Equisentient Coaching

09/08/2026

'Number 2204'

I crouched low to the ground to take this photo of Number 2204, a stallion that was once wild and free.

Using that angle, I was able to eliminate the rusted out fencing, the dirty water basin, the empty hay racks, the piles of manure and the backsides of the other captured wild mustangs crammed together in the heat of the sun at the BLM holding facility in Nevada.

By crouching low, I could frame this stallion's beautiful face against the mountains that once defined his freedom and shaped his spirit.

By crouching low, I made Number 2204 wild and free again.

There are currently over 63,000 wild mustangs and burros in government holding facilities. This year alone, the BLM has plans to remove 14,000 more wild horses and burros.

Privately owned cattle and sheep outnumber wild mustangs 30 to 1 on public lands. Massive agribusiness has lead to the destruction of rangeland, pollution of water sources, and devastation of wildlife habitat.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has created the ultimate scapegoat for damage caused by privately owned cattle and sheep:

The wild mustang.

The BLM will tell the public that there are too many wild mustangs, there isn't enough food for them, they need to be removed for their 'own good'.

The BLM won't tell the public that millions of privately owned cattle and sheep are taking the place of federally protected wild mustangs.

And American taxpayers fund more than 90 percent of the cost for commercial ranchers to graze their private livestock on public lands.

Many of the identities of public grazing permittees are obscured by corporate names, but here's just one example found in BLM data:
* The heirs of the late hotelier W. Barron Hilton, net worth: $800 million, own public land grazing permits in California and Nevada totaling at least 350 square miles. Isn't it amazing that these millionaires enjoy the spoils, thanks to the American taxpayer?

It's time to know the truth, and the . Corporate agribusiness is driving the massive removals of wild mustangs, and the BLM is a willing partner.

Whether you are a concerned citizen or a member of the media, dig deep, follow the money. It will lead you to the truth.

To find out more ( and better yet, to get involved), please follow:

The Wild Beauty Foundation
American Wild Horse Conservation
Wild Horse Education
The Cloud Foundation
www.saveourwildhorses.net

07/08/2026

If my saddle needs widening, does that mean my horse is fat…? 🤔

This seems to be the topic of conversation this week, and perhaps the confusion comes from the way we have been conditioned to look at the equine body.

When a horse’s back becomes broader, rounder and more developed, the immediate assumption is often:

“My horse must be getting fat.”

But is that always true?

Or could we be seeing something that has become so unfamiliar that we no longer recognise it as healthy?

For far too long, the horse world has normalised backs with poor muscle development. Hollow areas behind the shoulder, prominent withers, deep dips beside the spine and a lack of topline are often accepted as “normal”...or even mistaken for a fit, athletic appearance.

But a poorly muscled back is not a healthy back.

Muscle atrophy is the loss or reduction of muscle tissue. It can develop when muscles are not being used effectively, when movement is restricted, when the horse is working in compensatory patterns, or when discomfort prevents the body from functioning as it should.

The back is not simply a platform for a saddle.

It is a dynamic, living structure that changes shape throughout movement.

When a horse’s body works in a healthy, balanced posture, the muscles supporting the spine become active. The back can lift, the ribcage can move, and the body can broaden through the saddle area. This is not the horse “getting wider because it is fat.” It may be the horse developing and using its body more effectively.

As described within the LM approach, biomechanics show that when a horse works correctly over its back, the back naturally lifts and widens during movement. This is why saddle fitting should consider the horse’s moving, functional shape, not simply the narrower shape seen when the horse is standing still with its back dropped.

So, if your saddle needs widening, the question should not automatically be:

“Has my horse become fat?”

Perhaps we should first ask:

✨ Has my horse developed more healthy muscle?
✨ Is the back lifting and functioning more effectively?
✨ Has the posture improved?
✨ Is the horse becoming stronger and more comfortable?
✨ Has the body changed because it is finally being allowed to move and develop naturally?

Of course, body fat and muscle are not the same thing, and neither should be judged by saddle width alone. A horse’s overall condition should always be assessed holistically, considering body condition, muscle development, posture, movement, health and individual conformation.

But we must also be careful not to mistake healthy development for excess weight simply because we have become accustomed to seeing underdeveloped backs.

A healthy back should be broader.

A healthy back should be rounder.

A healthy back fills the space that we have traditionally expected to see as hollow.

And if a horse’s body changes, the saddle must change with it.

The saddle should support healthy movement, not encourage the horse to remain narrow so that it continues to fit.

At LM, our focus is on working with the horse’s natural biomechanics, allowing room for the back to lift, widen and function during movement. Their holistic approach considers posture, muscle development, movement and the whole horse, not just the static shape beneath the saddle.

We are on a mission to normalise the healthy equine back!!

To stop seeing muscle development as a problem.

To question why a broad, lifted, well-supported back can be mistaken for a fat one.

And to recognise that a horse changing shape may not be “outgrowing” its saddle through weight gain, it is developing into a stronger, healthier and more functional version of itself.

“When we change what we consider normal, we create space for horses to become healthy—not simply to remain familiar.” 🐴✨

🌐 lmsaddles.com

06/08/2026

The woman who took the brumby cull to court. And the extraordinary community that stood behind her.

When Aussie Daily has written about the legal challenge to the brumby cull in Kosciuszko National Park, we have not always named the people at the heart of it. Today we want to put that right. Because the story of how this case came together is one of the most remarkable examples of ordinary Australians refusing to give up on something they believe in deeply.

It started with one woman. And her story begins on a single day in June.

How it began

On June 9, 2026, Roxanne Phoenix learned what was happening to the brumbies of Kosciuszko National Park. She found out at a protest near the office of NSW Premier Chris Minns in Kogarah. Chris Minns is her local MP. She went straight to his office that same day. He was unavailable. She left him a handwritten letter.

She then went directly to the office of NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe. She was also unavailable.

Roxanne was born in Ukraine. Her country is at war. She has watched Ukrainians risk their lives every single day to rescue animals including wildlife from active war zones. In Ukraine, she says, it is illegal to kill healthy animals whether wildlife or pets. She has been a horse rider for as long as she can remember. She has travelled extensively and ridden horses in many different countries around the world.

The aerial shooting of brumbies shocked her deeply.

She began researching and discovered something that confirmed her instinct that this situation was extraordinary. Australia is the only country in the world that has made the aerial shooting of wild horses an official government policy. No other country does this.

She also discovered that the key decisions surrounding the brumby management program are effectively concentrated within a single ministerial portfolio covering the environment, energy, heritage and climate change. And she noted that the significant environmental impact of the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project, a major infrastructure development located within the same national park, has received far less public scrutiny than the brumby debate.

On June 17, just eight days after first learning about the cull, Roxanne commenced proceedings in the NSW Supreme Court of New South Wales. It took her several days to prepare the application properly. She filed it alone, supported by the expert testimony of horse industry professional Marie Matter, a multiple award winning professional and owner of an equestrian school.

This is who Roxanne Phoenix is. A filmmaker, entrepreneur and singer who settled in Australia 17 years ago after being born in Ukraine and travelling extensively. A single mother of two, with a daughter of 31 and a son of 17. A woman who on June 9 learned about something she believed was wrong and by June 17 had filed a court case to try to stop it.

The case grows

The case was subsequently transferred to the NSW Land and Environment Court where it grew significantly in both scope and support.

A young Ngarigo man named Matthew Holland joined Roxanne as a second plaintiff, bringing the perspective and voice of an Aboriginal community whose connection to the horses and the land of Kosciuszko goes back generations. His involvement gave the case a cultural and heritage dimension that reflects the depth of community feeling about what is happening in the park.

Then Andrew Thaler stepped in. A well known public figure from the Monaro region who has been working to change the situation around brumby management for a long time, Andrew is the proud owner of seven brumby stallions of his own and became what Roxanne describes as the main engine of the legal process. He brought local knowledge, community connections and sustained commitment to a campaign that needed all three.

Sharilea Hitchcock, a horse trainer and breeder, worked tirelessly to fundraise for the legal costs, allowing the team to engage professional legal representation through XD Lawyers for the third court hearing. The community of supporters who donated to make that possible demonstrated once again that when Australians care deeply about something they will back it with more than words.

The day the injunction was refused

On July 9, Justice John Robson heard the urgent application to halt the aerial culling and refused it. It was a deeply difficult day for everyone involved in the case.

Roxanne and her team presented the judge with photographs of horses that had been killed during the operations. The images were extremely distressing. Among them were photographs of heavily pregnant mares whose unborn foals were partially delivered from their bodies. Roxanne says this could only have happened because those mares were not killed instantly. They had been severely wounded and went into labour after being shot.

Roxanne described being deeply traumatised after seeing those photographs herself. She said the judge was visibly shocked by them.

The barrister representing the respondent stated on behalf of the Minister that the National Parks and Wildlife Service guidelines do not prohibit the shooting of pregnant mares. The government's position was that the photographs did not demonstrate any breach of its own rules.

Despite the refusal of the urgent injunction, the broader legal case continues. Roxanne and her team are now working to demonstrate to the court precisely where they believe the management program exceeds legal authority. An independent expertise process is currently underway as part of that ongoing work.

Roxanne's own words about where the case stands speak for themselves.

We are standing for life. And I firmly believe that one day the brumbies will run free again as they were always meant to.

The community behind the case

What makes this legal story genuinely remarkable is not just what has happened in the courtroom. It is the community that assembled around it. Hundreds of thousands of Australians signing petitions. Thousands donating to legal costs. Advocates researching and documenting and sharing. Local Monaro residents providing testimony. Aboriginal community members speaking for their country. Award winning filmmakers coming from overseas to document what is happening.

All of it coming together because one woman decided on June 9 that she would not stand by and watch in silence.

The November cull is scheduled to begin November 2. The NSW Parliament petition closes September 4. The independent expertise being conducted as part of the legal case is ongoing.

The fight is very much alive.

We want to say a sincere thank you to Roxanne Phoenix, Matthew Holland, Andrew Thaler, Sharilea Hitchcock, Marie Matter and the entire team at XD Lawyers for their courage, dedication and tireless work on behalf of Australia's brumbies. You are making history.

Do you support the legal challenge to the brumby cull? Share your thoughts and encouragement for the legal team below. 🐴🏔️🇦🇺

Sources: Roxanne Phoenix direct communication with Aussie Daily, July 2026; NSW Land and Environment Court, judgment of Justice John Robson, July 9 2026; The Brumby Council page, July 2026; NSW Legislative Council ePetition, parliament.nsw .gov .au, closes September 4 2026. See less

06/08/2026

06/08/2026

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06/08/2026

06/08/2026

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