True Natural Horsemanship with Doug Walsh

09/01/2026

It’s not your horse. It’s the story you’re riding.

In this episode of Surface to Soul LIVE, Doug Walsh and Catherine Respess sit down with a question most of us bring to the barn without noticing: what story is already running before we pick up the halter?

Catherine names it early — it isn’t only the story we tell about the horse. It’s the story we tell about ourselves. Doug calls it a dual relationship: how you’re handling you, and how you’re handling them. For some of us, the script is dictating what will happen that day before we even walk in.

They follow the thread into highway hypnosis (you get home and don’t remember the drive… and sometimes you get to a moment in the ride the same way), the stories we inherit from barns and family, and why “lazy” and “not listening” so often say more about the state we arrived in than the animal in front of us.

The practice underneath it all is simple, and it is the first turn of the spiral: catalog.

Where am I when I show up? Where is my horse when he shows up? One honest notice. Then a small shift.

This is not a lecture on fixing behavior. It is a conversation about partnership — the kind where both of you get to let your guard down — and about Surface to Soul as a reboot: you write the treasure map.

You discover the relationship you actually want.

If you’ve ever thought, “Why is my horse like this?” and then realized, halfway through the ride, that you never really arrived… this one’s for you.

Watch the replay. Then write the one sentence that walks to the barn with you.

09/01/2026

Let your journey begin! Www.naturalhorsemanship.com

Unlock your hidden potential

08/31/2026

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_HrOlVwGmgRQ2Z1SDmuBvoB6NZp_UMJ6/view?usp=drivesdk

08/20/2026

You think your horse is lazy.
Or reactive.
Or “just being difficult.”

But what if it’s not your horse at all?
What if you’re riding a story you never even chose?

This Monday, August 24, we’re opening a new conversation inside Surface to Soul LIVE:
It’s Not Your Horse. It’s the Story You’re Riding.

We’ll look at the invisible scripts so many of us inherited — from trainers, from barns, from culture — and how those stories quietly shape every interaction before we even put a hand on the horse.

Come as you are.
No fixing required.
Just curiosity and one honest breath at a time.

🌀 Join the Zoom this Monday the 24th @ 6:30 PM EST — register here: https://naturalhorsemanship.com/live-weekly-zoom

We’d love to have you in the circle.

08/17/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EehHGwaKc/?mibextid=KsPBc6

08/13/2026

This is what happens when we stop calling a horse “naughty.”

The first photo is Catawba the day I tried him.

He had already been labeled the problem horse and kicked out of the lesson program. He was the least favorite at the barn. At feed time he would rip every bucket and feed bin off the wall. He was treated like a pain… when he was in pain.

I only sat on him for a minute because he was too sore to ride. Even then I could feel how lovely he was underneath it all. You can see it in his eye — he was asking not to be left there.

The video is the same horse a year later.

Loose in the barn. Soft. Patient. Waiting at the feed room door like a dignified gentleman who knows he’s first in line. Snuggling into a kiss on his muzzle.

What changed wasn’t a training method. It was trust.
For both of us.

I let him be our lawn mower.
I let him choose where he wanted to eat meals.
I left his stall door open so he didn’t feel trapped.
I did bodywork to help reset his fascia and nervous system.
I trimmed his feet so his stance could harmonize with the changes happening in his body.

And he was doing something similar for me. Because I was also in pain.

Walking with him through his rehabilitation remains one of the most creative and meaningful transformations I’ve had the privilege of participating in. It healed something in me too.

Instead of meeting Catawba as someone had decided he should be, I had the honor of seeing the unseen in him.

This is the New Forest Pony we talked about on our most recent Surface to Soul LIVE — the healing pony.

If you missed it, you can still watch the replay.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1932miCbDN/

And if this kind of work resonates with you, come follow our new page for True Natural Horsemanship with Doug Walsh so you don’t miss the next conversation.

Sometimes the horse everyone wants to get rid of is the one who came to help you.

- Catherine Respess
www.NaturalHorsemanship.com

08/13/2026

Words shape how we see horses — and how we respond to them.

A recent presentation at the ISES 2026 Conference shared striking findings on negative emotive language in the equine industry. Terms like “naughty,” “stubborn,” and “rude” aren’t neutral.

When people heard those labels used to describe the exact same horse behavior, they were significantly more likely to reach for sedation or punishment.

Those who used this language more often were also less likely to consider the horse’s emotional state, physical discomfort, or the simple option of giving the horse time and desensitization.

The shift is small but powerful:

instead of labeling the horse, ask why the behavior is happening.

That question alone moves us toward more horse-centered decisions.

This is the heart of the work we do at True Natural Horsemanship — moving from surface labels to deeper understanding, from reaction to relationship.

What words do you catch yourself using when a horse isn’t “cooperating”? Have you noticed how the language changes the options that come to mind?

🐴 “Naughty.” “Stubborn.” “Rude.” They might seem like harmless words, but could they actually change how we treat horses?

At the ISES 2026 Conference, Susie Catherall Ostler presented “Words matter: The prevalence and impact of negative emotive language in the equine industry.”

In a survey of 355 participants, every participant had heard negative emotive language used to describe horse behaviour, and 97% admitted using it themselves.

But the most striking finding was what happened when researchers changed only the language used to describe a horse’s behaviour. Participants shown descriptions using negative emotive language were significantly more likely to suggest sedation and, in some scenarios, positive punishment, despite seeing the exact same video of the horse.

People who reported using this type of language more frequently were also less likely to suggest giving the horse time, considering their emotional state or physical discomfort, or using desensitisation.

The takeaway is simple but powerful: the words we use can shape the decisions we make.

Instead of labelling a horse as naughty, stubborn or rude, asking why they are behaving that way could lead us towards more horse centred responses.

08/10/2026

Part two!

07/28/2026

Too often I see horses desensitized to the point that they simply stop trying. What looks like “acceptance” or submission can actually be learned helplessness wearing a stoic face.

But when we learn to help the horse and release pressure, something different becomes possible. The horse gets the chance to feel, to organize, and to express themselves.

The goal isn’t just to produce a behavior.

It’s to develop elasticity, balance, rhythm, and confidence so that the next movement feels better than the last. So the horse becomes calmer because their body works well—not simply quieter because they’ve found the correct answer.

True horsemanship isn’t about making the horse perform.

It’s about giving them the space to discover that good movement feels good… and the freedom to show us who they really are when the pressure comes off.