Best Horse Practices Podcast

Highlights from our Five Seasons

26 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to Best Horse Practices. My name is Maddy Butcher and I produce this podcast. Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disci...

Jec and Cody Harrison talk spurs

12 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

Daniel Dauphin on Bits and BHPS

15 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 7 of Season 5 and in it, I talk with Daniel Dauphin about bits and the upcoming Best Horse Practices Summit. I met this Louisiana ...

Gillian Higgins on Anatomy and Biomechanics

10 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover skills, strategies, tools, ideas, and ins...

Carl Bledsoe and Help for the Gaited Horse

14 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

What Does Abuse Look Like? A Talk with Daniel Dauphin

24 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

Life and Death of Livestock and Pets, a Short Conversation with Nina Fuller

19 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

J.B. Zielke - The Lost Cowboy

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover skills, strategies, tools, ideas, and ins...

Worst Horse Practices and News

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

Season Finale: On the Fence with Jec and Maddy

04 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

Buck the Trend, Wyoming Clinician Sara Lowe

08 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

Daniel Dauphin, Buck the Trend Mental Health Forum

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

Buck the Trend Therapists, KD Bryant and Joseph Prekup

04 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

Dan Flitner - Buck the Trend Mental Health Forum

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

Katrin Silva and Jec Ballou talk books

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

Ben Longwell: Meanings of partnership

12 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover skills, strategies, tools, ideas, and ins...

Julie Goodnight

08 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

Coaches' Corner with Bit Expert Daniel Dauphin

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

On the Fence: Looking Ahead and Looking Back

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributi...

Jenn Currie: Brain Centered Horsemanship

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contributio...

Mary Ann Simonds - Horses and Humans

13 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

 Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover skills, strategies, tools, ideas, and in...

Medicine Horse, Evidence-Based Therapy with Horses

15 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover skills, strategies, tools, ideas, and ins...

A Note about the Pause

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 14 of Season 4 and it’...

On the Fence: State of Our Horse Worlds

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 13 of Season 4 in...

Wendy Murdoch, No Stirrup November, Plus Colt Starting

02 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 12 of Season 4 in...

Dr. Doug Thal and the Equine Vet Crisis

16 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 11 of Season 4 an...

Coaches' Corner with Amy Skinner: Body Work and other forms of care

06 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 10 of Season 4 and in it, Jec holds a Coaches’ Corner with our frequent and friendly guest, Amy Skinner. The two horsewomen discus...

Lee McLean on Wild versus Domestic

28 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 9 of Season 4 and...

On the Fence: Expertise & the Beginner's Mind

15 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and this week would especially love to hear about your horse work journeys, your comfort zones and stretching of them...

Trish Trips - Different Kinds of Horse Work

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 7 of Season 4, and...

Kerry O'Brien and the Meeker Mustang Makeover

21 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 6 of Season 4, and in ...

Coaches' Corner with Amy Skinner, plus Mental Health

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover skills, strategies, tools, ideas, and insig...

From Cowboy to Showjumper to Cowboy: Pete Reinholz

09 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 4 of Season 4, an...

Weaning Strategies with Lynn Acton

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We love to hear from listeners and often incorporate listener questions or suggestions for topics and guests into our podcast. So, let us hear from ...

On the Fence: Pet Peeves. Plus, Prairie Wind Hat Works

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 2 of Season 4, and in it, Jec and I reconnect after some time off and have an On the Fence chat in which we talk about some summer p...

Tying Trials & Confidence Building with Daniel Dauphin

13 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to Season Four!! of Best Horse Practices with Jec Ballou.  Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn be...

Prelude to Season 4

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hi there, this is Maddy Butcher, producer of Best Horse Practices with Jec Ballou. We’re taking a little break before launching our fourth seaso...

Lee McLean on Nurturing Fun, Versatile Horses

08 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jec interviews Lee McLean from Alberta Canada. Lee likes to approach horse work with an eye on common sense, pragmatism, and fun.  She grew up in a r...

DIY Projects

25 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 29 of Season 3 and in it, Jec interviews Donna-Maria Flood of DMventions. Donna Maria has scores of simple fixes and DIY projects for ...

Coaches' Corner on Round Pens with Amy Skinner

18 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 28 of Season 3 and in it, Jec interviews Amy Skinner for another Coaches’ Corner. This interview concerns the use of round pens and ...

Mother's Day Special: Super Short & Horse-y Fiction

11 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 27 of Season 3. I decided to do something a bit different with this episode. While I’m mostly a journalist, I have had some fun dabb...

Considering Science with Dr. Sheryl King

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 26 of Season 3 and in it, Jec and I talk with Dr. Sheree King about science, specifically equine research. But it’s also a conversat...

On the Fence: Breed Bias and the Stories We Tell Ourselves

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to Best Horse Practices with Jec Ballou. My name is Maddy Butcher. I produce this podcast and I would love to know what you think of our intr...

Daniel Dauphin and Jec discuss Equine Pain

05 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 24 of Season 3 and in it, Jec interviews Daniel Dauphin of Dauphin Horsemanship. He was also a 2022 Best Horse Practices Summit prese...

Vision Science and a Scary Colic

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 23 of Season 3 and in it, I’m going to talk a bit about brain science as well as a scary colic incident. You can find articles on vi...

Coaches' Corner with Lynn Acton

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's good to remind listeners of our mission once in a while. Here it is: Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to lear...

Kristen Vlietstra on Saddle Fit and More

16 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 21 of Season 3 and in it, Jec is back and interviewing Kristen Vliestra, who runs Saddlery Solutions in California. Jec and Kristen h...

Stories & Poetry, II

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Please accept my apologies as we initially uploaded an erroneous file for this great episode. Sorry times ten! We offer these shows for free. If you...

Summit Stories and "Heirloom" by Sampson Moss

28 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We offer this podcast for free. If you find it worthy of your support. Please contribute here. This is Episode 19 of Season 3 and it’s another spe...

Fear to Joy: On the Fence with Jec and Maddy

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We offer these shows for free. If you think they're worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it.  This is Episode 18 of Season 3 an...

Coaches' Corner with Amy Skinner

09 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 17 of Season Three and it’s time for another Coaches’ Corner with Jec and Amy Skinner. They answer a listener question from Lisa,...

BHPS presenters discuss, II

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 16 of Season Three. Another special episode! We offer this week another recorded Question and Answer session with presenters at the Be...

BHPS presenters discuss!

26 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 15 of Season Three. A special episode! You listeners might know that I direct the Best Horse Practices Summit, an annual conference wi...

WiseAssWallace on Helmets and Colt-Starting

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 14 of Season Three. And in it, we give Wise Ass Wallace the mic again to talk about two juicy topics: helmets and colt starting compet...

Hoof Rehabilitation with Alicia Harlov

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jec interviews Alicia Harlov, owner of the Humble Hoof and the Humble Hoof podcast. In their conversation, Jec and Alicia talk a lot about horse manag...

Coaches' Corner with Amy Skinner

20 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 12 of Season Three and in it, Jec interviews Amy Skinner for a Coaches’ Corner. Jec and Amy continue a thread that we have recently ...

Dr. Sheryl King - Mythbusting our horse keeping ways

15 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 11 of Season three and in it, Jec interviews Dr. Sheryl King, this year’s keynote speaker at the Best Horse Practices Summit in Kent...

The Warm & Fuzzies and introducing WiseAssWallace

08 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This episode marks the beginning of what Jec and I believe will be intermittent commentary on a troubling trend we are seeing in the horse world.  Le...

Andria Massie - Rehabilitation and Integrative Therapies

01 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is episode 9 of season three and in it, Jec interviews Andria Massie, an integrative therapist who works with her husband, Dr. Keaton Massie, in ...

Dr. Stacie Boswell Talks about gastric ulcers and other stress-related ailments

30 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Jec interviews Dr. Stacie Boswell, a vet and author based in Montana. Stacie wrote The Ultimate Guide for Horses in Need, a book about the care, train...

Episode 7, Death Comes

07 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A departure from our usual episode, in both format and content, in which producer Maddy Butcher visits with listeners about recent deaths in her world...

Molly Gloss

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In Episode 6 of Season 3, Jec interviews Molly Gloss, an author from Oregon. She has been decorated with numerous awards. She wrote The Hearts of Hors...

Maintenance Work with Amy Skinner

22 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Jec interviews Amy Skinner for a Coaches’ Corner around maintenance. It’s a funny concept to shake up a routine, right? Because r...

Anna Blake, Calming Signals

26 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Jec interviews Anna Blake, a Colorado horsewoman with a popular blog and several volumes of her life with horses, in prose and poetry...

On the Fence: Adult Learning

17 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we talk about adult learning. It’s a topic suggested by Natalie in Montana and we got help bouncing it around with Liz and Chris in...

Ali Kermeen and Working Equitation

09 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this is episode, Jec chats with Ali Kermeen about working equitation. It’s a relatively new discipline that’s open to riders of all disciplines...

Season 3 Premiere

21 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to Season 3! Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover ways to better connect...

Season Finale - Running and Riding

22 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is dedicated to a listener question from Julie in New Mexico. Her question has to do with cross training. A lot of us like to do other ac...

Listener Speaks on Power, Personality, and Horses

16 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Hello listeners! Since I last recorded an episode, there has been the death of my mare, Shea, the wedding of my son and his new wife, a trip to Denver...

Bitless Options with Ben Longwell

23 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we respond to a listener question about bitless options. Ellie writes from Zimbabwe. Pretty nifty, huh? She says: my question is abou...

Horsekeeping in a Changing Climate with Alayne Blickle

11 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Jec visits with Alayne Blickle of Horses for Clean Water. Alayne is a former Best Horse Practices Summit presenter based in Idaho. He...

Coaches' Corner with Lynn Acton: Treats

05 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Jec visits with Lynn Acton for a Coaches' Corner discussion around treats. I am really pleased that they are taking this topic. Like ...

Sex, Power, and Best Horse Practices? Yes

26 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Best practices. Most of the time, we are talking about the very tangible, practical matters of care and riding and management and handling. All that s...

Mary Ann Simonds

13 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Jec visits with Mary Ann Simonds in a discussion around how to keep horses happy in their domestic spaces. It’s a wide ranging inte...

Coaches' Corner with Amy Skinner

23 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Jec visits with Amy Skinner for a Coaches’ Corner. Always a good listen! As listeners may know, I come from a different place than ...

Astrid Larsen and Humanship

08 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Humanship. It’s an idea that has been tossed around the horse world for a few years now. During the Cayuse Collaborative Clinic, for instance, we ad...

Karen Rohlf

28 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

One of the things Jec and I are working on, here on the podcast, in writing, on social media, at at the Cayuse Collaborative Clinics, is humanship. We...

Cathy Woods - Yoga & Riding

16 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For this episode, Jec interviews Cathy Woods. Cathy teaches yoga to riders and has a book on this intersection of riding and yoga, called, you guessed...

Dr. Doug Thal

25 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For this episode, Jec interviews Dr. Doug Thal of Thal Equine in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I first started talking with Doug a year or more ago. He came h...

Coaches' Corner with Amy Skinner

10 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to episode 18 of season two and thank you so much for listening. As you have probably heard, our show is an enlightened space for riders and h...

Positive Reinforcement with Kerry O'Brien & Kimberly Loveless

27 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For this episode, I take the mic from Jec and visit with Kimberly Loveless and Kerry O’Brien, horsewomen I admire for their ongoing journey of learn...

What Horses Want for the Holidays

21 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to Episode 16 of Season 2 This episode is an On the Fence segment with myself and Jec. We’re talking about what horses really want for Chris...

Ann Firestone - Save Your Ass Rescue

07 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Ann Firestone of Save Your Ass Long Eared Rescue joins Jec in California-to-New Hampshire phone conversation. Ann has been ardently d...

On the Fence - The Best Horse Practices Summit

11 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is an On the Fence segment, a time for Jec and me to talk about what’s up lately. And lately it has been all about the Best Horse Pract...

Lynn Acton and Investigative Behavior

20 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to Episode 13 of Season Two and thank you so much for listening. As I talk into the mic from my Colorado home office, we’re about a week awa...

West Taylor

06 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For this episode, Maddy talks with West Taylor. West runs Wild West Mustang Ranch in central Utah and has been a Best Horse Practices Summit presenter...

Virtual Lessons

30 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For this episode, Jec invites Patrick King, the renown clinician and trainer with a very active online presence, but who travels widely, too. They tal...

Dr. Geoff Tucker - Nutrition

22 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For this episode, Jec invites Dr. Geoff Tucker of The Horse's Advocate to chat about equine nutrition. It’s probably our most science-oriented episo...

Daniel Dauphin

08 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For this episode, I’m taking the reins, like ya do, from my colleague Jec, to talk with Daniel Dauphin. Dauphin is a Louisiana horseman who lives ab...

Rider Fear

01 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As we like to say on the show, this is an enlightened space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover wa...

Larry Whitesell

23 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Jec interviews Larry Whitesell of Baxter, Tennessee, east of Nashville. Larry is renowned in the gaited horse world. What distinguish...

Coaches' Corner: Cross Training

19 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Season 2, Episode Six is a Coaches' Corner with Amy Skinner in North Carolina. Here, Jec and Amy visit about cross training. It ties into our last epi...

What Horses & Riders Need to Know

31 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is episode 5 (sorry about the error on the audio, in which we identified it as episode 4) and an On the Fence segment – a show in which...

Dr. Rebecca Husted - Equine Emergencies

27 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Jec talks with Dr. Rebecca Husted, president of Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue, and a past Best Horse Practices Summit prese...

Dr. Martin Nielsen

15 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jec talks with Dr. Martin Nielsen, a parasitologist at the University of Kentucky and one of our super-fantastic presenters at the Best Horse Practice...

Grooming Pros and Cons - Robin Foster

07 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Jec talks with Robin Foster, a certified applied animal behaviorist and a professor at the University of Puget Sound in Washington St...

Ben Longwell and a Sufferfest Sidenote

23 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Even though we haven’t really taken a break, we’re calling this Season 2. That makes this episode, episode 1 of Season 2. Thanks for carrying us t...

Horse Shows

15 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I’m feeling pretty pleased that here we are at Episode 30. Thirty! It was about a year ago when Jec and I first started bouncing around the idea of ...

Whit Hibbard

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Jec loans the mic to me for an interview with Whit Hibbard, a fourth generation Montana rancher and low stress stockmanship professional. I met...

Jane Myers & Equiculture

25 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Jec interviews Jane Myers. Jane runs the educational website Equiculture with her husband, Stuart. The couple, based in England but also having...