Episode 16
Strength and vulnerability: Lessons from the herd

This podcast episode features a deep, reflective conversation with Carmen Theobald of Horse Sense North, focusing on the creation and impact of their equine-assisted programs for first responders and public safety personnel. Carmen shares how horses provide a grounded, non-judgmental presence that helps people reconnect with safety, embodiment, and authentic emotion. The discussion touches on the unique design of their five-day intensive program, the importance of community and relational safety, and the program’s growing support—including full funding for OPP members and emerging pathways for others.

Carmen also opens up about her own personal journey: leaving Montreal at 18, following a nontraditional path, struggling to trust her instincts, and finding profound meaning in her relationship with horses. She describes surviving a traumatic event in a classroom, the way that proximity to death reshaped her sense of purpose, and how this informs both her life and her work. The episode closes with a reflection on courage, strength, vulnerability, and living in alignment with one’s deeper truth.

 

Important Messages

Horses offer a unique pathway to regulation and healing: Horses respond to people as they truly are - not their uniforms, roles, or titles. Their presence helps individuals feel safe, seen, and connected, often without needing to revisit traumatic content.

Community across roles matters: Bringing together different first responders fosters understanding “beyond the uniform;” their shared humanity becomes clearer when hierarchy and labels fade.

Carmen’s personal story informs her work: A life-altering event involving hiding from danger taught her a profound acceptance of mortality. This experience fuels her dedication to living fully and helping others do the same. Her unusual life path guided largely “by the horses,” required courage and trust in unconventional choices.

The heart of the work is strength + vulnerability: Carmen emphasizes the paradox of holding both simultaneously, and how horses model this balance every day, inviting humans to do the same.

Resources Mentioned

Carmen Theobald (she/her)

Carmen’s coaching, facilitation and speaking combine her experience working with thousands of horses, her own Post Traumatic Growth, and a determination to make a difference in this fractured world. She has worked with hundreds of individuals, teams and organizations, helping them get unstuck, embodied, and intuitively empowered.

Carmen is the Founder and Director of Horse Sense North, where they offer personal growth, leadership & team development, and trauma recovery with some "Horse Sense". Adding some Horse Sense allows people to develop more clarity, connection and courage in every aspect of life, and finally feel more alive and whole. All programs are offered with a trauma informed lens, and they have a particular focus on serving those who serve others.

Exception Seekers is edited and produced by North Star Networks