Changing Rein

I Live for Eventing — But I Live for the Horses More | With 5* Eventer Matt Brown and FEI Dressage Rider Cecily Clark

What if the problem in equestrian sport isn't the riders who make the headlines, but the culture that produced them? In December, five-star eventer Matt Brown and FEI dr

The Stories We Inherit About Risk in Racing | Jessie McCarthy on Welfare and Social Licence

"It's in their constitution to be injured." "We've bred them to be like this." Both of these came up in the same conversation — and the paradox sitting between them is

When Love Isn't Enough: What We Owe Our Animals

We love our animals. But is that enough? Captive animal welfare specialist Georgina Groves joins Karen and Meta for a conversation about the uncomfortable gap between wh

S6 E5 "But My Horse Is Well Cared For" and Other Stories We Tell Ourselves | Erica Cheung

Erica Cheung is a horse owner, mixed-practice (including equine) vet clinic co-owner, and PhD candidate living in rural central Alberta, Canada. She obtained a Bachelor o

The Dressage Rule That Shocked Us - Rein Releases are Penalised

What happens when you look — really look — at how dressage is judged? In this episode of Changing Rein, PhD researcher Cristina Wilkins shares a finding that genuinely s

S6 E4 Under Pressure: Rein Contact, Blood Rules and Who's Really in Charge - a conversation with Cristina Wilkins

In this episode, we're joined by Cristina Wilkins to explore some fascinating - and important - questions emerging from elite equestrian sport. Drawing on her recent arti

S6 E3: Every Breath They Take - Inside the Innate Health Assessment with Prof Dan O'Neill

The Innate Health Assessment tool developed by Prof Dan O'Neill and a team from the Royal Veterinary College has been described as revolutionary. In a podcast dedicated t

S6 E2: A View From the Bridge - A conversation with Lucinda Creighton

Lucinda Creighton truly bridges two worlds - a former member of the Irish Parliament and a Government Minister with responsibility for European affairs, she also served o

S6 E1 The Room Where it Happens - a conversation with Prof Nat Waran

This episode kicks off our new season of Changing Rein, in which we hope to step back and take a ‘big picture’ look at how welfare policy happens in equestrian sport, and

S5 E6: Lessons from the wild: prey animals, social beings or both? Part 2 of a conversation with Bonny Mealand

We had so much to talk about that we split our chat with Bonny Mealand into two episodes which are interlinked. We discuss how free-living equids offer vital insights int

S5 E5 Lessons From the Wild - Prey Animal, Social Being or Both? Part 1

Summary In Part 1 of our conversation with Bonny Mealand, she shares her journey into equine podiatry and the development of her HELP model, which emphasizes a holistic,

S5 E4: What Are We Seeing? Dressage and Training Through the Eyes of a Judge. A conversation with Kristen Closson

Kristen Closson possesses a unique trifecta of expertise.  As a rider that knows how it should feel, a coach who knows how to create it, and a judge who knows how to asse

S5 E3: Culture of Contradiction - Perceptions of Horse Welfare in Canadian Dressage. A conversation with Dr Megan Ross

Karen and Meta share an interest in Systems Thinking and its potential applications to horse welfare in sport. So when Dr Megan Ross and her co-authors published a paper

S5 E2: Measuring What Matters: Horse Welfare and the BestTUPferd Tool

Dr. Miriam Baumgartner is a veterinarian and equine scientist with over 15 years of experience researching horse-friendly husbandry. Her work focuses on how equine behavi

S5 E1 Where There's a Wall There's A Way

In this episode we chat with Prof Paddy Wall about his recently published report into the scandal involving a horse abattoir in Ireland in 2024. Prof Wall is a vet and m

S4 E6: Horse Welfare That Works in Practice - A conversation with equine vet Imogen Burrows

Equine vets are at the heart ofequine welfare - working with owners to provide optimal health care and management whilst always striving to put the needs of the horse fir

S4 E5B Gems from Gemma Pearson: Insights into equine behaviour with Dr Gemma Pearson

Our guest Dr Gemma Pearson has so much to say that we decided to offer her episode in two versions - this one is the condensed version, in which Gemma discusses the highl

S4 E5A Gemma Pearson Uncut: All things equine behaviour with Dr Gemma Pearson

Our guest Dr Gemma Pearson has so much to say that we decided to offer her episode in two versions - this one is the extended version, in which Gemma discusses with us he

S4-Bonus - A crisis in gymnastics + Who is the right winner? + Regulating coaching

This week, Karen and Meta discuss two recent events, and what they found interesting and potentially helpful in building a better future for equestrian sport. We discuss

S4E4 - The Changing Rein Challenge with Dr Jake Veasey

Will you be our next Changing Rein guest star? Read on to learn how! This week we are replaying an episode that many of our listeners ranked as their favourite - our ch