Balancing the Athlete: Whose Job Is This, Anyway?
Episode 9 Show Notes
Balancing the Athlete: Whose Job Is This, Anyway?
Episode Description
Whose job is it to build your horse's body? Not train the movement, but build the actual physical capacity underneath it. In this episode, we explore what it means to take on the role of physical therapist and personal trainer for our equines, using a familiar framework: yoga, strength training, and endurance. We'll walk through why real training starts with honest assessment of mind and body together, how to identify and work with asymmetry rather than against it, and how that foundation opens the door to lateral work, collection, and eventually flying changes. And we'll turn the question back on ourselves too, because developing the equine athlete and developing the human half of the partnership were never two separate projects.
In This Episode
- Why assessment, mind and body together, has to come before any training protocol begins
- How to think about asymmetry as useful information rather than a flaw to fix quickly
- A three part framework for building the equine athlete: relaxation and mobility (yoga), strength (shoulder and hind end control), and endurance
- Why lateral work is a tool for building capacity, not a checklist of movements to collect
- How this same protocol progresses toward collection and flying changes
- The human baseline: why riders need the same honest assessment they give their horses
A Note on This Episode's Framework
The idea of building health through foundational, deliberate practices, protocols, is also the premise behind neuroscientist Andrew Huberman's first book, Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body, releasing September 15, 2026. This episode was recorded before the book's release, so nothing here reflects its specific content, only the shared premise that lasting capability is built through consistent, foundational practice rather than found by accident. If you're interested in Huberman's work more broadly, you can find him through the Huberman Lab podcast.
Ready to Build the Protocol for Your Horse and Yourself?
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More about Cohesive Horsemanship and Tessa: www.cohesivehorsemanship.com
