
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 112 | How empathy creates safer spaces for humans and horses with Michele Arana
In this potent conversation with Michele Arana of In Stride Equestrian, we dive into the parallels between advocating for more ethical horsemanship in the equestrian industry and practicing allyship for BIPOC members of our horse communities. She shared how prioritizing diversity, inclusion and equity can make being with horses better for all. We also had a chance to nerd out about Michele’s volunteer work for Equus-Soma Equine Osteology and Anatomy Learning Centre (a.k.a. the Bone Room) and talk about the value in horse trainers educating themselves about what’s going on beneath their horses’ skin. I am so appreciative of Michele’s willingness to offer her perspective and share solutions and ideas surrounding these important topics, as well as her emphasis on empathy as a guiding standard when it comes to working with horses and humans. I hope you learn something new from our chat, and that it motivates you to take action in your corner of the horse world to help push forward much needed change to make our industry more inclusive, equitable and diverse.
Michele Arana is the founder of In Stride Equestrian, a lesson and training facility that is dedicated to inclusion and education in the equine industry. Michele’s program ties two of her passions, activism and horses. As a Nuyorican woman, she is more than familiar with the discrimination BIPOC people in the equine world face and looks to have horses bridge that gap in her program. As an ethical and education based trainer, her lessons are very informative and help students truly understand their equine partners while also connecting on a much deeper level while having fun!
You can read Michele’s great blogs posts on her website https://www.instridequestrian.com and follow In Stride Equestrian on FB, IG and TikTok.

Episode 133 | Sacred contracts with horses and how to recognize them with Brittany Ashworth
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 133 | Sacred contracts with horses and how to recognize them with Brittany Ashworth Season 8 of the Whole Horse podcast is here! To start us off right, I chatted with my friend and colleague Brittany Ashworth of Sacred...

Episode 132 | Understanding equine postural mechanisms with Dr. Karen Gellman
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 132 | Understanding equine postural mechanisms with Dr. Karen Gellman In this episode, marking the end of season seven of the podcast, I spoke with Dr. Karen Gellman. What an incredible journey she has been on, culminating...

Episode 131 | Shifting how we think about breathing with Holly Barnett
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 131 | Shifting how we think about breathing with Holly Barnett In this episode with Holly Barnett, I learned all about the new style of breathwork she created called InteroBreath, which is a way of working with the breath...

Episode 130 | Horses as muses, teachers, and guides with artist Kim McElroy
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 130 | Horses as muses, teachers, and guides with artist Kim McElroy As we wrap up season 7, I was honoured to sit down for a conversation with the artist Kim McElroy. As you'll hear in this episode, I met Kim in 2007...

Episode 129 | Unmasking sensitivity to be better (horse) people with Lori Halliday
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 129 | Unmasking sensitivity to be better (horse) people with Lori Halliday This conversation with the wise and wonderful Lori Halliday certainly touched into some tender places! Lori offered her perspective on the fall...

Episode 128 | Becoming nervous system navigators with Wired 4 Connection author Lucie Klaassen
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 128 | Becoming nervous system navigators with Wired 4 Connection author Lucie Klaassen Today on the podcast, I had Lucie Klaassen back on for the first time since Season 1 (!) and we had a chance to catch up on all the...

Episode 127 | Speaking the language of horses with Belinda Bolsenbroek
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 127 | Speaking the language of horses with Belinda Bolsenbroek In this episode I was joined by classical horse trainer Belinda Bolsenbroek for an amazing conversation about the way she merges scientific study with...

Episode 126 | What horses can teach us about healthy boundaries with Kim Hallin
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 126 | What horses can teach us about healthy boundaries with Kim Hallin What a deep and necessary conversation I had the pleasure of sharing with Kim Hallin, owner of Unbridled LLC. Kim’s tagline is “Stay true to yourself...

Episode 125 | Taking a 3Fs approach to providing good horse care with Lauren Fraser
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 125 | Taking a 3Fs approach to providing good horse care with Lauren Fraser This week on the podcast I spoke with equine behaviour specialist Lauren Fraser, the woman behind the 3 Fs (Friends, Forage, Freedom) framework...

Episode 124 | Releasing Tension to build trust with Jim Masterson
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 124 | Releasing Tension to build trust with Jim Masterson In this episode with reknowned equine body worker Jim Masterson, I got to know the origin story behind the Masterson Method and ask Jim about his perspective on a...