Mental Health and Horses

Listen to Episode 5 of our podcast Horses present a mental health paradox. There’s no doubt horses make us feel better. Their size, their beauty, their behavior, their energy demands that we be present, that we focus on them and what we’re doing around them. […]

Episode 28: Coaches’ Corner on Round Pens with Amy Skinner

Listen to Episode 28 This is Episode 28 of Season 3 and in it, Jec interviews Amy Skinner for another Coaches’ Corner. This interview concerns the use of round pens and I found it very insightful. Like many of you, I have used round pens […]

Episode 25: Coaches’ Corner

Listen to Episode 25 We have a scintillating coaches’ corner with Jec and Amy Skinner. Amy is a trainer and Best Horse Practices Summit presenter based in North Carolina. Here, the two discuss a saddling concern sent in by a listener in Michigan: “When Bandit, […]

6 Signs: Toxic Trainer Test

Editor’s Note: Amy Skinner is a regular guest columnist and has been a horse gal since age six. She will present an arena demonstration with fellow trainer and rider, Katrin Silva, at the Best Horse Practices Summit. She rides and teaches dressage and Western. Skinner […]

Episode 18: Trailer Loading & Gender Gyrations

Listen to Episode 18 We debut Gender Gyrations, a conversation around gender bias in our horse communities. With comments from listeners and Mustang Maddy, who posted recently: “five signs you’re in a toxic relationship with a clinician” It received thousands of likes and hundreds of comments. […]

The Most Dangerous Horse, Part II

Editor’s Note: Amy Skinner is a regular guest columnist and has been a horse gal since age six. She has presented twice at the Best Horse Practices Summit and is the author of To Catch a Horse: Finding the Heart of your Horsemanship. She rides […]

The Most Dangerous Horse, Part I

Episode 12: Trouble Mounting?

In this episode, Jec Ballou invites Amy Skinner to the regular segment, the Coaches’ Corner, to help answer a question from listener Nina in Maine. Listen to Episode 12 Main Podcast page Nina has a lovely, older mare named Casey. It’s often a battle just […]

Contact: A Gift not the Goal

Episode 5: Coaches’ Corner with Amy Skinner

Listen to Episode 5 In this episode, Jec establishes a recurring feature called the Coaches’ Corner in which she interviews fellow trainers and teachers to talk about elements of their work. Here, she interviews Amy Skinner from Rougemont, North Carolina. Amy has studied with scores […]