On our latest podcase episode we are navigating a conversation of what it means to hold consent based horse care with our horse partners.

Join our founder Hillary and faculty members Brittany and Breanne, as we share our intepretations and experiences of how to hold horse care in a consent based manner with our horse partners.

On this episode we also share about our upcoming sacred stewardship retreat that is a horse care based retreat, you can learn more about that here:  https://www.horsemedicineleadership.com/sacred-stewardship.

If you want to follow and learn more about our founder and faculty you can do so in the links below.

Brittany Ashworth: 

Website: www.sacredechos.com

Instagram @sacredechos

Breanne Kerr: 

Website: ⁠www.wildwynd.com⁠

Instagram ⁠@⁠⁠wildwyndequine⁠

Hillary Schneider

Website: ⁠www.hillaryschneider.com

Instagram ⁠@⁠⁠hillaryepona

In this episode, Brittany Ashworth sits down with trauma-informed horse trainer Poppy Peach to explore the complex world of trauma in horses. Inspired by a thought-provoking Instagram post, "What if you could make friends with your horse's trauma?" this conversation dives deep into understanding trauma responses not as flaws, but as protective gifts horses carry with them.

Poppy shares her unique perspective on how common trauma responses (Flight, Fight, Freeze/Shutdown, Fawn/Appeasement, and Hypervigilance) can be reframed as gifts that once served a vital purpose, and how creating safe, supportive environments allows horses to no longer feel the need to wield them.

Together, Brittany and Poppy discuss how these gifts show up in horses, the parallels with human trauma, and practical ways to support horses on their healing journey. Listeners will gain insights into creating compassionate, trauma-informed relationships and learn the importance of patience, gentleness, and holistic care.

About Poppy Peach

Poppy Peach is a Trauma-Informed Horsemanship Coach, who also integrates Animal Communication and Reiki into her work with horses.

In her coaching, she utilizes environmental management, attunement, nervous system support and somatically informed trauma resolution work to help horses to live a thriving, emotionally fulfilling life.

She wants to empower horse-human partnerships to have a joyful, authentic and emotionally safe relationship together.

She is forever inspired by horses, and looks to them as friends and mentors, and sees them as being incredibly skilled in knowing what they need for their own healing, and is led by them in that process.

Poppy shares her life with a herd of three horses called Willow, Annie, and River.

On our latest podcast episode we are unpacking the notion of "bad behaviour" in our horse partners.

In recent weeks we have had conversation with some of our students around some horse behaviour that was manifesting and what to do about it and if it was "safe" for people to be around.

What our philosophy around this is here, there is no "bad behaviour" there is horse behaviour and certain behaviours that can be triggered by past experiences that we need to know how to tend to and support in our horse partners.

There is a dance between holding our horses in the space of consent and honoring their communicaiton, while also having the space of being able to handle them outside of our purpose with them and knowing how to hold that in a way that still honors the horse.

There are a few pieces we speak to in this podcast, that we are excited to bring to our community.

To learn more about our programs you can check out our website www.horsemedicineleadership.com

Hera and Heka: A journey of joining our teaching herd.

On our latest podcast we share the journey of two of our latest herd members that have joined us over the last few months.

We believe that our horses are called to us as deeply as we are called to them, that they have a purpose with us and choose that.

Both of these horses have their own unique journey in coming to our herd and we wanted to be able to give voice to what that journey has been.

Sometimes we can question if our horses are called to this work as much as us, we believe that if our horses are finding their way to us, it is because they are choosing this path too.

We have loved getting to know Hera and Heka more deeply and seeing them integrate into our herd.  Already their impact has been deeply felt and we are grateful to welcome these beautiful souls into our herd.

On our latest podcast episode we share our own journey of feeling the courage to hold this space with horses outside of what we were taught.

We have many conversations with those that have found us over the years, where there is a question of can I hold this work this way? A way that is often different from what we have been taught how.

There are many times where we feel we are giving permission to and validating where we are called to hold this path differently than what we have been taught.

Hillary founder of horse medicine leadership shares her own personally journey with this and how she moved from beyond her own teachers into finding the courage to hold this work the way the horses called her to it.

Sometimes we need someone to say, it is ok to hold things differently and to listen to your inner knowing and partnership with the horses in a way you are feeling lead and called to.

Permission granted.

You can listen to our podcast on all major platforms, would love to hear your thoughts and how this might resonate for you!

On our latest podcast episode we are unpacking a conversation around our perspective that horses are not problems, they are partners.

We came across something recently that advertised supporing problem horses in the equine therapy field, we felt the urge to speak to this concept and how we believe that in looking at horses as problems, we are deeply dishonoring them and our partnership with them.

This is a great podcast to hear some insights with Hillary and Laura as they share their experiences with a range of horses and backgrounds and how they support them in the equine guided learning field.

How do we as facilitors be responsible for holding safety for both horse and human while also knowing our capacity and how to call in the "right" horses for our practice.

In this episode, faculty members Laura Marie and Brittany Ashworth sit down to introduce themselves and talk about their journeys with The Horse Medicine Leadership Academy training program. They discuss how it's impacted their relationships with their horses, helped shape their businesses, and what they envision for the Academy moving forward.

This is an honest and meaningful conversation about the many layers of horse ownership and how walking in partnership with horses can honor them as sacred beings.

If you want to connect with Laura, her website is www.wildawakewoman.com 

If you want to connect with Brittany, her website is www.sacredechos.com 

Welcome to Season 4!

We are really excited to be welcoming another episode of our podcast.   In this episode we are sharing an update of where we are with horse medicine leadership, how it has evolved this year and what new programs, retreats,  and new spaces we are welcoming in for the new year.

To learn more about our programs and retreats or to explore more deeply check out our website www.horsemedicineleadership.com

You can also see us on instagram, horsemedicineleadership. 

We look forward to a new season with you all! 

On our latest podcast we are sharing our journey of starting in the breeding industry to running and owing our an equine retreat center.

We don't always see the journey to get the final outcome, when people find us now, there is sometimes a comparision of looking at what we have with our herd and our center and feeling like this is what we need in order to do this work.

The truth is, it took us 10 years since we found the path of EAL to get to here, and sometimes we need to be reminded of the journey to get to where we envision ourselves wanting to be.

We hope today's episode proves as an inspiration and encouragement that wherever you find yourselves on the journey in your EAL practice, it is enough.

On today's episode we are sharing a message and wisdom that felt inspired by our lead gelding chief.

Why is it important for us to acknowledge and own our leadership alongside of our horse partners?

What is powerful about us recognizing that our voice and presence is as equally as impactful as the horses?

We answer these questions and more in this episode.

We were inspired to record our latest podcast from our lead gelding Chief to share some stories of horses of ours in how they found their way to us and to empower the perspective of horses being able to choose their journey and path in life and with us.

Our horses can be consciously manifest their journey, choosing their connection to us and being part of what we choose to do in our partnership with them.

In this podcast I share a few stories of the horses in our herd in their unique and individual paths to us and this journey we walk with them.

We answer the question, do horses choos their path with us? 

And...

How do we empower and witness this choosing and trust it.

We hope you enjoy this episode and gratitude to the horses of ours that shared their journey with us.

We are really excited to be joined again by Kim Hallin of Unbridled LLC.

On this podcast we are deepening into the conversation of becoming an advocate for our horses and how that is part of our journey when we become horse owners.

It can be overwhelming and at times paralyzing when we are new to horses and are not trusting of what we feel in this relationship.

How do we navigate coming up against judgment and opinions around how we be in relationship with our horses in the traditional horse approach, when it is not something we resonate with?

How do we find our courage to advocate for our horses and our partnership with them when we don't feel confident around our voice or what our horses need?

Lots of depth to this conversation along with some resources for those that feel called to them.

If you want to explore more of Kim and her work visit her website https://www.kimhallin.com.

We are excited to be back for another season of our podcast, our first episode of season 5 we re sharing the journey of navigating transitions with some of our beloved horse partners in our herd.

We are joined by Brittany Ashworth of Sacred Echos, who is also on our faculty, who shares her perpsective as an animal communicator and someone that has been a part of the transitions in our herd as we speak to all the layers that we have to sit in as we go through transitions.

 Walking through the journey with our horses can be challenging, facing their loss can be hard for us to sit in. We talk about how we have held this space with our horses, and what can feel supportive for both horse and human as we navigate this journey.

Hopefully listening to this pocast will be helpful if you are in this space, we also created course that supporst this as well if you are looking for a deepening of support.

https://www.horsemedicineleadership.com/supporting-sacred-transition is where you can find out more.

If you are curious to learn more about Brittany and her work you can do so through her website. 

https://www.sacredechos.com

On our latest podcast episode we are joined by Claire Martin of Hara Horses as she shares about her journey with her mare Inca, and how this powerful mare lead her onto her path of equine facilitated learning and back into the world of horses.

Claire goes deep into her journey with horses, the path that she started on, how she ended up in equine guided facilitation and the wisdom her mare Inca has given her along the way.

Our latest podcast episode is a deepening into a question we have been asked a few times this past year which is, what happens when our clients have a fear of horses?

We also speak to how to navigate when someone says they are afraid of horses so we can empower them in the exploration of coming to do a session with the herd.

If are needing to have some language and or need help navigating this question of fear of horses take a listen. 

We are back with season 3, our first episode we are sharing a reflection in answer to a question one of our students asked us.

How do we not bias our horses in our horse sessions?

How do we not bring our filter of who our horse partners and how do we seperate what we see in our horses in our day to day with who they are as horse teachers.

In this episode we talk about how do we not bring our bias of our horses into our session and empower them in their teaching.

We hope you enjoy this episode! 

If you are curiou about any of our teaching please check out our website www.horsemedicineleadership.com

On our latest podcast episode we are sharing the journey about one of our mare's luna, and speaking about holding consent and honoring the path of our horse partners.

Our belief is that we need to listen and hold space for the voice and consent of our horse partners in all ways, this is an example of how that can manifest.

Looking at our horses and treating them as sovereign beings doesn't just mean we hold them that way in our work, but also in our relationship with them.

This is Luna's journey with us around that path and process.

In our latest podcast episode we are joined by Claire Martin of Hara Horses.

Our conversation is speaking to what happens when we are triggered by our own horses and how to navigate our journey with our triggers.

We also dive into how do we continue to honor our horses that want to partner with us in the teaching space while holding our own journey with them and ensuring that the space with our horses and other humans is safe.

A rich and personal conversation that we are excited to share with our community! 

On our latest episode we speak about how we can include and be partnered with our horses in knowing what our purpose is, and finding the courage to walk that purpose out into the world.

Inspired by Hillary's gelding, Aries, we share about our own journey of how Aries encouraged the leading of Horse Medicine Leadership, and what it is to remind ourselves that our purpose is not just about us but our horse partners as well.

How do we build intuitive relationships with our horses, both on a personal level and in our partnerships within the space of horse medicine?

How do we honour each horse as an individual and learn how to connect within ourselves in order to more deeply understand their needs?

And how do we honour and advocate for our horses when we work with others who may not yet be exploring the intuitive path?

Join HMLA faculty members, Angela Saieva and Toni Wiebe, along with our special guests from within the HML community, Brittany Ashworth of Sacred Echos and Breanne Kerr of Wild Wind Equine.

We share stories of the horses who invited, encouraged, and in some ways even demanded us to build relationships with them on an intuitive level and how those experiences changed and shaped the horsewomen we are today.

Links:
Horse Medicine Leadership Website
Horse Medicine Leadership Instagram
Brittany Ashworth + Sacred Echos
Breanne Kerr + Wild Wynd Equine
Angela Saieva + Equine Elevation
Toni Wiebe + Firehorse Equus Coaching

Join us in this episode as Brittany Ashworth introduces Shawna Van Nuys of @shawnavannuys, an alumna of the Horse Medicine Leadership Academy, to the community. 

Shawna is passionate about helping women remember what's already within- rediscovering the wisdom, power, and magic they've always had but may have forgotten. She creates a grounded nurturing space and offers Equine-Guided Coaching, EFT Tapping, Numerology, and other intuitive tools supporting reconnection with inner guidance. Her work bridges the gap between what's present & tangible and what's boldly possible, empowering women to release old patterns, reclaim their confidence and deepen the relationship with themselves.

In this episode, Shawna shares the story of how she came to be a facilitator of this work, along with her personal journey and the steps she's taken to support others in the way that she does. She talks about her lifelong love of horses and how her various trainings have shaped the way she connects with them now.

To close the episode, Shawna guides us through a gentle EFT Tapping practice for Self-Care.

Connect With Us: 

Shawna Van Nuys

Website: www.shawnavannuys.com

FB: www.facebook.com/shawna.nuys/

IG: www.instagram.com/shawnavannuys/

Youtube: www.youtube.com/@shawnavannuys

Horse Medicine Leadership Academy: 

Website: www.horsemedicineleadership.com 

Instagram @horsemedicineleadership

It's an HMLA Podcast takeover!

Join HMLA faculty members Angela Saieva and Toni Wiebe for a conversation around the importance of honouring our emotions and the messages the language of emotions brings with it.

Toni and Angela share stories around the wisdom our horses gift us through the language of emotions and the impact those emotions have on ourselves, our herd and our human relationships.

They also explore how horses support us in our reflection of the messages of our emotions and teach us to be comfortable with the expression of our emotions through a lens of curiosity without judgement.

On our latest podcast episode we are diving into the space of how do we hold safety we our horses in the space of this work.

A topic of conversation in our mentorship circles on how do we manage young horses or horses that lack some ground manners in order to create safety for both horse and humans.

We dive into giving some examples and how we can continue to empower our horses in their teaching role while also holding safety in the space with them.

On our latest podcast episode we are speaking about leaning into the wisdom of receiving what we need from our horses not always what we want.

It is often the case that when we enter into the field we get witnessed in a way that is unexpected, illuminating the way that we as humans and facilitators often carry agenda around our experiences with horses.

We take some time to give some examples of why we allow horses to lead the session so we don't project our agenda and how we can be receptive and open to the medicine we need and not always what we want.

There is a delicate balance between holding safety with our horses and allowing them to be horses in how they teach and show up.

We wanted to deepen this topic on the podcast and give examples of how we allow our horses the permission to be horses and still hold safety for humans.

Giving permission for our horses to be horses doesn't mean we compromise safety and we also need to learn how to read body language and know our individual horses so they can be able to teach in what is unique to them.

A in depth navigation of offering some examples of how this shows up, how we empower and honor our horses in who they are in the full range of who they are and also hold the space of safety.

On our latest podcast episode we are sharing some examples of how do we speak about this work with horses?

A question we are often asked is around how do we translate this purpose with horses into language that our clients and others will understand.

We give examples of how to speak this language to non horse people and how to find the language and messaging to use that will connect and land with those that we are hoping to reach in this work.

When we understand how to speak this language to those that we are trying to work with, we feel more confident and have greater success in filling our spaces with clients that we are wanting to fill our practice with.

On our latest podcast episode we are speaking about what we feel is one of the most essential facilitation and leadership skills to develop and that is reading the space.

Horses are master space readers, as facilitators we learn and can be lead by how horses read space to develop our ability to do so.

In this podcast we break down what does it mean to read the space, why it is an essential facilitation skill and how we can start developing that muscle to become a more masterful facilitator. 

On our latest podcast we are diving into how to intrepret and find value in the space of the simplicity of being with horses.

What happens when we walk out to the fields and they are doing nothing? How do we interpet that space and find the medicine in that.

We speak about how we can interpret back to grazing and find the wisdom in it and feel confident in bringing others in the space when we witness it.

On our latest podcast we are sharing how we hold and facilitate activities and exercises in horse medicine leadership.

In everything we teach and offer in our philosophy we will always center around the partnership and relationship with horses.

This is a great podcast in sharing our philosophy on how we do activities that still honor the horses and their teaching.

Join Hillary and Angela as they share about the caring and tending of their herds and the basic horse care that is important to maintain for the well being of our horses.

On our latest podcast episode we talk about the journey and realities of growing and building a successful equine practice.

Can we be successful doing work with horses?

How long does it take to build success?

These are some of the reflections we share about in this episode.

In this heartfelt episode, Brittany sits down with Heather Flynn, an alumna and graduate student of the Horse Medicine Leadership Academy, who facilitates transformative work with her herd in Huger, South Carolina, just outside Charleston.

Heather takes us on a journey through her life — from her early childhood longing and deep connection with horses, to rediscovering that connection later in life through a therapy barn, and ultimately becoming a steward of her own herd. Today, she co-facilitates healing experiences alongside these powerful animals.

We explore Heather's passion for supporting women as they move toward their own purpose, her insights on relationship recovery (and what that truly means), and the sense of readiness required to walk this healing path with horses.

Together, we dive into a rich, soulful conversation about what it means to be human — navigating the highs, the lows, and everything in between. The road may be bumpy, but as Heather shares, it can lead to profoundly beautiful places.

Connect With Us: 

Heather Flynn: 

Website: www.restorativesoulsequinecoaching.com

Instagram ⁠@restorative_souls 

Horse Medicine Leadership Academy: 

Website: www.horsemedicineleadership.com 

Instagram @horsemedicineleadership

On our latest episode we are joined by Jocelyn Ring, a brand strategist and equine learning facilitator.  Jocelyn found a way to combine a lifetime of horse experience business experience, degrees and leadership development training to help people truly see themselves and embrace their unique gifts and way of being.   She joins us to speak about  the importance of us to know our brand in our practices and how horses support that process.

On our latest podcast episode we are joined by the brilliant Delaya Diana a soul inspired eQUESTrian who founded True North Equestrians.

Delaya's own spiritual journey and connection to horses lead her to uncover the agreements and connection we have with our horse partners and how to honor their role in our spiritual paths and discoveries.

Delaya shares with us how we recognize or know the soul agreements we have with our horse partners and how to honor them.  This is a really fascinating and integral conversation and revealing of the layers in which we can witness and be present to the relationship with have with the horses in our lives.

You can find more about Delaya on her website https://truenorthequestrians.com.

On our latest podcast horse medicine leadership found Hillary and faculty member Angela talk about how we can honor our horses as teachers.

When we witness and acknowlege our horses as teachers, we can more deeply respect and honor their role in our lives and also hold them as the gifts that they are.

We share in the podcast some examples of how we hold our horses as teachers and how we can recognize what they teach us. 

The answer is alot, in our latest podcast episode we talk about what leadership really is and how horses help us strengthen our self leadership and empower our own unique way of leading.

On our latest podcast episode we are joined by Saskia Iten, energy worker and communicator who is sharing her journey with her horse partner Oak.

Saskia first met Oak on her travels to Alberta Canada, and felt the connection to him and so began their journey of Oak travelling to Switzerland.

Saskia shares how she and Oak communicated to support his journey and also what Oak wanted to share about his journey to her.

On our latest podcast episode we are navigating the tender conversation of how do we support the transition of our horse partners from this life to the next.

We share our own process of how we have held and navigated this space for a few of our own beloved horse partners in hope to offer some support for those that find themselves in a similar space.

On out latest podcast we are joined by Chloe Elgar from Chaneled by Chloe, to share about her path and journey with horse medicine and her three spirit ranch just outside of Austin, Texas.

The call and path to horses is one that speaks deeply to us, and how we arrive at our destination is a journey.  Chloe shares her past with horses and how it lead to her manifestation of her own ranch and the journey of stepping into horse medicine with her herd.

This is a beautiful conversation of trusting the journey, the fullness of it and how to find our devotation in our path with horses.

How do we know which space of consent our horses are in when we interact with them? How can we help a horse move from a place of enduring or tolerance to where they are willing or even wanting to interact with us? Especially when working with horses who have trauma around certain situations. Are there times when enduring is acceptable, or do we always want our horses to be in a space of wanting? 

Join us as we dive into these questions and more and share stories from our own experiences working through the Spectrum of Consent with our horses and the impact that has had on us as ever-evolving horsewomen.

The reality is most horses have some kind of baggage and we can't assume that they can or are in a place where they can just start their new role.

How do we honor our horses in their healing journey?

How do we recognize trauma and wounding in our horse partners?

What can we do to give our horse partners the space to heal as they transition or step into partnership with us?

All questions we dive into on this episode.