Curious Equestrian

Riding instructor Jo Carroll set up Cake Club to give adult riders something the equestrian community rarely offers them: a hack at a walk, with her alongside on foot, then coffee and cake. It took her 18 months to open it to horse owners, for fear of what other coaches would think. Now riders who had almost given up horses come along to give it one last go, and a monthly support group for women has grown out of it. Could this be the future of confidence coaching?
In this episode:
Why Jo walks on foot beside the ride, and why she admits she gets a bit scared hacking herself
The 18 months it took to launch Cake Club for horse owners, and what held her back
The yard comments and online judgement that knock riders' confidence, and why Jo thinks the words we use need more thought
The women's support group: speakers, a saddle-fitting demo, and the questions people are too scared to ask professionals
Why nobody shouts about hacking at a walk, when everyone talks up the canter and the jump
What a group walk does for the horses, from unbacked youngsters to horses coming back from rehab
Find Jo Carroll: jocarrollequine.co.uk | Facebook: Jo Carroll Equine Services | Instagram: @jo_anncarroll
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What is it like to steer magnificent Friesian horses through modern traffic for life’s most poignant milestones? Step onto the carriage with Mike Daniell & Son in Suffolk to see the dedication, skill, and heart behind traditional wedding and funeral carriage driving.In this behind-the-scenes documentary, we visit the Daniell family in Woodbridge to explore why horse-drawn carriages remain such an enduring, emotional tradition. From the split-second decisions required on busy roads to the solemn responsibility of guiding a family's final journey, we uncover the powerful bond between driver, horse, and ceremony.
Connect with Mike Daniell & Son:Facebook: facebook.com/p/Mike-Daniell-Son-CarriagemastersJoin our community:Newsletter & StoriesBookshopMerch
Let us know in the comments: Have you ever experienced a horse-drawn procession, or would you choose one for a milestone?Curious Equestrian:Presenter: Anna Louise ClaydonProducer & Founder: Theresa McCaffrey

Noche Miller turned to trick training when Rusty, a young rescue Morgan, bit and walked straight through people. He had been dumped at auction because nobody could handle him, and two or three months of traditional handling had got nowhere. Noche, an instructor with Horse Tricks 101, tells Anna Louise how teaching him to fetch a rubber chicken changed the way she works with horses, and why the same small steps prepare a horse for trailer loading, dental checks and being ridden.

In this episode:
- How fetch is built up from a single nose touch
- Why standing on a pedestal makes trailer loading less of a leap
- Treat manners, and why a good scratch can be a reward too
- Choosing a reward worth working for that doesn't tip a horse into overexcitement
- Scent boxes and grazing boxes for horses with limited turnout
- Why it's fine to own a horse you don't ride
- How Rusty and Ghost the cow each earned a Guinness world record for tricks

Guest: Noche Miller, instructor with Horse Tricks 101
horsetricks101.com, plus Facebook, Instagram and YouTube @horsetricks101

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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:43 Rusty, the rescue Morgan nobody could handle
07:55 What changed when trick training began
09:21 Building fetch from a single nose touch
13:43 Becoming a Horse Tricks 101 instructor
14:52 Treat manners: from biting to waiting
16:30 Dumped at auction
21:00 Where Rusty's behaviour came from
22:22 Guinness world records for Ghost the cow and Rusty
26:02 Tricks for horses that can't be ridden
27:28 Useful tricks: mounting blocks, trailers and teeth
31:31 Working around a bad start
32:43 Scent boxes and grazing boxes
36:59 The Horse Tricks 101 community
39:07 Over-horsed? Go back to groundwork
41:17 It's fine not to ride
45:09 Changing horsemanship by example
49:01 Does a horse need to be food motivated?
51:45 Choosing the right value of reward
53:38 What trick training does for the human
56:53 Ending the stigma around food

In June the headlines said 90% of Dartmoor's semi-wild hill ponies faced a cull. A former consumer journalist went looking for who had actually said so, and for what would happen to a moorland herd that had to leave.Recorded in June 2026, before the Government changed the grazing rules on 15 July. There's an update at the end of this description.Angelique Ruzicka is a former personal finance and consumer journalist who now writes about sustainability in the horse world at Willow's Earth. Host Anna Louise Claydon starts where the panic started: why do so many people care so much about these ponies, and where did the cull story come from? Then the two of them test every rescue plan people were proposing against what a pony that has lived wild on the moor actually needs.In this episodeWhere the cull fear came from, and what Natural England had and hadn't saidWhy "let them stay" runs into a moor where grazing is already scarce and shared with sheep and cattleWhether an unhandled moorland pony could, or would want to, become a riding school ponyWhat a farmer's field, a sanctuary or a family home would ask of a pony used to travelling miles a day with its herdWhy throwing out hay is harder than it soundsThe question Anna couldn't answer on the day: what happens to the foals taken off the moor every year?What a journalist does when the headlines start shoutingFind Angelique Ruzicka online Willow's Earth: https://willowsearth.shop Her June piece, "Saving Dartmoor ponies sounds easy until you try and do it": https://willowsearth.shop/blogs/news/saving-dartmoor-ponies-sounds-easy-until-you-try-and-do-it Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willow20222026 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelique-ruzicka/Subscribe to our newsletter: www.curiousequestrian.co.ukBook shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/curiousequestrianMerch: https://curiousequestrian.teemill.com/

Horse whisperer — or horse listener? Nicci Mackay on what horses are really telling usCan horses actually understand us? Nicci Mackay has spent her life arguing the question is backwards. She doesn't "whisper" to horses, and she's quick to correct anyone who calls her a horse whisperer — she listens.Nicci has communicated with animals since childhood, and has built a remarkable career translating what agitated, shut-down and "broken" horses are trying to say. In this episode she challenges the conventional wisdom around equine communication, what horses pick up on, and why so many of us are shouting when we should be listening.We talk about:• Why "horse whisperer" is the wrong word — and what "horse listener" actually means• What horses are really responding to (hint: it isn't the words)• The danger of anthropomorphising our horses — and how to read them on their own terms• Nicci's years as a groom and jockey, and what working in secret taught her• The moments she's been able to reach horses everyone else had given up onAbout the guest: Nicci Mackay is the author of Spoken in Whispers — The Autobiography of a Horse Whisperer. She has worked with horses, domestic pets, farm animals and birds, travelling widely to translate on behalf of animals for their owners. Her book is a rare insight into the minds, emotions and behaviour of the animals she's spent her life alongside — thought-provoking, often funny, and always honest.📚 Grab the book in our bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/4745/9781780572987