What Your Horse's Nervous System Reveals About Trust and Liberty with Kaleigh Marie - Sponsored by Triple Crown Feeds
5/6/20261 hr 29 min
Liberty trainer and Braveheart Beasts founder Kaleigh Marie shares how training oxen, mammoth donkeys, and mules before ever seriously working with horses shaped everything she knows about connection, trust, and the nervous system.
Kaleigh Marie is a liberty trainer and performer based in the Northeast who has spent the last decade developing a nervous system-informed approach to horsemanship rooted in connection, positive reinforcement, and the foundational lessons she learned working with cattle, donkeys, and mules long before horses became her focus.
In this episode you will learn:
- Why Kaleigh's foundation in training oxen and mammoth donkeys gave her a unique edge with horses
- What "conversational quality" means and how it shows up in your relationship with your horse
- Why donkeys ask "why should I?" — and why that's actually a gift to any trainer
- How the nervous system underlies everything from leg aids to liberty work
- The honest story of how clicker training almost derailed her liberty performances — and what she rebuilt from the ground up
- The difference between expectation and intention when you're struggling in a session
- What to do when you're not showing up as the trainer you want to be
- Why dull horses are often the most sensitive ones — and how they got that way
- The "backpack" concept and how co-regulation with your horse actually works
- Why self-regulation — for both horse and human — matters more than connection
To find out more about Kaleigh Marie: website | instagram | facebook
This episode is sponsored by Triple Crown Feeds
The secret to raising a healthy horse begins with nutrition that goes beyond. The team at Triple Crown is dedicated to helping our customers succeed by understanding your horse's unique needs and working to develop the right feeding program for the horse you love.
www.triplecrownfeed.com | instagram.com/triplecrownfeed | facebook.com/TripleCrownFeed | youtube.com/@triplecrownfeeds
If you love honest conversations about horsemanship, trust, and the ongoing practice of becoming a better horse person, subscribe for more.
Chapters:
00:00 Meet Kaylee Marie
01:10 Road to the Horse Memories
03:38 First Meeting with Tik
08:12 Braveheart Beasts Origins
08:31 Farm Kid to Oxen Trainer
13:07 Riding Cows and Controversy
18:39 Back to Horses and Draft Life
20:16 Mammoth Donkeys in the City
24:01 Connection and Motivation Lessons
8:05 Conversational Quality Explained
32:22 Nervous System Awakening
38:31 Rescue Rehab and Roman Story
45:18 First Q&A Reset as a Trainer
47:30 Gut Brain Connection
48:27 One Percent Better
48:55 Expectation Versus Intention
51:44 Stop And Regulate
53:28 Co Regulation Release
56:41 Leg Aid Without Fight
58:40 Sensitivity Versus Expression
01:00:46 Rehab Dull Horses
01:04:17 Clicker Training Ethics
01:09:42 Rock Bottom Without Food
01:15:47 Pressure And Resilience
01:18:53 Clicker For Quality
01:22:10 Keep Learning Through Pain
01:24:03 Rapid Fire Favorites
01:28:23 Final Thanks And Wrap
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsNoëlle Floyd· Host0:00
[gentle music] Kaeli Marie is one of those trainers you've probably seen and thought, "Wait, how is that even real?" Liberty performances with horses laying on their backs, galloping in formation, completely relaxed while doing things you'd expect in a movie. The horses don't look forced. They're just with her, and it makes you wonder what she's doing differently to create that level of trust and partnership. Kaeli and I get into why horses check out, ignore your leg, or feel different depending on the day, and how that ties back to responsiveness, trust, and the nervous system. From training oxen and donkeys to rebuilding everything she thought she knew, this episode gets into what's really driving your horse's behavior.
Kaeli Marie· Guest1:00
Dear horse world, it's Kaeli Marie.
Noëlle Floyd· Host1:03
Kaeli, welcome to the Dear Horse World Podcast.
Kaeli Marie· Guest1:06
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
Noëlle Floyd· Host1:10
Okay, so I, I'm gonna premise by saying that I learned about you... I mean, we met at Road to the Horse the first year I went.
Kaeli Marie· Guest1:18
Mm-hmm.
Noëlle Floyd· Host1:18
Um, I believe we were at one of Dan James' parties.
Kaeli Marie· Guest1:23
Yes.
Noëlle Floyd· Host1:23
That was wild.
Kaeli Marie· Guest1:24
That was a wild time.
Noëlle Floyd· Host1:25
No one warned me about that.
Kaeli Marie· Guest1:26
Fire-breathing included.
Noëlle Floyd· Host1:27
[laughs] No one warned me.