Between the Ears with Natasha Pappas
Trainer. Horsewoman. The calm in the chaos.
When Natasha Pappas talks about horses, there’s no ego. Just a quiet authority that comes from years in the barn, learning the hard lessons with patience and grit.
She’s the kind of trainer who will tell you when it’s time to push—but also when it’s time to just walk your horse down the levee and let them breathe.
In this week’s Between the Ears, Natasha opens up about her first fall, her heart horse, the setbacks that shaped her, and the word that defines her approach to horses, riders, and life:
Patience.
“I fell off my first ride. Rolled right over the pony’s neck and hit the ground. And I still said—yep, this is it. This is my sport.”
Natasha grew up around horses—her mom rode, her sister rode, and the barn always felt like home. But it wasn’t all fairytales and perfect ponies. Her first heart horse, Stella, came with chronic lameness and unexpected heartbreak.
“We had great days, but we also had a lot of bad ones. She taught me patience. And when it was time to retire her, she lived the rest of her life in my backyard.”
That deep bond—the loyalty, the hard days, the quiet love—set the tone for everything that followed.
From vet dreams to the show ring
Out of high school, Natasha thought she was headed toward becoming a large animal vet. She was in school. She got her vet tech license. She was ready.
Then she took a job working for a trainer. And everything shifted.
“Joe Thorpe gave me a shot—let me teach, manage, really do it. I fell in love with the work. With teaching. With building something from the ground up. And eventually, people I respected pulled me aside and said, ‘What are you doing? Go open your own thing.’ So I did.”
“They’re not machines.”
Ask Natasha what she teaches, and she’ll say the usual: tracking rhythm, finding distances, balance, consistency.
But underneath it all, there’s a bigger lesson.
“These horses have a brain, a heartbeat, a mood. They're not robots. One day they’re perfect. The next they’re fried. That doesn’t mean you force it. You listen. You adjust.”
Sometimes that means walking instead of training. Sometimes it means giving a horse space. And sometimes it means telling a rider: you’re doing too much.
The real flex? Patience.
“Everyone wants the quick fix. The perfect round. But the real flex is knowing when to wait.”
Natasha talks about patience like it’s a superpower. Whether she’s teaching a rider how to stay with the rhythm or waiting for a horse to settle, her method is always the same: slow it down.
“Give yourself a countdown—3, 2, 1—before you ask. That space lets the horse catch up to you. It lets you feel the ride instead of forcing it.”
“If I ever become ‘that’ trainer—slap me.”
She laughs when she says it, but she means it. Natasha built her barn on connection and trust. She knows how easy it is to lose sight of the heart of the sport in an industry that can be all sparkle and ribbons.
“It’s easy to get caught up in the glam—having your horse tacked up for you, walking into the ring polished and perfect. But real horsemanship is in the everyday care. Checking legs. Listening to your horse. Knowing when something’s off.”
What makes a true horse girl?
It’s not the ribbons. It’s not the breeches.
“It’s someone who’s involved. Who knows their horse. Who’s present. Who shows up even when it’s not perfect.”
Why she keeps coming back
“I built this from the ground up. And yeah, it’s my job. But I’d still be here—even on my day off. Checking in. Letting them graze. Being around them makes me better.”
📌 A Few of Natasha’s Truths:
- Best advice for riders: Patience + consistency > everything
- Biggest myth: That horses are machines
- Most underrated skill: Knowing when to just walk
- How to transform your riding: Stay open, be teachable, and keep showing up
- What horses have taught her: You can be kind and have boundaries
- The feeling of riding in one word: Butterflies.