Tea Time with Elsa

Chatting about: Less Is More…

In this episode I share a very personal growth experience with my herd. I am often torn between satisfying the public expectation of proving I can teach horses to do many normal domestic horse tasks with less pressure than most, and my desire to do less in favor of learning more from the horses. We can replace dominance with awareness if we are willing to take the time to do so. When my desire to do le...

Chatting about: The Pros and Cons of Distraction…

In this episode we talk about why and when I why I teach distraction as a good choice in the relationships with horses. Trainers who have tools to keep a horse from leaving them will sometimes choose to wait through a cycle of concern in the horse, allowing it to pass naturally. Without tools we may, or may not, be able to do that successfully. Practicing distraction before we need ...

Chatting about: Solving for Better…

In this episode, we talk about how we can see an issue that needs to be solved and cut it in half, and in half again until the part we are working on feels set up for success. I recently had some new revelations about how this applies to horses who struggle with the feeling of touch, as well as how it applies to horses who need greater development in either self-regulation or co-regulation. 

Orig...

Chatting about: “Emotional Cycles”…

In this episode, we talk about seeing the emotional cycles of a horse from moment to moment and using that awareness to better time our active and passive moments. First we watch the horse and learn about their cycles. Then we use our active and passive moments to prove to the horse that we understand them. Then we start timing our active and passive moments better to leave the horse wanting more...

Chatting about: Fear in Horses…

In this episode, we talk about understanding a horse’s fear in a categorical way. Their responses will be in either Fight or Flight and they will tend to be in reaction to one of four elements: movement, touch, approach, or sound. Once we can see a horse’s tendencies categorically, we can more easily break down the fear into bite sized pieces that they can learn about, growing their confidence increm...

Chatting about: Non-Negotiables

In this episode, we talk about the Non-Negotiable factor of space between partners if either one feels unsafe. If we cannot create space between partners in the moments that challenge safety we will need to consider using, more pressure, dominant training, or the presence of a fence between horse and human. Freedom of choice comes after we can trust the basic elements of acting safe around each other...

Chatting about: Praise…

In this episode, we talk about using praise with horses. Why we might choose to, why we might not. The mechanics of developing good associations with praise if you want to use it as part of your relationship and how it might work better for some horses than others. I don’t think there is an absolute for anything with horses, but there are always factors that can be understood better to help us understand our...

Chatting about: Enough and Not Enough…

In this episode, we talk about a new herd integration with my horses and the timing needed between horses as they learn about each other’s likes and dislikes. Emotional training depends on the understanding of leaving everyone wanting more of the relationship, instead of less of it. I am fascinated by how the emotional training horses do with each other can also be used to nurture the relation...

Chatting about: Environment Matters…

In this episode, we talk about how much the environment we are in with our horses always impacts our training. There will always be factors in the environment that raise or lower the horse’s stress levels and we are going to do our most profound training at the mid levels of fully aware (instead of resting), but more curious instead of concerned.

Originally aired on: February 11th, 2025

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Chatting about: Food Aggression…

In this episode, we talk about a different perspective around food aggression in horses. Many people believe food aggression is about resource guarding, or trying to get the other horses to leave. These things may be true, but I have noticed a few different things about it that are far more helpful to me in understanding and supporting my horses in living their best lives.

Originally aired on: Febru...

Chatting about: Creativity…

In this episode, we talk about creativity and anxiety being on a spectrum and how the two can not exist simultaneously. To be creative is to try things, assess, and try again. When you draw a picture, you draw a line, and then another line, and try one thing after another towards an end goal developed through experimentation. Horses can also learn this pattern of creativity when they try one point of foc...