Rupert Isaacson speaks with Dr. Amanda Minervini, founder of EGLHE (Equine Guided Learning And Healing Experience), a nonprofit equine program in Colorado Springs, and professor at Colorado College.
EGLHE began taking shape during the pandemic, in response to a worsening mental health crisis. It was built around the preferences of one horse: Jimmy, an off-the-track Thoroughbred who raced as a stallion, was not gelded until after age nine, and was labeled dangerous. Originally intended for Amanda's college students, the program is now open to everyone. It brings together consent-based horsemanship, classical in-hand work, liberty, scent work, and good management, with a core belief that horses have a voice and that humans don't have to be in charge.
The conversation walks through how Amanda layers a session so that a horse can safely run free through the woods with people who have never been near a horse, how scent work for horses can build confidence in a spooky horse, and why a horse must always be regulated enough to learn. Amanda also shares what she observed with the medicine paint horses at a Lakota Sun Dance, and she and Rupert explore the sacred in equine-assisted work, consciousness, Saint Francis of Assisi, and how zooanthropology helps her bridge methods rather than choose just one.
✨ "I'm trying to show humans that they don't have to be in charge with horses, that it can be a shared enterprise." – Dr. Amanda Minervini
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🔍 What You'll Learn in This Episode
- What EGLHE is, and why Amanda started it in response to the mental health crisis during the pandemic
- How Jimmy, an off-the-track Thoroughbred labeled "dangerous," became the horse EGLHE was built around
- Why good management (herd life, a big pasture, free-choice hay) was the foundation of Jimmy's change
- How Amanda layers a session, from herd observation to arena liberty work to free movement in the woods
- Why she never assumes, and works with the horse she has on that day
- What scent work for horses is, and how to progress from visible treats in an arena to open searching on the trail
- Why olfactory seeking work may build curiosity and confidence in spooky horses
- Why a horse must be regulated enough to learn, and what to do when fear is too big
- How novel movement and BDNF connect horse wellbeing, human focus, and Amanda's own 17 years of kung fu
- What Amanda observed about the medicine paint horses and their caretakers at a Lakota Sun Dance
- How Saint Francis of Assisi and the idea of humans as "holobiomes" shape Amanda's view of connection
- How a zooanthropology lens helps Amanda act as a bridge between methods, disciplines, and cultures
- Why Rupert believes the synthesis of many methods is the next generation of equine-assisted work
🎤 Memorable Moments from the Episode
07:38 Amanda describes Jimmy's past: a stallion on the track, gelded after age nine, labeled dangerous, yet the only one he ever hurt was himself.
11:15 A grieving paint mare in her late 20s, who had lost her best friend days earlier, crosses the ranch uninvited and canters alongside the group.
13:39 Amanda breaks down the two-and-a-half-hour session: herd observation, arena liberty with a ball and tarp, a lead-line walk, then liberty in the woods.
22:14 Amanda credits 17 years of kung fu with giving her the focus to succeed in graduate school.
36:00 From treats on barrel tops to hidden scents to scattered finds on the trail, Amanda outlines how scent work progresses.
37:32 Riding Jimmy with a rein keeper, Amanda lets him search freely, and he chooses to go over poles without being asked.
44:39 Amanda's golden rule: there is no learning in fear, and she has promised her horses she will never put them in a freak-out situation.
53:37 Amanda describes students repeating in post-session questionnaires that they felt more balanced, more focused, and even more willing to do homework.
1:19:40 Amanda spends two days with the Sun Dance's medicine paint horses and sees them grow eager when it's time for their role.
1:23:37 Rupert recalls his horse Clue leaving the herd to sniff and lick a child in a wheelchair who had drowned and seemed unresponsive, and the child becoming responsive.
1:40:54 Rupert tells how his uncle, a pathologist, explained why most people misunderstand the placebo effect.
1:59:28 Rupert shares that a new Horse Boy center is opening in County Cork, Ireland, with the prime minister turning the sod.
📚 Contact, Projects, and Resources Mentioned
Dr. Amanda Minervini – Professor, Colorado College; Founder, EGLHE (Equine Guided Learning And Healing Experience) https://amandaminervini.weebly.com
New Trails Learning Systems – Horse Boy Method, Movement Method & Takhin Equine Integration https://ntls.co
Rupert Isaacson / Long Ride Home https://rupertisaacson.com
Patreon Support https://www.patreon.com/LongRideHome
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