Meet Josh Nichol

Josh’s proven approach helps riders understand their horse’s relational and physical needs. With decades of experience, Josh has guided riders from frustration to confidence, creating safe, balanced partnerships empowered to achieve their biggest goals

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Do you ever struggle with the following?

Feel Unsafe in the Saddle?

Explosive behaviors like bucking, bolting, or rearing can make riding feel risky and unpredictable. It’s hard to feel confident when you’re always bracing for the next reaction.

Confused by Your Horse’s Behaviors?

Does your horse become panicked when separated, overly reactive to their surroundings, or unresponsive to cues? These moments can leave you feeling disconnected and unsure of how to help.

Struggle to Build Trust?

Fear, frustration, and miscommunication can create a barrier between you and your horse, making trust and cooperation seem out of reach.

Many riders face these challenges, but the good news is that your horse is always communicating.

The key is learning how to listen.

Understanding Your Horses Needs

Ready to build a stronger, more intuitive bond with your horse?

Josh Nichol introduces you to the three essential horse needs—Mind, Space, and Pressure. Horses often experience one of these needs more intensely, and learning how to meet this core desire can transform your training. Misunderstand it, though, and you're likely to face challenges like herd-boundness, tension, refusals, or dangerous explosive reactions. This course is your guide to meeting your horse's true needs, trusting your intuition, and building a strong, relationship-focused foundation. Josh offers practical, insightful techniques to create a deeper, more harmonious bond with your horse, no matter what they need from moment to moment. Whether you're new to horsemanship or looking to elevate your understanding, this course invites you to connect with horses on a whole new level.

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Understanding Your Horses Body

In this transformative course,Josh guides you through the steps to build a relationship grounded in balance, softness, and trust. You’ll learn how to unlock your horse’s natural movement, respond to their needs, and create an unbreakable bond that honors their story while helping them move forward. Josh shares three exercises along with the theory behind them. These simple, daily exercises—whether done during leading or before mounting—will help you assess your horse’s state, pinpoint stored tension, and guide them to release it. With these techniques, you’ll unlock your horse’s ability to move forward with freedom, ease, and confidence.

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Watch or Listen Anywhere

Stream Josh’s Courses on any of your devices, wherever you are.

Josh’s Podcast Episodes

Dear Horse World, it’s Josh Nichol - How to transform your relationship with your horse

In the debut episode of Dear Horse World, Noëlle is joined by Josh Nichol, renowned teacher and creator of Relational Horsemanship. Noëlle shares her journey with her rescue Appaloosa, Lady, and how Josh’s guidance helped Lady overcome aggression and resistance—not through control, but by challenging Noëlle’s ability to become vulnerable, receptive, and self-aware.

Josh introduces the powerful concept of a horse’s three needs: Mind, Space, and Pressure. The mind is key to their understanding, space is the energy and body language between you, and pressure is the ask—the invitation for your horse to yield and release. Together, these create a contract of trust, liberating your horse to feel safe, confident, and capable.

Noëlle and Josh dive deep into the critical question: Are we in the receptive state we ask of our horses? Are we present enough to observe their needs, or are we distracted by our own tension and anxieties? Josh shows how a receptive state is not just the foundation of horsemanship, but of how we show up in life.

You’ll also learn that ‘Feel’ isn’t a talent you either have or don’t have—it’s a practice. It starts with presence and awareness, being able to observe your horse’s needs in the moment, and responding with intention. Josh provides practical insights on how to guide your horse through the pressure they experience, empowering them to release that pressure and, in turn, strengthen their trust in you.

This episode will inspire you to rethink your approach to horsemanship—not just as something you do, but as a relationship you build day by day. It’s about creating the conditions where your horse feels understood, secure, and willing to take on hard things with you. It’s about leading with vulnerability, speaking to your horse’s mind, space, and pressure, and ultimately building a foundation of trust that empowers both you and your horse.

Episode Highlights:

  • Discover how to connect through mind, space, and pressure to create a liberated, confident horse that’s ready to take on any discipline.
  • Learn how to create a receptive state within yourself, so you can show up for your horse with presence and intention.
  • Explore the concept of feel—a practice of being fully present and observing your horse with all your senses.
  • Get meditation tips–as little as 10 seconds–to help you stay present with your horse.
  • Learn how to guide your horse through challenges, like spooking, herd boundness, or pushiness, by understanding and meeting their needs

Watch on YouTube

Watch on NF+

Listen on Spotify

Hacks 4 Horse People:Breathwork Benefits for Horse and Rider

What if your breath and energy hold the key to self-awareness, emotional healing, and a deeper bond with your horse? In this episode, yoga and neuroscience-informed breathwork expert Julia McCabe and relational horsemanship trainer Josh Nichol explore how understanding your inner world transforms your outer relationships—with horses, people, and yourself.

What You’ll Learn:

How breathwork heals: Simple breathing techniques to release trauma, calm anxiety, and build resilience.

What horses teach us: Why your horse reacts to your energy—not your commands—and how they reflect your inner emotional state.

Real stories of transformation: How riders have overcome emotional blocks and found confidence through relational horsemanship and breathwork.

Practical tools for connection: Ways to stay present, calm your energy, and create a harmonious relationship with your horse and yourself.

Whether you’re looking to improve your relationship with your horse or deepen your understanding of yourself, this episode offers actionable insights and inspiring stories. Discover how breathwork and horsemanship can transform the way you show up—in the saddle, in your relationships, and in life.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on NF+

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Join us for a free virtual clinic with Josh Nichol, where you’ll uncover the root causes of your horse’s challenges and learn how to transform them into trust and connection.

In this live session, you’ll discover:

What your horse’s behavior is really saying—and how to respond effectively.

How to address the root causes of tension, resistance, and reactivity.

Simple, daily techniques to create trust, balance, and willingness.

Personalized advice straight from Josh in our live Q&A session.

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Sign up for your membership now to get access to all of Josh’s content, or try it free for 7 days. You can cancel anytime within this period. Enjoy your membership by clicking on the plan that suits you best.

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