S5 E3: Swagger's journey - with Ivy Starnes

11/19/24 • 91 min

Today we welcome our first new guest for this Season. Ivy Starnes caught my attention through her generous sharing of videos documenting her journey with a horse called Swagger, a young, now gelding who was previously living in the wild. I’ve been captivated by Ivy’s training with the support of her coach and friend Michelle, as they help this incredibly unique and quite spectacular horse learn about connecting with humans. He has forced Ivy to really refine her training, and it is super inspiring to watch.

Not only is the training lovely, and the problem-solving Ivy and Michelle work through, but also Ivy’s dedication to recording the journey and then paying forward the assistance she was given earlier in life, by sharing the footage so openly.

I’m so pleased that Ivy is joining me today so we (I mean, let’s be honest, I invite people onto An Equine Conversation so I get to hear from them too) get to hear more detail around Ivy’s experience with this seriously unique horse.

Ivy Starnes:

Ivy Starnes has been training horses since she was 16 years old. She started with natural horsemanship methods and has slowly moved more and more towards positive reinforcement. While she still uses pressure and release, Ivy is doing more and more with clicker training. She spends most of her training and teaching working with gaited horses and riders, working to get a smooth and relaxed gait for the trail.

In April of 2023, Ivy was given McSwagger to train for the Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue. Swagger was a feral gelding from eastern Kentucky and Ivy had no previous experience training wild horses. Ivy had seen wild mustangs trained before and assumed she would be able to train Swagger just as easily. He quickly proved her wrong and Ivy is on a journey of training Swagger using only positive reinforcement, documenting the moments and sharing them so others will realize that some horses really do need a lot of time to overcome their fear.

In this episode we discuss:

1:25 - episode introduction

3:50 - where in the world are Ivy & Swagger & the climate they live and train in

11:55 - talking hay

12:42 - whoops, sorry Tassie listeners! The rest of what I said was right but you are not 'an Island off Australia', you are 'an Island OF Australia'. My bad!

13:30 - Ivy's unique horsie origin story & gaited horses

26:50.954 - Swagger's story

32:13 - how Swagger came to be with Ivy & initially it seemed it would be easy...

36:57 - but it didn't start well

39:54 - getting out of the rut & getting some help

42:13 - help that's remote

43:60 - starting to slowly solve Swagger's disengagement

48:44 - a break-through and the progress snowball starting to slowly roll

51:56 - the approach for Swagger's care & welfare needs, particularly hoof care

1:03:11 - developing Swagger's environmental curiosity

1:04:35 - the highlights reel from February 2024 onward

1:09: 43 - coaching support with Michelle

1:13:44 - what MAYBE next

1:15:14 - Ivy's biggest learnings & recommendations

1:21:15 - supporting Swagger's journey & finding Ivy

1:24:14 - further thoughts

1:26:47 - wrapping-up with Swagger & Ivy's gift to us & what's on next week

Links from Ivy:

Go Fund Me link: https://gofund.me/83d83a1f

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/IvysHorses

Website: www.IvysHorses.com

Our links mentioned this episode:

Sign-up to our email list

Abbey's Run Equestrian website

Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook

Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. If you'd like him to help with your podcast, get in touch by email at [email protected]

Ivy Starnes:

In this episode we discuss:

1:25 - episode introduction

3:50 - where in the world are Ivy & Swagger & the climate they live and train in

11:55 - talking hay

12:42 - whoops, sorry Tassie listeners! The rest of what I said was right but you are not 'an Island off Australia', you are 'an Island OF Australia'. My bad!

13:30 - Ivy's unique horsie origin story & gaited horses

26:50.954 - Swagger's story

32:13 - how Swagger came to be with Ivy & initially it seemed it would be easy...

36:57 - but it didn't start well

39:54 - getting out of the rut & getting some help

42:13 - help that's remote

43:60 - starting to slowly solve Swagger's disengagement

48:44 - a break-through and the progress snowball starting to slowly roll

51:56 - the approach for Swagger's care & welfare needs, particularly hoof care

1:03:11 - developing Swagger's environmental curiosity

1:04:35 - the highlights reel from February 2024 onward

1:09: 43 - coaching support with Michelle

1:13:44 - what MAYBE next

1:15:14 - Ivy's biggest learnings & recommendations

1:21:15 - supporting Swagger's journey & finding Ivy

1:24:14 - further thoughts

1:26:47 - wrapping-up with Swagger & Ivy's gift to us & what's on next week

Links from Ivy:

Go Fund Me link: https://gofund.me/83d83a1f

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/IvysHorses

Website: www.IvysHorses.com

Our links mentioned this episode:

Sign-up to our email list

Abbey's Run Equestrian website

Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook

Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. If you'd like him to help with your podcast, get in touch by email at [email protected]

Previous Episode

S5 E2: The Hard

Today, I want to speak about ‘the hard’ in horses. I recently shared a post on our Abbey’s Run Equestrian Facebook page about this & it resonated with a lot of people.

This topic is inspired by those who in the past few months have shared their hard with me, just how tough-a time they’ve had of it, and the thinking and reflection that those conversations have left me with.

I don’t think we share enough about the hard and so this episode aims to change that.

In this episode we discuss:

1:20 - episode introduction

2:54 - what do I mean by ‘the hard’

5:06 - some examples

6:20 - the unwell, the injuries & the impact

10:17 - resource limitations, access limitations & financial strain

19:50 - social media’s role

21:49 - human health impacts

23:47 - what do we do about it?

27:19 - episode wrap-up & what’s on next week

Links mentioned this episode:

Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. If you'd like him to help with your podcast, get in touch by email at [email protected]

Next Episode

S5 E4: Why Virtual Learning's Worth Exploring

In today’s episode I’m going to chat with you about the awesomeness of virtual learning in the horse world. This episode is inspired in part by Ivy sharing her experience in last week’s episode and just how integral Michelle’s remote support has been to Swagger and Ivy’s journey and progress. But it’s also inspired by my own experiences with the virtual learning landscape, and by conversations I’ve had with a few people who groan at the prospect...

And if, you’ve had to do eLearns for your job, then um, let me just say that these can be, uh, dry, and um, uninspiring. So please, please don’t rate your virtual learning experience based on those alone!

If you are groaning at me suggesting more screen time, I know so many people have screen-fatigue, particularly off the back of Covid and due to the way some jobs now operate, I’m not immune from this at all, but if you can stand to, bear with me while I talk through why virtual or remote learning is awesome and why it’s not actually always about the screen. Spoiler alert, you’re listening to me right now, learning, sans screen.

I want to nudge you up-front to say that you’re actually likely already engaging in enjoyable, helpful, virtual learning - most likely the free stuff if not paid. Like me, you’re a good chance to have watched things on YouTube, see things on social media, read blog posts, and I mean, you’re listening to this podcast. You’re doing it already!

Today, I’m talking more about the paid virtual learning opportunities that exist. I’m going to start with talking about my experience as a learner, then expand on what online learning can do for you. Then I’m going to switch and talk about my experience as an educator and coach and what it’s like from that perspective – which will also explore why the benefits for me and other coaches are benefits for you too.

In this episode we discuss:

1:24 - episode introduction

3:00 - you’re already doing it

4:01 - my experiences as a learner with remote/virtual learning

5:13 - the challenge of being so far away

7:28 - the variety of online learning delivery methods

8:47 - horses get to stay home

9:58 - loving virtual learning despite technology not being ‘my first language’

10:49 - making new friends

12:54 - it’s inclusive for me

14:22 - benefits of remote/virtual learning for you & some of the challenges with a conventional format

18:28 - it’s not always about the screen

22:06 - consuming on your time, in your location

23:44 - learning remotely is not new here in Australia

25:04 - learning the tech is like learning anything

26:18 - why virtual learning is great as an educator with a micro-business & why that makes it great for you too, starting with some of my history to give context

31:27 - the overheads, the real costs

33:15 - what virtual learning offers us

36:02 - in-person learning is also awesome

36:56 - ask super nicely

38:29 - after listening

40:14 - episode wrap-up & what’s on next week

Links mentioned this episode:

Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. If you'd like him to help with your podcast, get in touch by email at [email protected]