to not listen to the horse, or believe the horse, the further up this sorry creek you shall paddle.

Until humpty dumpty.

Now, perfect square movement is only possible on perfect square bodies, anatomically. Especially at the root of the skeleton. Soft tissue-offers some wiggle room. Bones offer very little. And if you force wiggle room out of a bone, the bone becomes diseased. Very quickly.

This is why we see such a huge prevalence of degenerative, use-oriented, joint disease in horses.

Ahh, but I hear us lament. It is not possible to scan every joint, every bone in a horses body. We would bankrupt ourselves trying and most horses don't have access to the diagnostics.

So how can we train horses in a way that respects THEIR anatomy. Not the anatomy of a book somewhere, or the Postural Alter that many systems of training push onto us.

Listen to how the horse feels. Their emotional state.

A horses emotional state is literally their brain creating a solution to their problem. The brain perceives a problems internally or externally or both, and then creates this amazing phenomenon called an Emotional State. The emotional state is supposed to signal to their Safe Social Partners (Friends) that they have a problem. Which, if they are partnered safely, will prompt their friends into action.

Ever seen herd mates care for another? Rest with another? Share food and shelter with those who need it?

But as the human being in our horses world, we are equipped with so many more ways to support a horse when they tell us things. Stuff like diet and lifestyle changes, medication, therapy, vet treatment... and training changes.

Your horses natural asymmetry and posture is communicated to you 10,000 times a minute in all their micro-movements and mini expressions that most of us have been trained to ignore.

Listen to them, they literally tell us, constantly, what is "Correct" for them, right now. And that changes if we talk about soft tissues developing. Correctness for that horse one year will be different next year if their soft tissues develop. But their Bone Correctness is set in stone. And it FEELS LIKE a horse giving a heavy, hard NO or I CANNOT to our aids.

Train yourself to feel this and never expose a horses joints to harm again.

But to do this, you have to begin to allow yourself to feel first.

And once you do that, there is no going back.

29/11/2024

About 5 weeks ago I was in Ontario delivering an introductory clinic at Willaway Farm. I had a really lovely time, and felt very welcome. I loved meeting you all and assisting you with your horses.

Jen from Orange Horse Studio attended and took some beautiful photos. Here is a highlight Reel of some of the moments she captured. Thank you Jen. Anyone who attended that clinic and would like to get in touch with Jen about seeing some images, please send us an email.

I copy below some feedback I got from the same clinic route, from the clinic in Alberta, no photographer attended. But it captures exactly what I hope to provide when I go out in the world to meet you all.

Thank you for coming, and I hope you enjoy these images!

"I've been following Lockie through social media for awhile now, and it is always a strange experience to see someone in real life that you've only seen on screens. Lockie did not disappoint! He was exactly the person he appears to be, what you see is what you get. The experience of auditing his Edmonton clinic felt a little like I had snuck into something sacred and secret at first, but as the weekend went on, the sense of community and belonging became incredibly profound.

I was moved to tears on multiple occasions. From Lockie's comment on the monuments that the old horses who have been through the wringer deserve, to the unbelievable tenderness displayed by one young participant to his mare, to the participant in tears describing a situation under a leadership team that sounded as though they had reached right into my own life and taken out some chapters.

This clinic was the confirmation of my conviction...that striving to make ends meet in a toxic industry full of people who want to lay you out like a sacrifice is not what I want to do. I want to heal and be healed. I want to grow and change. I want to be part of the solution, not a cog in the wheel trying forever to manage the problem. So many things I intellectually believed about myself, my horsemanship, and my desires were confirmed and made truly real, taken to a soul and spirit deep level. I sense that I've been prepared by something higher than myself to come and experience this for quite some time, and now there is a before this clinic, and an after.

Thank you to Lockie for giving Alberta a try. Thank you to Emily for doing the leg work to get him to our community. Thank you to the participants for being vulnerable enough to allow their lives and their horses' lives to be held up for us all like mirrors. I will not forget what I witnessed in this space."

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In the age of expecting miracle training, I offer a palate cleanser: simplicity. Ready to come home to your horsemanship? Homecoming 1.0 is here to help you. Taught as a natural second step, after the Foundation Online Course, Homecoming is a groundwork focused Emotional Horsemanship program that teaches you in a safe community of like-minded horse people. Structured as a step-by-step program focusing on fundamentals through to intermediate, we start with first contact and end at the mounting block. The goal is always an emotionally balanced horse that enjoys their sessions with you, and can communicate to you both positively and negatively in safe ways that further your confidence. Link in bio for access or visit emotionalhorsemanship dot com, click on Online Courses and select “Homecoming 1.0” at the top of the list. #horsetraining #bitlesshorse #spain #horsetrainer #paard #lovehorses #naturalhorse #ranchy #chevaux #hearthorse #freehorse #cavallo #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horsemanship #emotionalhorsemanship #ridinghorses #horseriding #ridingcoach #ridinginstructor

The mounting block is a valuable source of information for us. (Oh, and don’t mind my Sureno interruption… just keeping things candid! 😝) Ready to come home to your horsemanship? Homecoming 1.0 is here to help you. Taught as a natural second step, after the Foundation Online Course, Homecoming is a groundwork focused Emotional Horsemanship program that teaches you in a safe community of like-minded horse people. Structured as a step-by-step program focusing on fundamentals through to intermediate, we start with first contact and end at the mounting block. The goal is always an emotionally balanced horse that enjoys their sessions with you, and can communicate to you both positively and negatively in safe ways that further your confidence. Link in bio for access or visit emotionalhorsemanship dot com, click on Online Courses and select “Homecoming 1.0” at the top of the list. #horsetraining #bitlesshorse #spain #horsetrainer #paard #lovehorses #naturalhorse #ranchy #chevaux #hearthorse #freehorse #cavallo #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horsemanship #emotionalhorsemanship #ridinghorses #horseriding #ridingcoach #ridinginstructor

All the exercises in Emotional Horsemanship are designed to be used interchangeably for you, such as using mother-foal bonding with your mounting block in preparation to ride. Ready to come home to your horsemanship? Homecoming 1.0 is here to help you. Taught as a natural second step, after the Foundation Online Course, Homecoming is a groundwork focused Emotional Horsemanship program that teaches you in a safe community of like-minded horse people. Structured as a step-by-step program focusing on fundamentals through to intermediate, we start with first contact and end at the mounting block. The goal is always an emotionally balanced horse that enjoys their sessions with you, and can communicate to you both positively and negatively in safe ways that further your confidence. Link in bio for access or visit emotionalhorsemanship dot com, click on Online Courses and select “Homecoming 1.0” at the top of the list. #horsetraining #bitlesshorse #spain #horsetrainer #paard #lovehorses #naturalhorse #ranchy #chevaux #hearthorse #freehorse #cavallo #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horsemanship #emotionalhorsemanship #ridinghorses #horseriding #ridingcoach #ridinginstructor

Having an understanding and a roadmap to follow for designing your training plans, rather than a strict set of copy-and-paste instructions is the equivalent of the saying “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” Ready to come home to your horsemanship? Homecoming 1.0 is here to help you. Taught as a natural second step, after the Foundation Online Course, Homecoming is a groundwork focused Emotional Horsemanship program that teaches you in a safe community of like-minded horse people. Structured as a step-by-step program focusing on fundamentals through to intermediate, we start with first contact and end at the mounting block. The goal is always an emotionally balanced horse that enjoys their sessions with you, and can communicate to you both positively and negatively in safe ways that further your confidence. Link in bio for access or visit emotionalhorsemanship dot com, click on Online Courses and select “Homecoming 1.0” at the top of the list. #horsetraining #bitlesshorse #spain #horsetrainer #paard #lovehorses #naturalhorse #ranchy #chevaux #hearthorse #freehorse #cavallo #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horsemanship #emotionalhorsemanship #ridinghorses #horseriding #ridingcoach #ridinginstructor

Designing an appropriate, balanced training plan requires you to know where you’re at and what will suit you and your horse best at this time. Homecoming 1.0 is here to help you. Taught as a natural second step, after the Foundation Online Course, Homecoming is a groundwork focused Emotional Horsemanship program that teaches you in a safe community of like-minded horse people. Structured as a step-by-step program focusing on fundamentals through to intermediate, we start with first contact and end at the mounting block. The goal is always an emotionally balanced horse that enjoys their sessions with you, and can communicate to you both positively and negatively in safe ways that further your confidence. Link in bio for access or visit emotionalhorsemanship dot com, click on Online Courses and select “Homecoming 1.0” at the top of the list. #horsetraining #bitlesshorse #spain #horsetrainer #paard #lovehorses #naturalhorse #ranchy #chevaux #hearthorse #freehorse #cavallo #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horsemanship #emotionalhorsemanship #ridinghorses #horseriding #ridingcoach #ridinginstructor

Throughout Homecoming 1.0, I help you understand all of the elements which go into creating and designing a really appropriate, balanced, and successful horsemanship design, for both you and your horse. Taught as a natural second step, after the Foundation Online Course, Homecoming is a groundwork focused Emotional Horsemanship program that teaches you in a safe community of like-minded horse people. Structured as a step-by-step program focusing on fundamentals through to intermediate, we start with first contact and end at the mounting block. The goal is always an emotionally balanced horse that enjoys their sessions with you, and can communicate to you both positively and negatively in safe ways that further your confidence. Link in bio for access or visit emotionalhorsemanship dot com, click on Online Courses and select “Homecoming 1.0” at the top of the list. #horsetraining #bitlesshorse #spain #horsetrainer #paard #lovehorses #naturalhorse #ranchy #chevaux #hearthorse #freehorse #cavallo #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horsemanship #emotionalhorsemanship #ridinghorses #horseriding #ridingcoach #ridinginstructor

Your horsemanship should fit you and your horse, rather than you trying to fit into the horsemanship. Homecoming 1.0 is here to help you do exactly that. Taught as a natural second step, after the Foundation Online Course, Homecoming is a groundwork focused Emotional Horsemanship program that teaches you in a safe community of like-minded horse people. Structured as a step-by-step program focusing on fundamentals through to intermediate, we start with first contact and end at the mounting block. The goal is always an emotionally balanced horse that enjoys their sessions with you, and can communicate to you both positively and negatively in safe ways that further your confidence. Link in bio for access or visit emotionalhorsemanship dot com, click on Online Courses and select “Homecoming 1.0” at the top of the list. #horsetraining #bitlesshorse #spain #horsetrainer #paard #lovehorses #naturalhorse #ranchy #chevaux #hearthorse #freehorse #cavallo #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horsemanship #emotionalhorsemanship #ridinghorses #horseriding #ridingcoach #ridinginstructor

Are you able to acknowledge your horse’s emotions and help guide them through them, rather than bulldoze over them? Homecoming 1.0 is here to help you. Taught as a natural second step, after the Foundation Online Course, Homecoming is a groundwork focused Emotional Horsemanship program that teaches you in a safe community of like-minded horse people. Structured as a step-by-step program focusing on fundamentals through to intermediate, we start with first contact and end at the mounting block. The goal is always an emotionally balanced horse that enjoys their sessions with you, and can communicate to you both positively and negatively in safe ways that further your confidence. Link in bio for access or visit emotionalhorsemanship dot com, click on Online Courses and select “Homecoming 1.0” at the top of the list. #horsetraining #bitlesshorse #spain #horsetrainer #paard #lovehorses #naturalhorse #ranchy #chevaux #hearthorse #freehorse #cavallo #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horsemanship #emotionalhorsemanship #ridinghorses #horseriding #ridingcoach #ridinginstructor

Yielding away needs to have an element of play. Have you watched the Nose Block Game reel yet? Go watch that and see how it can apply to this. Ready to come home to your horsemanship? Homecoming 1.0 is here for you. Taught as a natural second step, after the Foundation Online Course, Homecoming is a groundwork focused Emotional Horsemanship program that teaches you in a safe community of like-minded horse people. Structured as a step-by-step program focusing on fundamentals through to intermediate, we start with first contact and end at the mounting block. The goal is always an emotionally balanced horse that enjoys their sessions with you, and can communicate to you both positively and negatively in safe ways that further your confidence. Link in bio for access or visit emotionalhorsemanship dot com, click on Online Courses and select “Homecoming 1.0” at the top of the list. #horsetraining #bitlesshorse #spain #horsetrainer #paard #lovehorses #naturalhorse #ranchy #chevaux #hearthorse #freehorse #cavallo #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horsemanship #emotionalhorsemanship #ridinghorses #horseriding #ridingcoach #ridinginstructor

Horses store play in their nose and shoulders, so why not try the Nose Block Game to help them feel like winners? (*Watch for the next reel in a few days to see how this can then be applied to other things like yielding away and lunging) Ready to come home to your horsemanship? Homecoming 1.0 is here for you. Taught as a natural second step, after the Foundation Online Course, Homecoming is a groundwork focused Emotional Horsemanship program that teaches you in a safe community of like-minded horse people. Structured as a step-by-step program focusing on fundamentals through to intermediate, we start with first contact and end at the mounting block. The goal is always an emotionally balanced horse that enjoys their sessions with you, and can communicate to you both positively and negatively in safe ways that further your confidence. Link in bio for access or visit emotionalhorsemanship dot com, click on Online Courses and select “Homecoming 1.0” at the top of the list. #horsetraining #bitlesshorse #spain #horsetrainer #paard #lovehorses #naturalhorse #ranchy #chevaux #hearthorse #freehorse #cavallo #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horsemanship #emotionalhorsemanship #ridinghorses #horseriding #ridingcoach #ridinginstructor

By removing some of the choices, your horse is able to relax into the relationship because you’re sharing the burden of responsibility. Ready to come home to your horsemanship? Homecoming 1.0 is here for you. Taught as a natural second step, after the Foundation Online Course, Homecoming is a groundwork focused Emotional Horsemanship program that teaches you in a safe community of like-minded horse people. Structured as a step-by-step program focusing on fundamentals through to intermediate, we start with first contact and end at the mounting block. The goal is always an emotionally balanced horse that enjoys their sessions with you, and can communicate to you both positively and negatively in safe ways that further your confidence. Link in bio for access or visit emotionalhorsemanship dot com, click on Online Courses and select “Homecoming 1.0” at the top of the list. #horsetraining #bitlesshorse #spain #horsetrainer #paard #lovehorses #naturalhorse #ranchy #chevaux #hearthorse #freehorse #cavallo #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horsemanship #emotionalhorsemanship #ridinghorses #horseriding #ridingcoach #ridinginstructor

Horses are ALWAYS paying attention. Ready to come home to your horsemanship? Homecoming 1.0 is here for you. Taught as a natural second step, after the Foundation Online Course, Homecoming is a groundwork focused Emotional Horsemanship program that teaches you in a safe community of like-minded horse people. Structured as a step-by-step program focusing on fundamentals through to intermediate, we start with first contact and end at the mounting block. The goal is always an emotionally balanced horse that enjoys their sessions with you, and can communicate to you both positively and negatively in safe ways that further your confidence. Link in bio for access or visit emotionalhorsemanship dot com, click on Online Courses and select “Homecoming 1.0” at the top of the list. #horsetraining #bitlesshorse #spain #horsetrainer #paard #lovehorses #naturalhorse #ranchy #chevaux #hearthorse #freehorse #cavallo #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horsemanship #emotionalhorsemanship #ridinghorses #horseriding #ridingcoach #ridinginstructor

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For the love of horses

My name is Lachlan but please call me by my nickname, Lockie. I am the Expat Equestrian. This means that I live in a country not of my birth, and I live and breath horses! I was born in Australia and horses were a part of my early life. But I had two passions and dance was the other. Being a suburban kid, horses were simply not accessible and as I grew older dance became the main focus of my life. I showed talent for dance, but also had a strong work ethic given to me from my incredible Mum and Dad and my early dance teachers. Long story short at the age of 18 I left Australia and found myself in Europe. I graduated with a 3 year Swiss Diploma of Stage Dance in less than 2 years and started working in German State Theaters. Soon, I found myself working at the largest Opera House in Europe, the Grand Theater of Warsaw. I was the first Australian to gain contracted employment by the famous artistic institution. Job security in dance gave me the luxury of looking for a hobby. It took about 2 seconds for me to remember my childhood passion for horses. I looked for a while to find a school of horses that had the horse as first priority, with ethics, gentleness and love of the animal. Within a few years I became an associate trainer at this school, the Horseway Foundation in Poland. I graduated with a trainers license and for a while I was both dancing, and training horses at the same time. I spent my summers in Spain, where I met my horse, Sanson. In 2018 I took my training business full time. Since then I have also worked in Treeless Saddle Fitting, Barefoot Trimming and M0untain Horseback Trekking in the Spanish Sierra Nevada. In January 2020 I went public with my training protocol for horses, EMOTIONAL HORSEMANSHIP. I am growing, changing and developing everyday. I am not a perfect horseman or human, but I will never stop working towards unobtainable perfection. Better is coming. Stay tuned! Thank you for being here with me. :)