19.-22. March 2026 | 30+ INTERNATIONAL EXPERTs | 100% EVIDENCE BASED AND PRACTICE ORIENTED
Inside the Horse’s Mind Online Summit 2026
The conference for deepening knowledge
Understand and train with your horse as never before. Over 4 days we will be delving into the world from the horse’s perspective – without advertising, product placement, marketing, or training dogma.
Leave “We’ve always done it that way” behind and start making training decisions based on scientific evidence, empathy, and genuine insight.
Kindly supported by:
Why has horse training been based on the same myths for over 2,500 years?
Unfortunately, in the horse world a great is deal copied, very little is questioned, and even less is scientifically understood.
If this is you, you’re not alone:
- You invest time and money, as well as your heart and soul, in training, but you keep hitting the same walls.
- You hear and read contradictory advice, and you are constantly asking yourself “which is right?”
- You get the feeling that many things may be described as „tried and tested” but, in practice, completely ignore the reality you experience with your horse.
- You’re tired of hearing “That’s how we’ve always done it” being given as a supposedly sufficient answer
How would it be if you really could see the world through your horse’s eyes? This summit makes exactly that possible: We are radically changing the approach so that we see the world not from the human perspective, but from that of the horse.
Summit proceedings
Daily programme and topics
From 19th to 22nd March, 2026 you will have access to the four-day conference including over 30 online lectures from international experts from all areas of the equestrian world. 100% EVIDENCE BASED & PRACTICE ORIENTED!
Day 1:
Domestication & Biology
The fundamentals: learn to see the horse in the context of its evolution, rather than in the context of our expectations.
YOU WILL DISCOVER:
- Why horses are the way they are, and what their biology reveals
- How domestication continues to shape our horses today
- Why “natural” does not automatically mean “healthy”
- The physiological limits you need to consider when training and the role played by stable management
Including lectures by Conny Röhm, Zefanja Vermeulen, Leonie Teschke, Celina Skogan, Ylvie Fros … and many other international experts
Day 2:
Learning & Perception
The basis for designing training that makes sense to the horse, not just to us.
YOU WILL DISCOVER:
- How horses perceive their environment, and why it is often completely different from the way we see it
- How the horse learns and what happens in its brain when it learns
- Why certain training methods work, while others are doomed to failure
- How pain, pressure and reward affect the ability to learn
Including lectures by Sandra Schneider, Prof. Dr. Frauke Musial, Kate Farmer, Crispin Parellius, Bent Branderup, Arthur Kottas Heldenberg … and many other international experts
Day 3:
Emotions & Personality
Read your horse’s behaviour, instead of jumping to conclusions, to achieve true communication and understanding.
YOU WILL DISCOVER:
- How to distinguish between behaviour that comes from pain and “bad behaviour”
- How your horse’s personality influences training
- How temperament, stress management, and bonding affect your horse
- Why ‘one size fits all’ training approaches are doomed to failure
Including lectures by Tamara Dorrensteijn, Ellie Girgis, Dr. Cathrynne Henshall, Anja Hass, Stephan Fischer, … and many other international experts.
Day 4:
Social Behaviour & Mental States
Understand what causes stress and how to reduce it – changing your whole approach: management, training, and relationship.
YOU WILL DISCOVER:
- How acute and chronic stresses arise and how they affect learning ability
- The role social structure plays in the horse’s mental state
- How training can stabilize the horse’s mental state rather than destabilizing it
- How you can integrate scientific findings into your daily practices
Including lectures by Alissa Meyer, Lucy Rees, Kate Farmer, … and many other international experts
Our approach is:
Practice oriented
With concrete exercises and approaches for your daily training
Evidence based
Each method is scientifically based and comes from leading experts
Immediate results
During the Summit you will already start to feel, observe and train differently.
This is the first time so much scientific expertise and practical experience has been brought together in one place.
Our shared mission:
Rethinking horse training: Calm, evidence-based, and with empathy and understanding.
Not just to be “right”, but to make the relationship between humans and horses easier, clearer and fairer.
Overview
Experts & Speakers
Some talks / lectures will be held in English, others in German. In the overview below, you can see the language in which each talk will be presented.
Vivian Gabor
Institute for Behavior and Communication
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Die Persönlichkeit des Pferdes und die Auswirkung auf das psychische Wohlbefinden
Kate Farmer
The thinking horse.org, free researcher
TOPIC:
🇬🇧 Eavesdropping - social learning
Irina Keller
Osteopathie für Pferde
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Die Neurophysiologie der Bewegung
Zefanja Vermeulen
Equinestudies
TOPIC:
🇬🇧 The Anatomie of the primitive horse vs. the domesticated horse – what did they loose?
Stephan Fischer
Reiten ist Kommunikation
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Reiten ist Kommunikation: Der Einfluss des Reitersitzes auf das Pferd
Sarah Surmann
Equibu
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Von der Stressfalle Hufbearbeitung zum entspannten Routine-Termin
Kate Farmer
The thinking horse.org, free researcher
TOPIC:
🇬🇧 Reading the horse´s mind - a practical approach
Alissa Mayer
Equine Hanna Somatics® Education
TOPIC:
🇬🇧 The neurophysiology of posture
Arthur Kottas-Heldenberg
Former Chief Master Rider of the Spanish Riding School
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Denke wie ein Pferd
Dr. Cath Henshall
Researcher in equine learning & emotions
TOPIC:
🇬🇧 What are you feeling about what your horse is feeling? What matters to horses in our relationship with them
Angelica Hesselius
Reward Based Riding
TOPIC:
🇬🇧 Thinking Sideways: Lateral Work, Body Awareness, and Emotional Balance through Targets and Pause
Anna Eichinger
Einfach Reiten
TOPIC:
🇩🇪Konstantins Rückkehr - Reha jenseits von Methode
Carina Dörfler
Gestüt Moorhof - Online Reitschule & Moorhof Club
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Spürst du, was du sendest?
Crispin Parelius Johannessen
photographer and fine artist, trainer of horses and riders
TOPIC:
🇬🇧 Looking but not seeing
Eleanor Sian Girgis
University of Edinburgh
TOPIC:
🇬🇧 Rethinking a common conundrum: Is it pain or is it behavioural?
Jule Liebelt
Training Equus
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Wie lernen Pferde?
Katrin Bockstette
Specialist in Natural Horse Husbandry and Mustangs
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Naturnahe Pferdehaltung
Leonie Teschke
BestTUPferd
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Domestiziert – aber nicht neu programmiert: Was das Pferdebewusstsein für tiergerechte Haltung bedeutet
Lucy Rees
Pioneer for Equine Rights, Ethologist and Equine Scientist
TOPIC:
🇬🇧 Cognitive and emotional development in feral and domestic horses
Marc Lubetzki
Expert in wild horse observation
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Von Wildpferden lernen
Nancy Heiber
Horse training begins in the nervous system
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Stress verstehen – Stressregulation fördern
Sandra Schneider
Academy of Holistic Equine Training
TOPIC:
🇬🇧🇩🇪 Learning theories in practice
Tamara Beukhof-Dorresteijn
Equine Solutions
TOPIC:
🇬🇧 From Brain to Balance: The Neurological Foundation of Passive Physio®
Christina Kuenen & Barbara Kelly
Team-HUF
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Bewegung & Selbstbestimmung – so schaffst du Ponyglücksmomente in der Haltung
Tina Kropik
Reitsport neu gedacht
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Vom leistungsorientierten mit Druck und Zwang zurück zur klassischen Reitlehre
Ylvie Fros
Specialist in Centred Riding
TOPIC:
🇬🇧Born to Run, Bred to Serve: The Adaptive Journey of the Domestic Horse
Dr. Frauke Musial
Expert in Neurobiology and Pain Researcher
TOPIC:
🇬🇧🇩🇪 What if horses were humans? Stress and pain from a biopsychological perspective
Dr. Sandra Ruzicka
Expert in Topline Syndrome
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Die Wechselwirkung von Psyche, Körperhaltung und Bewegung
Katrin Westendorf
Equinality
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Wie Stress & Gesundheitssorgen die Wahrnehmung beeinflussen
Constanze Röhm
Tierwissenschaftliches Institut
TOPIC:
🇬🇧🇩🇪 Brain Food – How Nutrition Affects the Brain and Hormone System
Marlitt Wendt
Equine Ethologist & Horse Welfare Advocate
TOPIC:
🇩🇪 Resilienz bei Pferden
Anja Rémond
Zentauer.com - Psychologist and Full-Time Equestrian
TOPIC:
🇬🇧🇩🇪 Inner Leadership – How Self-Awareness and Emotional Clarity Support Equine Learning and Trust
Bent Branderup
Grand Master of Academic Art of Riding
TOPIC:
Train with love
Celina Skogan
Equidemia
TOPIC:
Opportunities and Limitations of Natural Horse Keeping / The Energy Budget of the horse
About the organiser
I am Celina Skogan, the founder of Equidemia, a horse training platform with a clear aim: Rethinking horse training from an evidence based and ethical foundation.
The Equidemia Summit 2026 is dedicated to the horse’s neurobiology and neuropsychology, the “hardware” that forms the basis of its behaviour, learning, and movement. We will be focusing on the brain, nervous system, and emotional processing that form the foundations of training and welfare. International scientists and practitioners will translate current research into understandable principles that can be applied in practice.
My mission is plain: Making science understandable and translating neurobiological principles into responsible training decisions. We need to re-think horse training: fewer opinions and more insight.
Celina Skogan
TRAINER, OSTEOPATH, NUTRITION ADVISER, GAIT ANALYST, PAIN EXPERT, SPEAKER AND AUTHOR.
Why this online summit is different from anything you have experienced before!
- We do not accept “It’s always been done like this”. We avoid anthropomorphism and do not humanise the horse.
- We make scientific evidence accessible and understandable in everyday language.
- We bring the science directly into your daily routine.
OUR AIM IS CLEAR:
To re-think horse training on the basis of empathy and scientific evidence, without pressure, myths or old habits.
After these 4 days you will:
- See your horse’s body language with completely new eyes
- Recognise problems before they become obstacles to training
- Know why your horse behaves the way it does, and how you can make changes sympathetically
- Make the right training decisions on the basis of scientific evidence, not just on gut feeling
Feedback from previous summit participants:
19.-22. March 2026 | 30+ INTERNATIONAL EXPERTs | 100% EVIDENCE BASED AND PRACTICE ORIENTED
Get access to the online summit now! You can decide what the “Inside the Horse's Mind Summit” is worth to you.
This summit follows an academic principle: scientifically based knowledge should be shared, not hidden. You pay what you can, and if you give more you support others.
FLEX TICKET
Pay what you can. You will have access to the live events
What this means:
- This is ideal if you want access to the summit live, you are flexible, and you would like to enjoy the summit in the moment as it happens.
- You support the summit with an amount that is affordable for you
- You also enable others to have access to evidence based knowledge
- You will be part of a movement that is re-thinking horse training
Your Flex access includes:
- Live access to all lectures as they happen
- Access to pre-recorded lectures from 00:00 bis 24:00 CET (Central European Time) on the day of the lecture
- International experts – 100 % evidence based and with practical application
Important to know:
- There is no access to recorded material after the end of the day on which it was scheduled
Decide for yourself what the summit is worth
from 5 €*
* You will be taken to the secure booking site
VIP TICKET
Access to VIP Only content and life-long access to all content.
Everything from Flex Ticket PLUS
Your VIP ticket includes:
- The opportunity to truly understand, reflect on, and make long-term use of content.
- Live access to all lectures
- Live chat and questions functions during the lectures
- Immediate access to all pre-recorded content from the first day of the summit onwards
- Live long access to all content
- Community forum for specialist exchange of ideas
- Access to all lectures, presentations and bonus material
Total value over €1.500! You can have all this for a one-time payment of
€189*
* You will be taken to the secure booking site
IMPORTANT: Ticket sales end on 22nd March at 24:00 CET (Central European Time)!
Frequently asked questions:
In which language are the lectures given?
The summit languages are German and English. The lectures will be in the native language of the speaker, i.e. German or English, and if the speaker has a different native language, they will choose the one in which they are most comfortable.
What is the difference between the Flex Ticket and the VIP Ticket?
With the Flex Ticket, you only have access to the content on the day and during the days of the summit. That means, for example, on Thursday you have access to Thursday’s content, on Friday, Friday’s content etc. Pre-recorded lectures can be watched at any time on the scheduled day, but live lectures can only be watched live, and recordings will not be available.
The VIP Ticket offers additional life-long access to all content, including recordings of all lectures, presentations, bonus material, and the community features. This is perfect if you want to watch the lectures in your own time and as often you like, or if you are not able to attend the lectures live.
Tip: If you are not sure whether you can join us for all the days, the VIP Ticket is the stress-free choice.
How does online attendance work?
After you have registered and paid for your ticket, you will be sent a personalised access link. To take part, all you need is an internet connection and suitable device (smart TV, PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone etc.)
Is the content also relevant for trainers, instructors, and other professionals in the equestrian field?
Absolutely! The summit brings together the latest scientific research and proven practices in a way that also offers valuable new perspectives for experienced professionals. Many of our speakers are leading equestrian professionals themselves.
Will I receive an invoice and receipt for my ticket payment?
Yes. After you have registered and paid, you will automatically receive an invoice and receipt that can be used for tax purposes by e-mail. In case something goes wrong, we will provide help with technical and content issues.
Do I have to be online at a particular time?
Yes. If you have a Flex ticket, you need to be online for the live lectures and for the chance to put your questions. The live lectures take place between 16:00 and 21:00 CET (Central European Time). With the VIP Ticket you can, of course, also watch all content later, whenever you wish.
The full programme is available to download. During the summit you will receive daily updates by e-mail, so you keep a running overview of any changes.
How much time should I allow for the summit?
Approximately 8 to 10 hours of events are planned for each day. With the VIP ticket you can also watch the lectures at any time you like and to fit in with your timetable. For the live events, we recommend keeping free the core times during the afternoons and evenings.
What level of training is the summit suitable for?
The summit is primarily aimed at horse owners with a basic knowledge and understanding who want to delve deeper into the topics, However, it is also suitable for professionals who have been working with horses for many years. Whatever your previous experience, you should be prepared to question traditional approaches and theories!