The Equestrian Podcast

[EP 324] Solo Episode- Packing for a Horse Show with Bethany Lee

In this solo episode, our host Bethany Lee shares her recent endeavors on traveling to a horse show and playing the role of groom, barn manager, and trainer. Sharing from personal experience, Bethany literally unpacks her tips and tricks of important necessities to have in your car before the horses arrive at the show grounds. Being prepared is everything!! Listen in.

[EP 323] Understanding Equine Behavior with Equine Ethologist Renate Larssen

Renate Larssen is an Equine Ethologist with a BSc in Veterinary Medicine from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and a MSc in Applied Ethology from Linköping University. Renate believes the horse world would benefit from knowing about more science, and has an ethos of understanding how horses think, feel, and perceive the world as important to building relationships with them. Renate aims to bridge the gap between science and action to help horse people better understand the current research to support their relationships with horses. Aside from her research and education, Renate has experience rehabilitating behavioral issues in horses, with a special interest in severe aggression cases and pain and stress-related behaviors. Renate enjoys teaching and lecturing about equine behavior for a wide range of audiences including university students, veterinarians, equine professionals, and horse owners. Listen in!

[EP 322] Discussing Conservation of Wild Horses in America with Neda DeMayo

Neda DeMayo is the president and founder of Return to Freedom. She has worked hard to develop the organization into what it is today, garnering support from many passionate individuals such as Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, along with creative collaboration with Native American tribes, and all types of people who support and love wild horses. Return to Freedom is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and conservation of America's wild horses and burros.  Founded in 1998, RTF is located in beautiful Santa Barbara County with several thousand sanctuary acres across two locations. Return to Freedom pioneers innovative alternatives to standard wild horse management that can be applied on the range and advocates for viable solutions to prevent the removal of wild horses from their natural rangelands. Listen in!

[EP 321] The Ultimate Horse Girl Vacation through Unicorn Trails with Wendy Hofstee

Wendy Hofstee is a veterinary surgeon, traveler, horse lover, and owner of the largest portfolio of horse-riding holidays worldwide! Unicorn Trails was created to hand pick a selection of the best riding holidays with horses in excellent condition and to make it as easy as possible to ride abroad. Today Unicorn Trails and puts thousands of people into contact with different cultures, all sharing the common language of horsemanship. Additionally, they offer access to an extensive knowledge base of horse riding all over the world which is continuously being updated and extended and guarantees a knowledgeable service, happy horses in good health, small groups of riders and unspoiled natural environments. Listen in as Bethany shares her recent experience getting to travel with Unicorn Trails!

[EP 320] How Lucas Porter’s Early International Success Became a Long-term Career

Lucas Porter is an international show jumper who splits his time between the US and his European home base in the Netherlands. Born into an equestrian family, Lucas's parents both rode when they were younger and wanted Lucas and his brother Wilton, to have experience with horses from a young age. After much success in his junior years, Lucas started training with Jeroen Dubbeldam and has been working with him for many years. Lucas is excited about his future and has set big goals with the hope of representing the US at the top levels, as well as breaking into the Top 10 in Worldwide Rankings. Listen in!

[EP 319] How Steven Wilde Captures Stories as an Equestrian Sports Commentator

Steven Wilde is an equestrian sports commentator who is originally from Wiltshire, England. He began equestrian sports commentating in 2001, and grew up in the sport of show jumping with his mother who was an international rider. Steven has had great success organizing shows as well. With a long list of events on his resume, Steven has commentated at many shows including four Olympic Games, seven European Championships, two World Championships, over 100 World Cup Qualifiers, and over ten years on the Longines Global Champions Tour. His voice is a staple at WEF and other shows in the US and abroad. Listen in!

[EP 318] How Equine Psychotherapy Heals Trauma with Mustard Seed Ranch

Chris Cervantes and Mallory Nicklas work for Mustard Seed Ranch- a nonprofit program that provides youth with a safe place where they would have the opportunity to participate in therapy services and build hands-on skills in a ranch environment.  Chris is a professional horse trainer and equestrian coach at Far West Farms in Calabasas, CA. He has worked for multiple FEI and Olympic trainers in jumper and dressage disciplines. In addition to joining Mustard Seed Ranch as an Equine Therapist, he continues post-grad counseling at the Orange County LGBTQ Center, working with individuals and facilitating process groups. Mallory is the Colorado Program Director. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in clinical social work. With experience working in various educational settings, inpatient behavioral health treatment, and non-profit program facilitation, she enjoys creatively pairing her clinical knowledge to the experiential process of engaging clients in a meaningful way. In 2021, Mallory participated in the Fundamentals of Natural Lifemanship program.

[EP 317] The Advantages of Being Competitive in Equestrian Sport with Alex Matz

Alex Matz is the owner and operator of Vintage Farm Sales, a training and sales program operated out of Coatesville, PA and Wellington, FL. Alex's early education in the horse industry came from both his father, Olympic silver medalist Michael Matz, and his mother, Pan-American bronze medalist DD Matz. Additionally, Alex has spent time learning from Olympic medalists Beezie Madden and Jos Lansink. In his business Alex focuses on developing young jumpers into top Grand Prix competitors and provides training services for clients both at home and at shows. As a young rider, Alex competed at the 2015 & 2016 North American Junior & Young Rider Championships aboard Quinta. Since then Alex has had success in U25 and Grand Prix competition. Most recently, Alex and long-time partner Cashew CR earned multiple top five placings in Grand Prix competition during the 2020 season, including a 5th place finish against a tough field of competitors in the $137,000 CSI3* during Tryon Fall IV. Listen in! 

[EP 316] Book Club Review with Dr. Piper Klemm and Traci & Carleton Brooks

This year, I started a little equestrian book club in the hopes to reading more equestrian-related books! The first one on my list was With Purpose: The Balmoral Standard by Traci Brooks and Carleton Brooks with Rennie Dyball! This book was such a quick read with lovely photos and organized in a super easy way. Have a listen below and we tried to not give too much away in case you haven't had a chance to read it yet! Snag a copy HERE and use my code PODCAST for 10% off.

[EP 315] The WEF Series- Anna-Christina Abbelen Shares Her Experience at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival

Anna-Christina Abbelen is a young German Grand Prix Dressage rider currently ranked number 39 in the FEI World Rankings. She was the 2014 European Junior Riders Champion and is now a professional for the riders' team at Hof Kasselmann in Hagen. Anna-Christina had a very successful season in Wellington at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, consistently finding herself at the top of the class including being a part of the winning Nations Cup Team for Germany. Anna-Christina ended the Global Dressage Festival season on a high note with a 4th place finish in her first 5* Grand Prix and one of the highlights of her WEF season was a Grand Prix personal best score of 77% and a 2nd place finish.