Tea Time with Elsa

Teatime with Elsa - Episode 88

Chatting about: Explore and exploit…
In this episode I talk about exploring new ideas and exploiting familiar ideas. When we work with our horses in partnership, we propose new ideas through an explorative trial and error process where our horses get to decide how they feel about what we do. As our horses become more familiar with the idea and their feelings in association to it gets better and better, it moves into an exploitive stage where we know we can do this familiar idea comfortably without meeting resistance. I explain the different phases using examples of my horses, as they move through the stages of learning, from the interesting exploratory process to the comfortable and enjoyable exploitive stage.
Originally aired on: April 13th, 2021

Teatime with Elsa - Episode 87

Chatting about: Direct and indirect training…
In this episode I talk about using more indirect approaches when working in freedom. In Freedom Based Training™, using an indirect approach to a challenge can help us to avoid resistance in the relationship, as we don’t have any tools to manage the stress levels that come with working more directly on a challenge. I explain how we can break challenges down into easier steps, how we can set up the environment to allow the horse to have positive stress levels, and how we can help horses develop tools that help them interact with different environments in ways that result in positive stress levels
Originally aired on: April 6th, 2021

Teatime with Elsa - Episode 86

Chatting about: Throwing out the rule book…
In this episode I talk about changing who gets to decide the rules. For some students, when learning about Freedom Based Training™ it feels as though we are throwing out the rule book. We don’t actually throw out the rule book, instead we allow the horse to decide the rules. When we work in freedom, the horse gets to decide the rules around what things they would like to do with us and what things we have to work a little harder to earn an invitation for. They get to decide whether what we do is getting better or getting worse. They have the freedom to express how they feel about what we do and we learn from the feedback we receive so we can be better partners.
Originally aired on: March 30th, 2021

Teatime with Elsa - Episode 85

Chatting about: Measuring successes…
In this episode I talk about the ways that we measure our success in Freedom Based training™. When horses have freedom of choice their development pace is slow, as they spend more of their time doing what is important to them. This means our measures of success are more subtle in contrast to those of dominant training. In Freedom Based Training™, we measure success with focus changes, awareness, connection, harmony, and good feelings. We measure success by the way the horse feels with us rather than the things they can do with us.
Originally aired on: March 23rd, 2021

Teatime with Elsa - Episode 84

Chatting about: The gift of time…
In this episode I talk about some of the things I have learned thanks to my stallion Atlas’ lessons on time.
The gift of time allows us to explore what is voluntary from our horses and what we can do together that is given freely instead of pushed for the efficiency of time. We are able to study more deeply the choices that our horses make on their own when we have the benefit of time. I explain how time has allowed for healing, deeper learning, and growth in my experiences with my stallions.
Originally aired on: March 16th, 2021

Teatime with Elsa - Episode 83

Chatting about: The ebb and flow of feelings…
In this episode I talk about how we study the natural ebb and flow of our horse’s feelings in Freedom Based Training™. Most horse training is about teaching horses to do the things we want them to do. Freedom Based Training™ is all about the feelings. Instead of considering what we can cause our horse to do, we consider what we can cause our horse to feel. I explain how we can read and respond to the oscillations of feelings our horses experience throughout the day and how we can create good associations with ourselves by reinforcing good feelings.
Originally aired on: March 9th, 2021

Teatime with Elsa - Episode 82

Chatting About: “Come Along For The Ride” podcast interview…
In this episode I share an interview about Taming Wild and Freedom Based Training.  
Come Along For A Ride Podcast
Originally aired on: March 2nd, 2021

Teatime with Elsa - Episode 81

Chatting about: Playing games…
In this episode I talk about the sense of enjoyment that we can develop in association to learning, by turning the things our horses find challenging into a game. We can gamify the more difficult things for the horse to evoke curiosity, interest, and engagement rather than resistance and irritation. The goal is to create a fun game mentality around learning new things so the horse looks forward to challenges and enjoys the way it makes them feel through the positive associations that we build. The better the associations the horse has with learning, the more they enjoy learning. The more they enjoy learning, the faster the learning becomes and the more they volunteer to do things with us.
Originally aired on: February 23rd, 2021