Horse Geeks

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: Fawning is a defensive strategy used for coping with high levels of stress, like trauma, or chronic stress. It is a strategy often used when a person or horse is punished harshly for expressing fight or flight, perceived as disobedience. Fawning is one of the newer defensive strategies defined by psychologists, but has been adopted long before it was well defined. This particular strategy is often confused as a "well trained" or "push button" horse, one that often anticipates what move we want next, but with constant anxiety and tension just below the compliant behavior. When horses are obedient but don't feel safe or comfortable internally, then fawning is a strategy for just staying out of trouble. The most common side effects for horses are food related issues or feeding time anxiety, ulcers and a tendency to colic. A horse's digestion seems to take the brunt of being obedient without calmness. Guest: Deb Romero, Certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: There are as many different ways to actually ride a horse as there are people and horses. While we all learn how to not fall off with our basic training, moving from one level to another in riding often feels like we have to start over again. What works to keep us on a horse in the early levels of riding are actually skills that hold us back from advanced riding, where we learn how to influence the movement and balance of a horse. Balance as a rider, without gripping, is more like surfing - where there is nothing to hang on to. Balance is more about soft, subtle weight shifts than anything else and we have to let go of all those tight muscles, jamming our heels down, thrusting our shoulders back in order to even feel what we need to feel from a horse. If you want to really advance your riding skills, then be prepared to feel like a beginner all over again. Guest: Deb Romero, Certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: When we decide to look a little deeper at horse behavior, we begin to become aware of what is driving the behavior - what thoughts or emotions horses have that is motivating any action they take. Demanding obedience means gaining compliance without ever considering the emotional state of another. Some horses will comply while others will defend and escalate the defensive actions over time. Developing a mutually beneficial relationship with horses starts by understanding what they are thinking and feeling more than what they are doing or not doing. Until we understand our horse's emotional life, we typically continue to have "horse problems". Guest: Deb Romero, Certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: Learning how to see and feel muscle use in our horse can be really helpful at understanding the underlying coordination. When the outer muscles are tight and hard, like well done meat, then we know the core muscles are weak. When chronic tightness shows up in one area, we know that too much weight is habitually carried in the opposite direction. Coordination is what dictates muscle use throughout the body. So no matter how many massages we give, the chronic tightness is perpetual until coordination is improved. Guest: Deb Romero, Certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: It is actually quite literally true when we say that our body sort of has a mind of its own. Our nervous system is more than just our brain, it travels to all areas of our body and picks up information all the time. The power of our brain is to interpret information gathered by the nervous system and make sense of it, remember past stress events in order to avoid them and normalize whatever becomes habitual, even if it is not healthy for us. Fear is the visceral response that often gets us to tap into our body intelligence and start listening. But the nervous system outside of the brain can also be our best source of information regarding our balance, our relationship with gravity, especially while we are navigating the movement of a horse. This incredible resource of information is always available to us, we just have to learn how to listen to it instead of always trying to use our brain for every single job. Guest: Deb Romero, Certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: Deb and I discuss what suppling horses means - which is to increase flexibility - but making our horses do yoga poses does not really help if our horse has a habit of moving with unbalanced body weight. Tension through the soft tissues always increases when body weight becomes unequal in any direction. In order to sustain healthy, supple muscles horses must learn to balance and control their body weight distribution during motion. Guest: Deb Romero, Certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: We get to geek out a little in this podcast talking about rotation, which is a function of the spine, and how different it is ideally coordinated in horses compared to people. Addressing rotation issues is not part of any classical horse training and yet it is a reality that becomes a major source of lameness or poor movement if we don't know about it and how to address issues in horses. Hope you can stick with our wandering conversation that involves a bit of physics in order to understand a very important part of balance for horses. Guest: Deb Romero, Certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: Navigating changes in coordination, for both people and horses, can feel like a tricky process. Bodies do not change in a straight progression, they change randomly and in unexpected ways. There are some overall changes that are really significant for both people and horses so we talk about the difference between stabilizing movement through good skeletal coordination compared to doing the same with muscular effort. This transition from muscular stability to skeletal stability is a big deal and a tricky process for all people and horses while improving balance. For horses, there is another big transitional change from stabilizing on the forehand, muscle or bone, into stabilizing through the back and hindquarters. This transition of coordination from the front to the back for horses is also a very big deal and happens gradually when it is authentic. Guest: Deb Romero, Certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: Changing habits of coordination is not an easy or quick process and there are many bumps in the road. Understanding the process that always includes a little difficulty, resistance to change, thresholds of physical changes and uncovering the mechanical issues that have been hidden helps us navigate through the process. Rehab, which involves altering patterns of coordination in both horse and rider, is often a messy process with lots of trial and error and wobbles along the way. It's sometimes good to know that is just how things go. While we seek the path of least resistance by adjusting in order to reduce defensiveness and increase cooperation, changing physical habits and restoring function to under used parts of the body is not easy for people or horses. The balance, comfort and ease that is on the other side of the these changes in coordination is something that we can understand as people but our horses will not understand until we work through the challenge and our horse experiences the ease first hand. Guest: Deb Romero, Certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: Today we venture out of the normal and look at working with energy, reiki and horses. While energy healing is still considered a bit woo woo, there is actual science behind the invisible forces that we can learn to tune into. Horses have a highly refined sense of touch and seem to respond to invisible forces that are so subtle we think they are magical. But just like wind, humidity and temperature, we can sense these invisible forces or at least see our horse respond to them in order to understand the existence of what we cannot see or grab. Amy explains her work with horses and how they show her all the time that the energy work she does is both real and helpful. Guest: Amy Potter, Reiki Master and Intuitive From the Earth Creative www.fromtheearthcreative 540-270-8546 fromtheearthcreative@gmail.com Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: When we think of training horses we tend to think of putting information into a horse, teaching cues, conditioned responses and maneuvers. But the only real honest answer to any horse training question is, "It depends" because every person and horse is an individual. In order to know how to train as a rider or how to train our horses, we have to spend a little time exploring, especially when things are not going the way they are supposed to go. How an individual responds to any stimulus or how a body coordinates doing any task is wildly unpredictable. Including some exploration time during training is how we know what strategies are actually getting us where we want to go with our horse, or not. Guest: Deb Romero, certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: If we simplify things into just understanding balance as weight distribution, then it gets a little easier. Weight distribution has to be equalized on the left and right sides of the body in order to balance, which is simple to understand. In the human, equalizing weight front to back is also easy to understand. Because horses have long necks and heavy head, equalizing body weight front to back is a little more complicated, just like equalizing weight in the human up and down is a bit more complicated. But essentially, in a 3 dimensional body, horse or human, just thinking in terms of equalizing weight already moves us away from forcing frames and contorted ridings positions. Have a think about it.... Guest: Deb Romero, certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: Understanding the difference between coordination, that is changeable, and conformation, that is not changeable, helps us navigate training. So often horse conformation is blamed for lack of athletic abilities, performance issues and lameness. But really conformation - what is unchangeable - comes down to the size of the bones, proportion of muscle fiber types and minor genetic influences. Coordination is how the bones, soft tissues and genetics are used. When we start to consider that coordination can be changed, we suddenly see a lot more potential in ourselves and our horses. Guest: Deb Romero, certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair May 31-June 1, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: We can't become great riders by watching great riders and trying to mimic them. We have to feel our way into becoming a great rider from the inside out. Classical riding postures are what they are for a reason. A beautiful classical seat, whether western, dressage, jumping or racing, is easy to recognize and considered classical because it is the most efficient and effective functional posture for riding. All good riders look sort of the same, quietly stable and soft, because they have discovered the most optimal coordination of the body for the sport they ride. The half seat and racing postures allow a person to use the leg joints more, which is how we keep the torso stable during fast speeds, tight turns and while going over huge obstacles. Riding more upright, like in western and dressage, requires a different posture because we are refining the movement of the horse in different ways. But any classical, beautiful riding posture must be functional first in order to look right. Trying to look the part does not help with the function, so it is always a bit off and not quite right. Once we try to feel and work with the movement of our horse, developing a classically correct seat and riding posture is the result. Guest: Deb Romero, certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

The Horse Geeks Podcast - Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out FREE TICKET link for the Art of the Horseman Online Horse Fair February 22-23, 2025 https://www.becauseofthehorse.net/a/23333/a2zsSgDH NEW: Sign up for Kirsten's email list and get all four of the horse fair videos as part of the welcome sequence and a free monthly newsletter. Sign up is at the bottom of the home page at www.kirstennelsen.com   Topic: Until we feel a step or two of balance while riding or driving it is hard to know what we are looking for. We get distracted by focusing on maneuvers, tasks and things to do while riding and forget to pay attention to what the ride feels like. It is so easy to recognize balance in our horse's coordination because riding suddenly feels effortless, smooth, stable and easy to guide. We feel the movement all around us, but our horse's movement no longer affects our balance, no longer transfers to us. We have all experienced moments of balance - because they feel so wonderful they are hard to forget - but it is usually by accident and we don't really know how to get that feeling back again. This is why focusing on balance as the priority of training is so different. Instead of hoping for those magical strides and moments as the result of struggle, we just develop those magical moments on purpose. Guest: Deb Romero, certified Alexander Technique Instructor www.optimalposture.org Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer Developer of Training for Optimal Balance https://kirstennelsen.com/ The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/