Your Guide to Episode 1 of UNBRIDLED: Learning to Listen with Josh Nichol
Episode 1 begins in Alberta, where Noëlle Floyd arrives with Lady and Galano for the first stop of a 25,000-mile journey. The scenery is big. The questions are personal: How do you meet a horse as a partner, especially when your nerves and expectations have come along for the ride?
If you haven’t watched yet, start with Episode 1 on YouTube. It’s a great introduction to Josh’s approach, and a glimpse of the questions Noëlle will carry with her across North America. If you have watched, keep the Alberta chapter going with the podcast conversation and Josh’s lessons on NF+.
Who is Josh Nichol?
Josh Nichol is an internationally recognized horseman and trainer based in Alberta. His work in relational horsemanship explores how horses communicate through behavior, movement, and space, and how understanding their needs can support both connection and confident work.
Josh trains horses, works cattle, teaches clinics, and competes on the Canadian rodeo circuit. His approach reaches across disciplines, helping riders consider how they and their horses can meet challenges together.
Listen to the conversation from Alberta
Listen to the podcast recorded during filming. Noëlle and Josh discuss how a horse’s needs, past experiences, and body language can affect the way they respond.
Josh explains how the label we give a behavior can influence our response. A horse entering a person’s space, for example, may be labeled pushy or disrespectful. Josh asks riders to consider what the horse may be communicating before deciding how to respond. This approach helps riders account for the horse’s perspective while still maintaining boundaries.
They also discuss Josh’s green, yellow, red, and gold framework. Green describes a regulated state; yellow is a moment of challenge; red is overwhelm; gold is the ability to meet a challenge while staying connected and able to think. For riders, this framework can help distinguish a manageable challenge from a moment that calls for a reset.
The conversation also covers how past experiences may be reflected in a horse’s body through tension. Josh connects this to the way he reads behavior and movement, adding context to the work Noëlle and Lady do in Alberta.
Find the Josh Nichol Lessons That Fit Your Horse
Join NF+ to watch the Josh Nichol collection on NF+, which lets you explore his work through several courses and formats. If Episode 1 has you thinking about what a horse may be communicating, these are good places to continue.
Understanding Your Horse’s Needs explores the emotional side of the relationship and pairs those ideas with practical sessions. You can watch Josh work with horses on the lead, in the round pen, and under saddle. The lessons look at how a horse’s needs affect the work, and how a rider can respond with communication and support.
Understanding Your Horse’s Body focuses on body mapping, balance, space, and movement. Josh works through areas such as the shoulders and hips, helping riders pay closer attention to how a horse carries and uses their body. This course is especially relevant if you’re trying to connect what you feel in the saddle with what you observe from the ground.
Josh Nichol’s Horsemanship Case Studies follows horses through complex challenges, including rearing, biting, and fear of saddling. The clinic footage lets you follow Josh’s process across multiple days as he observes each horse and adjusts the work. It’s a useful way to study how relational horsemanship applies when the issue is serious and the history is part of the picture. The collection also includes case studies on aggression, confidence, self-carriage, and pressure.
For an audio introduction, “Why Does Your Horse Struggle?” covers the relationship between horse and human needs, relational and predatory pressure, the mind-body connection, and how to understand the horse’s mind. Josh also answers rider questions through Review My Ride and Office Hours, with topics ranging from mounting challenges to connection under pressure.
Start with the subject closest to your own questions, then explore the other parts of Josh’s collection as your learning leads you there.
An NF+ membership gives you access to Josh’s courses and case studies, along with the rest of the NF+ library. Join NF+ to start watching.
Bring the Lessons from UNBRIDLED to Your Barn
The Alberta episode offers more than a new place on the map. It introduces a way of learning that Noëlle carries with her: seek out people with knowledge, stay open to what the horse is showing you, and let the relationship remain part of the work.
That’s the thread connecting the episode, the podcast, and Josh’s NF+ library. Watch Noëlle begin the journey, listen to her conversation with Josh, then spend more time with his teaching. You can follow along from your home, at your own pace, with your own horse as the questions come up.
Watch Episode 1 on YouTube, then keep learning with Josh Nichol on NF+. Explore the official UNBRIDLED page for more about the series.
