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Live Free Ride Free with Rupert Isaacson

Live Free Ride Free with Rupert Isaacson

By: Rupert Isaacson
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Summary

 Welcome to Live Free Ride Free, where we talk to people who have lived self-actualized lives on their own terms, and find out how they got there, what they do, how we can get there, what we can learn from them. How to live our best lives, find our own definition of success, and most importantly, find joy. 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.com2023 Helios Harmony, LLC Alternative & Complementary Medicine Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success
Episodes
  • Liberty, Lightness & the Long Game: From Parelli to the Beach | David Lichman | LFRF 53

    Liberty, Lightness & the Long Game: From Parelli to the Beach | David Lichman | LFRF 53
    May 7 2026

    What does it take to get a horse to stay with you — freely, on an open beach with no fence and no force? David Lichman has spent more than 30 years answering that question. From watching Ray Hunt work cold colts at the California State Fair, to becoming a Parelli instructor, to learning positive reinforcement from a sea lion behaviorist, his entire career has been built around one insight: make being with you the best place on earth.


    The conversation covers liberty training, the treats debate, undemanding time, the history of horsemanship, and why joy is the only metric that matters. There is also a miniature horse named Pepino, America's Got Talent, and Sarah Silverman asking for a mustache ride on live television.

    ✨ "What's great about having a focus on liberty training is that if it ain't joyful, it ain't gonna happen — 'cause the horse is gonna leave." – David Lichman

    ✨ "You're either with me or you're not with me. If you're not with me, you're gonna come back here and find out how good it is here." – David Lichman


    What You'll Learn in This Episode

    • How David's childhood in Marblehead, Massachusetts planted seeds that took decades to bloom [00:07:00]
    • Why watching Ray Hunt start 18 cold colts in 18 days at the California State Fair changed everything [00:20:40]
    • How David went from IBM contractor to World Grand Champion to Parelli instructor [00:22:12]
    • The circus liberty horse epiphany: a hooded figure, six gray Arabians, and a 20-year friendship [00:38:00]
    • What a sea lion facility in Moss Landing taught David about positive reinforcement [00:40:02]
    • The treats debate: why combining food reward with pressure-and-release produces results "way more than twice as good" as either alone [00:57:57]
    • Why joy is the one thing missing from every training scale — and why the joyful brain is the learning brain [01:00:24]
    • Why Parelli said "undemanding time" first, Warwick Schiller didn't hear it for 10 years, and Mongolian horse tribes never had to be taught it [01:03:00]
    • Why David changed the way liberty circles are taught — stop blocking departure, start making arrival irresistible [01:20:29]
    • The beach test: 10 years of relationship, outriders who rode away, and horses that stayed [01:22:42]
    • The America's Got Talent disaster: Pepino, a sick morning, and a performance that never happened [01:32:00]
    • Why horses require humility — and why they'll hand it to you regardless [02:01:24]

    Memorable Moments from the Episode

    • David's horse kicked in the skull on tour — found grooming the horse that kicked him through the stall door two stops later [00:08:29]
    • Bow-and-arrow balloon shoot for 600 schoolchildren in Tennessee — dismounts by breaking two ribs [00:11:55]
    • Watching Ray Hunt at the State Fair: nobody around him could see the miracle [00:21:04]
    • The outriders ride away down the beach. The liberty horses don't follow [01:23:39]
    • Pepino refuses cookies the morning of his AGT debut. The act falls apart live [01:33:49]
    • Two mustaches shaved for charity. David's is back within three days [01:44:47]
    • Sarah Silverman watches the Spanish walk and asks if David taught his horse to goosestep [01:53:26]

    Projects and Organizations Mentioned

    David Lichman Natural Horsemanship https://david-lichman-5-star-parelli-professional.myshopify.com/

    New Trails Learning Systems / Horse Boy Method — rupertisaacson.com

    About David Lichman

    David Lichman is a natural horsemanship clinician, liberty horse trainer, and former Parelli Instructor with more than 30 years of experience. He is known for developing liberty training that works in open fields and on beaches — no round pen required — and for integrating positive reinforcement with classical and natural horsemanship traditions. He also plays bass guitar and performs jazz with vocalist Gabriela.


    See All of Rupert's Programs and Shows:

    Website: https://rupertisaacson.com


    Long Ride Home

    Website: https://longridehome.com

    Facebook: https://facebook.com/longridehome.lrh

    Instagram: https://instagram.com/longridehome_lrh

    YouTube: https://youtube.com/@longridehome


    New Trails Learning Systems

    Website: https://ntls.co

    Facebook: https://facebook.com/horseboyworld

    Instagram: https://instagram.com/horseboyworld

    YouTube: https://youtube.com/newtrailslearningsystems


    Affiliate Disclosure:

    Links to books and products may include affiliate tracking. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the show.
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    2 hrs and 6 mins
  • Astrology, Ancestors & the Horse Soul: Reading the Stars for Riders | Denise Elizabeth Byron | LFRF 53

    Astrology, Ancestors & the Horse Soul: Reading the Stars for Riders | Denise Elizabeth Byron | LFRF 53
    Apr 23 2026
    What if the stars in your birth chart could tell you why you're drawn to horses — and what stands between you and the deeper connection you're seeking? Denise Elizabeth Byron has spent decades working at the intersection of astrology, psychic intuition, and soul guidance. She didn't set out to become the horse community's astrologer. She set out, as a seven-year-old girl in California, simply to understand why her grandmother kept showing up in her bedroom after she died — and never really stopped.Denise's path winds through a childhood steeped in Irish and Celtic intuition, a mother casting charts by hand in the seventies, years of study with psychic mentors, and a slow evolution from teacher to life coach to astrologer. What brought her into the horse world wasn't a horse — it was Robin Schiller, who came to a session and then brought Warwick, and the rest followed. What she found when she arrived was something she'd been searching for her whole life: a community of people who already knew how to listen.This is a wide-ranging, deeply warm conversation between two people who share a fascination with the irrational, the ancestral, and the unseen. Rupert and Denise cover past lives and what they're actually for, why horse people are natural intuitives (and often don't know it), what it means to be a fire horse in a fire horse year, and why Mercury Retrograde is not the time to gallop away. They talk about fields of consciousness and what love actually is, from photons emitted by the heart to the physics of ocean waves. And somewhere in the middle, balloons spontaneously appeared on both their Zoom screens.What emerges most clearly is this: horse women are far further along their intuitive journey than they give themselves credit for. And the thing most likely to block their connection with their horse isn't technique — it's perfectionism, and not extending to themselves the same love they so freely give their animals.Denise's message to every horse woman listening is as simple as it is quietly devastating: treat yourself with as much love as you treat your horse.FREE Helios Harmony Intro Course: https://longridehome.com/onoutpout✨ "Trust what you hear, trust what you feel. Most people who contact me are so much further along in their journey than they give themselves credit for." – Denise Elizabeth Byron✨ "Treat yourself with as much love as you treat your horse." – Denise Elizabeth ByronWhat You'll Learn in This EpisodeHow Denise's grandmother appeared in her room the night she died — and kept showing up for decades [00:02:30] The difference between being psychic and being an astrologer — and how Denise combines both [00:17:00] How Denise's astrology practice began with her mother casting charts by hand in the 1970s [00:20:30] How a session with Robin Schiller led to Denise becoming the astrologer for the Journey On community [00:34:00] Why astrology charts are portals for intuition, not just technical prediction tools [00:35:00] Why horse people make natural intuitives, and what deep listening has to do with survival [00:37:30] Why past lives may be less about other humans and more about ancestral healing [00:48:00] What a birth chart can reveal about your intuitive gifts and how to develop them [01:08:30] How the patriarchal lens has shaped astrology — and where the goddess asteroids are changing it [01:14:00] What it means to be a fire horse in a fire horse year, and what the stars say about this particular moment [01:19:00] How Rupert's Aquarius fire horse chart reflects his life's work in healing [01:22:00] What Mercury Retrograde actually is, and why it's a time for integration rather than action [01:28:00] The physics of consciousness: hearts emitting photons, ocean waves, and what love actually is [01:40:00] Why horse people tend toward perfectionism — and how it blocks connection with their horses [01:52:30]Memorable Moments from the EpisodeDenise describes setting spiritual boundaries — no visitors in the bedroom or bathroom, unless it's an emergency — and how her first mentor taught her this after a particularly awkward moment [00:12:30] Denise and Rupert discover they're roughly the same age and spend a moment pretending to be 27 and 28 respectively [00:22:30] Rupert nearly gets kicked out of university for comparing an Iron Age metal-working culture to the Industrial Revolution — and his professors are not amused [00:27:30] Denise explains how she always ends up as a "camel boy, never a pharaoh" in past life work [00:50:30] Rupert's uncle, an eminent pathologist, stuns him after watching The Horse Boy by praising it for "drawing attention to the irrational side of medicine" — and the placebo effect [01:05:00] Balloons spontaneously appear on both Zoom screens mid-conversation — neither of them made it happen [01:21:30] Denise shares that wherever she goes, a quiet coffee shop fills up within minutes — her partner David calls it a "...
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    2 hrs
  • When Men Go Silent: Understanding the Male Mental Health Crisis | Eric Robertson | LFRF 51

    When Men Go Silent: Understanding the Male Mental Health Crisis | Eric Robertson | LFRF 51
    Apr 9 2026
    ✨ "Men don't need less empathy. They often need empathy delivered differently." – Eric Robertson✨ "Success is a tricky thing. You can get to the point where you start to believe your own bullshit — and that has some negative impacts on your relationships." – Eric RobertsonEric Robertson spent 33 years inside some of the most painful moments families ever face — divorce. As one of Austin's most respected family law attorneys, he sat across from men and women at their most raw and most desperate. What he noticed about the men changed the direction of his life. They weren't falling apart in the ways the system was built to recognize. They were shutting down, overworking, picking fights, and quietly disappearing inside themselves — and nobody had a name for what was happening to them. That observation sent Eric back to school for a second master's degree in clinical mental health counseling, and launched an entirely new career focused on men's emotional wellbeing.This conversation matters deeply if you love a man — a son, a partner, a brother, a father. So much of what Eric shares illuminates not just what men are going through, but why they behave the way they do when they're struggling, and what the people around them can actually do to help. If you've ever felt the wall go up, or watched someone you care about go quiet when you knew something was wrong, this episode will give you language, compassion, and insight you didn't have before.Rupert and Eric move through the staggering statistics behind male loneliness and suicide, the question of why successful men are often the ones struggling most, and the double standards men quietly carry. Eric walks through how depression actually shows up in men — irritability, emotional numbness, compulsive overworking, chronic pain — so listeners can recognize what they might previously have dismissed or misread. The conversation takes a genuinely practical turn when Eric demonstrates a live bilateral tapping session with Rupert on-air, offering a simple tool for emotional regulation that anyone can begin using today.Rupert brings his own lens throughout — from his years living with San Bushmen hunter-gatherer communities in southern Africa, to raising his autistic son Rowan, to his own honest reflections on therapy, mentorship, and what men actually need to heal. Whether you're listening for yourself, for someone you love, or simply because you sense the men in your world are carrying more than they're letting on — come with an open heart, and you'll leave with new eyes.What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy Eric left a 33-year career as a top divorce attorney to become a men's therapist — and what he kept seeing in his male clients that no one was addressing [00:03:35]The statistics behind male loneliness and suicide: 80% of suicides in 2023 were men, and 15% of young men now report having no close friends — a fivefold increase since 1990 [00:04:34]How depression and emotional distress show up differently in men — and why so many cases go unrecognized [00:10:21]Why successful men are often the ones struggling most, and how chasing external validation can quietly hollow out a life [00:16:38]The role of mentorship in Eric's own story — how one senior attorney modeled a different way to live and why Eric credits him with changing his trajectory [00:25:00] • What divorce coaching is, why it differs from therapy or legal advice, and why well-meaning "shadow advisors" often make things worse [00:37:33]The double standard men silently carry — expected to be emotionally present at home, while still judged as providers if they fall short [00:55:39]How to raise emotionally literate boys, including the powerful practice of "connection before correction" when a child acts out [00:53:03]Why young men need healthy risk — and how the loss of mentored, nature-based challenge is driving the retreat into screens and isolation [01:07:38]The neuroscience of the developing frontal cortex: why young men's brains aren't yet wired for emotional regulation, and what that means for how we respond to them [01:21:00]How bilateral tapping works to regulate emotional overwhelm — demonstrated live in the episode [01:24:15]Eric's closing framework for working with men: normalize emotion without forcing verbal vulnerability, focus on goals, and frame help as skill-building rather than weakness [01:31:49]Memorable MomentsEric describes watching male divorce clients shut down rather than fall apart — the observation that sent him back to school and into an entirely new career [00:03:35] Rupert and Eric do a live bilateral tapping session on-air — Rupert taps along as Eric guides him through the protocol, and notes a genuine shift by the end [01:24:46] Eric admits that at the height of his legal career he started believing his own success story in ways that cost him his closest relationships — and the moment he knew something had to change [00:19:00] ...
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    1 hr and 37 mins
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