Listen With EquiTeam

When Liz Somerville qualified for the Voltaire Design Grassroots Championships in 2023 she was elated – but she had no idea how bumpy the road to get to Badminton would be. Just a few months later she found herself getting her first ever 20 penalties following a run out at Blair Horse Trials, followed by her first public elimination at British Showjumping. Liz’s honest account of the highs, the lows, the challenges, and the importance of her support team are shared with Equiteam’s Liz Daniels, in a podcast that anyone suffering from confidence issues, or a lack of self-belief will be able to relate to.  If you want to be part of our amazing EquiTeam community you can sign up here: www.equiteam.co.uk   

In 2021 the equestrian community was shocked at the tragic death of event rider Matthew Wright following his battle with poor mental health. EquiTeam’s Liz Daniels chats to Riders Minds founder Victoria Wright on Mental Health Awareness Week, about piecing her world back together, the formation of mental health charity Riders Minds and how she still managed to drive Caunton Manor Stud forward despite the fact her world was in turmoil.  Please note, this podcast mentions suicide which some people might find triggering. If you need support you can contact Riders Minds free of charge on 0800 088 2073. Mental Health Awareness Week takes from 13-19th May 2024.  Riders Minds details are here: Website: https://ridersminds.org/ Live text support: 07480 488 103 Call the helpline: 0800 088 2073 You can find out more about Caunton Manor Stud here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cauntonmanorstud/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cauntonmanorstud/ Website: https://www.cauntonmanorstud.com 

Equiteam’s Liz Daniels and Louise Gillings caught up with Equiteam Connected member Jen Craig to find out what sparked her fitness journey and how it has impacted her mindset. The trio discuss making sustainable lifestyle choices and why ice cream features every day in Jen’s menu with no intention of giving up! As Louise is preparing for a half marathon, Jen shares how the Equiteam Fit to Ride videos and plans have inspired her to kick-start her health journey and how she has noticed the biggest differences in her energy, her time in the saddle and most of all to her mindset.

In this episode, EquiTeam’s Liz Daniels chats to Muireann O Toole Brennan Co Founder and Head of Media at Equitas about inspiring a generation. As Muireann sobbed her way to a riding lesson early on in life, scared to ride, little did she know that the sisters who owned the stables would change, shape and inspire her future both in and out of the saddle – her first experience of truly supportive women working together. With a career steeped in many equestrian experiences, Muireann jumped at the opportunity to combine the two things she loved; writing and horses, as she recalls the emotions when her first article was published in the Grassroots Gazette. A few articles later and a meeting request with the ‘boss’ left Muireann thinking that she might get fired, but she needn’t have worried, it was the beginning of something really big – Equitas was born. Equitas is an inclusive online publication that opens conversations and supports the women in our industry bringing about change, with one of the most notable achievements being the recent rule change surrounding the compulsory wearing of white breeches for competition. An conversation oozing with passion, pride and admiration. Find out more about Equitas here: Website: https://www.equitas.ie  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EquitasEire  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/equitaseire And if you'd like to join EquiTeam you can find out more here: www.equiteam.co.uk 

Following a recent social media post, EquiTeam’s Liz Daniels is joined by equine and human physiotherapist Maeve Sheridan, creator of ‘Activate your Seat’ and EquiTeam member Carolyn Macdonald, previous podcast guest of ‘how getting fit and losing four stone changed my life’.   After talking about the rider/horse weight ratio at an educational day Maeve was inspired to weigh herself in her riding clothes whilst carrying her tack and was so surprised by the findings that she shared her numbers on social media as an educational post. The post attracted both positive and negative comments and so we wanted to discuss the topic further to find out more. You can follow Maeve here: Maeve's website - https://animalphysioplus.com/activate-your-seat  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/maeve.animalphysioplus Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/activateyourseat

At EquiTeam we love nothing more than chatting about confidence, and so this week’s guest is the perfect fit as we welcome confidence coach and sports psychologist Daisy Smith to the Listen with EquiTeam podcast. After suffering a crisis of confidence Daisy was able to draw on her own personal and professional experiences to help others, which led to the formation of How Very Horsey. Daisy has a very refreshing slant on ‘being brave’ as she shares her own story, and explains how a background in theatre has given her additional techniques to share with other equestrians to help them put the fun and love back into riding.  You can find out more about Daisy here: Website: https://howveryhorsey.co.uk/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/HowVeryHorsey IG: @howveryhorsey And join EquiTeam here  

Love hacking for hours or see it as a means to an end? In this revisited episode Liz is joined by Lou & Liz to discuss everything and anything hacking related.  The changes to the Highway Code feature, as well as how to incorporate schooling exercises into your hacking, the importance of hacking with purpose and how Hi-Viz, once seriously uncool is now a necessity. Listen for free across all podcast platforms     

This week we are celebrating our second birthday and to mark this exciting occasion we invited our members to a podcast party. From creating horse poo truffles, feeling safe to have tricky conversations, supporting first-time horse owners, and our most memorable moments, the love for the EquiTeam community is clear for everyone to hear. Of course the who would you have for dinner question appeared, which saw the evening escalate quickly!! A heartfelt thank you to every single person who has supported us, and as a special thank you we are giving you all the chance to join EquiTeam for just £2 by using the code EquiTeam2Birthday at checkout. Come and celebrate with us here: www.equiteam.co.uk 

Having been on every diet plan out there, Carolyn Macdonald shares how a change in mindset kickstarted her weight loss and fitness journey. After 40 years of being unhappy with her weight and suffering from a huge loss in confidence both on her horse Bobby and in her personal life Carolyn realised she had to make a change. Fast forward and she has lost an incredible 4.5 stone. In this episode she chats to Liz about her biggest achievement to date and the impact it has had on every area of her life. Having coached Carolyn before her weight loss journey Liz has seen first-hand the benefits to Carolyn’s riding and confidence levels with her horse Bobby. Carolyn shares some brilliant tips from her own journey whilst at the same time acknowledging that everyone’s journey will be different. Importantly it has got to be the right time for the individual, and whilst in an equestrian setting it is right to talk about someone’s fitness, it is never appropriate to tell someone else that they are overweight.   You can find out more information on the plan that Carolyn used here or sign up to Equiteam to access both our exclusive member work outs and a supportive community ready to cheer you on https://bit.ly/3vUrGvm

This week Liz Daniels has her Confidence Coach's hat on to answer some of your confidence related questions. From competition nerves to learning to ride a new horse, knowing when to move up and when to consolidate or how to get back on after a nasty fall, Liz chats through the different ways you can build your confidence, recover from set backs and most of all enjoy spending time with your horse.  If you want to access any of the confidence related resources we mention in this episode head over to www.equiteam.co.uk and come and join the most incredible, supportive bunch of people, where no question is a silly question.   

After a recent post in the EquiTeam Connected member’s group, Liz and Lou chat about the word ‘should’ and when it can be damaging.  ‘Should’ can be a really pressure-fuelled word as the duo chat about self-pressure, external pressure, and why the most important part of training is positive repetition. Remember that your journey is your own and should be taken at your own pace. Maybe the only thing you should be doing is having fun along the way.  

It's Female Health February so what better reason to revisit one of our most popular episodes from 2022. Can we be the last generation of women to suffer in silence when it comes to the peri-menopause and menopause? This was a question put to us by the wonderful Caroline Wilson as she shared her experience of peri-menopause with Liz Daniels and Liz Somerville from EquiTeam. For Caroline it all started around the age of 43 when for the first time in her life she rode down the centre line and had a complete mind blank. The anxiety and panic that set in stayed with her and looking back now she is certain that this was the beginning of the peri-menopause. Fast forward a few years and lockdown gave her the time and opportunity to start researching and learning about this period in a woman’s life and armed with Liz Earle’s E-Book on HRT she plucked up the courage to go and speak to a doctor. Caroline shares with us some of the different options for HRT and also some fantastic resources if you want to learn more. The crazy thing is 50% of the population are going to go through the menopause and yet we still aren’t talking about it enough and women are still struggling to get help. Dr Louise Newson, Davina McCall and Liz Earle amongst others have started the conversation and we need to continue it. On top of that as riders we take risks every day when we get on our horses so protecting our bones against osteoporosis which can happen as a result of low estrogen levels, has never been more important if we want to continue riding as we get older. Massive thanks to Caroline for being brave and speaking so articulately, we hope you enjoy listening! Find out more and join our EquiTeam community https://bit.ly/3vUrGvm Liz Earle’s E-Book  https://lizearlewellbeing.com/product/menopauseguides/ Dr Louise Newson https://www.balance-menopause.com

EquiTeam’s Liz Daniels chats to Sarah Giddings about how her ingrained passion for horses inspired her to found The Stables Retail Consultancy in a bid to help other equestrian businesses. Juggling horses alongside school, college and a degree in Fashion Marketing, Sarah went on to work for some major high-street brands including Next, before following her heart to the equestrian industry. Now Sarah is passionate about helping equestrian brands to grow using a mixture of her retail knowledge and experience, combined with her affinity with horses. Coming from a non-horsey background Sarah shares how she uses the Yellow Pages to hint to her parents, was terrified of her instructor, and why she had to prove her commitment for seven years before finally getting her own horse Leo. Follow Sarah on Facebook and Instagram https://thestablesretailconsultancy.co.uk/  https://www.equestrianbusinessawards.co.uk/nominate 

Join EquiTeam as we celebrate 100 podcast episodes. Liz, Lou & Liz discuss the top three most downloaded episodes as well as share their own personal favourites. We aren't stopping here though, the team have lots of exciting plans for the show and would really appreciate your feedback on how we can make Listen with EquiTeam even bigger and better. We have put together a short survey and everyone that submits a response will be entered into a prize draw to win three months membership to EquiTeam.  Complete the survey here: https://bit.ly/ListenwithEquiTeam  And if you missed any of the episodes we mentioned in this recording, you can find them all on the following links: Most Downloaded -  https://www.equiteam.co.uk/how-losing-four-stone-and-getting-fit-changed-my-life/  https://www.equiteam.co.uk/hungry-woman-uncovered/  https://www.equiteam.co.uk/more-then-just-hacking/  Our Favourites -  https://www.equiteam.co.uk/i-overheard-them-saying-i-was-too-fat-to-ride/ https://www.equiteam.co.uk/the-value-of-time-2/  https://www.equiteam.co.uk/coach-trainer-rider-producer-james-oakden/  https://www.equiteam.co.uk/one-woman-a-cob-and-a-connie-dancing-at-psg/  https://www.equiteam.co.uk/a-conversation-with-shannon-lorimer/  https://www.equiteam.co.uk/riding-the-menopause-with-caroline-wilson/  https://www.equiteam.co.uk/in-the-vets-corner-all-about-joint-medication/   

Scottish Amateur Eventer, Jo Heaton, chats to EquiTeam’s Liz Daniels about Badminton 2023, and qualifying for 2024. Although Jo fully admits to feeling like she is winging it, she is certainly doing a very good job, juggling a busy home life, a business move and full time job around her competing. After watching Badminton on TV for many years and dreaming about riding there one day, Jo shares what it was like to canter through the famous lake and past Badminton House and her thoughts on competing there again this year. An inspiring podcast with an equestrian who is simply making it happen.

In this week’s episode Liz Daniels chats to Jade Leahy, Author of award winning inclusive equestrian children’s books about the inspiration behind the books and special horses who stole her heart. As someone who has navigated additional challenges, Jade wanted to use the books, ‘Horses can roll but they can’t rollerskate’ and ‘Horses can do ballet’ to help others realise that they are not alone and to inspire them to discover what they can do, rather than focusing on what they can’t do. As well as sharing many important messages the books are also raising money for the amazing work to support the Riding for the Disabled Association. Find out more here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mollyandodin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jadeleahy_/ Website: https://www.jadeleahy.co.uk/ 

As Horse Riding with Confidence Scotland approaches its 20th Birthday, EquiTeam’s Liz Daniels chats to confidence coach Jane Brindley about the changing landscape of mindset in horse riders and coaches. The pair take a little trip down memory lane to chat about how confidence is viewed and how mindset techniques have evolved. You can contact Jane at https://horseridingwithconfidencescotland.co.uk/ and follow her on Facebook and Instagram 

On this week’s podcast we meet Huggy the Shetland Pony, and owner Caeleigh, who are taking the work of therapy horses by storm, one hug at a time. As a horse owner and rider herself, Caeleigh had previously tried to keep the horses separate from her young son, Johnathan who has Cerebral Palsy, but after a physio encouraged her to allow Johnathan to be around the horses she couldn’t believe the difference in him physically and emotionally. Last year Caeleigh created Hugs of Argyll so that therapy pony Huggy can offer one-to-one sessions, visit care homes, schools and public events, whilst raising awareness of the positive benefits that horses can have on your mental health. They truly are changing lives one hug at a time. Find out more at https://www.hugsofargyll.com/  Follow Huggy on Facebook 

Or is it just a good opportunity to set yourself some goals?   Christmas has been and gone, the bells have rung in 2024 and the EquiTeam trio are back to chat about goal setting. Whether you look at New Year as an opportunity to start over or just another day, it is the one time of year when lots of us think about setting ourselves some new goals. In this episode we discuss how to get started with goal setting, how many goals to set and where to focus your energy, and some of the different ways to keep yourself accountable. We share some of our own goals for 2024, and some of our more stupid goals that at the time seemed totally ridiculous, as well as some of our past failures and successes and what we learnt in the process. To download EquiTeam’s Goal Setting download click here  

This week Liz, Lou & Liz are back with a fun filled, relaxed Christmas episode. Sprouts… yes or no? Christmas traditions, real or fake trees plus the best bits of confidence advice we have heard this year.   Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas and we’ll see you on the other side!