Neuroscience Meets Horsemanship

What happens when you understand the horse’s brain?

This clinic combines neuroscience, a guided horse brain dissection, and observation of horses during training and handling to help riders and professionals recognize how learning, nervous system responses, and stress affect behavior — and how that understanding can improve training, handling, and care.

Level 1 builds the foundation. You’ll learn the structure and function of the horse’s brain, how horses perceive their environment, and how basic learning and stress responses influence behavior.

Level 2 goes deeper. We expand on those principles and apply them to more complex training questions, decision-making under pressure, emotional regulation, and long-term welfare.

Both Level 1 and Level 2 are being offered at this clinic, and participants may attend one or both levels depending on their goals and previous experience.

Presenter

Dr. Steve Peters 

is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and human and equine neuroscientist. He is the author of Horse Brain Science: The Neuroscience of Ethical Horsemanship and co-author of Evidence-Based Horsemanship. For more than four decades, he has studied how the brain influences behavior, learning, stress, and performance in both humans and horses.

He teaches Horse Brain Science clinics worldwide, helping riders, trainers, veterinarians, and horse professionals understand how the horse’s nervous system shapes behavior and welfare. Through neuroscience, guided brain dissections, and observation of horses in training, Steve translates complex science into practical tools that can be applied immediately.

Known for his clear, engaging teaching style, Dr. Peters bridges research and real-world horsemanship—advancing evidence-informed practices that support both performance and ethical care.


Click the link to see Dr. Peters' website horsebrainscience.info


Featured Horse Handlers

Colleen Price 

 Colleen is a dedicated riding instructor who helps horses and riders build trust, balance, and clear communication. She blends practical horsemanship with strong body awareness to support partnerships in developing confidence, stability, and harmony. Helping horses and riders return to work from injury is an area of special focus in her practice.

Colleen is a Level 1 Centered Riding Instructor, a Franklin Method Level 2 Educator, and a Reiki Level 2 Practitioner. Her additional training includes Healing Touch for Animals, Horse Speak, Sure Foot Equine Stability, the Charlotte Cannon Method, and the Masterson Method (Beyond Massage).

As a partner in an Equine Assisted Learning business, Colleen integrates biomechanics, bodywork, and thoughtful presence into a holistic approach that honors the horse as a responsive and perceptive partner. Her work supports softness, clarity, and steadiness—helping horse and rider move forward with greater confidence and authentic performance.

Melissa Ellis

Melissa Ellis from Vermont is a Level 5 Harmony Horsemanship Instructor, Level 1 Centered Riding Instructor, Level 3 Reiki Practitioner and contributing author. Continuing to connect horses to humans, she studies Equine Craniosacral Therapy and trained with an Equine Assisted Psychotherapist. Through her education across many disciplines and competition she has gained powerful techniques to help humans build authentic confidence, so they can become the calm, present partner their horses truly need. A focus on her journey now is liberty in wide open spaces with no tools.

Training and teaching more and competing less, Melissa found her best path with Harmony Horsemanship allowing focus on understanding yourself, understanding your horse, and understanding the language that connects you. Her students will find she emphasizes trust, clear communication, and passive leadership. When horses and humans feel safe, everything else becomes easier. The path forward is not always linear Sometimes the darkest days steer us towards the light.

Today, her mission is simple…when horses and humans feel safe, heard, and understood learning is easy and flows effortlessly.

Healing Rein Farm, Freeville, NY

Location Information

  • Healing Rein Farm
  • 330 W Dryden Rd, Freeville, NY, 13068 US
  • Google, Bing, MapQuest

Food and Beverage

Coffee, tea, and water will be available during the clinic. 

Lunch will be provided each day of each clinic.

Event Coordinator

For questions related to the venue, schedule, meals, or local logistics, please contact:

Primary contact: Colleen — [email protected] / (607) 423-4253

Attend Both Levels & Save $100 off Level 2

TicketsPrice

HBS - Level One (Aug 28-29)

Introduction to equine neuroscience.

This clinic includes classroom presentation, live horse demonstration with Amy Skinner, and a guided, hands-on horse brain dissection with Dr. Steve Peters. Participants begin building a science-based understanding of how the horse’s brain influences behavior, learning, and welfare.

During Level 1, horses provided by the facility are used for demonstration purposes.

Reading Evidence-Based Horsemanship in advance is recommended and provides a helpful foundation. Available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at horsebrainscience.info Books will also be available at the event. You can reserve your copies in advance during registration.

$518.52
($500.00 + $18.52 fee)

HBS - Level Two (Aug 30-31)

(Previous attendance at one of Dr. Peters 2-3 days clinics required)

Building on the foundation established in Level 1, Level 2 focuses on applying equine neuroscience to everyday training and performance situations. This clinic includes classroom discussion and live arena demonstrations led by Dr. Steve Peters.

During arena sessions, selected horses and riders work with experienced horse professionals Colleen Price and Melissa Ellis, who facilitate the handling and demonstration sessions. Dr. Peters provides real-time neuroscience explanation and interpretation—helping participants understand how the horse’s nervous system is responding, why horses react the way they do, and what supports calmer regulation, clearer learning, and more consistent results at home.

For participants approved to bring a horse, horses will participate during Level 2 arena sessions only, with one one-hour session per horse focused on the individual rider and their horse. Dr. Peters will provide ongoing neuroscience commentary throughout each session.

During Level 1, horses provided by the facility are used for demonstration purposes.

Reading Horse Brain Science: The Neuroscience of Ethical Horsemanship in advance is strongly recommended and will help participants arrive prepared. Copies are available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at horsebrainscience.info. Books will also be available at the event, and copies may be reserved in advance during registration.

Audio version is available through Amazon.

$518.52
($500.00 + $18.52 fee)
Total: $0.00
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