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Equine Assisted World with Rupert Isaacson

Equine Assisted World with Rupert Isaacson

By: Rupert Isaacson
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Summary

 Here on Equine Assisted World. We look at the cutting edge and the best practices currently being developed and, established in the equine assisted field. This can be psychological, this can be neuropsych, this can be physical, this can be all of the conditions that human beings have that these lovely equines, these beautiful horses that we work with, help us with. Your Host is New York Times bestselling author Rupert Isaacson. Long time human rights activist, Rupert helped a group of Bushmen in the Kalahari fight for their ancestral lands. He's probably best known for his autism advocacy work following the publication of his bestselling book "The Horse Boy" and "The Long Ride Home" where he tells the story of finding healing for his autistic son. Subsequently he founded New Trails Learning Systems an approach for addressing neuro-psychiatric conditions through horses, movement and nature. The methods are now used around the world in therapeutic riding program, therapy offices and schools for special needs and neuro-typical children.  You can find details of all our programs and shows on www.RupertIsaacson.com.Horse Boy LLC Alternative & Complementary Medicine Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success
Episodes
  • What Happens After the Horse? Neuroscience Tools for Home & Beyond | Kim Barthel & Leana Tank | EAW 54

    What Happens After the Horse? Neuroscience Tools for Home & Beyond | Kim Barthel & Leana Tank | EAW 54
    May 14 2026
    Kim Barthel is an occupational therapist, international educator, and author based in British Columbia, Canada, trained in sensory integration, neurodevelopmental therapy, and holotropic breathwork. Leana Tank is an occupational therapist and consultant working with complex populations including individuals in the criminal justice system, combining equine-assisted practice with deep expertise in movement, trauma, and the nervous system.Together, they bring a rare combination of neurological precision and on-the-ground practicality to one of the most overlooked questions in equine-assisted work: what are you doing with your clients when they are not on — or with — the horse?This conversation digs into the neuroscience of the vestibular system, interoception, bilateral stimulation, and why movement is far more than muscles. Kim and Leana share concrete tools — from saddle stools at home to pickle juice to the long gaze — and explore why the relational environment may ultimately matter even more than the physical one.✨ "The brain can change until you stop breathing." – Kim BarthelIf you want to support the show, you can do so at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHome🔍 What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy what happens off the horse — at the barn, at home, in the community — is just as important as the session itselfHow the vestibular system develops in utero and why almost every developmental difference affects itWhat the inner core muscles (diaphragm, pelvic floor, transverse abdominis, multifidus) have to do with regulation, interoception, and feeling safeWhy the horse's three-dimensional movement provides a backdrop the brain cannot easily access in stillnessWhat interoception is, why many autistic individuals experience a blurred boundary between self and world, and how horseback riding supports thisHow to design simple home environments and daily activities that continue the neuroplasticity work between sessionsWhy stimming is not a problem to fix but a movement toward wholeness — and how to support it constructivelyWhat a "sensory diet" is and why individualized approaches work better than generic protocolsHow bilateral stimulation (crossing the midline) integrates the two brain hemispheres and why this matters for both autism and traumaWhy the relational environment — feeling seen and supported — may be the most powerful variable of allWhat the Default Mode Network and Salience Network are, and why nature shifts the brain into restorationPractical at-home tools: the long gaze, saddle-shaped stools, office chair rotation, barefoot movement, pushing/pulling exercises, and foraging tasksHow holotropic breathwork connects shamanic tradition to modern neuroscience through rhythm, movement, and breath🎤 Memorable Moments from the Episode[00:09:44] Kim explains why the horse is "so much more than a horse" — the unappreciated relational variable in equine work [00:16:08] Kim breaks down the inner core system: diaphragm, pelvic floor, and why posture on a horse activates all of it [00:18:43] Kim defines interoception — the internal awareness of "this is me and this is not me" — and how the horse enables it [00:23:02] Leana describes transforming a collapsed young man through intentional off-road nature walks [00:43:00] Kim shares the story of a 13-year-old who hadn't slept more than 20 minutes a night — and how a spinning office chair changed everything [01:00:28] Rupert and Leana discuss what to give overworked care staff when the therapist walks out the door [01:19:00] Leana tells the story of a client who alchemized profound trauma into gratitude — a conversation that happened while walking [01:48:00] Kim's story: sitting silently on the curb beside an unhoused young man, saying "I see you" — and meeting him two years later at Walmart with a job [01:53:47] Kim explains the Default Mode Network vs the Salience Network — why nature restores us [02:00:53] Kim introduces "the long gaze" — how even a screensaver can shift the brain toward restoration📚 Contact, Projects, and Resources MentionedKim Barthel – Occupational Therapist, Educator, Author https://kimbarthel.ca Autism Matters – Kim Barthel's online webinar series https://kimbarthel.ca Leana Tank – OT, Constellations Consulting https://constellationsconsulting.org My Octopus Teacher – Netflix documentary featuring Craig Foster https://www.netflix.com/title/81016226 New Trails Learning Systems – Horse Boy Method, Movement Method & Takhin Equine Integration https://ntls.co Rupert Isaacson / Long Ride Home https://rupertisaacson.com Patreon Support https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHome🌍 Follow UsLong Ride Home https://longridehome.com https://facebook.com/longridehome.lrh https://instagram.com/longridehome_lrh https://youtube.com/@longridehome New Trails Learning Systems https://ntls.co https://facebook.com/horseboyworld https://instagram.com/horseboyworld https://...
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    2 hrs and 12 mins
  • Horses Don't Lie to Veterans | Jane Strong | EAW 53

    Horses Don't Lie to Veterans | Jane Strong | EAW 53
    Apr 30 2026
    ✨ "The horses don't see the stories. They see who you are right now — and what you brought with you." – Jane StrongJane Strong is the founder and executive director of The Equus Effect, a nonprofit based in Connecticut, USA, that uses equine-assisted experiences to help veterans and first responders rebuild healthy relationships — with themselves, each other, and their communities.What sets Jane's work apart is her refusal to treat trauma as a diagnosis to manage. A former ethnographic researcher who spent decades studying subcultures for corporate clients, Jane came to horses and veterans with the same tool she'd always trusted: genuine curiosity. The Equus Effect's 16-hour curriculum blends somatic body-based practices, emotional agility training, and progressive groundwork with horses — all without metaphor, without therapy-speak, and without telling a veteran what anything means.This conversation covers Jane's unusual path — from advertising research to Monty Roberts to a 30-year-old Mustang who taught her that guilt is a waste of time — and dives deep into why horses are uniquely suited to reach the people hardest to reach: the ones still scanning for threats, still waiting for the playbook, still paying a nervous system tax no one else can see.If you want to support the show, you can do so at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHome🔍 What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy veterans and first responders experience transition stress as a nervous system cost — and why talk therapy often falls shortHow ethnographic research trained Jane to enter any culture with curiosity instead of assumptions — and why that's essential for working with military populationsWhy The Equus Effect never uses metaphor in their horse work, and what happens when they let veterans find their own meaning insteadHow the program's somatic body scan and joint warmup prepare participants neurologically before they ever touch a horseWhy horses respond differently to officers than to enlisted personnel — and what that reveals about internal organizationWhat "uncoupling" means in trauma work, and the story of the veteran who found his focus again — safely — while leading a horse in a circleWhy Jane advises against letting participants know each other's rank, and what she learned the hard way when she didn't follow this ruleHow The Equus Effect's 16-hour curriculum unfolds across four sessions — from barn introduction to liberty work — and why soak time between sessions mattersWhat the Enneagram's three centers of intelligence (body, heart, mind) have to do with how people move and communicate with horsesWhy you don't need a military or first responder background to serve this population — and why Jane believes it may actually help not to have oneHow the program uses movie clips to open conversations about fear, vulnerability, anger, and depression — without singling anyone outWhy curiosity and compassion are inseparable, and what gets lost when we enter any population believing we already know who they areHow Jane finally secured a VA grant after 12+ years of program delivery — and what she learned about navigating that process🎤 Memorable Moments from the Episode[00:02:34] Jane describes the 22-suicides-a-day statistic that launched The Equus Effect in 2008 [00:04:57] Four years of meetings before the VA agreed to send veterans — and what finally changed their minds [00:16:49] Jane explains why "helping" can hide a fixing mentality — and what curiosity looks like instead [00:41:00] Why Jane never introduces participants by rank — and the session that taught her this the hard way [00:57:34] Jane recalls losing her horse as a teenager and the moment she walked away from riding for years [01:17:25] A 35-year-old Mustang named Noche who couldn't be touched — and the message he gave her about guilt [01:57:48] The veteran who felt his focus return while leading a horse in a circle — and heard the words "this time, you were safe" [02:06:00] Jane explains how to access The Equus Effect's facilitator training and upcoming workshops [02:11:42] The nightmare of VA grant applications — and how hiring a grant writer made the difference [02:20:04] The closing reflection: can you have compassion without curiosity?📚 Contact, Projects, and Resources MentionedJane Strong – Founder & Executive Director, The Equus Effect https://theequuseffect.org New Trails Learning Systems – Horse Boy Method, Movement Method & Takhin Equine Integration https://ntls.co Rupert Isaacson / Long Ride Home https://rupertisaacson.com Patreon Support https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHome 🌍 Follow UsLong Ride Home https://longridehome.com https://facebook.com/longridehome.lrh https://instagram.com/longridehome_lrh https://youtube.com/@longridehome New Trails Learning Systems https://ntls.co https://facebook.com/horseboyworld https://instagram.com/horseboyworld https://youtube.com/...
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    2 hrs and 38 mins
  • Curiosity Over Fear: Building Resilience in Horses and Humans | Kira Julius | EAW 52

    Curiosity Over Fear: Building Resilience in Horses and Humans | Kira Julius | EAW 52
    Apr 16 2026
    ✨ "The healing process is there in service of your life, not the other way around. Do the healing in order to live." – Kira Julius Kira Julius is a German-Danish horse trainer and equine assisted practitioner whose career has taken her from working young horses in Tanzania at 16, to eight years alongside Australian warmblood specialist Will Rogers — first in the Netherlands, then Germany — to therapeutic work with autistic children and families across Germany, Denmark, Ireland, and the UK. She now runs her own practice through horserealms.com, working with horses, families, and individuals at the intersection of horsemanship and resilience.What makes Kira's perspective unusual is that she has lived the subject she now teaches. A lifelong relationship with anxiety and fear around horses, a family crisis at 18 when her father suffered a stroke that pulled her into an early adult role, and years inside the hyper-demanding world of sport horse training — including a period where her own anxiety became so acute she could barely ride — all of it has shaped a practitioner who speaks from earned experience, not theory.In this conversation, Rupert and Kira go deep on what resilience actually means — for horses, for humans, and for the practitioners who work with both. They move through the groundwork methodology Kira developed starting sensitive warmbloods, the specific exercises that release tension and build connection, and how those same principles apply when working with autistic children. They explore why always being calm may be the wrong goal, how to move through fear rather than wait for it to pass, and why the trauma conversation risks tipping into a place that keeps people stuck. This is a wide-ranging, experience-backed conversation that will resonate with anyone who works with horses, with neurodivergent individuals, or with their own inner life.If you want to support the show, you can do so at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHome🔍 What You'll Learn in This Episode How curiosity overrides anxiety — and why doing the thing is often more healing than waiting until you feel ready Why "always being calm" is not the goal for horses or humans, and what heart rate variability tells us about genuine resilience How to distinguish between protective fear and anxious mental noise — and how gut instinct becomes the tool for telling them apartThe groundwork methodology Kira used starting sensitive warmbloods: approach and retreat, shoulder yields, hindquarter yields, and why crossing the midline triggers BDNF and neuroplasticityWhy the shoulder-in position is both a tension-release tool and a safety tool — and how having it reliably in place can get a handler out of serious troubleHow Kira's experience of her father's stroke at 18 shaped her understanding of grief, family strain, and the cost of going into management mode when you're struggling yourselfHow Kira's own severe anxiety crisis mid-career — when she could barely get on a horse — became the turning point that led her toward therapeutic work with humansWhy seeing possibilities rather than problems is the key reframe in both horse training and equine assisted work with neurodivergent clientsWhy the trauma conversation risks becoming a place people stay rather than move through — and what the spiral model of grief and healing offers insteadHow projecting limitations onto horses or children blocks their capacity to surprise us, and why listening to the person in front of you matters more than the story others gave youWhy joy and play are not extras in equine assisted work — they are the mechanism by which change happensWhy practitioners who want horses or clients to make big changes need to be making changes themselves🎤 Memorable Moments from the Episode[00:12:38] Kira explains why waiting to feel "ready" often keeps anxiety alive — the doing of the thing is what changes your storyline[00:15:00] Kira describes what happened when her father had a stroke at 18 — and how managing practical needs meant disconnecting from her family emotionally at the same time[00:30:17] Kira takes us inside the Will Rogers yard: how they started sensitive warmbloods using groundwork, approach and retreat, and the principle of explaining the human world to the horse rather than demanding compliance[00:37:12] The connection between lateral movement, crossing the midline, and BDNF — why these classical exercises produce neuroplasticity in horses just as they do in humans[00:45:16] Why shoulder yields and hindquarter yields are not just gymnastic tools but safety tools — and how they can get a handler out of serious trouble when a horse reacts unexpectedly[00:49:08] Tarp training in front of thousands of people: how Will Rogers conditioned sharp warmbloods to treat a crashing plastic sheet as a signal to exhale, not explode[00:56:57] Kira's own anxiety crisis at Will's yard — when the pressure to produce calm horses while ...
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    2 hrs and 12 mins
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