The Whole Horse Podcast with Alexa Linton

What a deep and necessary conversation I had the pleasure of sharing with Kim Hallin, owner of Unbridled LLC. Kim's tagline is "Stay true to yourself so you can stay true to your horse" and this is exactly the road we went down in this episode, exploring the world of boundaries in ourselves, in our horses and in the equine industry at large.   It was so insightful to hear Kim's experience and pers...

This week on the podcast I spoke with equine behaviour specialist Lauren Fraser, the woman behind the 3 Fs (Friends, Forage, Freedom) framework for species-appropriate horse management. As you might imagine, I was excited to pick her brain on the intersection between equine life-styles and environments and their behaviour.   Our conversation ranged into many interesting territories, such as the di...

In this episode with reknowned equine body worker Jim Masterson, I got to know the origin story behind the Masterson Method and ask Jim about his perspective on a wide range of important topics including consent, pain and environment for our horses.  One of my favourite take-aways from our conversation is the simple yet profound power of observation. Jim is skilled in mindful observation when it c...

This episode with holistic practitioner and classically trained homeopath Julie Anne Lee is absolutely jam packed with digestible, insightful information about the often-mysterious practice of homeopathy and some super helpful facts about remedy usage.    Additionally, we chat about feeding medicinal mushrooms to horses, and how the wisdom of mushrooms matches up beautifully with horses, and Julie...

In this moving episode I am joined by horse trainer Diana Waters of Responsive Equine. We begin with an overview of some of Diana's formative equestrian experiences, including her passion for training at the walk and its many benefits to the equine-human partnership, and then head into a vulnerable conversation about her journey rescuing a horse whom she diligently and compassionately attempted to...

It was such a pleasure to have Shannon Beahen back on the show today for an impassioned discussion about our mutual interest in stewarding and cultivating relationship with land - with special attention as to how that endeavour relates to keeping horses, obviously!   We wandered together through the topics of land having its own nervous system, what it feels like for us to be on a path of evolutio...

This week on the podcast I was joined by holistic veterinarian Dr. Rachel Heart Bellini for her perspective and experience of the scope of vet med and the ways in which she's supplemented her education over the years in order to be of better service to horses.   We had a really interesting conversation about the gap and, at times, inconsistencies between body workers and veterinarians, and discuss...

I was excited to be joined by Amy Dell of Abbotts View Livery for this episode, who wrote the book Horse Track Systems and runs her own track livery in England.   What I loved about Amy's book is how it laid out the steps and tips for creating your own track system in a very thoughtful and practical way, and it was great to be able to go into more detail about many aspects of tracks systems within...

This week I was joined by my long-time friend and colleague Jodine Buydens (pictured here with her mare Breeze) for a beautiful conversation on the horses who have shaped her life and given her the tools to be able to help humans receive the many teachings of their own equines, or, for some folks, encounter horse wisdom for the first time. We talked about what it can look and feel like to have sou...

Tune in to this episode with equine sports therapist Christy DiColla for a great chat about her latest work and area of research: rib entrapment and fascial chains. Christy filled me in on how she was seeing common patterns of posture and muscular appearance in her equine clients and how these dysfunctional presentations were chronically affecting movement and performance. She then shared how, thr...

It was lovely to have Lockie Phillips back this week for his fourth time on the podcast. We got to chatting about how he's feeling and what he's been up to since his big move across the country to the North West of Spain last summer, which I have been excited to talk to him about!   Unsurprisingly, he's been busy turning his new property into a super functional, horse-centric environment and learn...

I was so excited to welcome Jane Myers of Equiculture onto the podcast for our first episode of 2024! Jane is a wealth of knowledge on the subject of land and pasture management, and an expert on equine grazing behaviour. We covered a lot of ground (pun intended!) chatting about the ways in which horse owners can learn to keep horses in a way that creates a mutually beneficial interaction between...

In this episode with farrier Kendra Skorstad, our conversation covers my many (and maybe yours too!) hoof-related questions from both the perspective of horse steward and body worker, including the interplay between horses' posture, body, and the health of their feet, as well as specific inquiries surrounding navicular, high-low syndrome and heel first landings. It was so refreshing and affirming...

Today's conversation with Elisse Miki is a special edition podcast episode that we are affectionately dubbing a 'geek out', and we want to hear what you think! This episode is the first of what will be a four-part series together over the next year, and could eventually turn into its very own show if people like you are curious and hungry to listen to more in-depth anatomy and physiology-based dis...

In this potent conversation with Michele Arana of In Stride Equestrian, we dive into the parallels between advocating for more ethical horsemanship in the equestrian industry and practicing allyship for BIPOC members of our horse communities. She shared how prioritizing diversity, inclusion and equity can make being with horses better for all.  We also had a chance to nerd out about Michele's volu...

Welcome to season 7 everyone! I celebrated my 20th anniversary with my mare Diva earlier this month, and it fills me with gratitude to be continuously walking this journey of learning for the betterment of the horse, and to have all of you along for the ride.  In this episode, I sat down with Karen Rohlf of Dressage Naturally to hear her perspective on the sport and discipline of dressage, which h...

Every year at the beginning of the Whole Horse Apprenticeship, I ask participants what they are most interested in learning or exploring during our six months inside the program together. This year, several people wanted to delve into the nuances of equine body language in order to refine their skills and knowledge when it comes to assessing and responding to their horse's communication signals, s...

Kathryn is currently running a four-week class called Ritual Crafting for Barn and Stable, and I was excited to have a chat with her about how she weaves the practice of ritual into her life as a horsewoman and facilitator. Throughout our conversation, Kathryn offered insights and tools that horse-people far and wide can tap into to deepen their relationship with themselves and their horses. Kathr...

Having seen Shelby's recent social media post titled "Dominance theory is dead / Your horse does not view you as the alpha" circulating the internet, I knew I had to have her on the show for a conversation about this important, and often controversial, topic. After presenting the current research on dominance theory and de-bunking this long-standing perspective on horsemanship, we mused about why...

This week I was joined by Equine Physiotherapist Yasmin Stuart, who is also a BTMM apprentice trainer with Celeste Lazaris. As I recently enrolled in Celeste Lazaris' self-study Nerve Release Technique course, it felt very aligned to connect with Yasmin for a chat about her work and the patterns she's been noticing amongst her clients through the lens of posture and nerve impingement. She thoughtf...

In the two most recent episodes, guests and I have delved into our experiences of burnout and the impact of this all-too-common state of exhaustion amongst equestrians and equine professionals. In today's podcast, I had a chance to chat with Susan Tenney of Elemental Acupressure about what to do about recovering from stress, burn-out and overwhelm. Susan shared many helpful tidbits and habits that...

It was so great to have Dr. Tracy Rainwaters back on the podcast this week. Tracy reached out to me after listening to my last episode -   Unpacking the impact of burnout and adrenaline poisoning in horses and humans with Lockie Phillips and Elsie Reford ( Episode 104 ) - to express how much that conversation landed for her. As the two of us got to talking, it became clear that she and I have been...

I was delighted to welcome Lockie Phillips back for his third appearance on the podcast to unpack his recent Emotional Horsemanship clinic tour. Joining our conversation was long-time Whole Horse Apprenticeship student, and my new assistant, Elsie Reford, who hosted Lockie for a two-day clinic in her home town of Ottawa, ON and later attended the Whole Horse Clinic that Lockie, Elisse Miki and I h...

Get ready to expand your mind and heart with this potent conversation! Recording this episode with Emily Frost of Kiros Way was a glorious and deep look at the ways in which horses invite us to remember and reconnect to the divine nature of life. We discuss shadow work as an essential tool on our journey to embodying the love we know we feel for our horses, but can struggle to express due to uncon...

A synchronistic series of events connected Betsy Vonda and I and right away we knew we needed to have this important conversation. Betsy specializes in rehabilition and meets and works with a lot of horses dealing with pain and major, sometimes progressively deteriorating conditons. In this episode we talk about when rehab is no longer enough, how to know, and what to do about it, and we get perso...