Rethinking Horse and Human Wellness: A Compassionate Approach ft. Alexa Linton
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Who is Alexa Linton and what is her background in equine osteopathy and welfare?
Hi everyone and welcome back to the Making Milestones podcast. Today we have a very special guest on the podcast, Alexa Linton, who is a fellow Pacific Northwester here in British Columbia, the best province in the world. True that. No biases. So hello, thanks for coming on. Do you want to introduce yourself for people who might not be familiar with you and your work?
Absolutely. Yeah. So I'm not far from Shelby as the crow flies on Vancouver Island, also one of the most beautiful places in the world. And have you noticed, Shelby, that we've got like quite a collection of cool horse people out here in the Pacific Northwest?
Yeah, I think this area attracts a lot of people that like similar things.
I'm really noticing that. Yeah. So anyways, I live on a five acre farm close to Lake Cowichan and Duncan on Vancouver Island and have a herd of four. And I practice osteopathy, maybe for people now, actually, but... also for horses, and I've been an equine sport therapist for over 20 years, which is kind of blowing my mind lately, and have been an advocate for equine welfare and species-specific habitat for quite some time here, also the host of the Whole Horse Podcast. So I've been doing that for nine years, which is kind of wild to think about. Yeah.
yeah and i'm happy to be here i'm so excited to have you on like i think there's a really good conversation to be had especially since you work on both horses and humans because i think the physical expectations that we have for horses and humans and what we drill into people's heads as normal expectations are often so far from that like with people one of the first thing that comes to mind is this idea that you always have to get back on the horse when you fall off otherwise the horse might learn to get away with it and i remember having that drilled into my head as a child when i fell off and i was actually hurt and i know a lot of people who still subscribe to that mentality and they're just like even when they're
legitimately hurt they get back on the horse and it just creates such a bad precedent so i guess a question i would have for you is if you work on people i'm assuming you probably work on a fair portion of horse people and do you do you find that they have physical issues
Across the board, Shelby. Yes. Yes, because there are intakes. Typically, I have a few horse people that must, I don't know what world they live on, but they come in and they're like, I've never fallen off a horse. But most of them have had their fair few big falls slash wrecks um and these are things that they're dealing with years later years and years later and they're going to be dealing with for years potentially um and even things like things that we don't think about like getting stepped on like how many times have you been stepped on by your horses
Oh, like too many to count.
So many. So many people's feet, horse people's feet are like blocks. There's a bunch of bones in there that are supposed to move around on their own. But because of the amount of times we get stepped on and other things, oftentimes even their ankles, their feet are not moving well. And yet, because... in this industry, there's this, this sort of like need to be gritty to kind of like push, like there's kind of a badge of honor in you get back on that horse, you push through the pain, you, you know, you go beyond your max. And, um, and it often means that You know, I'm not seeing like the worst cases, really. I'm seeing the people that are like, I need help. My body is not working well. I had one gal come in and she'd had a pain in her lower back for three years.
Wow.
And she hadn't gotten treatment. She just was like, I'm just going to grit this out. And she had a, you know, maybe like a 70% improvement in one treatment, which is like for me, like... You know, that doesn't often happen, but it often does with horse people because they don't seek treatment. Usually someone who's had three years of a bad back has seen a dozen different practitioners, gone to the doctor, had some scans, done the thing.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Alexa Linton and what is her background in equine osteopathy and welfare?
0:01–8:30
2
How do physical injuries and trauma affect both horse riders and their horses?
8:30–17:32
3
Why is the ‘grit’ mentality in horsemanship harmful to long‑term health?
17:32–23:42
4
What are the hidden costs of early training and competition for young horses?
23:42–30:42
5
How does fear and denial shape training practices for both humans and horses?
30:42–37:33
6
In what ways can compassionate, reward‑based training improve horse and rider wellbeing?
37:33–45:22
7
How can we shift industry culture to prioritize emotional safety and accountability?
45:22–52:27
8
What practical steps can riders take today to build healthier relationships with their horses?
52:27–58:01