TW: Descriptions of grooming, sexual abuse as a minor. Listen with care.

Growing up in the Netherlands, Annette Paterakis rode ponies competitively and had Olympic aspirations. However, transitioning to riding horses was difficult, and teenage Annette found herself going from top placings to being eliminated in the show ring. With dreams and investments on the line, Annette needed some help. Unfortunately, it came in the form of a predator.

In this forthcoming interview, Annette shares how she was groomed into a sexual relationship with her trainer, who was thirty years her senior. It’s a story about a quest for worthiness, exploitation by a trusted figure in her life, and the crushing isolation of secrecy. Still, and more importantly, Annette’s experience is about resilience, hope, and healing.

Caroline and Annette leave no stone unturned and also discuss:

• Her trainer’s unreasonable pursuit for Annette to represent Greece at the Athens Olympics.

• How the grooming process started and what the red flags were.

• How Annette found the courage to leave the relationship six years later.

• How friends, acquaintances, or sexual abuse prevention programs for athletes might support victims in similar situations.

It’s extremely challenging for victims to come forward and share their stories, but in doing so, they raise awareness and reduce stigma. If you or anyone you know is being impacted by sexual abuse in the US, this is a list of resources for getting help via We Ride Together: https://www.weridetogether.today/get-help/crisis-resources

When you picture adding “play” into your horse’s training, what comes to mind?

Do you imagine your horse chasing around a large ball or nosing carrots out of a container? Or maybe you see your horse trotting joyfully behind you as you run?

The fact is, play can look like a lot of different things, but it doesn’t have to be any of the above. Play’s purpose is to teach your horse how to “try”–and in the process, both horse and trainer achieve a cooperative partnership.

Equestrian Masterclass instructor (and newly minted Road to the Horse Champion!!!) Tik Maynard is a horsemanship and upper-level eventing coach who sees ‘play’ not as a series of exercises, but as a beneficial mindset. In the final episode of Equestrian Voices, Tik and Caroline discuss why play is crucial to horse training and how to incorporate it into daily interactions. They also cover:

• The difference between anxiety and playfulness in horses, and why it’s easy to confuse them.

• Using the social rules of play to ensure both you and your horse are winning the game.

• Bringing play and thoughtfulness into daily activities like leading your horse.

• What play is not–drilling, a chore, or hard work!

• Why it’s important to slow down and take a puzzle-solving approach.

• Rewarding softness and effort during play.
  
  Adding play into our training can teach us to be better observers, facilitate better communication, and reignite our passion for horses. If you loved this episode, watch for Tik Maynard’s latest Equestrian Masterclass, which launches in May.

This is our final episode of Equestrian Voices. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being here.

Why do competitions make our hearts hammer, mouths go dry, and hands tremble? We may never get nervous riding at home, but as soon as we step into that show ring (or clinic, or in front of peers, or riding a difficult horse), it can feel like something primal just takes over.

As it turns out, that is exactly what’s happening. Competition (whether you’re actually at a show or not) is deeply rooted into our biology and the presence of it can cause our bodies to fight, flight, or freeze. Certainly not the modes we want to be in when we’re trying to remember a course, or relax our tense horses. Thanks, evolution.

The good news is that our nervous system doesn’t have to hinder us, in fact, it can help us. But it takes some work, and some information.

Natalie Hummel is a high performance coach specializing in nervous system regulation. In this episode, she and Caroline discuss how we can improve our results by creating our own sense of safety and expanding our capacities for stress and pressure. They also cover:

• The three different nervous system states and why some of them make learning new things biologically impossible.

• How to process uncomfortable emotions like fear, shame, or anger, so you can get back to a performance state.

• Why shame and feelings of “not enoughness” may be holding you back, even if you’re not aware of them.

• Why overworking, perfectionism, and knowledge-seeking, are actually avoidance strategies.

• How to recognize ineffective coaching.

Thank you to our sponsors, Equestrian Masterclass and Nikovian.