The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton Alexa Linton

It was such a pleasure to have Shannon Beahen back on the show today for an impassioned discussion about our mutual interest in stewarding and cultivating relationship with land - with special attention as to how that endeavour relates to keeping horses, obviously!  
We wandered together through the topics of land having its own nervous system, what it feels like for us to be on a path of evolution as horse people, and how we can benefit from navigating our relationships with the land, our horses and ourselves through a lens of emergence, rather than one of fixed ideals and blueprints of “success”. 
If you haven’t listened to my previous recordings with Shannon, check out episodes 92 and 81 of the Whole Horse Podcast, or dive right in to today’s episode for a more conversational, but equally important interview! 
Shannon is an alternative horse trainer, online educator, academic and writer. She specializes in teaching her own “high vibration” approach to natural dressage and liberty as well as the creation of species-appropriate habitats that promote dynamic movement and sovereign equine lifestyles. She is passionate about exploring and articulating the ethics of embodied horse-human relationships. Her hope is that through teaching a deeper awareness of human-animal and human-environment relations, equestrian education ceases to be a privileged pastime; and instead may just provide some of the seeds to birth a new earth.
Learn more about Shannon and her work at www.humminghorse.com

This week on the podcast I was joined by holistic veterinarian Dr. Rachel Heart Bellini for her perspective and experience of the scope of vet med and the ways in which she’s supplemented her education over the years in order to be of better service to horses. 
We had a really interesting conversation about the gap and, at times, inconsistencies between body workers and veterinarians, and discussed possible solutions for bridging these professions in a way that optimizes care and treatment for our equines. 
Whether you’re an equine care provider or a horse owner, this episode will leave you with food for thought on the horse health and wellness industry, and hopefully some new ideas about assessing where to start when it comes to helping the horses in your life feel their best. 
Heart Equine is owned by Rachel Heart Bellini DVM CVSMT CVA CVBM. Rachel is a holistic sports medicine veterinarian who uses her broad based education, years of experience and MOST importantly a large NETWORK to provide you with the absolute best whole horse solutions available. Rachel began her career on the racetrack, travelling the country with access to the best horses, trainers and veterinarians in the industry. That was followed up by a lengthy stint doing referral sport horse medicine clinic working for an industry pioneer in imaging and treatment of the cervical spine. She had access to the most up to date conventional diagnostic and treatment resources. After hitting a plateau in what she could offer she embarked on what has now been a fifteen year deep dive into multiple non conventional modalities. She has since acquired certifications in both traditional and balance method veterinary acupuncture and veterinary spinal manipulation therapy. Other certifications and trainings include many advanced manual therapy techniques, applied kinesiology, advanced neurology, human classical homeopathy, spiritual and anthroposophical medicine, postural rehabilitation, multiple ISELP courses and canine rehabilitation. Most recently her interests have turned to training techniques doing multiple clinics with industry leaders like Manolo Mendez, Mark Rashid and Celeste Lazaris. What she brings to her clients is a melding of all things with the goal of treating each partnership where they currently are and providing the guidance, support and therapies for long term health and soundness of our equine athletes. 
Follow Rachel on her FB page, Heart Equine, and visit her website to learn more http://heartequine.com
 

I was excited to be joined by Amy Dell of Abbotts View Livery for this episode, who wrote the book Horse Track Systems and runs her own track livery in England. 
What I loved about Amy’s book is how it laid out the steps and tips for creating your own track system in a very thoughtful and practical way, and it was great to be able to go into more detail about many aspects of tracks systems within this episode. Our discussion ranged from footing, to forage, to considerations for shelter and integrating new herd members. 
It was truly inspiring to hear how successful Amy has been at providing enriching and healthy living environments to a variety of horses, and I hope our chat leaves you with lots of ideas as to how to get started on your own ideal equine environment or improve upon the one you have already built!  
Amy Dell runs Abbotts View Livery, a successful track system livery based in the south east of the UK. 
Amy started AVL in 2016 at the age of 21, after completing a degree in Animal Behaviour and Welfare. In November of 2022, she released what would become a best selling book entitled Horse Track Systems to share her hard earned knowledge with the world and help other equestrians create amazing environments for their horses, either as a livery or for their own use. She also runs a consultancy business, and has helped many people worldwide over the phone to plan, get started, or develop their track systems. She dreams of the day when all horses get to live outside with free choice, forage and friends. 
Learn more about Amy's work and purchase her awesome book at her website: https://www.barefootandbacktonature.com/ 

This week I was joined by my long-time friend and colleague Jodine Buydens (pictured here with her mare Breeze) for a beautiful conversation on the horses who have shaped her life and given her the tools to be able to help humans receive the many teachings of their own equines, or, for some folks, encounter horse wisdom for the first time.
We talked about what it can look and feel like to have soul contracts with our horses, and how those lessons and missions differ depending on each unique horse. Jodine also shared how she’s learned to tune into and differentiate between her own nervous system and that of the horses and people she works with, and how this skill has been integral to being able to meet any situation with what it needs. 
I hope after listening to our chat that you walk away with a renewed appreciation for your equine relationships, and perhaps a fresh perspectives on the impact knowing one another has had too. 
Jodine Buydens is an Equine Behaviour Specialist, author of If Your Horse Could Talk, and Pro-EFW Dual Certified Equine Professional, Learning Professional and Mentor. A lifelong horsewoman, she has dedicated her career to empowering and improving the lives of horses and humans through education, communication, and the depth of connection found through her teachings. You can find out more here: https://www.capallcoaching.com/links 

Tune in to this episode with equine sports therapist Christy DiColla for a great chat about her latest work and area of research: rib entrapment and fascial chains. Christy filled me in on how she was seeing common patterns of posture and muscular appearance in her equine clients and how these dysfunctional presentations were chronically affecting movement and performance. She then shared how, through her human bodywork training, she discovered that working with the ribs - due to the nature of their attachments - provided release of these patterns in a number of horses. This has since become a curiosity and passion of hers, and it was lovely to spend the hour talking fascia, highlighting the need for as much movement as possible in our horses, and exploring kinetic lines. 
I hope our discussion leaves you with a better understanding of what’s going on beneath your horse’s skin, and an appreciation for the interconnectedness of all the body’s systems. 
Christy is an FEI approved equine sports therapist that travels the U.S. working on everything from Kentucky Derby racehorses, Dressage & Jumpers up to Olympic level, to 5 Star Eventers. She has over 20 years experience in the equine wellness industry. Her equine education began at the University of Georgia Pre-Vet and Animal Science Programs, and from there she has become certified in a variety of equine & human bodywork modalities.  
Christy specializes in a wide range of bodywork modalities including myofascial kinetic line balancing, neurovascular conditioning, electo-fascial stim, PEMF therapy, joint mobilization, and her unique RIB ENTRAPMENT balancing technique. Christy has been a student of the kinetic myofascial lines since 2017, and has worked ever since finding techniques on how to alleviate neurovascular entrapments along these lines.
She is also a Master Reiki practitioner and a Balanced Body Movement Specialist for people.
You can learn more about her work at: https://www.zenmawellness.com/
 




 


 

 


 


 






 

It was lovely to have Lockie Phillips back this week for his fourth time on the podcast. We got to chatting about how he’s feeling and what he’s been up to since his big move across the country to the North West of Spain last summer, which I have been excited to talk to him about!  Unsurprisingly, he’s been busy turning his new property into a super functional, horse-centric environment and learning how to manage best amidst some pretty wet weather conditions (think: Atlantic hurricanes). Throughout our discussion Lockie emphasized the Horse in Horsemanship, leading him to share some stories illustrating that prioritizing and considering the horse is still far from being a common value amongst equestrians, along with some neuroscience to contextualize why that is. 
Our conversation ended with us both describing recent moments with our own horses, and talking about the kinds of interactions that become possible when we lean into cultivating true relationship with this incredible creatures. I hope this episode got you feeling and thinking as much as it did for me! 
Lockie Phillips teaches deeply caring horse people to create emotionally balanced horses using science, empathy and feel. Emotional Horsemanship can be explored with online courses, online lessons, online coaching, international clinics and retreats in Spain. A retired pro-dancer, Lockie lives in North Western Spain and is a horse dad to 4 geldings.
Follow him on IG and FB @emotional.horsemanship and check out his website https://www.emotionalhorsemanship.com