In this horse-centred podcast now in it's eighth season, author, facilitator, horse and human manual therapist, animal communicator, and horse lover Alexa Linton explores uncharted territory and newly discovered edges of the horse-human partnership with equine professionals. Together, we'll be shedding light on all the different ways of relating to and being with horses, learning how to cultivate optimal health for horses and their riders, uncovering the many facets of horse training, and sharing about the rather bumpy ride of becoming an advocate for horses in our current horse industry. Find all the resources mentioned in the episodes at www.wholehorse.ca! Find out more about Alexa at www.alexalinton.com or www.outsidetheboxequine.com
WH154 | Treating horses in the direction of ease with Equine Osteopath Allie Plaschka
If you love geeky deep dives into equine therapy, phsyiology and anatomy, this is an episode for you! Allie Plaschka and I are back together to share about our upcoming collaborative workshop (Sept 19-20) and to unpack our main course topic, what it means to treat horses "into the ease." We break down what into the ease actually means, what distinguishes this way of treating from more direct myofascial, ostearticalar or massage techniques, when treating in the direction of ease is helpful or not, how it can be used to support vitality and nervous system re-balancing and why it is often the treatment of choice for shut down, resistant, and/or anxious horses. We also discuss how we use this same concept with horse owners to support receptivity and change and stay in a space of connection. If you're an equine and/or human manual therapist or osteopathic practitioners, this chat is definitely worth a listen - there are some gems in here!
If you're interested in our course Deep Listening: Dialoguing with the tissues, the fluids and the horse, happening here on Raven Moon Farm (Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island))) on September 19-20th email Alexa or head here for all the details: https://outsidetheboxequine.com/workshop-with-allie-plaschka/
Allie is an equine and canine osteopath based out of Enderby, BC, Canada. She has been working with horses in the therapeutic realm for 13 years, with osteopathy being her main focus for the last seven. She is passionate about helping horses and dogs achieve optimum vitality through a whole body treatment approach in addition to education about species-appropriate care. She travels throughout the Okanagan, Kootenays, and beyond and also occasionally accepts rehab cases at her home farm. She is a true horse nerd in every aspect and loves to talk track systems, behavior science, biomechanics and more.
She is steward to two mares, Rayne and Ciri, spending time learning classical dressage as well as dabbling in other disciplines. Learn more about Allie and her work at https://www.triplevtherapy.com/
2 Aug 2026
WH153 | The opportunity in injury with Josh Nichol
For this very special episode of the podcast, Josh Nichol of Relational Horsemanship and I sat down to chat about his recent life-altering riding accident and subsequent injury. We unpacked a whole lot in this hour - Josh shares in detail what happened that day that his whole life changed, how his recovery is going, how he's feeling about all of it and his perspective on why things happened the way they did. As you might imagine, Josh's perspective will probably surprise and inspire you - he is seeing a precious opportunity for stillness, pause and a big life shift in the space created by his injury and his recovery journey. I also share about my recent transition of my dog Reilly and the powerful experience we had here on the farm and we get into how life can show us the way if we let it.
I invite you to grab a cup of tea or a muck fork and put your head phones on (ideally with some kleenex in your pocket). You may want to come back a time or two more with a journal to write in. This one is full to the brim of Josh wisdom. Enjoy the journey!
To learn more about Josh and his work head to https://joshnichol.com/
31 May 2026
WH152 | Understanding the osteopathic principle of autoregulation applied to horses with Elisse Miki
Alright my geeky horse people, this one's for you! No season would be complete without an episode with Elisse Miki of Equilibria Therapeutics. We promised to do a podcast on each of the osteopathic principles, and it may take us a minute but we're going to make it happen.
Elisse came for a visit to the farm and we just had to sit down for a conversation unpacking the osteopathic principle of autoregulation, what it means for our horses, how it shows up in every day experiences and how to interpret these experiences through an osteopathic lens. This one was recorded a few months back, when Reykur was just finding solid ground with his health, but was still wobbly so we definitely looked at how this principle relates to rehabilitation and illlness. You'll be happy to know that as of the publishing of this episode he seems to have turned a good corner and is staying more stable with more vitality. We also got into the story of Gwynna's rehabilitation and how this principle played a role, and how much a supoortive environment supports a return to homeostasis. Enjoy!
As a human and equine therapist with over 15 years of experience working with clients in a therapeutic setting, Elisse Miki brings a wide variety of modalities into her practice. She began her career working as an Exercise Physiologist having completed her Bachelors in Kinesiology then went on to obtain her Registered Massage Therapy Licence. She has since gone on to complete Diplomas in Equine Therapy, Equine Craniosacral, and is currently in the process of completing her Equine Osteopathy Diploma. Her current focus lies in research and development of current standards of practice in the equine industry. Elisse hosts clinics for horse owners and will be offering continuing education courses for existing health care professionals and equine therapists starting in January 2020.
Website – www.equilibriatherapeutics.com
Email – elisse@equilibriatherapeutics.com
Facebook Personal – https://www.facebook.com/elisse.miki
Facebook Business Page – Equilibria Therapeutics – https://www.facebook.com/elissemikirmt/
Equine Cranial Certification with Alexa and Elisse – https://www.equilibriatherapeutics.com/equine-craniosacral
Inside a recent episode
WH154 | Treating horses in the direction of ease with Equine Osteopath Allie Plaschka
Published 5 Sept 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] And so these are ones that I see oftentimes with the ridden work. So the impact of horses under saddle is I'll often see these compactions of vertebrae where there's very, very little mobility between the vertebrae, almost feeling like there could be like, a sense of a fusion or something but there's not it's just literally the vertebrae there's compression in that space and it's been a really interesting experience for me to start working with the direction of ease as a form of treatment in these these areas it's actually incredibly effective even though you're going literally into the way the body wants you to go which seems so counterintuitive there there's a part of me always as a practitioner that wants to kind of break things up, you know, like open it up. […]
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
