The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 24 | Sarah Schlote
So awesome to have Sarah Schlote, founder of EQUUSOMA™ back on the podcast! In this incredible follow-up episode (check out Episode 21 for an intro to her work), Sarah opens up about how Attachment theory applies to horse-human partnerships, the impact of stress and trauma, the process of “thawing out” that many horses experience when they’re moved into a new home and why it happens, the pitfalls of “anthropomorphism”, the importance of mammaliomorphism as a lens, and much much more. This podcast is full of cutting-edge resources (scroll down to find the list) – Sarah is as thorough as they come!
Sarah Schlote, MA, RP, CCC, SEP is a Registered Psychotherapist, trauma therapist and Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner who has been involved in the field of animal-assisted interventions since 2003. A former St. John Ambulance Therapy Dogs volunteer, her main focus aside from her in-office private practice is partnering with horses to support health and healing. She is the founder of EQUUSOMA™, a training model integrating Somatic Experiencing®, attachment theory and equine-assisted trauma recovery, and has started promoting Therapist-Assisted Horsemanship™, bringing a trauma and attachment lens as well as trauma-informed horsemanship principles to improve the relationship between owners and their horses (and their coaches and instructors)
Learn more about Sarah and her work at www.equusoma.com and www.sarahschlote.com.
Whole Horse Podcast Resources – Sarah Schlote (pdf with links)
Sources referenced in the podcast (in order):
How wild horses deal with death and grief: A rare insight
Anthropomorphic double-talk: Can animals be happy but not unhappy? No!
Why ‘good welfare’ isn’t ‘good enough’: Minding animals and increasing our compassionate footprint
Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions (Jaak Panksepp)
The Archaeology of Mind: Neural Origins of Human Emotion (Jaak Panksepp)
Fear and the defense cascade: Clinical implications and management
Nature’s Lessons in Healing Trauma: An Introduction to Somatic Experiencing (video)
The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication and Self-Regulation (Stephen Porges)
The Pocket Guide to The Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe (Stephen Porges)
The polyvagal theory: Phylogenetic substrates of a social nervous system (Stephen Porges)
The polyvagal perspective (Stephen Porges)
Social engagement and attachment (Stephen Porges)
Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers (Robert Sapolsky)
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma (Peter Levine)
In An Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness (Peter Levine)
Staggering levels of gastric lesions seen in weaned foals in a study
Addiction, childhood trauma, stress, and the biology of addiction
Crib biting behaviour in horses: A review
EquiFACS: The equine facial action coding system
Horses discriminate between facial expressions of conspecifics
Functionally relevant responses to human facial expressions of emotion in the domestic horse
Domestic horses discriminate between negative and positive human nonverbal vocalizations
Animals remember previous facial expressions that specific humans have exhibited
Training methodologies differ with the attachment of humans to horses
Exploring the existence of potential underpinnings of dog-human and horse-human attachment bonds
First suckling: A crucial event for mother-young attachment?
Anxiety and pain in horses measured by heart rate variability and behavior
Episode 146 The beauty of the mundane, boring, still and settled with with Elsa Sinclair
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 146 | The beauty of the mundane, boring, still and settled with with Elsa Sinclair Is there a better way to start a brand new season then a chat with the amazing Elsa Sinclair? I think not! We start season 9 with this rich...
Episode 145 | Using clicker training to support your equine manual therapy with Dr. Barbara Parks
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 145 | Using clicker training to support your equine manual therapy with Dr. Barbara Parks What a perfect way to finish off season 8! This episode with Dr. Barbara Parks was fun, fascinating and fully geeky - my fave. We...
Episode 144 | On the shoulders of giants + with the wisdom of elders with Dave Collins
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 144 | On the shoulders of giants + with the wisdom of elders with Dave Collins We're finishing out this seasons mentorship series with one of my most essential mentors, the one, the only, Dave Collins. Founder of the BC...
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 141 | Regenerative ranching, an exploration in attunement, capacity and connection with Robin Waugaman
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 141 | Regenerative ranching, an exploration in attunement, capacity and connection with Robin Waugaman Wow, this conversation with Robin Waugaman truly had my mind crackling with connections and ideas! Her way of drawing...
Episode 140 | The impact of “hidden” injuries + how horse-keeping intersects with manual therapy with Equine Osteopath Allie Plaschka
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 140 | The impact of "hidden" injuries + how horse-keeping intersects with manual therapy with Equine Osteopath Allie Plaschka Season 8 has been one of my faves so far - and this chat with Equine Osteopath Allie Plaschka is...
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...
Episode 138 | Storytime with Alexa – finding our new home and farm
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 138 | Storytime with Alexa - finding our new home and farm This is a short and sweet episode and it's just me, which I haven't done since the very beginning of season one! In this episode, I sit out with the herd and share...
Episode 136 | Contact nutrition for the horse-human relationship with Carmen Spagnola
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 136 | Contact nutrition for the horse-human relationship with Carmen Spagnola As we continue this season's mentorship series, this conversation with one of my current mentors was as potent as I had imagined. Carmen...
Episode 135 | What flowers have taught me about horses and healing with Sabina Pettitt of Pacific Essences
The Whole Horse Podcast | Episode 135 | What flowers have taught me about horses and healing with Sabina Pettitt of Pacific Essences Welcome to the first of my mentorship series. where I have conversations with some of my most important mentors, allowing...