The Elevated Equestrian

In this episode of The Elevated Equestrian Podcast, host Samantha Baer sits down with equine conditioning expert and best-selling author Jec Ballou for a deep dive into training horses for longevity and soundness. Drawing on her background in equine exercise physiology and classical dressage, Jec breaks down why fitness is protective — and why pulling your horse out of work the moment something go...

Follow The Elevated Equestrian so you never miss an episode—and if this one shifts something for you, share it with a riding friend who needs to hear it. What if the way you ride—your busy hands, your collapsing core, the leg that just won't stay quiet—isn't a habit you need to drill away, but a pattern your body has been building for decades? In this episode, I sit down with rider biomech...

Most horses aren't born with the core strength to carry us — and the ones that are tend to sell for a fortune. Everyone else? We have to build it, deliberately and patiently. In this episode, Samantha sits down with classically trained European rider Simon Cocozza, author of Core Conditioning for Horses . After years of buying and producing high-level horses across Germany and Holland, Simon k...

That "training problem" might not be a training problem at all. In this episode, Samantha Baer sits down with Julia Alebrand, a certified equine and saddle ergonomist with Saddle Fit 4 Life, to unpack how saddle fit issues hide in plain sight — masquerading as behavioral quirks, performance plateaus, ulcers, or "just how my horse goes." Julia explains why saddle fit is never a...

In this episode, Sam sits down with Shawna Karrasch — who spent a decade as a marine mammal trainer at SeaWorld before bringing positive reinforcement to Grand Prix show jumping at Beezie and John Madden's barn — along with trainer Jessie, who made the leap from traditional methods after one dangerous horse changed everything. Together they break down the science most riders were never taught:...

In this conversation, Samantha Baer and Emmie Speckens, co-founder of Equithink dig into learning theory and positive reinforcement training, puzzle design and environmental enrichment, and why agency and choice are quietly some of the most important pieces of equine welfare. They talk through the difference between compliance and a true yes, how curiosity transforms not just enrichment time but r...

If your horse's back pain, lameness, or behavior issues keep coming back no matter what you try, this conversation is for you. Equine and human osteopath Elisse Miki of Equilibria Therapeutics joins Sam to unpack what osteopathy actually is — and why it's so much more than massage or fascial work. Elise breaks down why structure governs function, the science of spinal facilitation and how...

What if the way your horse stands in the cross-ties is telling you everything? What if the "good" horse in the show ring is actually the most dysfunctional one? Sam sits down with Tara Osborne of Long Drove Holistic Horse Training for a conversation that will change how you watch horses move. They cover Tara's assessment process for spotting compensation, the seesaw of front-to-back...

Is your horse's feed doing more harm than good? In this episode, functional nutrition therapy practitioner and veteran vet tech Stephanie Carter of Indigo Ancestral Health joins Sam to break down why so many performance horses — not just ponies and draft crosses — are being diagnosed with metabolic issues like elevated insulin, EMS, and Cushing's. Stephanie explains her Won't Thrive 25...

What if a simple cotton swab could tell you more about your horse's health than a blood draw? In this episode, molecular biologist and cancer researcher Dr. Kimberley Mackenzie breaks down her groundbreaking work at For Martin Bio, where she's developing a saliva-based test that analyzes the sugar molecules — called glycans — attached to your horse's antibodies to reveal what's rea...

What's really happening in your horse's brain when the pressure is on — and why does it matter for how we train? In this episode, neuroscientist and lifelong horse trainer Dr. Janet Jones (author of Horse Brain, Human Brain and the upcoming A Horse's World ) joins the podcast to unpack the science behind the prey animal brain at every level of performance. We get into what's actually happening neu...

Physical therapist and lifelong equestrian Dr. Allison Baier of EquiPT joins the podcast to explore why so many riders feel disconnected from their bodies in the saddle — and what to do about it. Drawing from her training in somatic experiencing and over a decade of physical therapy, Allie explains the "felt sense," how fight, flight, and freeze states show up in your riding, and why no...

Are you white knuckling your way through barn chores, rushing between rides, and wondering why your body keeps revolting? In this episode, nutritional therapist and endometriosis educator Katie Edmonds of Heal Endo breaks down the difference between CAN chemistry (cortisol, adrenaline, norepinephrine) and DOSE chemistry (dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins) — and why the one you're livin...

In this episode Samantha Baer sits down with Linda Hauck, founder of Tapestry Equine Products, racetrack trainer, eventing technical delegate, and competition coach with over 40 years in the barn. Linda didn't design her products from a boardroom — she designed them because her horses were telling her something wasn't working, and she actually listened. They talk about why horses go to the...

Grete Jørgensen is a researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research who's spent years studying how horses communicate preferences — including the viral blanket study that taught horses to use symbols for yes and no. In this episode, we talk about what it actually took to teach horses to make choices, and what it revealed about how we train them. We get into why some horses were...

Samantha Baer sits down with Matt Brown, a five-star eventer and horse trainer based in Pennsylvania who's been vocal about rethinking how we use tools like whips in competition. In this episode, we talk about his journey from traditional, dominance-based training to a more horsemanship-focused approach - and what it took to make that shift while competing at the highest level. We get into why...

What if the resistance, crookedness, and tension you feel in your horse is actually coming from you ? In this episode, I sit down with Matthias Agneessens — manual therapist, biomechanics specialist, and the man treating some of the world's top show jumpers — to break down exactly why rider posture and muscle activation is the missing piece most trainers never address. We talk about why your g...

Presence is one of those things everyone in the horse world talks about but almost nobody explains how to actually get there. This week I sat down with high performance and nervous system coach Natalie Hummel and honestly this might be one of my favorite conversations we've had on the pod. We get into why presence is the single most powerful thing you can bring to your horse, what's actual...

What if your horse's biggest problem isn't behavior — it's that they can't feel you? In this episode, Josh Nichol joins the podcast to break down why so many horses shut down, spook, buck, or refuse to go forward — and why the answer almost never starts with the horse. We talk about the difference between lightness and softness, why tension stored in your horse's body is actual...

In this episode of The Elevated Equestrian podcast, Samantha Baer sits down with Inga Wolframm, Professor of Sustainable Equestrianism, to uncover the hidden biases in dressage judging. From eye-tracking research to AI-assisted scoring, they dive into the future of equestrian sports, sustainable horse training, and why flashy movement gets rewarded over correct biomechanics. Don't miss this de...

In this episode of The Elevated Equestrian, Samantha Baer sits down with horse trainer, author, and filmmaker Elsa Sinclair to ask the uncomfortable question that changed her entire approach to horses: do horses actually want to be ridden—if they truly had a choice? What starts as a simple question quickly opens the door to a radically different way of thinking about training, consent, and partner...

When a horse is labeled “metabolic,” it often feels like the end of the conversation. In this episode, I’m joined by Alison Lepanto, founder of Cataract Nutrition, to challenge that assumption and explore what may actually be driving inflammation, behavioral changes, and metabolic red flags in horses. We unpack the difference between sugar management and toxic load, what GMO and herbicide exposure...

Starting a young horse will expose your nervous system faster than any training issue ever could. In this episode, I sit down with Gabi Neurohr of Understanding Horses to talk about emotional regulation—why it matters, how horses mirror it, and what happens when we lose it under pressure. We dive into what it actually means to be a steady leader for a young horse, how to tell the difference betwee...

In this episode of The Elevated Equestrian, Samantha sits down with Jessica Howell — a licensed Thoroughbred trainer who is quietly rewriting the rules of racehorse development from the inside out. Jessica didn’t come up through the traditional racing pipeline. She came from eventing, classical dressage, and a background in producing sound, educated horses. And when she stepped into the racetrack...

In this episode of The Elevated Equestrian, Swiss Olympian and 5★ rider Felix Vogg joins me for a genuinely honest conversation about what it takes to stay competitive in one of the toughest sports in the world. We dig into the mental side of elite eventing—how he processes setbacks, why he doesn’t let failure freeze him, and what actually went through his mind after a heartbreaking fall at Badmin...