The River Tiger Podcast from Dynamics Coaching - Moving forward: Can youth and equestrian sports become more child and horse centred? A conversation with Dr Jennifer Fraser and Julie Taylor.

Moving forward: Can youth and equestrian sports become more child and horse centred? A conversation with Dr Jennifer Fraser and Julie Taylor.

11/28/22 • 61 min

The River Tiger Podcast from Dynamics Coaching

"If we could start again and design sport around the needs of children, would the sports still look the same as they do now?" Mark O'Sullivan asked this question at a conference a few years ago, and I keep revisiting it, thinking about it from the perspective of the needs of horses.
With the continuing issues of abuse in sports, this episode explores what the issues are and whether there are cultural aspects to the way sports have emerged that may make abuse easier to perpetrate and harder to eradicate. Does a historical focus of developing obedience and compliance undermine agency and consent. And if so, how can we move forward and have youth and equestrian sports that are safe, ethical, and meet the needs of those partaking?
Thank you to this weeks guests, authors Dr Jennifer Fraser and Julie Taylor, for joining me for a conversation about abuse and bullying, the impact that it has on individuals and how sports are perceived by those outside of the current systems. This was a difficult but important conversation for me. I am passionate about not losing equestrian sports, but equally passionate that much needs to change moving forward or we will lose them and with good reason.
My guests on this episode are:
Julie Taylor is a journalist and author of 'I Can't Watch Anymore': The Case for Dropping Equestrian from the Olympic Games.' 'Catalogues what happens to sport horses in plain sight ... should be compulsory reading for all of us who care about horses.' - Professor Paul McGreevy BVSc, PhD, FRCVS; author, Equine Behaviour

Passionate, yet rigorous and meticulously researched, this eye-opening book holds equestrian sport up to Olympic standards and finds it sadly wanting.'
Find Julie on Twitter @eponatv Facebook https://www.facebook.com/eponatv and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/eponatv
Dr Jennifer Fraser is the author of 'The Bullied Brain: Heal Your Scars and Restore Your Health.' 'Bullying and abuse are at the source of much misery in our lives. Because we are not taught about our brains, let alone how much they are impacted by bullying and abuse, we do not have a way to avoid this misery, heal our scars, or restore our health.'

Find Jenniferon Twitter @bulliedbrain

Previous Episode

Part 2. Biotensegrity and the horse-human partnership: a conversation with authors Dr Susan Lowell de Solorzano and Maren Diehl.

In part 2 of this episode I am joined again by my two more fabulous guests from part 1 to explore a topic that has fascinated me since I came across it in my research into haptic perception. Biotensegrity.
To give you an overview of biotensegrity check out this short Youtube videohttps://youtu.be/MfBuDci3GlM
The paper that is referenced in the podcast is my PhD concept paper https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/17479541221107379
This was such a wonderful conversation and went on for two hours so I have decided to split this episode into two parts. I would like to thank both my guests for joining me in this conversation from different parts of the world.
In part 2 we delve further into understanding the practical implications of tensegrity (including the humble pop-up tent) and biotensegrity are before going on a journey around many topics including;

Biotensegrity, expansion, contraction and our understanding of functional movement.
Shear forces.
How training can actually prevent horses using their bodies in a tensegrity way.
When to start a horse under saddle.
Behavioural and emotional regulation.
Weak ankles, lameness and movement compensations.

About my guests.
Susan Lowell de Solorzano has an MA in Human Development and Education with a focus on kinesthetic learning and is a certified level III T-ai Chi instructor.
Resources & Links
Book 'Everything Moves: How Biotensegrity Informs Human Movement'

My instructions for making a collapsible tensegrity using common household materials: https://youtu.be/RuEjQ228sy0
I can best be reached through: BiotensegrityArchive.org or my twitter account: @1Biotensegrity

TensegrityInBiology.co.uk

Colloquy on Biotensegrity and Equine Health

BiotensegriTea Party w Veterinary Pathologist Dr. Elizabeth Uhl

The North Face Tent Design innovations, Bruce Hamilton & Buckminster Fuller

Maren Diehl is sort of a field researcher in biotensegrity since 2015, probably the first one in equitation and for sure the first one without any ties to riding styles and training systems.

After many years as a rider, trainer and instructor with more questions than answers, Maren Diehl found biotensegrity to be a good explanatory model for living beings in motion, and things started to make sense. In her online courses she teaches what biotensegrity is all about, what it is good for and how it differs from what we know as biomechanics.
For her biotensegrity gives a new insight into perceived problems and solutions in the world of horses and equitation and provides a theoretical foundation on which to build, a new way of looking at things - a paradigm shift.
Homepage

https://www.die-pferde-sind-nicht-das-problem.de/
YouTube channel
https://youtube.com/channel/UCL7K6Wlbi33X3kSR74414eA
Book "Beyond Biomechanics - Biotensegrity"
English (choose your country bottom right)
https://shop.tredition.com/booktitle/Beyond_Biomechanics_-_Biotensegrity/W-85_1495

Next Episode

Keeping your horse's movement system healthy: A conversation with Dr Gillian Tabor.

Welcome to the first of three new podcasts for you to listen to over the festive season!
I am delighted to share this fascinating and informative conversation with @drgilliantaborphysio about how you can keep your horses healthy and moving well, when to get help, and how to navigate the complexity of so much information online.
My guest on this episode is physiotherapist Dr Gillian Tabor. I have followed Gillian's research for many years, and more recently her social media channels. In this conversation we cover many topics including;

How to navigate some of the claims made on social media.
Neuroplasticity, pain and restoring your horse's confidence in moving.
A deeper dive into understanding pain.
What does the horse need movement-wise in order to carry a rider.
Where to get support and advise - and links to Gillian's podcast and social media.

I loved this conversation and I hope you do too. Please share your thoughts and reflections with myself and Gillian.
Hartpury University Profile.
Dr Gillian Tabor is a Chartered Physiotherapist who has been working as an ACPAT Veterinary Physiotherapist for 20 years. Experience as a guest lecturer led to a part time role, teaching Rider Performance, at Duchy College in Cornwall. Gillian then joined Hartpury as a lecturer in Veterinary Physiotherapy in 2013. Having progressed to a Senior Lecturer position and becoming the Programme Manager for the MSc Veterinary Physiotherapy course at Hartpury University, Gillian now has additional roles within Hartpury's research community. In 2020 she completed her doctorate, the first for Hartpury entitled 'The use of objective measurement in Veterinary Physiotherapy'. As well as teaching students Gillian, continues to undertake research in this thematic area both in her own equine projects and via supervising students.
Social media links
Gillian's podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-equine-physio-rehab-podcast/id1603299526
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/drgilliantaborphysio/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/drgilliantaborphysio