Russell Craig is a celebrated visual artist now based between Philadelphia, New York, and Wellington, Florida, who grew up in the foster care system from age five and spent a total of twelve years in the Pennsylvania prison system before building an art career that has taken him from a mural on the African American Museum in Philadelphia to the White House, the Democratic National Convention, and museum collections around the country.What makes Russell's story so striking is how directly his lived experience speaks to the populations equine-assisted practitioners are trying to serve — kids in foster care, people coming out of incarceration, and anyone navigating systems that were never built with their wellbeing in mind. He found his way through art, using it inside prison as both an escape and, eventually, as a plan for life after release.In this conversation, Russell and Rupert dig into what a horse-based program for foster kids and formerly incarcerated people would actually need to work — structure, mentorship, hands-on care, transportation, funding, and a real sense of separation from old environments — as well as the deeper parallels Russell sees between horses and his own experience of captivity and freedom.If you want to support the show, you can do so at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHome✨ "When it's built on good structure, it will stand." – Russell Craig🔍 What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy Russell sees foster care and incarceration as a "funnel" that equine-assisted practitioners need outside mentorship to address responsiblyHow Russell first reconnected with art inside the prison system, and why it became his primary survival strategyWhy structure and a clear long-term plan — not just talent — turned Russell's art into a real career after releaseHow Russell draws parallels between leading a horse and his own experience of incarceration, and what that means for horsemanshipWhy Russell believes any foster-care equine program would need to feel like a true separation from a kid's old environment, not a day visitWhat Russell thinks foster care agencies would need to see before referring kids to an equine programWhy transportation and funding are the two biggest barriers to access for kids who could benefit from equine-assisted programsHow the parole system's rules can make it nearly impossible to stay out of prison, even for someone trying to build a stable lifeWhy Russell believes any program working with formerly incarcerated or at-risk people needs a spiritual or nature-connection componentRupert and Russell's shared idea for a "campus" model that combines equine therapy with green jobs, land restoration, and forestry trainingWhy Russell sought out an arts program from inside prison — and how that became his springboard after releaseRussell's closing advice to practitioners working with foster kids or people coming out of incarceration🎤 Memorable Moments from the Episode[00:03:00] Russell describes being placed in foster care at age five and ending up on the streets by twelve [00:09:00] Russell on reconnecting with art inside prison as a way to escape his surroundings and stay focused [00:21:00] Russell on training himself to look for "the awesome" even inside hard or painful situations [00:35:00] Rupert and Russell draw the parallel between leading a horse and Russell's own experience of incarceration [00:45:00] Rupert outlines NTLS's three certification programs: Horse Boy Method, Movement Method, and Takhin Equine Integration [01:11:00] Russell explains why kids in a foster-care equine program would need real separation from their old environment, not just a day visit [01:13:00] Rupert and Russell brainstorm a "campus" model combining horses with green jobs, land reclamation, and forestry training [01:39:00] Russell details the parole system's rules and how they can make it nearly impossible to stay out of prison [01:53:00] Russell describes seeking out an arts program from inside prison and turning it into his springboard after release [02:03:00] Russell's closing advice: keep pushing, don't do it alone, and connect with others doing the work📚 Contact, Projects, and Resources MentionedRussell Craig – Artist Search: Russell Craig artist New Trails Learning Systems – Horse Boy Method, Movement Method & Takhin Equine Integration https://ntls.co Rupert Isaacson / Long Ride Home https://rupertisaacson.com Patreon Support https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHome🌍 Follow UsLong Ride Home https://longridehome.com https://facebook.com/longridehome.lrh https://instagram.com/longridehome_lrh https://youtube.com/@longridehome New Trails Learning Systems https://ntls.co https://facebook.com/horseboyworld https://instagram.com/horseboyworld https://youtube.com/newtrailslearningsystems📊 Affiliate DisclosureLinks to books and products may include affiliate tracking. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the show.

✨ "All social species seek connections. People and horses are no different. Safety and comfort are the core elements to build strong social bonds regardless of species. “ – Mary Ann Simonds✨ "The best tool we have is be the best human you can be. You don't have to know everything. You just have to be clear on yourself and be pure and be silent, and then help your horse be the best horse it can be." – Mary Ann SimondsMary Ann Simonds has spent more than four decades sitting at the intersection of wildlife biology, consciousness studies, and horsemanship — and almost none of it has looked the way science was supposed to look. She grew up in California riding hunter/jumpers, earned her BS from the University of Wyoming in Wildlife Conservation and Management and a minor in Range Management studying wild horse ecology and whole systems approaches.   She was appointed to the National Advisory Board for Wild Horses and Burros in the early 1990s after years of field research on wild horse behavioral ecology.  She has worked for oil and gas companies as a reclamation specialist, pioneered ecotourism partnerships with ranchers in Wyoming and Oregon, taught interspecies communication at Nippon Veterinary and Life Sciences University in Tokyo, earned a graduate degree in Inter-disciplinary Consciousness Studies and has spent years working quietly behind the scenes in the sport horse welfare world near her home in Wellington, Florida.Her new book, A Horse by Nature, published by Trafalgar Square, draws on all of it — wild horse social behavior, domestic horse psychology, welfare ethics, and practical communication tools — organized in red, blue, and green tips so riders can go straight to what they need most. It is, as Rupert and Mary Ann agree at the end of this conversation, Part One of what will be a longer series.This is a conversation about what happens when rigorous science and genuine animal communication occupy the same person — and what that has to teach anyone who lives and works with horses.FREE Helios Harmony Intro Course: https://longridehome.com/onoutpoutWhat You'll Learn in This Episode00:05:30 – How Mary Ann first recognized, at age 11, that a trainer couldn't hear what a horse with a headache was saying — and why that question drove her entire career00:13:00 – What double degrees in range management and wildlife biology taught her about the gap between academic science and what animals are actually doing00:39:00 – The dietary overlap study she conducted as an undergraduate — and how it became the data cited to justify mass BLM removal of wild horses decades later00:44:00 – How BLM's gate-cut removal policy destroyed wild horse social structures and caused reproductive rates to skyrocket00:47:00 – Why a Nevada rancher admitted he hated the wild stallion eating his alfalfa — and what that revealed about the real psychology behind mustang persecution00:56:00 – How she converted ranchers into ecotourism operators years before the concept had a name — and why she calls herself a solution finder, not an activist01:04:00 – The discovery that studying nature with a quiet mind produced completely different wildlife sightings than looking at it with scientific intent01:20:00 – Why she went to graduate school to study human consciousness after watching a BLM official throw a briefcase at a rancher in a public meeting01:38:00 – How she taught interspecies communication at Nippon Animal Science University in Tokyo, and why Japanese vet students grasped it almost instantly01:44:00 – Why a horse's first two years determine everything, and how not knowing a horse's early history is one of the most common mistakes buyers make01:49:00 – What A Horse by Nature offers: how to teach a horse to be a functional horse, the OFFER technique, and why eye contact, nose bump, and buddy scratch transform the relationship01:51:00 – The red, blue, and green tip system — and why safety and comfort, not food, are a horse's primary motivation for bonding with a humanMemorable Moments from the Episode00:12:00 – Mary Ann describes sleeping with rattlesnakes as an 18-year-old after refusing to leave the field — and what it taught her about looking with nature rather than at it00:43:00 – She discovers her own undergraduate data, filed under her maiden name Canny, was the study used to justify mass wild horse removals — and the range manager confirms it was never statistically significant00:49:00 – An Oregon rancher comes to her door late at night to confess he killed a band of horses because they looked too pathetic to live — and her response: "So if you look like that, should I shoot you too?"01:33:00 – A Wyoming cowboy's horse jumps into the back of his pickup truck with his dog, unprompted and untrained — and that moment becomes the seed of her interspecies communication research01:42:00 – Rupert describes aloud, for the first time, all the prayers and invisible preparation he does before every training session — after an audience member tells him he didn't ask the horse permissionGuest Contact & LinksA Horse by Nature by Mary Ann Simonds (Trafalgar Square Publishing) https://amzn.to/4glHTCpMary Ann Simonds website and contact: www.maryAnnsimonds.comAbout Mary Ann SimondsMary Ann Simonds is a wildlife biologist, behaviorist, and consciousness researcher who has spent more than four decades studying the relationship between horses, nature, and human awareness. She holds double degrees in range management and wildlife biology from the University of Wyoming and a graduate degree in consciousness studies. Her fieldwork spans wild mustang populations in the American West, dolphin behavior research, ecotourism development, and interspecies communication programs at veterinary universities in Japan. She has served on the National Advisory Board for Wild Horses and Burros, worked as a reclamation specialist for oil and gas companies, and spent years advocating for welfare reform in the sport horse industry near her home in Wellington, Florida. Her new book, A Horse by Nature, is published by Trafalgar Square.🐎 Want to go deeper? Join the Long Ride Home membership — weekly live sessions, exclusive content, and a community of riders seeking real connection with their horses. 👉 https://longridehome.com — just $24.95/monthSee All of Rupert's Programs and Shows: Website: https://rupertisaacson.comFollow Us:Long Ride Home Website: https://longridehome.com Facebook: https://facebook.com/longridehome.lrh Instagram: https://instagram.com/longridehome_lrh YouTube: https://youtube.com/@longridehomeNew Trails Learning Systems Website: https://ntls.co Facebook: https://facebook.com/horseboyworld Instagram: https://instagram.com/horseboyworld YouTube: https://youtube.com/newtrailslearningsystemsAffiliate Disclosure:Links to books and products may include affiliate tracking. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the show.

✨ "They come in with a cane and feeling disabled, and then they say, 'Here, take the cane, honey. I'm gonna walk this horse.' We've seen this so many times we can't even number it." – Nancy Schier AnzelmoDescription Paula Hertel and Nancy Schier Anzelmo are the co-founders of Connected Horse, a California-based program that brings equine-assisted experiences to older adults living with dementia or memory loss — alongside their care partners. Backed by research conducted with Stanford University and UC Davis, Connected Horse is one of the first programs in the country to specifically serve this population in this way. Kansas Carradine, HeartMath-certified trainer and returning EAW guest, joins to explore the science of heart coherence, entrainment, and why horses may be uniquely suited to reach people that other approaches cannot.Connected Horse's work challenges the assumption that equine-assisted services are only for children or younger adults. Their Stanford and UC Davis pilot studies recorded statistically significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and caregiver burden — with 100% participant return rates at a six-month booster session. Participants regularly go from fearful and withdrawn to walking horses, speaking in full sentences, and feeling activated to change their lives. The program is designed to be failure-free: for the person with the diagnosis, for the care partner, and for the horses.In this episode, Rupert, Paula, Nancy, and Kansas explore the physiology behind what happens when a person leans their heart against a horse's neck, why dementia and autism require similar practitioner responses around pacing and unconditional presence, what ritual and ceremony have to do with cortisol regulation, and how social prescribing may bring programs like Connected Horse into mainstream healthcare. If you want to support the show, you can do so at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHomeIf you want to support the show, you can do so at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHome🔍 What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy older adults living with dementia have been largely overlooked by the equine-assisted field — and what Connected Horse is doing to change thatHow Stanford University and UC Davis pilot studies measured statistically significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and caregiver burden in just 15 hours of horse-based interventionWhy Connected Horse works with the person living with dementia and their care partner together — and why separating them misses the pointWhat actually happens during a Connected Horse workshop: herd observation, grooming, haltering, leading, and at-liberty gratitude time in the round penWhy people who entered unable to speak, walk confidently, or engage start doing all three by the third sessionHow emotional memory remains intact even as verbal and cognitive function declines — and how horses help bring it forwardWhat heart coherence and entrainment explain about why people lean their heart against a horse's neck and visibly transformWhy Kansas Carradine connects equine-assisted ritual to shamanic ceremony — and how that connection is measurable in biophoton research and HeartMath scienceHow the failure-free environment Paula and Nancy design creates self-agency for care partners who have lost their sense of controlWhat the social prescribing movement is — and why Connected Horse is part of an early Kaiser Permanente pilot bringing grassroots programs into mainstream healthcareWhy dementia and autism require the same practitioner response: slow down, reduce verbal demands, hold unconditional presence, and let the emotional memory do its workHow Connected Horse trains other barns and facilitators internationally, and what a "prescription to come to the barn" might look like🎤 Memorable Moments from the Episode[00:04:30] Paula describes what Connected Horse does — and why explaining it still falls short [00:15:07] Nancy breaks down the Stanford study design: five measures, three out of five with a P value of .001 [00:16:33] The UC Davis booster session: 100% participant return rate six months later, even after strokes or condition changes [00:22:14] What happens in the round pen: how the horse almost always moves toward the person who breathes, opens, and goes still [00:26:44] Kansas explains how the horse's heart field, VLF emissions, and coherent broadcast create the conditions for entrainment [00:32:00] Nancy: aphasic participants begin speaking; people who arrived with canes put them down to walk the horse [01:00:16] Paula on the grounding meditation that opens every session — and why reducing fight-flight-freeze is the foundation of everything [01:06:04] Paula on self-agency: regulating your own body is power, because "that's not someone doing something to me" [01:12:03] Kansas links equine-assisted facilitation to shamanic ritual — and to the science of entrainment and biophotons [01:29:02] Nancy on "activation": how workshop participants start going to the gym, traveling, writing, and living again after diagnosis [01:46:43] Paula on the social prescribing movement and Connected Horse's early pilot with Kaiser Permanente📚 Contact, Projects, and Resources MentionedPaula Hertel & Nancy Schier Anzelmo – Co-founders, Connected Horse https://connectedhorse.org paula@connectedhorse.org nancy@connectedhorse.org New Trails Learning Systems – Horse Boy Method, Movement Method & Takhin Equine Integration https://ntls.co Rupert Isaacson / Long Ride Home https://rupertisaacson.com Patreon Support https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHome🌍 Follow UsLong Ride Home https://longridehome.com https://facebook.com/longridehome.lrh https://instagram.com/longridehome_lrh https://youtube.com/@longridehome New Trails Learning Systems https://ntls.co https://facebook.com/horseboyworld https://instagram.com/horseboyworld https://youtube.com/newtrailslearningsystems📊 Affiliate DisclosureLinks to books and products may include affiliate tracking. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the show.

✨ "The best teachers and coaches are the horses. It's important for us to learn to listen to them and see them." – Mario Contreras✨ "There is a big word I always feel is missing from the training scale — and that's joy. Where's the joy? These are movements that horses do when they feel passion." – Rupert IsaacsonMario Contreras is the head trainer at Medieval Times Chicago, the man responsible for the standard of horsemanship that stops knowledgeable riders cold in the middle of a crowd of beer-drinking tourists who have no idea what they're witnessing. Third-generation horse trainer, born in Texcoco and raised in a family rooted in the Alta Escuela and charrería traditions of Jalisco, Mexico, Mario came to the US in 1990 with no English and a lifetime of classical riding in his bones — and built a 35-year career inside one of the most demanding equestrian entertainment operations in North America.In this wide-ranging conversation, Rupert and Mario cover the deep roots of Mexican horse culture that most American dressage riders have never heard of, how Mario trains complete beginners to become knights performing before 1,500 people in under three years, and why cross-training, liberty work, and genuine joy are the true secrets to keeping horses and riders performing at their best. They also dig into the lost art of schoolmaster training, the in-hand and ground work that underpins everything Mario does, and the vision — still unfinished — of building Mexico a national horsemanship school at the level of Jerez or the Spanish Riding School.A rich, warm conversation between two horsemen who share a deep reverence for the old masters and a conviction that horses teach us more than we teach them.FREE Helios Harmony Intro Course: https://longridehome.com/onoutpoutWhat You'll Learn in This Episode• How the Contreras family built a three-generation tradition of Alta Escuela and charrería in Mexico, and how it led Mario to Medieval Times [00:02:35] What charrería is, why it matters, and how Mario's father blended it with classical Alta Escuela to create something unique [00:08:46] The role of Andalusian horses in promoting Mexican culture — and how the Aztec horse breed came to be [00:03:19] Why Medieval Times hires actors and athletes with no riding background — and how Mario turns them into skilled knights in three years [00:20:37] How Mario's brother Marcial pushed him harder as family than he would have pushed anyone else, and what that taught him about leadership [00:27:46] The value of getting your hands dirty: why Mario still cleans stalls and brushes horses, and why that's inseparable from great horsemanship [00:30:11] The case for in-hand and ground training before ever mounting a horse — and how Mario uses it to teach piaffe, passage, and the Spanish walk [00:32:18] Why schoolmaster horses are the missing ingredient in modern dressage training, and how the old masters always put beginners on the best horses first [00:51:24] Cross-training as the antidote to burnout: how mixing dressage, Alta Escuela, liberty, working equitation, and games keeps horses genuinely joyful [01:34:10] Mario's approach to stallion management, redirecting energy, and why isolation is the worst thing you can do for a difficult horse [01:15:07]Memorable Moments from the EpisodeRupert describes watching a rider perform three caprioles in a row at Medieval Times while the crowd sips beer — and no one in the room understands what they're seeing [00:01:32] Mario recounts the moment he first rode for Medieval Times in California and was so hooked he never looked back [00:26:56] Mario describes being deported from the US, spending four years in Mexico without his family or friends, and then getting a call from Medieval Times offering to bring him back legally — via a detour to Cancun as a pirate [01:53:59] Mario was invited to ride Claudio Castilla Ruiz's Olympic Grand Prix horse Jade — in jeans and tennis shoes — during a visit to Spain in 2008 [00:58:19] Rupert and Mario agree that joy is the word missing from the classical training pyramid — and that a horse in the arena performing with passion is the only thing that makes the audience feel they spent their money well [01:32:11]Guest Contact & LinksMario A. Contreras — Facebook and Instagram: Mario A. Contreras MC Horse Training (Chicago area / Maple Park, IL): mchorsetraining.com (currently being rebuilt) Phone: 630-415-9788About Mario ContrerasMario Contreras is a third-generation horse trainer from a family rooted in the Alta Escuela and charrería traditions of Jalisco, Mexico. His father, Jose Trinidad Contreras, was co-founder of the Escuela de Jinetes Domeq and helped introduce Andalusian horses throughout Mexico. Mario joined Medieval Times in 1990 and has spent 35 years building and running the equestrian program at their flagship Chicago castle — the largest in the company, seating 1,500 people per show. Outside Medieval Times, he teaches at his own facility, MC Horse Training, in Maple Park, Illinois, specializing in Alta Escuela, classical dressage, and in-hand training on schoolmaster horses.🐎 Want to go deeper? Join the Long Ride Home membership — weekly live sessions, exclusive content, and a community of riders seeking real connection with their horses. 👉 https://longridehome.com — just $24.95/monthSee All of Rupert's Programs and Shows:Website: https://rupertisaacson.comFollow Us:Long Ride Home Website: https://longridehome.com Facebook: https://facebook.com/longridehome.lrh Instagram: https://instagram.com/longridehome_lrh YouTube: https://youtube.com/@longridehomeNew Trails Learning Systems Website: https://ntls.co Facebook: https://facebook.com/horseboyworld Instagram: https://instagram.com/horseboyworld YouTube: https://youtube.com/newtrailslearningsystemsAffiliate Disclosure:Links to books and products may include affiliate tracking. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the show.

✨ "What is HeartMath doing? They're measuring your care." – Kansas CarradineDescription Kansas Carradine is a HeartMath-certified trainer, acrobatic stunt rider, and equine guided educator based in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. She spent years performing with the international touring show Cavalia — working alongside 70+ head of horses, many of them stallions — before dedicating her work to heart-based horsemanship and emotional regulation.What makes Kansas's approach distinctive is the bridge she builds between rigorous science and lived horsemanship. HeartMath is not just a breathing technique; it is a research-backed body of work measuring the electromagnetic output of the heart, heart rate variability coherence, and the demonstrable effect of human emotional states on the beings — horse and human alike — around us. For equine-assisted practitioners, that has profound implications.In this conversation, Rupert and Kansas explore how heart coherence can be layered into any equine-assisted modality, why horses are uniquely able to detect incoherent emotional fields, the science behind the toric field and biophoton emission, and how Kansas's own path — from a difficult childhood at a California trick-riding ranch, through Cavalia's global stages, to HeartMath certification — shaped her understanding of regulation, resilience, and the horse as healer. She and Rupert also announce a planned 2027 collaboration. If you want to support the show, you can do so at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHomeIf you want to support the show, you can do so at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHome🔍 What You'll Learn in This EpisodeHow the heart functions as an electromagnetic organ — always broadcasting and receiving — and why this matters in the saddleWhy HeartMath is not a relaxation technique but an adaptogenic one: it balances both over-activated and shutdown nervous systemsWhat heart rate variability (HRV) coherence is, how it is measured, and what a 2025 peer-reviewed study in Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health found about its clinical outcomes for anxiety, depression, and traumaHow a 1997 University of Kassel study suggested that heart-centered meditators can emit up to 100,000 photons of light per second — compared with 20 in average individualsWhy horses in fight-or-flight broadcast incoherent fields, and why a calm, coherent horse feels the way it does to be nearHow the toric field — the measurable electromagnetic pulse of the heart — extends roughly arm's-length from the body, carrying a unique energetic fingerprint for each emotional stateWhy a little sympathetic arousal is necessary for engagement and learning, and how HeartMath creates the sweet spot between shutdown and hyperactivationHow trick riding — rooted in Cossack cavalry training — functions as a martial art form requiring zonal focus under high pressure, and what Kansas learned about regulation inside that crucibleHow to use a simple heart-focus breath practice (even mid-session) to set the energetic field before working with horses or clientsWhy HeartMath's research is now extending to plants and trees as the next frontier of measuring human heart-field impactHow Kansas's online courses approach HeartMath from the equestrian's perspective — and how to reach her for one-on-one coaching or in-person clinics🎤 Memorable Moments from the Episode[00:02:20] Kansas defines HeartMath as both a research institute and a practical modality — and walks listeners through a live heart-focus breathing exercise [00:08:18] The toric field explained: the measurable electromagnetic pulse of the heart and what it broadcasts depending on your emotional state[00:17:11] Why HeartMath is not about relaxation — the adaptogenic heart response and why shutdown clients do not need more parasympathetic [00:21:59] Kansas describes running away to Reata Ranch at age 11 and being raised within its highly structured trick-riding world for seven years [00:44:39] Trick riding as martial art: how Cossack acrobatic training shaped Kansas's capacity for high-pressure focus — and the cost of that [01:20:02] Rupert reads aloud the 1997 University of Kassel biophoton study — 100,000 photons per second from heart-centered meditators [01:48:37] Kansas explains how to get started: online courses, one-on-one coaching, and the Inner Balance biofeedback device [01:51:40] Kansas leads a second live heart-coherence practice — breathing gratitude in and out through the heart [02:06:26] Rupert and Kansas announce their planned 2027 collaboration in the Sierra Nevadas and a short-form YouTube series📚 Contact, Projects, and Resources MentionedKansas Carradine – HeartMath-Certified Trainer, Equine Guided Educator https://circuscowgirl.com kansascarradine@gmail.com Facebook: Search Kansas CarradineHeartMath Institute – Research, courses, and Inner Balance biofeedback device https://heartmath.orgNew Trails Learning Systems – Horse Boy Method, Movement Method & Takhin Equine Integration https://ntls.co Rupert Isaacson / Long Ride Home https://rupertisaacson.com Patreon Support https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHome🌍 Follow UsLong Ride Home https://longridehome.com https://facebook.com/longridehome.lrh https://instagram.com/longridehome_lrh https://youtube.com/@longridehome New Trails Learning Systems https://ntls.co https://facebook.com/horseboyworld https://instagram.com/horseboyworld https://youtube.com/newtrailslearningsystems📊 Affiliate DisclosureLinks to books and products may include affiliate tracking. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the show.