Adult Onset Horsemanship

Mark Lyon has been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and wore out the t-shirt. I really enjoy getting to talk with fellow horsemen/women that specialize in colt starting. Especially, when they also start a variety of breeds for a variety of disciplines, like I do. When Mark and I had our feeling each other out pre-call, I knew immediately that we were going to have a cool conversation.

Mark's been out there in the tr...

Once you listen to this one, the title will make sense. I was encouraged to talk with Colton by a mutual friend, and I feel like I owe that friend a bottle of something. Colton is a very thoughtful guy with a heart for helping people, but in pragmatic ways. He's ambitious and driven, but he's clear on what that ambition and drive is for. His business is there to help him serve others and to provide for his family and thei...

I always aim for candid conversations and Jim showed up in spades. He's got a lot of experience training a variety of horses over a 4 decades long career. He's also very well read and uses that to form the basis for his opinions. He's trained mules, packed in the mountains, done the vaquero thing, and now trains Lusitanos for Working Equitation.
We're both a bit on the ADHD side of things, so I hope you can ...

I really do try to get guests that I genuinely find interesting and those won't all be horse trainers/breeders/vets. Sometimes we go to the peripheral. Kent Rollins is the King of the Cowboy Cooks. "Can't get full on fancy" is his motto. He's been on more cooking shows than you can count. He's beaten Bobby Flay in a head to head Chicken Fried Steak Competition. He's been named the Official Chuck W...

It was my pleasure to speak with a horseman that I have admired for a long time, and one who probably doesn't need an introduction. There are those horseman that you like and respect, and then there are those that you've never heard say a single thing that you didn't agree with. Richard is in that second camp for me.
He's the 2005 NRCHA World Champ, and the 2009 Road to the Horse Champion. He's also Sa...

Steve Rother first hit my radar years ago when I saw a video of him doing a demo at an expo. The skill and horsemanship was evident, but he also had a set of jokes that his horse was in on, as he mimicked characatures of different disciplines. A skilled horseman and a man after my own sense of humor has to be a guest, so here's our chat.
Steve's written an e-book called "How Not to Ruin Your Horse", he does...

As with several past guests, I met Katrin Silva at the Best Horse Practices Summit last fall. I immediately liked her and could tell within seconds that she was a technical and experienced rider.  She specialized in Classical Dressage, but does still compete. She kicks butt in Western Dressage too, gives lessons, and works with problem horses.

Katrin's Professional Accolades include:
USDF Bronze Medallist
2022...

A prime guest for a prime number, Patrick King is a product of two worlds. He apprenticed under Ray Hunt in his early 20s until Mark Russel brought him into the world of dressage. This might be the highest level and most technical episode we've had to date, but I think it will be enlightening to riders of every level.

You'll soon learn that Patrick has a deep and well thought out understanding of how horses func...

Becky is from California and is a barrel racer. Despite those handicaps, she is quite the horsewoman. She is the only person ever inducted into the California Gymkhana Assoc. Hall of Fame and did it on a purebred Arab.  Becky has a bachelors and masters from Cal Poly, Pamona. She's been a trainer's assistant to trainers in Western Pleasure, Dressage, Reining, and Halter. She finished up her apprenticeships under Certified...

Many people would be shocked to find out that veterinarians have one of the highest suicide rates of any profession. 1 in 6 vets have thought of suicide. This crisis is across the board affecting all generations and even vet students to a much higher degree than the average population. To combat this mental and emotional health crisis the non-profit organization Not One More Vet was formed. As I have quite a few friends who are vet...

Jason Swick was just some guy I met at the Best Horse Practices Summit last fall and we started up a conversation while pulling cockleburrs out of a paint horse's tail behind the scenes. We hit it off immediately and I discovered a pretty unique and interesting guy in the horse world and warrior communities. Behind the scenes serving is where you're always going to find Jason. He's not a fame seeker, but it's am...

Join me for a long overdue episode with my friend Denis Stefan. Denis is from Romania and has been an actor over there since the early 2000s. Through acting he found horses and he's become a true horseman, spending the last 15 years training, instructing and doing exhibitions. He's done stunts for the movies and trains horses and people from his home base, giving clinics throughout Europe. He was a bounty hunter killed by...

Join me as I fulfill a wish and have a very satisfying conversation with one of my first heroes in this business.  Mike Kevil has worked with or for all of the legends. He was one of the first guys to come out with a colt starting book and video for Western Horseman. That video was fairly influential on me in my early days of learning this stuff. He's started thousands of prospects and loads of winners. He's also been a l...

"Van Hargis has been called one of today’s most versatile horsemen, a designation that reflects a lifetime devoted to learning-and communicating-the elements of superior horsemanship as applied in a variety of disciplines."
Van is a veteran horse trainer, clinician, and expo presenter. He's been all over the world giving clinics and doing demonstrations and is an eloquent speaker who gets his point across effecti...

We continue our journey down the rabbit hole with Dr. King, Ret. Prof. Emeritus of Southern Illinois Univ. and founder of their Equine Program. Dr. King continues to share tales of her experiences and we talk specifically about reproduction in horses and some interesting oddities, as well as some specifics on research, how to find it, and how to filter out the wheat from the chaff.
Dr. Kind did create a facebook page where she ...

In this episode, we chat with Dr. Sheryl King PhD. Dr. King founded the Equine Program at Southern Illinois University and is now a wonderful speaker and advocate for the Horse World. She served decades on the Illinois Equine Council and shares my love of myth busting. We talk about a lot of different topics from colic to nutrition, to the digestive system in general. We get into research projects she was involved in and women in t...

I first ran across Montana Rancher on Youtube and immediately liked his delivery and subject matter. Trinity is an agricultural advocate who talks the realities of life in Montana and the horse and cow interests of a cowboy in that area. He has a deep understanding of the ranching and outfitting communities in that world, and a realistic perspective on the more modern world's encroachment.
We talk horses and cows, but als...

It was a pleasure as always to get to chat with Nahshon Cook. He's from urban Denver, Co and came across dressage in the way that suites him best, uniquely his own. Nahson is one of a kind and hard not to like. He's intelligent, philosophical, and insightful. It is on my bucket list to watch Blazing Saddles with him.
This chat ranges from rehabilitations and problemed horses to diversity within the horse industry as a...

West Taylor is a very interesting and entertaining guy to talk with. He and his wife own the Wild West Mustang Ranch in Utah. He has been working with mustangs almost exclusively for about 15 years and has been heavily influenced by Dr. Steve Peters' teachings on the equine nervous systems and neuroscience.

West makes his primary purpose getting as many dopamine releases as possible. We have a very candid and fun con...