Hear Your Horse: With Kristi Newman

What You're Actually Saying to Your Horse Before You Even Ask Most riders spend a lot of time thinking about their aids. Their leg. Their rein. Their timing. And all of that matters. But there's something that happens before any of that, something nobody really talks about, and your horse is paying very close attention to it every single ride. In this episode, Kristi Newman gets into the...

What if the reason your horse feels tense, distracted, or just not quite with you has nothing to do with training — and everything to do with the energy you're bringing through the barn door? In this episode, Kristi Newman gets into something most riders feel but nobody really talks about. The difference between healing energy and parent energy. The difference between being kind and being nic...

Your horse just gave you the right answer. Now what? Most riders nod and move on. Some don't even notice. And the horse is left wondering, was that it? Did I get it right? In this episode, Kristi picks up where last week left off and unpacks the second half of the conversation — the part nobody really teaches you. The answering back. The yes. The reason your horse keeps trying, or quietly sto...

You ask your horse for the trot. He starts to answer. And before he can quite get there, you ask again. And again. And maybe you add a little tap for good measure. Sound familiar? You're not alone. And it's not your fault. In this episode, Kristi unpacks why so many of us ride the way we live — three steps ahead, already onto the next thing, talking over the horse who is trying so hard t...

What if your next breakthrough with your horse came from a question you asked yourself before you even walked into the barn? In this episode, Kristi shares a conversation with her student Holly, who owns a horse named Frankie. Holly had been listening to a podcast by Mel Robbins about a closet exercise. Stand in front of your clothes, pause, and ask yourself, how do I want to feel today? Do I need...

Have you ever had a ride where nothing went wrong exactly, but your horse just felt a little off? A little tense? A little hard to settle? What if it had nothing to do with your horse — and everything to do with whether you were actually there? In this episode, Kristi breaks down one of the most practical and overlooked parts of riding well — being present. Not in a vague, abstract way. In a very...

What if your horse has never actually been difficult? What if every spook, every sticky transition, every ride that felt like a fight — what if all of it made complete sense, and the only thing missing was the translation? In this episode, Kristi shares the story of a mare everyone had written off as "just like that" — and what happened when someone finally listened to what she was actua...

What happens after your horse finally gets it? That quiet phase — where the lightbulb moments slow down and training starts to feel like repetition — is actually where the real work happens. In this episode, Kristi picks up from last week's ringside conversation with Sandra and Lazura and goes deeper on one of the most misunderstood moments in the RITE System journey. Lazura knew her job. She...

We caught Sandra right after her lesson — still in the ring, Lazura by her side — and asked her to tell us what just happened out there. No filter. No time to overthink it. Just a rider in the middle of a moment, sharing what it actually feels like when something clicks between you and your horse. If you've ever had one of those rides where you got off and thought something is different — thi...

In this episode, Kristi Newman shares the real origin of the RITE System — Reward Integrated Training for Equines. She takes us from her first horse (a thoroughbred off the track who didn’t kill her), through years of elite training, building Silverfox Equestrian Club in 2004, scribing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and the moment she turned down vet school to clear space for what came next. The cent...

In this episode, Kristi Newman makes the case for the core belief of the RITE System: your horse is never wrong. They are always answering the question they heard — not the one you thought you asked. Kristi introduces the Pay Raise Principle — using a tongue click as a marker in the exact moment the horse gets it right, followed by a high-value reward. She explains the clear difference between bri...

In this episode, Kristi Newman digs into the personal development leadership skills element of the RITE System. She starts with the HeartMath Institute’s documented research on the heart’s electromagnetic field — and why horses, as highly sensitive prey animals, respond to your actual body state, not your intended one. Kristi walks through the three layers: before you get on (what you are putting...