This is an episode that’s been a long-time coming on An Equine Conversation. Hannah Weston was one of the very first people who, unknowingly, introduced me to the world of online learning about positive reinforcement training with horses back in 2013 through her business Connection Training. It was an absolute pleasure to finally get to meet Hannah and chat with her about her own horsie origin story and the path to developing Connection Training and more recently, moving her horsie life from Eng...
Jul 29, 2025•1 hr 44 min•Season 6Ep. 8
Back in S6 E4, I shared the start of my horsie origin story. In this episode, I share more of the memorable moments that helped shape who I am as a horse person and coach today. These memories include: poking poo with a stick, horse’s birthday celebrations, attempting breeding, finding a career path and more. In this episode we discuss: (1:29) - introducing today’s episode (2:12) - poking poo with a stick (4:06) - the Horse’s Birthday celebrations & my rusty memory (8:35) - my one and only a...
Jul 22, 2025•33 min•Season 6Ep. 7
I’m delighted to welcome Dr Michaela Hempen back to An Equine Conversation. We first met Michaela back in Season 3, Episode 4, where we heard about her Masters research project in crib-biting with a palomino horse call Blondie. This episode, we’re getting to hear more about the journey that was becoming Blondie’s owner which took Blondie from a life in a small space and not being allowed to have much of a voice, to a horse living out 24/7, whose voice is heard, and we explore some of what happen...
Jul 15, 2025•1 hr 29 min•Season 6Ep. 6
To the uninitiated, suggesting that a table-top game can make us be better horse trainers may sound a bit bonkers. But to those of us in the know, and those of us who have played this and similar games, we have experienced just what a positive difference they can make to our training in what is a low-risk environment – there’s no chance of us stuffing up our horses. I’m so pleased to have Mary Hunter from Behavior Explorer join me today to explain a little about how this works and why playing a ...
Jul 08, 2025•1 hr 40 min•Season 6Ep. 5
Throughout An Equine Conversation, we capture many of our guests horsie origin stories… but of course, being the interviewer, I’m the one asking the questions. In this episode, I’m going to share with you the early years of my own horsie origin story & some of the strong memories I have along the way. If you like a story, this episode is for you. In this episode we discuss: (1:28) - introducing today’s episode (2:01) - where it all began & hypothesis on why it all began (6:16) - when &am...
Jul 01, 2025•40 min•Season 6Ep. 4
I so much enjoyed recording this conversation with Lucy Chester from Lucy Chester Horsemanship in England. I’ve followed Lucy’s work for a while and admired her care of her horse Tao, and the work she has been doing to raise the profile of more ethical training approaches. I wanted to hear Lucy’s horsie origin story and to hear about Tao’s story too, as I knew it had not been and still isn’t all smooth sailing. Lucy's story is, I think, very inspiring. It was amazing to finally connect with Lucy...
Jun 24, 2025•1 hr 41 min•Season 6Ep. 3
In today’s episode, I’m going to chat about my training approach. Why it’s not just about positive reinforcement training. Late last year, I was asked some great questions about my training approach that really got me thinking. And as this has become clearer to me, well, nothing’s changed, it’s more I’ve found the words to explain it, I want to share those words with you. I should say, in a later episode this Season, I’m going to speak about my horsie origin story, so we’re not going into that d...
Jun 17, 2025•30 min•Season 6Ep. 2
We are so excited to be back with Season 6 of An Equine Conversation. This episode, to start off Season 6, is a little different. I’m straying, on purpose, from the particularly equine-focused discussion, to instead share a conversation with you on something that is really important to us here at Abbey’s Run Equestrian. I’ve invited my beautiful friend, Terori Hareko-Avaivilla along for a conversation about Acknowledging Country, which is what you hear me do at the very start of every episode. W...
Jun 10, 2025•2 hr 7 min•Season 6Ep. 1
Hello there lovely listener, I'm Sarah Nickels, your host, and I am delighted let you know that Season 6 of An Equine Conversation starts next Wednesday. As always, Season 5 includes 8 episodes, released weekly on a Wednesday morning (Melbourne time, GMT+10). Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode & please tell everyone about An Equine Conversation so that we can get more great information to more lovely people. Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production and consultation. I...
Jun 03, 2025•2 min
I’m delighted to welcome Ellen Cochrane back to An Equine Conversation. We heard from Ellen in Season 4, talking all about equine agility and The International Horse Agility Club. This episode is something quiet different: We’re hearing about Ellen’s journey to and experiences in working with mules, both her own mule Inara, and her voluntary efforts in supporting humans working with mules in Morocco to improve welfare outcomes for animals and people. I get tingles even thinking about this episod...
Dec 24, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Season 5Ep. 8
On the 8th of June 2008, my life changed forever with a split-second accident that saw me trampled by my then 2.5-year-old horse, Fernando, and air-lifted to Hospital for life-saving surgery. This episode is the story of that accident, what happened, the damage that did and where that’s left me now. Before I even introduce this episode, I want to give you a warning. This episode talks about my accident in some detail. There has been one person who on hearing the story, when I was still in Hospit...
Dec 17, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 5Ep. 7
I am so pleased to be welcoming our 2nd first time guest to An Equine Conversation for Season 5. We’ve had some super wild weather here in my part of the world this Spring that meant this guest and I had to reschedule recording this episode multiple times. Despite the severe storms, power-outages, trees down, no internet, we got there in the end and are bringing you an episode with our most wonderful Equine Veterinary Dentist, Dr Paul Owens from the Horse Vet Dentist. I won’t lie, I used to thin...
Dec 10, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Season 5Ep. 6
Please note: this episode does contain 'conversational profanity' I am so grateful for the knowledge that business coach, Erin Moore has brought into my life & so I’m delighted that Erin is back with me on An Equine Conversation this episode, to share more of her wisdom with you. In this episode, we’re taking a look at some of the gnarly problems that face micro & small businesses, especially those who work in caring industries (with a focus on the equine world). We consider some of the ...
Dec 03, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Season 5Ep. 5
In today’s episode I’m going to chat with you about the awesomeness of virtual learning in the horse world. This episode is inspired in part by Ivy sharing her experience in last week’s episode and just how integral Michelle’s remote support has been to Swagger and Ivy’s journey and progress. But it’s also inspired by my own experiences with the virtual learning landscape, and by conversations I’ve had with a few people who groan at the prospect… And if, you’ve had to do eLearns for your job, th...
Nov 26, 2024•42 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Today we welcome our first new guest for this Season. Ivy Starnes caught my attention through her generous sharing of videos documenting her journey with a horse called Swagger, a young, now gelding who was previously living in the wild. I’ve been captivated by Ivy’s training with the support of her coach and friend Michelle, as they help this incredibly unique and quite spectacular horse learn about connecting with humans. He has forced Ivy to really refine her training, and it is super inspiri...
Nov 19, 2024•1 hr 31 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Today, I want to speak about ‘the hard’ in horses. I recently shared a post on our Abbey’s Run Equestrian Facebook page about this & it resonated with a lot of people. This topic is inspired by those who in the past few months have shared their hard with me, just how tough-a time they’ve had of it, and the thinking and reflection that those conversations have left me with. I don’t think we share enough about the hard and so this episode aims to change that. In this episode we discuss: 1:20 -...
Nov 12, 2024•29 min•Season 5Ep. 2
I’m delighted to be starting Season 5 of An Equine Conversation with a returning and very popular past guest, Dr Dorothy Heffernan. In today’s episode, we catch-up, get an update on Rio, Dorothy’s New Forest pony with Equine Metabolic Syndrome (although, this was recorded back in August 2024, so there’s likely already another update due) and then we get onto today’s topic of how to set everyone up for the best chance of success when introducing a new horse to a herd. If you’ve not encountered Do...
Nov 05, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 5Ep. 1
Why hello there listener, I'm Sarah Nickels, your host, and I am delighted let you know that Season 5 of An Equine Conversation starts next Wednesday. As always, Season 5 includes 8 episodes, released weekly on a Wednesday morning (Melbourne time). Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode & please tell everyone about An Equine Conversation so that we can get more great information to more lovely people. Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production and consultation. If you'd lik...
Oct 29, 2024•4 min
This is the FINAL EPISODE of our Special Edition Season of An Equine Conversation on ‘What Else Is There?’ besides riding. Last but by no means least, I’m absolutely delighted to welcome our Australian guests for the season, Dee Horwood & Cortney McCartney, owners of the business Scent Horses Australia. Cortney is, I think, only the 2nd person we’ve had on the podcast who I’ve actually met in person, and lives only 2 hours from me. Not only that but Cortney’s horse, the one used to proof the...
May 21, 2024•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 8
In this episode of our Special Edition Season of An Equine Conversation, focusing on ‘What Else Is There?’ besides riding, we welcome the incredibly experienced & knowledgeable, Peggy Hogan to chat with us on the topic of Cooperative Care. Cooperative Care may be a new term for some of you. It’s something that is used or can, or we could perhaps say should be used widely in the animal world, including with our equines. But I’ll let Peggy tell you more on this shortly. Some people may think o...
May 14, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 4Ep. 7
I’m excited to introduce our next topic & guest on our Special Edition Season of An Equine Conversation, focusing on ‘What Else Is There?’ besides riding. I suspect some of your will be familiar with the work of Maja Bagdziun. Maja shares a heap of beautiful, inspiring training videos through her Facebook page: Hear Your Horse Whisper - science based information and education and two Facebook groups: Enrichment for Horses and No Drama Pony Training. Once again, An Equine Conversation is givi...
May 07, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 6
This episode of our Special Edition Season on ‘What Else Is There?’ we are connecting with the far west coast of Scotland to speak with today’s guest Nicky Ross, owner of the business Horse Play. I first discovered Nicky some years back through a training group we were both in on Facebook and I saw some of the lovely videos she was sharing of her work, teaching one of her ponies to go in harness, purely training using positive reinforcement. Nicky was based in England at that point, and then I w...
Apr 30, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 4Ep. 5
This episode of our Special Edition Season on ‘What Else Is There?’ takes a little bit of a different view. Today, instead of us meeting with those who engage in this space in a more professional capacity, it is my pleasure to introduce you to a couple who are horse-owners and to share their, very personal but very inspiring journey. I connected with Chris and Michael Fallon, based in the United States, as a result of the post I put up and shared into the Non Ridden Equine Facebook group , askin...
Apr 23, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 4Ep. 4
In this episode of our Special Edition Season on ‘What Else Is There?’, I’m delighted to introduce you to Vicki Jayne Yates and the Facebook group she established with her husband Steve, ‘The Non Ridden Equine’. This free group that continues to grow weekly with a current membership of over 32,000 people from around the world. I’ve been a member for a number of years now and love being part of such an inclusive, welcoming group and a place where I can draw inspiration on ideas of what activities...
Apr 16, 2024•45 min•Season 4Ep. 3
I’m so excited to introduce today, our first guest of our Special Edition Season on ‘What Else Is There?’ (besides riding). I’ll be straight with you and say that one of the joys of podcasting is having a reason to speak to some awesome humans in our industry, because uh, I want to connect with them myself, and today is no exception. Ellen Cochrane came on my radar a couple of years ago, when someone shared the footage of Ellen’s mule Inara, pushing a soccer ball around an S-bend of poles. It wa...
Apr 09, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 2
I have spent many hours thinking about bringing this Special Edition Season of An Equine Conversation to you, and then of course planning & sourcing guests & editing episodes. The more I thought about it, the more and more important and the clearer the WHY for this episode became to me. And it seemed more than what was sensible to fit into the already long Season Trailer, so here we are at Episode 1, talking about the why. Why we are producing a Special Edition of An Equine Conversation ...
Apr 02, 2024•25 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Hello lovely listener! I am so excited to be back & bringing you this, our first Special Edition Season of An Equine Conversation. Just like previous Seasons of the podcast, Season 4 includes 8 episodes, the first of which will drop next Wednesday. Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production and consultation. If you'd like him to help with your podcast, get in touch by email at business@mbpod.com
Mar 26, 2024•56 sec
Here we are at our final episode for Season 3 of An Equine Conversation. The months & months of recording & editing have all finally finished & you now have the whole season to listen to & what an epic season it has been too. Stay tuned at the end of the conversation for some announcements. I’m delighted to bring you this final episode with the 4th inspirational women in the horse world I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with this season. This is yet another conversation I’ve been...
Nov 21, 2023•1 hr 30 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Let me invite you today, to come for a little journey into the wine cellar with me, which is kind of ironic, given I don’t drink alcohol, but hey, I can still appreciate the amazingness that is a wine cellar… so come on this little journey with me. Why are we going to the wine cellar? Well, for very, very good reason: Because, we have a tendency to start training our horses on the ground floor or somewhere above it, so, in the middle instead of at the beginning, instead of starting down in the g...
Nov 14, 2023•33 min•Season 3Ep. 7
From the age of about 10-11 years old, it was my dream to have my own children’s riding school. I started instructing at 16 and taught a lot of young people. Initially at riding schools & then at Pony Club where I often taught the youngest members, the more junior groups. In my mid-to-late 20’s, I’d had enough of teaching young people, of dealing with their parents and so I chose to focus on working with adults. I didn’t realise at that time, that part of the reason I’d had enough was becaus...
Nov 07, 2023•1 hr 33 min•Season 3Ep. 6
