S2 E7: Advocating for your horse with Erin Moore

*Please note: this episode does contain profanity* I first encountered Canadian-based Erin Moore when a friend pointed me to a podcast episode Erin had done last year on running a successful dog training business and I immediately resonated with Erin’s work. I loved what Erin was all about & since that time have been working with Erin on my business, Abbey’s Run Equestrian.Cut to earlier this year & Erin was on the ‘Drinking from the Toilet’ podcast, which is a fabulous podcast about all things dog training that I highly recommend. It’s one of my favourite podcasts to listen to, with much of the content translating very directly to horses. On that episode, Erin was talking about advocating for your dog and it really struck me that this is content horsie folk needed to hear too. I know it’s something I could personally always get better at and in the past I’ve supported quite a number of my students in some of their advocacy options for their horses.We can often think about advocacy as being confrontational, but it doesn’t have to be that. Sure, it is sometimes, but there are many other non-confrontational ways we can advocate for our loved horses and other equines too. Erin Moore:Erin Moore was a dog trainer for 13 years, and, by her own admission, made every mistake a dog training business owner could make. After burning out and leaving the industry completely, Erin knew that if she wanted to come back to it, she would need to figure out a different way to do things. So Erin did just that. She hired a coach and learned all about the business end of things, and that changed her entire business and her life. Now Erin coaches trainers on how to set up their businesses so that they can actually have a life and not burn out like she did! In this episode we discuss:1:28 - profanity warning1:53 - introduction to this episode topic & to Erin Moore3:59 - Erin’s horsie past, career with dogs & what Erin does now9:06 - what does advocating for our equine mean & advocating ‘quietly’11:05 - a lived example from Abbey’s Run where advocacy in the moment was difficult (even with all my experience)14:10 - the challenge in the moment, the impact of our history & what feeling shame does15:55 - when it’s a ‘professional’, authority figure & gender dynamics & taking that all into account19:17 - knowing how to research a trainer is not something most people know how to do20:26 - the advocacy that is not working with someone that makes you feel bad & that doing things after the event is advocacy22:34 - when an expert provides advice on something they’re not qualified or experienced to provide advice on, discerning what’s good information & what’s not - learning about that as advocacy25:22 - avoiding a situation as advocacy - giving ourselves permission29:48 - modelling & so normalising advocacy32:06 - advocacy when it comes to competitions, particularly team events - which hard do you want37:11 - an advocacy example from the past & being able to pivot39:56 - training as advocacy & cooperative care in the horse world43:57 - the wild that is that we see horses so differently to other species for cooperative care & where’s the horse world at with cooperative care - the impact of history46:25 - keeping our practitioners safer, saving them time & keeping ourselves & our horses safer47:11 - what even is cooperative care50:01 - us doing our own therapy is part of advocating for our animals51:07 - why should we advocate for our animals52:37 - what you can do after this episode to better advocate for your equine57:28 - building the skills to advocate our animals helps us advocate better for ourselves & focusing on little steps to build the big picture1:00:32 - having other people support you in the advocacy where it’s difficult to have your own voice - planning with them ahead of time1:06:29 - recognising the systemic issues that make it harder for certain groups of people to advocate1:08:56 - advocating can be done many ways & we can develop our advocacy skills, thinking differently about advocacy opens up options1:10:08 - quiet advocacy & making choices1:11:30 - where to find more from Erin & a reminder that Erin is a business coach, not an equine instructor1:14:28 - coming up next week Link from Erin:Free, thought-provoking resources on Erin’s website  Our links mentioned this episode:  Sign-up to our email listAbbey's Run Equestrian websiteAbbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. You can find out more about podcast support on offer via: Blissery.FM or email [email protected]