HORSE, FIRST - with Lockie Phillips

What if partnership with a horse was not built upon the human always being the "capable" one? Noor of HorseCLICKship joins Lockie Phillips to discuss clicker training, diversity, rest, husbandry and the class assumptions hidden inside our ideas of “good” horsemanship. Together, they explore a relationship in which horses can express themselves, humans can admit their limitations, and sup...

Work with and Learn With Lockie here: www.emotionalhorsemanship.com The bit fitter who doesn't like bits?  Why? Why advocacy work often looks like engaging directly with the very thing you are concerned about, rather than rejecting it? Concerned about riding?  So teach it better. Concerned about training?  So teach it better. Concerned about bits?  Go fit them better. Welcoming the incredible Laur...

www.emotionalhorsemanship.com The horse world needed a serious conversation about consent. For generations, horses have been punished for refusing, pushed through fear and pain, and treated as though their experience did not matter. Learning to recognise dissent has been an important correction, but it cannot be the end of our thinking. A horse’s “no” can mean many things. It may mean pain, fear,...

Discover Lockie's Work here: www.emotionalhorsemanship.com We come to horses thinking we're going to learn about horses. Then the horse becomes a Trojan horse. Through the simple, practical business of trying to understand another animal, we can find ourselves questioning much bigger things. How we relate to the land. What we consider intelligent. Where we believe consciousness resides. What illne...

Can horses get too much of a "good" thing?  In our effort to be ethical have we become blind to the stressors we place on a horses capacities when they live in perpetual turn-out? I wrote a difficult post that went viral online and this podcast I respond to the criticism and chat about the key themes at play in the episode. Joined by my mate Michelle Knapp, thanks Michelle! Hosted by Sim...

Explore more with Lockie HERE: www.emotionalhorsemanship.com In this episode of Horse First , Lockie Phillips is joined by horsewoman, educator, and movement specialist Jillian Kreinbring for a thoughtful conversation about the evolution of horsemanship. Together, they explore the importance of discernment in an age of endless information, asking not whether tradition is right or wrong, but how we...

A conversation about confidence, community, thoughtful training, and the next chapter of Emotional Horsemanship. From my first UK clinics to the launch of Homecoming 4.0, this episode explores why sequencing, training plans and purposeful practice are changing the way we develop horses—and ourselves. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection...

In this special episode of Horse First, Lockie Phillips reads a chapter from his forthcoming book exploring the origins of his professional objection to whips. Part memoir, part reflection on horsemanship, this chapter traces the early experiences that shaped his understanding of fear, power, violence, and the complicated relationship many horse people have with training tools. Far from being a di...

What kind of future are horse people building? And perhaps more importantly, what kind of future are we failing to imagine? In this episode of Horse First , Lockie Phillips sits down with horsewoman and thinker Kim Hallin for a conversation that moves far beyond training techniques and management systems. Together they explore the uncomfortable reality that many horse owners have more faith in eut...

When a horse develops a behavioural problem, most of us reach for training. More lessons. More exercises. Better technique. A different method. But what if the horse isn't expressing a training problem at all? What if they're expressing a living problem? In this episode of Horse First , Lockie Phillips explores one of the most overlooked realities in modern horsemanship: horses spend far more time...

STUDY AN ONLINE COURSE WITH LOCKIE: https://emotionalhorsemanship.com/online-courses In this episode of Horse First, Lockie Phillips sits down with Canadian horse trainer Remy Burley , a specialist in operant conditioning and clicker training. The conversation begins with identity, representation, and the reality that who we are inevitably shapes how we move through the horse world. Together, Lock...

https://emotionalhorsemanship.com Most horse people assume dangerous horses are disobedient horses. What if the opposite is sometimes true? In this episode of Horse First , Lockie Phillips explores the hidden risks of teaching horses that they have no options, no voice, and no meaningful way to disagree. Far from creating safety, the removal of dissent can create horses who suppress communication...

APPLY FOR A RETREAT OR INTERNSHIP HERE https://emotionalhorsemanship.com/retreats-internships In this episode of Horse First , Lockie Phillips sits down with horse trainer, high school teacher, equestrian relationship coach, and upcoming UK clinic host Cat Roy Stanley following her two-week live-in internship at the farm. Together they reflect on the experience of stepping away from everyday life...

In this episode of Horse First , Lockie Phillips sits down with horsewoman, mustang owner, former jeweler, and emerging educator Hayley Josephs . Together they explore the often-overlooked stage of horsemanship where learning is happening faster than certainty, and where curiosity becomes more valuable than confidence. Hayley shares her journey from a creative career in jewelry making to life with...

In this episode of  Horse First , Lockie Phillips names a difficult truth: many of the biggest harms in horse culture aren’t just about methods, they’re about instruction. From gatekeeping information and disempowering students with phrases like “You’re not a trainer,” to insecure teaching systems that rely on dependency instead of education, this episode explores how toxic pedagogy keeps both hum...

In this episode of Horse First , Lockie Phillips is joined by senior clinician and long-time colleague Michelle Knapp for a conversation about one of the most difficult challenges in horsemanship: How do we pursue higher levels of skill, precision, and performance without falling back on lower-quality training practices? Together, they explore the role of dressage in modern horsemanship, the diffe...

In this episode of  Horse First , Lockie Phillips dismantles one of horse culture’s most dangerous myths: that confusion always creates tension, behavioural problems, or unsafe horses. Confusion is not failure, it is cognition, and it is an essential part of real learning. A horse who is never confused is either repeating what they already know or performing without understanding, like a parrot mi...

In this episode of Horse First, Lockie Phillips explores the idea that truly centring the horse automatically changes the human. Horse First is not human last, it’s the reciprocal path to becoming more regulated, more accountable, and more skilled, because horses respond to our nervous systems, our timing, and the space we take up, not our intentions. In a world that already centres humans by defa...

In this episode of  Horse First , Lockie Phillips sits down with long-time collaborator and now teaching team member,  Lori Halliday . This conversation explores a shift happening quietly within horsemanship—a movement that is less visible, less performative, and increasingly happening beneath the surface. Together, they discuss what it means to carry forward work that challenges traditional syste...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Horse First, Lockie Phillips explores the growing tension between clear-eyed discernment and the way it’s often mislabeled as judgment when it challenges harmful norms in horse culture. When people name impact, ask hard questions, or speak up for the horse, discomfort can quickly turn into attempts to silence dissent. This conversation unpacks the difference bet...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Horse First , Lockie Phillips is joined by equine practitioner and The Whole Horse Podcast host, Alexa Linton. This is a conversation about where horsemanship is heading—and what we may need to leave behind to get there. Together, they explore the idea that much of what has been called “progress” in the horse world has remained largely aesthetic. Softer, quieter...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Horse First, Lockie Phillips explores how whips, crops, and training sticks can quietly shift the balance of a relationship, sometimes to the point that a horse’s ability to communicate back begins to disappear. Beyond the debate of “good” or “bad,” this is a conversation about proportion, power, and what happens when tools replace listening instead of supportin...

In this episode of Horse First , Lockie Phillips shares a personal story following a new diagnosis in his own horse, and the process that led there. This is not just a conversation about health. It’s about attention. About the quiet moments where something doesn’t feel right, and the choice to trust that feeling even when answers aren’t clear. Lockie speaks candidly about noticing early signs, nav...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Horse First, Lockie Phillips explores the delicate moment when a horse begins to trust that their communication will be met with attention, not override. Beyond compliance and beyond silence, this is where real partnership starts to form: a horse who can follow guidance without disappearing, and a human who can lead without crowding the space. A reflective and h...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Horse First , Lockie Phillips is joined by horsewoman and author Leslie Desmond for a wide-ranging conversation about the evolution of horsemanship. Together they reflect on the major eras that have shaped how humans train and understand horses, exploring what those traditions got right, where their insights remain valuable, and where new knowledge invites revis...