What if your horse isn’t being difficult…What if they’re trying to speak? Giving Horses a Voice is a podcast for horse owners, trainers, therapists, and seekers who suspect there’s more happening beneath behavior — and want to understand it clearly, practically, and without mysticism or gimmicks. Hosted by Sharon Wilsie, author of the Horse Speak book series and founder of the READI® framework (Regulated Equine Atonement for Dynamic Interaction), this podcast explores the missing link between traditional training and true relational communication. Sharon shares: • How horses actually communicate through micro-gestures • What regulation really means (and how to recognize it) • Why “feel” isn’t magic — it’s observable • How maternal care messages shape equine safety • What happens when humans learn to slow down enough to see This isn’t about whispering. It’s not about dominance. It’s not about anthropomorphism. It’s about learning to observe what has always been there. With over a decade of field research, international clinics, neurobiological study including HRV research, and thousands of horses observed, Sharon brings both grounded science and lived experience to conversations that feel intimate, honest, and practical. Each episode invites you to: • Question what you’ve been taught • Trust what you’ve sensed • And reclaim your own lived experience with your horse You don’t need to believe anything. Just be willing to look. Because when we give horses a voice, we often find our own.
Curated by: Sharon Wilsie (14 videos)
Episode 11: The Meaning of the Front Foot — Understanding “I Want” in the Horse What does it really mean when a horse paws with their front foot? In this episode, we step out of training systems and into something more fundamental—how horses communicate from an ecological, horse-to-horse perspective. The front foot gesture—often seen as pawing, reaching, or striking—is not “bad behavior.” It’s a message. At its core, this movement expresses one thing: “I want.” * I want to go toward something * I want to get away from something When a horse cannot move but feels the need to, that energy has to go somewhere—and it shows up in the front leg. In this episode, you’ll learn how to: * Recognize the difference between stress, uncertainty, and calm presence * Understand load-bearing posture and what it reveals about the nervous system * Identify when a horse is saying “I want to leave” vs. “I want to be here” * Support your horse in returning to a parasympathetic (rest and repair) state * Use simple, practical strategies to create safety, rhythm, and connection This is not about training techniques. This is about understanding the biological and emotional reality of the horse—so whatever discipline you practice can land more effectively. When you understand the “want,” you understand the horse. Horse Speak is not training—it’s the foundation that allows training to reach its goal with both bodies at their best. https://www.horsespeakacademy.com/