Talking Horses

In this episode, Steve Halfpenny explores one of the most important moments in a horse’s life — the very first rides. The way a horse is started under saddle will shape its confidence, trust, and relationship with people for years to come. Too often, young horses are started with methods that rely on domination and pressure, leaving them anxious, defensive, or shut down. Steve shares stories of horses he’s worked with that came back from a rough start and needed months of rebuilding trust — and contrasts that with the smooth, willing progress of horses started with clarity and kindness.

In this episode, Dr. Rena gives us an overview of the polyvagal theory and how it relates to horses as well as generally talking about horse-human communication.

Lately, a few of my students have been talking about Shelly's approach to horsemanship, so I thought it would be great to catch up with her here and have a chat.

John Saint Ryan and Tim McGaffic talk with Steve about the film they have recently finished. It goes into how the ideas and techniques that Tom Dorrance used to work with horses can be explained using equitation science and learning theory.You can access the Get The Mind and the Feet will Follow movie here : https://johnsaintryanhorsemanship.vhx.tv/products

Steve talks with John about what he learned from Tom Dorrance about presenting things to horses and students in a way that helps them both learn. This episode is for over an hour in length and as usual John and Steve drifted of the topic a few times! John always talked of Tom with great reverence and it is always a pleasure hearing him share lessons learned from Tom.