An Equine Conversation

This is an episode that’s been a long-time coming on An Equine Conversation. Hannah Weston was one of the very first people who, unknowingly, introduced me to the world of online learning about positive reinforcement training with horses back in 2013 through her business Connection Training. It was an absolute pleasure to finally get to meet Hannah and chat with her about her own horsie origin sto...

Back in S6 E4, I shared the start of my horsie origin story. In this episode, I share more of the memorable moments that helped shape who I am as a horse person and coach today. These memories include: poking poo with a stick, horse’s birthday celebrations, attempting breeding, finding a career path and more.   In this episode we discuss: (1:29) - introducing today’s episode (2:12) - poking poo wi...

I’m delighted to welcome Dr Michaela Hempen back to An Equine Conversation.  We first met Michaela back in Season 3, Episode 4, where we heard about her Masters research project in crib-biting with a palomino horse call Blondie.  This episode, we’re getting to hear more about the journey that was becoming Blondie’s owner which took Blondie from a life in a small space and not being allowed to have...

To the uninitiated, suggesting that a table-top game can make us be better horse trainers may sound a bit bonkers. But to those of us in the know, and those of us who have played this and similar games, we have experienced just what a positive difference they can make to our training in what is a low-risk environment – there’s no chance of us stuffing up our horses. I’m so pleased to have Mary Hun...

Throughout An Equine Conversation, we capture many of our guests horsie origin stories… but of course, being the interviewer, I’m the one asking the questions. In this episode, I’m going to share with you the early years of my own horsie origin story & some of the strong memories I have along the way. If you like a story, this episode is for you.   In this episode we discuss: (1:28) - introducing...

I so much enjoyed recording this conversation with Lucy Chester from Lucy Chester Horsemanship in England. I’ve followed Lucy’s work for a while and admired her care of her horse Tao, and the work she has been doing to raise the profile of more ethical training approaches. I wanted to hear Lucy’s horsie origin story and to hear about Tao’s story too, as I knew it had not been and still isn’t all s...

In today’s episode, I’m going to chat about my training approach. Why it’s not just about positive reinforcement training. Late last year, I was asked some great questions about my training approach that really got me thinking. And as this has become clearer to me, well, nothing’s changed, it’s more I’ve found the words to explain it, I want to share those words with you. I should say, in a later...

We are so excited to be back with Season 6 of An Equine Conversation. This episode, to start off Season 6, is a little different. I’m straying, on purpose, from the particularly equine-focused discussion, to instead share a conversation with you on something that is really important to us here at Abbey’s Run Equestrian. I’ve invited my beautiful friend, Terori Hareko-Avaivilla along for a conversa...

Hello there lovely listener, I'm Sarah Nickels, your host, and I am delighted let you know that Season 6 of An Equine Conversation starts next Wednesday. As always, Season 5 includes 8 episodes, released weekly on a Wednesday morning (Melbourne time, GMT+10). Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode & please tell everyone about An Equine Conversation so that we can get more great informat...

I’m delighted to welcome Ellen Cochrane back to An Equine Conversation. We heard from Ellen in Season 4, talking all about equine agility and The International Horse Agility Club. This episode is something quiet different: We’re hearing about Ellen’s journey to and experiences in working with mules, both her own mule Inara, and her voluntary efforts in supporting humans working with mules in Moroc...

On the 8th of June 2008, my life changed forever with a split-second accident that saw me trampled by my then 2.5-year-old horse, Fernando, and air-lifted to Hospital for life-saving surgery. This episode is the story of that accident, what happened, the damage that did and where that’s left me now.   Before I even introduce this episode, I want to give you a warning. This episode talks about my a...

I am so pleased to be welcoming our 2nd first time guest to An Equine Conversation for Season 5. We’ve had some super wild weather here in my part of the world this Spring that meant this guest and I had to reschedule recording this episode multiple times. Despite the severe storms, power-outages, trees down, no internet, we got there in the end and are bringing you an episode with our most wonder...

Please note: this episode does contain 'conversational profanity' I am so grateful for the knowledge that business coach, Erin Moore has brought into my life & so I’m delighted that Erin is back with me on An Equine Conversation this episode, to share more of her wisdom with you. In this episode, we’re taking a look at some of the gnarly problems that face micro & small businesses, especially thos...

In today’s episode I’m going to chat with you about the awesomeness of virtual learning in the horse world. This episode is inspired in part by Ivy sharing her experience in last week’s episode and just how integral Michelle’s remote support has been to Swagger and Ivy’s journey and progress. But it’s also inspired by my own experiences with the virtual learning landscape, and by conversations I’v...

Today we welcome our first new guest for this Season. Ivy Starnes caught my attention through her generous sharing of videos documenting her journey with a horse called Swagger, a young, now gelding who was previously living in the wild. I’ve been captivated by Ivy’s training with the support of her coach and friend Michelle, as they help this incredibly unique and quite spectacular horse learn ab...

Today, I want to speak about ‘the hard’ in horses. I recently shared a post on our Abbey’s Run Equestrian Facebook page about this & it resonated with a lot of people. This topic is inspired by those who in the past few months have shared their hard with me, just how tough-a time they’ve had of it, and the thinking and reflection that those conversations have left me with. I don’t think we share e...

I’m delighted to be starting Season 5 of An Equine Conversation with a returning and very popular past guest, Dr Dorothy Heffernan. In today’s episode, we catch-up, get an update on Rio, Dorothy’s New Forest pony with Equine Metabolic Syndrome (although, this was recorded back in August 2024, so there’s likely already another update due) and then we get onto today’s topic of how to set everyone up...

Why hello there listener, I'm Sarah Nickels, your host, and I am delighted let you know that Season 5 of An Equine Conversation starts next Wednesday. As always, Season 5 includes 8 episodes, released weekly on a Wednesday morning (Melbourne time). Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode & please tell everyone about An Equine Conversation so that we can get more great information to more...

This is the FINAL EPISODE of our Special Edition Season of An Equine Conversation on ‘What Else Is There?’ besides riding. Last but by no means least, I’m absolutely delighted to welcome our Australian guests for the season, Dee Horwood & Cortney McCartney, owners of the business Scent Horses Australia. Cortney is, I think, only the 2nd person we’ve had on the podcast who I’ve actually met in pers...

In this episode of our Special Edition Season of An Equine Conversation, focusing on ‘What Else Is There?’ besides riding, we welcome the incredibly experienced & knowledgeable, Peggy Hogan to chat with us on the topic of Cooperative Care. Cooperative Care may be a new term for some of you. It’s something that is used or can, or we could perhaps say should be used widely in the animal world, inclu...

I’m excited to introduce our next topic & guest on our Special Edition Season of An Equine Conversation, focusing on ‘What Else Is There?’ besides riding. I suspect some of your will be familiar with the work of Maja Bagdziun. Maja shares a heap of beautiful, inspiring training videos through her Facebook page: Hear Your Horse Whisper - science based information and education and two Facebook grou...

This episode of our Special Edition Season on ‘What Else Is There?’ we are connecting with the far west coast of Scotland to speak with today’s guest Nicky Ross, owner of the business Horse Play. I first discovered Nicky some years back through a training group we were both in on Facebook and I saw some of the lovely videos she was sharing of her work, teaching one of her ponies to go in harness,...

This episode of our Special Edition Season on ‘What Else Is There?’ takes a little bit of a different view. Today, instead of us meeting with those who engage in this space in a more professional capacity, it is my pleasure to introduce you to a couple who are horse-owners and to share their, very personal but very inspiring journey. I connected with Chris and Michael Fallon, based in the United S...

In this episode of our Special Edition Season on ‘What Else Is There?’, I’m delighted to introduce you to Vicki Jayne Yates and the Facebook group she established with her husband Steve, ‘The Non Ridden Equine’. This free group that continues to grow weekly with a current membership of over 32,000 people from around the world. I’ve been a member for a number of years now and love being part of suc...

I’m so excited to introduce today, our first guest of our Special Edition Season on ‘What Else Is There?’ (besides riding). I’ll be straight with you and say that one of the joys of podcasting is having a reason to speak to some awesome humans in our industry, because uh, I want to connect with them myself, and today is no exception.  Ellen Cochrane came on my radar a couple of years ago, when som...