by Amalia Dempsey
Equestrian, Horse Training, Horsemanship, Horse Riding. The Horsemanship Breakthroughs podcast is a source for equestrian riding and horse training insights with the goal of helping your horse be a happy, light, and willing partner. Bringing you information and interviews with like-minded equine trainers to help you on your horsemanship, horse training, groundwork, equestrian, and riding journey.
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🇺🇲
Publishing Since
1/13/2021
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April 22, 2025
If you’ve been following Shelby Dennis (aka Milestone Equestrian / @sdeques on social media), you know she doesn’t shy away from the hard conversations. She’s a passionate advocate for horse welfare, uncovering the harsh realities of the horse industry, and pushing for real change. Shelby is a professional horse trainer and equine behavior consultant with over 24 years of experience across multiple disciplines—including Arabian showing, hunter/jumpers, dressage, and even racehorses. She’s also taken her education seriously, working toward her Certificate of Equine Science and earning her Equine Behavior Consultant certification through IAABC. Her approach to training has evolved massively over the years, moving away from traditional punishment-based methods toward a more ethical, science-backed way of working with horses. She’s an incredible voice in the equestrian space, and I have so much admiration for the work she’s doing! In this episode, we dive into: 🐴 What sparked Shelby’s passion for horse welfare and the personal experiences that led her to advocate for change.🐴 How Shelby’s training has evolved over the years from punishment-based to reward-based.🐴 The biggest welfare concerns in the industry—harsh training methods, equipment, poor management, and a widespread lack of understanding of horse behavior.🐴 The moment Shelby started questioning traditional training and horse-keeping practices.🐴 The challenges of holding top riders accountable while leaving room for them to grow.🐴 Social media as both a tool for change and a platform for cancel culture—where’s the line?🐴 Why abuse persists at the top levels of competition, despite being more exposed than ever.🐴 Corruption in the horse world.🐴 Shelby’s vision for a better equestrian industry—and realistic changes that could actually happen.🐴 The million-dollar question: Do horses truly enjoy being ridden and competing?🐴 Ethical concerns beyond competition—how to spot truly ethical horsemanship.🐴 Two trainers setting a better example in horse sports.🐴 The use of R+ and R- in training—can pure R- ever be ethical?🐴 How Shelby handles backlash when calling out unethical practices.🐴 Debunking the “if the horse didn’t want to, they wouldn’t” myth.🐴 What keeps Shelby motivated to keep advocating for change.🐴 Common misconceptions about her work.🐴 Shelby’s personal goals with horses and training.🐴 Favorite horse books, resources, and what she’s currently learning.🐴 Plus SO much more! This conversation is eye-opening, thought-provoking, and (at times) confronting. Shelby’s bravery in speaking out—even in the face of backlash—is truly inspiring, and I know you’re going to take so much away from this episode. Let’s dive in! 🎧✨ ______ 🔗 LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE: Where you can find out more about Shelby: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sdequus/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/milestoneequestrian96 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sdequus YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjNgasvyRwPmnXY11m4Lacg Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sdequus Website: https://milestoneequestrian.ca/ Podcasts: Making Milestones: https://open.spotify.com/show/3s8mJIS4vt2uAxzg8mXFGk Mane Character Energy: https://open.spotify.com/show/3og2h8PNWWrQV21aEWPxDk _____ 📚 Shelby’s Recommended Books: The Other Side of Horsemanship: My Journey of Unlearning Cruelty & Healing Trauma by Shelby Dennis Language Signs and Calming Signals of Horses: Recognition and Application by Rachaël Draaisma Equitation Science by Paul McGreevy and Andrew McLean Equine Behavior: A Guide for Veterinarians and Equine Scientists by Paul McGreevy The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence by Gavin de Becker _______ EXTRA RESOURCES TO HELP YOU AND YOUR HORSE: 📚 Book & Resource List: Get all the books & recommendations mentioned on the podcast → amaliadempsey.com/bo
April 1, 2025
In this episode of The Horsemanship Breakthroughs Podcast, I’m joined by the incredible Kelly de Geus: an amazing horsewoman known for her ability to train horses the piaffe in a light, soft, willing, biomechanically correct way.Kelly de Geus is a dedicated horse trainer and coach from the Netherlands, who has been captivated by horses for as long as she can remember. For over a decade, Kelly's main focus has been on training horses herself, developing a specialty in teaching horses to piaffe and passage in hand. This is always a result of optimal communication and body use, and never a quick fix or trick. Having trained over 1000 horses in hand, Kelly now primarily focuses on sharing the knowledge she gained by doing so, thereby helping more people (and, in turn, more horses) feel better, improve posture and optimise performance. I first reached out to Kelly for online lessons years ago after being mesmerised by how light and happy her horses looked in the piaffe. At the time, she didn’t have online resources, but she agreed to help me through online lessons and I was blown away by her approach. She taught me that that piaffe is reflection of correct basics, and that there are a sequence of things that need to be in place before the piaffe is possible. Her values in training horses align closely to my own so I am so happy to share her voice with the horse world. In this episode, we cover: ✨ The true purpose of piaffe as a diagnostic and gymnastic exercise (it’s more than just fancy footwork and it’s not a ‘circus trick’!) ✨The importance of conncection, communication, & biomechanics✨ Common mistakes & how to know if your horse is ready to start training the piaffe ✨ The groundwork that sets the foundation for collection✨ Adjusting her training approach to different horses ✨The role of positive reinforcement in her training ✨Plus so much more! If you’ve ever dreamed of training the piaffe, this is THE episode for you! 🎧 Listen now and check out the links below to learn more from Kelly! ____ 🔗 LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE: The Road to Collection course: https://www.kellydegeus.com/the-road-to-collection Warm-Up Mini Course: https://www.kellydegeus.com/mini-course-warm-up-reinvented Kelly’s webinars: https://www.kellydegeus.com/webinars _____ 📚 Kelly’s Recommended Books: Tug of War: Classical Versus “Modern” Dressage by Gerd Heuschmann Hope... From the Heart of Horses: How Horses Teach Us About Presence, Strength, and Awareness by Kathy Pike The Principles of Training by Warwick Schiller Wired for Connection: How Horses Teach Us to Understand Ourselves by Lucie Klaassen And remember you can get a free PDF document of all the books & recommendations mentioned on the podcast here →amaliadempsey.com/booklist _____ EXTRA RESOURCES TO HELP YOU AND YOUR HORSE: 📚 Book & Resource List: Get all the books & recommendations mentioned on the podcast → amaliadempsey.com/booklist 🐴 Free Mini-Course: Build a deeper connection & communication with your horse → amaliadempsey.com/ccmc 🏋️♀️ Free Rider Exercises: Improve your biomechanics with 10 unmounted exercises → amaliadempsey.com/exercises 💪 8-Week Rider Exercise Program: Transform your riding with structured, rider-specific exercises → amaliadempsey.com/8-week-rider-specific-exercise-program 🐎 Horsemanship Fundamentals Academy: Create a happy, confident, and trusting partnership with your horse on the ground and in the saddle → amaliadempsey.com/Horsemanship-Fundamentals-Academy 🚛 Trailer Loading Success: Say goodbye to stressful trailer loading with this $9 roadmap → amaliadempsey.com/trailer-loading-success-roadmap ____ 🔔 Follow the show so you don’t miss future episodes! Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, and YouTube. ⭐ Leave a rating and review to help spread the word of good horsemanship! Your support makes a big difference! 📸 Take a screenshot and share this episode on social media! I'd love to hear what resonat
March 17, 2025
If you’ve ever found yourself questioning what is the most ethical way to train horses, felt like an outsider when it comes to exploring different methods, and/or you’re a mum trying to balance horses, life, and kids…then this episode is for you! A while ago, I received a message on Facebook from Chloe Bailey, who had joined the new free Horse Mums FB group. She sent me a Google Doc in response to a question I had posted about how people navigate the use of reinforcements. Her response was so insightful that I knew it had to be shared, so here we are! I sat down with Chloe Bailey, a welfare-concious ‘amateur’ horse trainer who has, like many of us, been asking those horse welfare questions and contemplating on how we can best navigate the use of reinforcement types in training. We spoke about: Chloe’s horse journey and how she navigates the use of reinforcements in training What led her to explore positive reinforcement (R+) Overcoming guilt from past training methods and advice for others facing the same struggles Balancing idealism with practicality in training The biggest misconceptions about positive reinforcement (R+) and negative reinforcement (R-) Dealing with a shift in identity after moving away from traditional horse communities Experimenting with longer delays between the click and reward – key insights The future of R+ in the horse world – what changes Chloe hopes to see in the next 5–10 years How becoming a mother has changed her horsemanship The challenges of being a horse mum and human mum – and how she manages them Chloe’s latest horsemanship breakthrough Her favourite horse books and resources- including 2 authors that are completely new to me which I'm excited to read Her personal horse goals for the future Plus so much more! 🔗 LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE: Free Horse Mums Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/938509415066034 Free Books & Resources List: amaliadempsey.com/booklist _______ EXTRA RESOURCES TO HELP YOU AND YOUR HORSE: 📚 Book & Resource List: Get all the books & recommendations mentioned on the podcast → amaliadempsey.com/booklist 🐴 Free Mini-Course: Build a deeper connection & communication with your horse → www.amaliadempsey.com/ccmc 🏋️♀️ Free Rider Exercises: Improve your biomechanics with 10 unmounted exercises → amaliadempsey.com/exercises 💪 8-Week Rider Exercise Program: Transform your riding with structured, rider-specific exercises → amaliadempsey.com/8-week-rider-specific-exercise-program 🐎 Horsemanship Fundamentals Academy: Create a happy, confident, and trusting partnership with your horse on the ground and in the saddle → amaliadempsey.com/Horsemanship-Fundamentals-Academy 🚛 Trailer Loading Success: Say goodbye to stressful trailer loading with this $9 roadmap → amaliadempsey.com/trailer-loading-success-roadmap ____ 🔔 Follow the show so you don’t miss future episodes! Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, and YouTube. ⭐ Leave a rating and review to help spread the word of good horsemanship! Your support makes a big difference! 📸 Take a screenshot and share this episode on social media! I'd love to hear what resonated with you the most! And knowing that this pod has made an impact makes my day! 🤝 Connect with me on Instagram @amalia_horses and Facebook: Amalia Dempsey Horsemanship 💕 Explore more horsemanship resources at www.amaliadempsey.com _______ Keywords: Horsemanship, Rider Biomechanics, Positive Reinforcement, Horse Training, Liberty Training, Postpartum Riding Fitness, Equine Welfare, Ethical Horse Training, Groundwork Exercises, Enrichment for Horses, Clicker Training, Horse & Rider Connection, Strength & Mobility for Riders, Return to Riding Program, Balanced Riding, Harmony with Horses, Horse Behavior & Communication, Holistic Horsemanship, Ethical Riding Practices, Mindful Horsemanship, Classical Dressage, Softness & Lightness, Rider Posture & Alignment, Core Strength for Riders,
Karen Rohlf
Stacy Westfall
Dr. Erica Lacher and Justin Long
Phil Haugen
Jane Pike
Alexa Linton
Mel Robbins
Jampot Productions
Amelia Newcomb
Jones Equine
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