Train Your Own Horse with Stacy Westfall
Stacy Westfall teaches people how to understand, enjoy and successfully train their own horses. In her podcast, she shares all of her knowledge in her area of expertise: horses. She offers insights into issues that riders face in their own minds as well as the way they are viewing the challenges and goals they have with horses. She shares tips on becoming a better rider as well as a better leader for your horse.
Discover how you can understand things from your horses point of view so that you can enjoy the learning process with your horse. When you are able to understand what your horse is experiencing mentally and physically the process of learning new things becomes more enjoyable.
Your goals may be showing, trail riding or simply enjoying life with horses-all of which Stacy enjoys herself.
She shares her own struggles and successes to allow listeners to understand that everyone experiences ups and downs.
Through her podcast, website, YouTube channel and social media Stacy answers questions about: Fear, when to sell a horse, goal setting, safety, ground work, trailer loading, lead changes, reining, spins, stops, western dressage, ranch riding, when to get help, lessons, clinics and improving your safety, success and enjoyment of horses.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 29 minutes
- Episodes
- 356
- Years Active
- 2018 - 2025
Episode 356: Why Concentrated Moments Teach Lasting Lessons
In this episode, Stacy Westfall unpacks three key topics that shape both riding and life: goal setting without overwhelm, success defined from within, and the mindset you bring before the moment begi…
Episode 355: Strategy Isn’t the Starting Point
What makes some riders succeed where others stall out? In this episode, Stacy Westfall unpacks Tony Robbins’ model of state, story, and strategy and shows how lasting progress comes from more than ju…
Episode 354: How Support Feels Different Than Correction
When riders add layers of communication, the line between offering support and making a correction can blur. In this episode, Stacy Westfall shows how the same physical aids—pick up, guide, release—c…
Episode 353: When Cues Become Conversations
In this episode, Stacy Westfall explores how a simple cue system can evolve into a conversation with your horse. Through real examples from her own riding and her students, Stacy shows how anticipati…
Episode 352: Survival Riding—What It Looks Like and Why It Happens
In this episode, Stacy Westfall explains how survival riding develops, why it often goes unrecognized, and what keeps riders stuck in that cycle. Drawing on stories from her own childhood as well as …
Episode 351: Why ‘Kind of Working’ Feeds Dissatisfaction
When things are “kind of working,” it’s tempting to stay the course—even if you’re not fully satisfied. In this episode, Stacy Westfall explores the hidden resistance that keeps riders from making ch…
Episode 350: How Does the Training Ever Work to Stop a Spook?
In this episode, Stacy Westfall offers three distinct ways to think about how horses learn to handle surprise. Drawing from her experiences with horses like Willow, she explains how layered training …
Episode 348: Don’t Wait — Prepare Before the Problem
Most riders only think about safety after something goes wrong. But what if the most effective way to feel secure—and actually be safe—is to prepare before a problem ever shows up? In this episode, S…
Episode 346: How Can I Reward My Horse Without Stopping the Flow of the Ride?
If you’ve ever hesitated mid-ride, wondering how to acknowledge your horse without losing momentum, you’re not alone. In this episode, Stacy Westfall explores the often-overlooked skill of pausing in…
Episode 345: 4 Reasons Riders Don’t Teach Focus
Most riders want a focused horse—but many unknowingly skip the steps required to develop it. In this episode, Stacy Westfall explores four common reasons riders don’t actively teach focus, and how th…
Episode 344: Ask December You: The Time Travel Trick for Better Decisions
Checking in on your goals mid-year might feel uncomfortable—especially if you’ve lost track of them or suspect you’re not where you hoped to be. But that discomfort holds valuable clues. In this epis…
Episode 343: Why “Almost Right” Will Bring Less Tension
Striving for precision too early in training often backfires—not because correctness is wrong, but because perfection adds pressure. In this episode, Stacy shares how choosing to leave something slig…
Episode 341: Forward Is a Direction—And a Trained Skill
This episode builds on the previous discussion of horses "falling in" on circles by shifting from the problem to the proposed solution: teaching forward as a direction, not just a speed. Stacy explai…
Episode 340: Why Your Horse Keeps Falling In—and Leaning on Your Inside Leg
Episode 339: Training with Energy: Preparing Horses for Real-World Challenges
Recorded from her truck at a horse show, Stacy Westfall explores the critical but often overlooked concept of energy management between horse and rider. She observes that many riders fail to prepare …
Episode 338: The Mind-Body Connection at Tricky Trail Crossings
Stacy shares insights from her first off-property trail ride with Ember, revealing a critical moment where riders unknowingly teach their horses problematic behaviors. By identifying the exact instan…
Episode 337: Change the Angle, Change the Lesson
This episode explores how shifting between perspectives reveals critical blind spots in your horsemanship. To illustrate this Stacy shares a 'backward' look at a common problems: a horse that spooks…