Rachel Windchaser is the guardian of a rare herd of Spanish Mustangs in Spain and coaches riders through Horsemanship From Nature, an approach built on constantly referring back to the nature of the horse in front of you. She came onto my radar through a Facebook post telling FEI riders their badge isn’t the mic drop they think it is, and this conversation picks up where that post left off.

This is not an anti-competition episode. Neither of us wants the sport to stop. It’s a conversation about how competitive horsemanship changes from the inside, and why the people with the most credentials have the most power to change it.

We get into why every equestrian discipline is labeled an individual sport when there is no sport without the horse, and why “if we win it was me, if we lose it was the horse” has to stop. Rachel explains the partnership observer role she already fills at competitions, scoring rhythm, harmony and togetherness alongside the technical judge, and why those partnership scores line up with the higher technical scores far more often than not. We talk about the difference between love as an emotion and meeting needs as a responsibility, the conflict riders in the middle of the sport feel when they know something isn’t right but don’t have the tools to say so, and my idea for mandatory continuing education hours for professionals. I also share the three weeks I spent teaching an ex-racehorse mare to trot off my energy instead of a whip, and the reactive mare who taught me that a horse who can think through pressure is a horse ready to compete.

If you compete, coach, judge, or just love watching the sport, this one asks you to look a little differently.

If you liked this episode, follow The Elevated Equestrian Podcast and share it with someone who competes. Find me at samanthabaer.com for the blog, ride-alongs, and more.