S6 E3: Lucy & Tao’s story - with Lucy Chester
I so much enjoyed recording this conversation with Lucy Chester from Lucy Chester Horsemanship in England. I’ve followed Lucy’s work for a while and admired her care of her horse Tao, and the work she has been doing to raise the profile of more ethical training approaches. I wanted to hear Lucy’s horsie origin story and to hear about Tao’s story too, as I knew it had not been and still isn’t all smooth sailing. It was amazing to finally connect with Lucy and to realise just how much of the learning journey that we had both experienced, despite being on opposite sides of the world.
Lucy Chester:
Lucy is a fully insured clicker-trainer based in the South East of England. She won ‘Behavioural Trainer of the Year’ in 2023 and does clinics and demos around the UK as well as abroad. She completed a LANTRA certified horse behaviour course and continues to study alongside teaching full-time. Lucy enjoys helping owners to understand and help their horses through the application of behavioural science and to strengthen their relationships by using positive reinforcement.
Lucy’s photograph by Ellie Osborne Photography
In this episode we discuss:
(1:29) - introducing today’s episode & guest
(3:25) - where in the world
(6:35) - Lucy’s horsie origin story - the slippery slope of that 1st pony ride
(7:55) - the start of the pony shares, liberty work & trick training
(9:47) - welcome Tao, illness & making life choices
(11:57) - working in film
(16:08) - priorities: the challenge of balancing work & wanting to be a hands-on owner
(18:57) - Tao, changing the course of life
(20:31) - finding Tao
(25:20) - Tao’s arrival & the early days: the dream becomes a nightmare
(30:42) - relating to Tao’s story with Fernando & the life-changing they incite
(34:38) - it was never his fault - getting the Vet involved
(37:56) - the impact of the environment on behaviour
(39:12) - the physiological things
(40:43) - a multi-faceted approach & needing to advocate
(49:38) - Tao’s equine physical support & working as part of an equine care team
(52:19) - it’s hard to believe the history seeing Tao today & the glorification of the extreme behaviour online
(55:32) - looking for the root causes: resolving physical & management issues can stop unwanted behaviour
(1:00:00) - context matters & the importance of being able to ‘horse’
(1:03.56) - finding positive reinforcement & the importance of having a horse free to say ‘no’
(1:09.19) - the conflict
(1:12.01) - let’s talk about ‘liberty’
(1:17.44) - what we see as ‘liberty’ isn’t necessarily ‘liberty’ & the need to sense-check what we’re looking at & assessing the horse’s emotion & comfort
(1:22:03) - the impact of equestrian art & it’s subliminal messaging
(1:25:07) - highlights from the last year of educating humans
(1:30:41) - who inspires Lucy
(1:33:06) - Lucy’s top tips for you
(1:39:53) - episode wrap-up & what’s on next week
Links from Lucy:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lucychesterhorsemanship/
Instagram: @haflingeratliberty / @lucychesterhorsemanship
Our links mentioned this episode:
Abbey's Run Equestrian website
Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook
Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. If you'd like him to help with your podcast, get in touch by email at business@mbpod.com