Episode 85: Choose Your Hard (Member Spotlight)

🌿 Member Spotlight: Niki Brixius – Choose Your Hard Episode Summary: In this first-ever Tea House member spotlight, we sit down with Niki Brixius to hear her deeply personal and powerful journey through horses, healing, and hard choices. From autoimmune illness and awkward conversations to spiritual awakenings and mounted shooting competitions, Niki’s story is a reminder that “choosing your hard” is not about pain, it’s about power. Her horses (especially Two Spot and Lady) shaped her in ways she never could have predicted, and through every twist in her journey, she’s become a guide for others learning to trust themselves and their animals more deeply. 🧠 Raw. Soulful. Practical. This episode is a love letter to the ones who’ve been told they're “too much” or “not enough.” 📝 Show Notes Welcome & Intention of the Member Spotlight series — Highlighting real stories from the Tea House community and why they matter. (00:00–01:00) Niki's career path and communication growth — From retail awkwardness to financial mentoring and how that shaped her horse world. (01:00–04:00) How her horse journey began at age 6 — Pestering her mom, spiritual pull, and discovering early that horses were not just a phase. (04:00–06:00) Jubilee, Jj, and Lady — The horses that taught her about resilience, failure, emotional bonding, and somatic memory. (06:00–11:00) Amber and Shayleigh share their first-horse stories — Tree branches, barefoot rides, and bratty teenage phases that led to bucking and breakthroughs. (11:00–16:00) The transformation with 2 Spot — From colt-starting to health crises, confidence loss, and intuitive rebuilding. (16:00–25:00) Letting your horse choose to stay or go — A conversation on consent, soul contracts, and honoring freedom in the horse-human relationship. (25:00–31:00) The blurry lines between respect, leadership, and pushiness — Redefining “respect” and “leadership” from domination to partnership. (31:00–34:00) The shift into intuitive horsemanship — Feeling her way, discovering Warwick Schiller and Amy Skinner, and rethinking what it means to “read a horse.” (34:00–40:00) Healing through bodywork and energy awareness — Moving from “doing to” the horse into “being with,” and honoring how horses like to be touched. (40:00–46:00) The pinky injury, bucking fall, and recovery arc — How one tendon injury became a portal to self-trust, spiritual resilience, and deeper empathy. (46:00–51:00) Diving into mounted shooting — Overcoming fear, finding a welcoming community, and finally saying yes to something just for her. (51:00–55:00) Message from her herd: “Choose your hard” — And how that phrase has echoed through every moment of Niki’s transformation. (55:00–58:00) What she wishes someone told her as a kid — “I believe you. You’re not crazy.” How spiritual suppression shaped her early life and how reclaiming it changed everything. (58:00–End) 🌰 Go Deeper: Reflection Prompts Who was your "Lady" or "Two Spot"? What did they awaken in you? In what ways have you been told you're “too much” or “not enough”? How are you reclaiming that story now? When did you last override your gut with your horse? What might have happened if you trusted it? Are you giving your animals the choice to stay — or are you assuming they must? What does it mean for you to “choose your hard” right now? 🐿️ Nutmeg’s Note: Hey nuts, your stories matter. Your weirdness is your wisdom. And your horses are probably whispering “I told you so” right now. Go hug them. Then go do the brave thing anyway. 🎧 Listen & Subscribe Be sure to follow the Tea Time podcast so you never miss an episode! Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and iHeartRadio. Want to be part of these conversations and share space with incredible humans like Niki? 🫖 Join The Tea House>> https://www.amberlydic.com/membership The Tea House is where horsewomen (and horse-humans) like you gather for guidance, growth, and grounded spiritual support. We’d love to welcome you.