HORSE, FIRST - with Lockie Phillips

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...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Horse First, Lockie Phillips explores a quieter form of dominance that often goes unnamed in horse culture: the way human anxiety, overthinking, and unresolved tension can fill the space around a horse, even in the absence of force. When a handler’s internal experience becomes the centre of gravity, horses adapt by shrinking, complying, or going quiet. This conv...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Horse First , Lockie Phillips sits down with Amanda Held, a horsewoman working at the intersection of therapeutic horsemanship and horse behaviour. Drawing from years of experience in equine-assisted programs, Amanda shares insights into how horses communicate their internal state and why reading those signals matters deeply when horses are asked to support huma...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Horse First, Lockie Phillips explores why urgency runs so deep in horse culture, and why slowing down is often the most competent choice we can make. When speed gets mistaken for discipline, horses lose space to learn, communicate, and stay whole. This conversation looks at the myth that faster means better, the reality of changing capacity in both horse and hum...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Horse First , Lockie Phillips is joined by Becks Nairn, equine dissectionist, educator, and long-time advocate working across rescue, education, and welfare. Becks brings an anatomically grounded lens to questions of behaviour and performance, challenging many of the stories we’ve been taught to tell about “problem horses.” Together, they explore what the body r...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Horse First, Lockie Phillips explores the uneasy but essential truth that good intentions don’t always prevent harm. Impact and blame are not the same thing, and horses need our clarity far more than our guilt. Together, we unpack how love can create blind spots, why discomfort is often a sign of growth, and what accountability looks like when it makes us more c...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode of Horse First , Lockie Phillips is joined by Kat HoSoo Lee for a conversation on the Year of the Fire Horse . Together, they explore what it means to move through a season of intensity, transformation, and truth-telling, both in ourselves and in horse culture. This is an episode about heat and clarity, about the parts of horsemanship that can no longer be...

Send us Fan Mail Noticing Normal is an episode about the quiet ways harm can hide inside routine, especially in horse culture, where “this is just how it’s done” can slowly replace curiosity. Lockie Phillips explores how familiarity dulls perception, how the horse world teaches us what not to see, and the subtle signs horses offer long before anything breaks down. This isn’t a conversation about b...

Send us Fan Mail Bringing Season 2 to a soft closing with some thoughts about the year, state of the horse world as I see it, and some personal reflections about how much has changed.  Explore all that we can offer you here: www.emotionalhorsemanship.com For more information check out www.emotionalhorsemanship.com! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about...

Send us Fan Mail The first step to permanent change for the better, is acceptance of the truth of what we currently have.  And the truth is, the horse industry has a BIG problem with big violence, at every level, in many forms, in many disciplines and every country.  Nobodies hands are clean.  The time has come to get off the fence, and make real steps forward.  I am building a community for peopl...