The Equine Catalyst

09/05/2026

This week I found myself in a world that wasn’t mine.

Not horses, exactly, (there were plenty of those) but a different horse world. Different rhythms. Different language. Different people. Different traditions.

And for once… I wasn’t the one driving the bus.

I wasn’t teaching. Wasn’t organising. Wasn’t leading from the front. Wasn’t “on.”

I was simply there. Part of somebody else’s team. Part of somebody else’s story for a little while.

One of my friends jokingly calls my life “The Jody Hartstone Show,” and tbh she's probably not that wrong.... When you build a business, a reputation, and a life around being capable, visible, and constantly contributing… you get very used to occupying space.

So it was interesting noticing what came up in me when I stepped back from that.

How uncomfortable it can feel to not be centre stage.

How quickly the ego wants to ask: “Am I still important here?” “Do I still belong if I’m not performing?” “What value do I bring if I’m not leading?”

And maybe the answer is: just being human.

This week taught me a lot about observing instead of directing. Listening instead of explaining. Being included without needing to control the outcome. Letting myself soften into somebody else’s world instead of always building my own.

There was something strangely beautiful about sitting quietly in the background at times, watching good people do what they love, learning a completely different side of the horse industry, and simply absorbing it all without needing to be an expert in it.

Growth doesn’t always look like expansion.

Sometimes it looks like learning how to take up less space for a moment.
Not shrinking… Just relaxing the need to hold everything together.

And maybe that’s healthy too.

09/05/2026

Free lesson anyone?!

🐴 FOUNDATION FLATWORK LESSON OPPORTUNITY – RIDER WANTED 🐴

We’re looking for a rider and horse combination to feature in an upcoming training article and lesson with Jody Hartstone for the Winter issue of The Foundation Rider Magazine.

This session will focus on introducing and improving shoulder-in, one of the most important foundation lateral movements for developing straightness, balance, suppleness, and future higher-level work.

We’re ideally looking for:
✨ A lower-level dressage rider (Introductory/Preliminary/Novice level)

✨ Someone wanting to better understand lateral work and why it matters

✨ A horse that is green to shoulder-in, struggles with it, or has never really been taught it correctly

✨ A combination that is willing to learn and be featured in the magazine

This is not about having major problems or being advanced, in fact, a horse and rider just beginning this stage of education would be absolutely perfect.

The lesson will explore:
• What shoulder-in actually is
• Why it’s such an important exercise
• Common mistakes riders make
• How to introduce it in a horse-friendly, understandable way
• How correct lateral work improves straightness, balance, and responsiveness

📍 Cambridge area
📅 Saturday 16th May 2026 – morning

If you think you and your horse might suit, please send an email to [email protected] with:
• Your riding level
• Your horse’s age and experience
• A photo or short video if possible

We’d love to find a rider who is excited to learn and happy to share the journey with other foundation riders! 🐴

08/05/2026

📍 TAUPO RIDERS — LAST MINUTE LESSON SPOTS AVAILABLE NEXT WEEKEND!
A change of plans means I’ve unexpectedly got a few lesson spaces available at Stellar Ridge Arena, Taupo on Saturday 16th May.
These sessions are suitable for: • Dressage
• Working Equitation
• Young horses
• Problem solving
• Groundwork
• Nervous or reactive horses
• Riders wanting clearer, science-based training solutions
My lessons combine practical riding with evidence-based training methods grounded in Equitation Science, helping both horse and rider feel more confident, relaxed, and understood.
💰 $150 per lesson (including arena fee)
I can also potentially teach in the Cambridge/Tokoroa areas on my way down that day, so if you’re local to those regions and keen for a session, send me a message 😊
📩 PM to book
📞 0272803369
📧 [email protected]
Would love to help a few more riders and horses while I’m passing through 💜

03/05/2026

This post totally resonated ....

02/05/2026

Sunday Musings - Pulled in Two Directions

Yesterday I got on a plane. And it always fascinates me how I can feel two completely opposite things at the same time.

One part of me wants to stay exactly where I am. That is safe, settled. Not too much, not too overwhelming.

And another part of me? Wants to get on the plane, chase the experience, say yes to whatever comes next.

It’s that push and pull. The fear of too much vs the fear of missing out.

I’ve learned this isn’t something to fix. It’s something to understand.

Because without that edge- without that tension - you don’t grow.

If you always stay comfortable, life gets small. But if you always chase more without awareness… it can become too much.

So lately, I’ve been practicing something quieter. Letting myself feel one side…then pendulating back to the other. And then back again.

Not making either one wrong. Just going there, feeling it…and coming back to safety.

For me, the choice has often been to travel. Not because it’s easy - but because it stretches me.

It asks me to hold more. To be more. And maybe that’s what backing yourself really is… Not setting out to eliminating the fear, but at the same time trusting you won’t get lost in it.

✈️

30/04/2026

🏆 WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT POST - CLIPPER SHY HORSE

Alright… time to wrap this one up 👇
The correct answer was 👉 30 minutes
From the very first introduction of the electric toothbrush…to full body clipping with a calm, relaxed horse.

🥇 WINNER - A huge congratulations to Kristine Brownlee 🎉Not only did you get the timing spot on… your explanation of the method was absolutely bang on 👏
You’ve won $100 off Educated – From the Ground Up.

I’ll flick you a message shortly with your discount code

🧠 What I loved about this…
There were so many great explanations of the technique in the comments. That’s really heartwarming to see, because it tells me that the science of how we train horses is finally becoming more mainstream -
and more riders are starting to truly understand how horses learn.

That can only be a good thing for horse welfare 👏 For those that were close…
What you were seeing wasn’t just “desensitisation” in the traditional sense.
It was: ✔ habituation through overshadowing
✔ clear, repeatable responses
✔ correct use of negative reinforcement
✔ and precise timing of pressure and release
That’s why the change can happen so quickly.
Thank you to everyone who commented, guessed, and had a go - sadly only one win er could be choosen.

I’ll definitely do more of these 👀
And if you watched that reel and thought
“I wish I knew how to do that…”
That’s exactly what I teach inside Educated – From the Ground Up
👇 Link in the comments

30/04/2026

26/04/2026

Issues at the mounting block are a big one.
It’s something I see all the time in my travels as a coach…
and it’s also something a lot of people just brush over.
They go to get on…the horse swings away or walks off and
then they just carry on with the ride.
But for me, it’s actually a really important piece of training to get right.
Your horse should be able to come up to the mounting block,
sidle in, and stand there on a loose rein while you get on.
Quiet. Still. Clear.
Because this is one of the very first questions you ask your horse each ride.

I often think of it a bit like roll call…
“Yep, I know my name. I understand what’s being asked here.”
If they’re hard to mount at the start,
they’re already a bit dysregulated,
and they’re already getting that first question of the day wrong.
So why not set them up to get it right?
Done properly, this actually helps regulate the horse’s nervous system and gives you a calm, clear starting point for the rest of your ride.
If this looks familiar to you,
it’s something I cover in my free lesson as part of your Warrant of Fitness checklist —
and it’s also a key part of the training inside Educated from the Ground Up.
It’s actually very easy to teach once you understand how horses learn.
Comment BLOCK below and I’ll send you the link to the free training 👇

26/04/2026

🌅 Sunday Musings – Anzac Weekend

Yesterday felt different.

The dawn service I went to in the early hours of yesterday morning wasn’t one of the big ones. No crowds. No city buzz. Just a small gathering in a country hall, in a neighbouring village.

And somehow… that made it more powerful.

Because this wasn’t about history in a distant, abstract way. This was about our people.

The names on the Roll of Honour - They weren’t just soldiers.

They were boys from this district. Farm boys. Sons. Brothers. The grandfathers and great-grandfathers of the people standing beside me this morning. Their surnames often seen on the local road signs bearing their family name,.

And when you stand there in a place like that… it lands just a bit differently.

My own connection to Anzac Day has always been there. My granddad was a prisoner of war. He never spoke about what he went through, to me at least when I was growing up.

But silence has a way of speaking anyway. What he carried… shaped my mother.
And in ways I’m only now beginning to understand, it shaped me too.

We talk a lot these days about trauma. About nervous systems. About the way experiences live on in the body.

And I think about how that didn’t start with us. Those patterns… those echoes…
they’ve been passed down through generations.

I’ve been to big Anzac services. In London. In Sydney. In Gallipoli. I've sat quietly among the graves at Chunuk Bair.

And every time, there’s that same feeling.

Grief. Respect. And a kind of disbelief at what those young men walked into.

And now… the world feels unsettled again.

There’s conflict. Division. And if I’m honest, it feels harder than ever to know where “right” and “wrong” even sit anymore.

But maybe this weekend isn’t about picking sides.

Maybe it’s about remembering the cost.

The cost carried by those boys who left places just like this. The cost carried by the families who never saw them again. And the cost that still echoes quietly through generations.

Yesterday, in that little hall, it felt like one of the few moments where we can still come together…not in anger, not in division……but in shared humanity.

In grief and in gratitude. And always in remembrance.

And I don’t think we should lose that.

Lest we forget.

23/04/2026

It’s that time of year again… clipping season
And for many horses, that brings stress, resistance… or full-blown reactions like this.
But here’s the thing, clipping isn’t actually the problem.
Horses that are difficult to clip often have: – gaps in their training
– unclear responses to pressure
– or underlying dysregulation around novel stimuli
So when the clippers come out… they simply don’t have a way to cope.
And while sedation might seem like an easy fix, it doesn’t address the root of the issue.
In fact, many sedatives immobilise the horse without truly reducing awareness. This
means the horse can still experience the stress… but has no ability to respond.
That’s not training.
And it’s not a long-term solution.
Because next time?
You’re right back where you started.
The good news is with correct, systematic training, clipping problems can be resolved.
And not just clipping… but many other handling and ridden issues as well.
This is exactly what I teach inside my course "Educated – From the Ground Up"
including the full, unedited session that takes a horse from reacting to a toothbrush…
to standing calmly for full clipping.
If you watched yesterday’s reel, you’ve already seen what’s possible 👀

23/04/2026

Competition time 👇
Here’s a quick look at the retraining of a clipper-shy horse.
At the start, you’ll see him reacting to nothing more than the mild buzz of an electric toothbrush…
And by the end?
Standing quietly while full clippers run all over his body.
No restraint. No twitch.
No force.
No “just hold him still and get it done.”
Just correct training.
👇 YOUR CHALLENGE
How long do you think this full session took?
💬 Comment your guess below
🎯 Closest guess wins $50 off my course Educated – From the Ground Up
💡 Want to go one better?
Explain the method I used and why it works…
…and you could win $100 off instead
(This exact training session — unedited — is inside the course)
👇 Link in the comments