The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 122 | Making the hardest choice with Diana Waters

In this moving episode I am joined by horse trainer Diana Waters of Responsive Equine. We begin with an overview of some of Diana’s formative equestrian experiences, including her passion for training at the walk and its many benefits to the equine-human partnership, and then head into a vulnerable conversation about her journey rescuing a horse whom she diligently and compassionately attempted to rehabilitate, only to ultimately make the incredibly difficult choice to end his life. 

I am very grateful for Diana’s courage to share the story of her time with this young gelding, Forrest, and for all the moments of wisdom and humanity throughout our discussion. Choosing to lay our animals to rest, especially when they are young and/or struggling with mysterious ailments is often the hardest, most fraught time in our shared lives, and I hope this episode serves as a portal to navigating those spaces with increased self trust and grace. 

Diana Waters is a qualified riding coach, ethics teacher and equine-assisted psychotherapist. She is passionate about the benefits of walk work with horses, finding a magical place where deep connection and profound changes happen. Inspired by her experiences with the French classical technique of ‘School Walk’, and after witnessing the incredible benefits of walk work on her own horses, Diana recently created the live online course, The Power of Walk, which builds on a foundation of deep connection with gentle classical exercises, utilising the regulated nervous system to bring about long term change. Diana also facilitates a course for other equine-assisted psychotherapists, where they explore how they can further enhance horse-human relationships in their practice. Diana would like to live in a world where horses and humans connect authentically and find joy together. She is on a lifelong journey of learning from the horse and is always looking for ways to better the lives of domesticated horses and to enrich the horse-human relationship. She currently lives in NSW Australia, but dreams of returning to the UK for a simple life of long trail rides in the beautiful countryside.

You can visit Diana’s website https://www.thepowerofwalk.com to learn more about her work.

Download podcast here or listen on iTunes

Episode 147 | Bringing creativity to the paddock with Nica Quinn

Episode 147 | Bringing creativity to the paddock with Nica Quinn

The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 147 | Bringing creativity to the paddock with Nica Quinn This episode with artist Nica Quinn was a long while in the making, as you'll hear in this chat when we both share our stories of synchronisities and, quite frankly,...

Episode 143 | Hoof Care Fundamentals with Nicole Jory

Episode 143 | Hoof Care Fundamentals with Nicole Jory

The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 143 | Hoof Care Fundamentals with Nicole Jory There's a good reason why I asked hoofcare professional Nicole Jory to contribute her online course Hoof Care Fundamentals to Outside the Box Equine - she knows her stuff!...

Episode 139 | Let the horses show you the way with Sandra Wallin

Episode 139 | Let the horses show you the way with Sandra Wallin

The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 139 | Let the horses show you the way with Sandra Wallin I spend this episode with my mentor Sandra Wallin riding waves of emotion - as you'll hear in our chat, this is our first time connecting for a good chat in almost a...