Horses are highly social animals, often forming many strong bonds and friendships over the course of their lifetime. There are clear evolutionary reasons for this, as Dr Claire Ricci-Bonot, a postdoctoral researcher at INRAE (France's National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment), explains.

“It’s important to remember that horses are generally gregarious animals who live within complex social systems,” she says. “For them, the group means safety and survival, so their brains are adapted to seek out partners.”

Social interaction is so important for horses, it’s recognised within the five freedoms of equine welfare.

“We know that developing and maintaining social relationships and hierarchical positions are second only to getting food in what horses do all day, given the opportunity,” says equine behaviour consultant Dr Debbie Marsden.

“This is not surprising as for herd animals like horses, ‘fitting in’ and ‘getting along’ is vital for survival, and a network of established relationships is essential to minimise aggression and conserve energy.”

Given horses are hardwired to rely on social bonds for survival, it’s no wonder they’re picky about their friends.

“Horses living in a group tend to have one to three preferred partners; they often spend a lot of time together and synchronise their activities,” says Claire.

But, as anyone who’s ever tried to integrate a new horse into an existing group knows, predicting where horse friendships will blossom isn’t easy. It’s an area of equine behaviour in which Debbie would like to see more research.

“We don’t know which horses will get along or become friends until we put them together,” she says. “It would be really useful to be able to ‘profile’ or predict this.”

Becky Moody on matchmaking equine neighbours and forming horse friendships

For international dressage rider Becky Moody, giving the horses on her yard the opportunity to socialise is important but requires careful matchmaking.

“It can be difficult to manage on a yard like this, as you have a lot of strong characters in your competition horses!” she says. “So I 100% choose carefully. Some horses, when turned out, are relatively solitary, not bothered about the one that’s next to them, and then others spend the entire time playing with each other.”

When Becky put in round pens for winter turnout, socialising was an important factor in their design.

“The pens are in pairs and we have a low bit between them, so the horses can interact and they do spend a lot of time playing with each other. That was really important to me, that they had that opportunity.”

Lizzie Wray is the yard owner at Shadowmere Equine Retirement Livery, Lincs. Whenever a new horse arrives, she uses their 14-day biosecurity procedure to get to know the horse and their personality, before choosing which she thinks is the most suitable group for them to join.

“We then bring the group we think will be good to the next paddock, and let them get to know each other safely, over the fence,” she says. “Once we’re happy, we’ll introduce the newbie into the herd.”

Even then, she doesn’t take any chances.

“Say we’re introducing a fourth horse to an existing group of three, we always have four members of staff on hand in case it doesn’t work and we need to remove the newbie and rethink.

“We have come across ones that hate each other,” she continues. “We’ve got one mare who just doesn’t like this one gelding – she can’t even look at him, the poor boy is doing nothing to her!”

Lizzie says it can take two or three weeks for a group to settle, but if it’s not working, they’ll try something else.

“If they don’t get on, or it’s not meeting their needs, then we’ll try another group.”

Some horses seem to struggle more socially than others.

“It does seem to be a particular characteristic of the bullied animal, not the bullies, but we don’t know how to assess for it,” says Debbie.

“They may just not be giving out the ‘expected’ social signals, or giving out the wrong ones. And there may be as yet unknown pheromonal signs or some other communication we’re not aware of.”

It’s thought poor social skills stem from the horse’s upbringing and a lack of opportunity to interact at an early age, and Debbie says it’s unclear if this can be corrected in later life.

“We don’t know how to teach or improve these social skills, other than by offering varied social experiences in later years.”

A healthy, well-established equine bond is characterised as much by what we don’t see as what we do, which presents a challenge when trying to study it.

“Simple ‘acceptance’ and ‘tolerance’ is a huge part of equine social behaviour. It’s hard for scientists to measure or investigate ‘nothing happening’,” explains Debbie.

“There is probably a lot more communication and subtle social behaviour going on than we are aware of. One thing we do know is that, once established, these relationships last for a great many years.”

For Lizzie, running a retirement livery means facing the inevitable – having to manage a horse whose close companion has died.

“Horses absolutely grieve,” she confirms. “We had two geldings who were particularly drawn to each other and very happy, but the younger one was sadly riddled with arthritis and had to be put to sleep.

“For two weeks afterwards, the surviving gelding was completely off his food and lethargic. We thought he was going to die of a broken heart, but eventually he quietly slipped into the other herd and they seemed to support him.”

Lizzie is a big advocate of allowing horses to see what’s happening when a horse is euthanised, “So they can process it, and they don’t think, where’s he gone?”

Apart from the unavoidable end of life, Lizzie and her team try not to separate any of the horses on their yard.

“These horses are not out competing,” she points out. “They come in through the gates and don’t leave until it’s time for them to be put to sleep. We don’t turn out or bring in alone, and if a horse is on box rest for some reason, they always have a buddy.”

On a busy competition yard, where horses are constantly coming and going, managing attachments requires careful consideration, as five-star event rider Millie Dumas explains.

“You have to find the right groups of horses to take to a show, for example, and sometimes you have to separate horses so that an attachment doesn’t become a performance issue,” she says. “If you want to get the best out of them, they also have to be happy and content in their home environment. We don’t want stressed horses.”

Separation anxiety in horses – what we know

Separation anxiety is something many owners are aware of, but surprisingly little is actually known about it. In her previous role at the University of Lincoln, Claire undertook a study into owners’ experiences of separation anxiety. The results, based on 88 responses, were published earlier this year.

“More than 90% of the respondents believed they had a horse that had suffered with separation anxiety or knew someone owning a horse who they believed had suffered from separation anxiety,” she says. “However, in the scientific literature, little is known about separation anxiety despite it being commonly discussed in the popular press and by owners.

“Our research demonstrated that it’s more complicated than we might think.”

The research found that how separation anxiety manifests differs from horse to horse. It was observed in different contexts, as it depended on whether the horse was being left behind or was actively leaving, and occurred at different points during the process.

“This was separated into ‘during preparation’ for departure, when ‘actively leaving or being left’, when there is an ‘initial barrier to contact’ and finally when there is a ‘loss of contact’,” Claire explains.

“Moreover, we identified several signs potentially associated with separation anxiety, ranging from increased arousal – for example hypervigilance – to apathy.”

The research concluded that care needs to be taken not to overgeneralise.

Claire also points out that more research is needed on how to prevent separation anxiety occurring.

“There’s no scientific literature on the benefits of training horses through graduated periods of controlled isolation to cope with separation from a companion or group,” she says. “Until we get more data, our recommendations remain ‘best guess’.

“However, gradually training young horses to cope with separation as a preventative measure is advisable.”

For Millie, this training is an important part of a horse’s education. She’s seen first-hand the problems that can occur without it.

“We’ve had liveries in the past, often older horses that have perhaps lived their life with one other horse and gone everywhere together. Because they’ve never been taught to be independent, they’ve become insecure without their companion by their side,” she says.

“We’ve managed these types of horses by making sure that they have the right sort of company next door to them, ones who give off a calm demeanour.

“It’s important to teach horses from a young age gradually to be independent as well as have company, to be able to leave it and come back,” she explains.

“We have a lot of young horses and I think it’s really important they learn that, as well as having that downtime where they can socialise with other horses.”

Becky agrees, and adds that hacking can play a big part in this early training.

“We hack all our young ones a lot, they do always hack in pairs and getting each one to walk in front and be confident makes a big difference to how they are at a competition.”

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Horse feed manufacturer Blue Chip has launched the UK’s first dedicated feed balancer for hormonal mares as part of its established range of super-concentrated balancers. While there are many supplements targeted specifically at “moody mares”, this is the first feed balancer of its kind.

The Happy Mare balancer is formulated specifically to support the nutritional needs of mares, helping them maintain a normal oestrus cycle as undesirable behaviour is often attributed to hormonal fluctuations that affect the mare’s physical comfort and way of going.

The balancer combines targeted botanical ingredients, including chaste tree berry, raspberry leaf and dandelion, with complete daily nutrition to support hormonal balance, digestive health, and overall wellbeing. The ingredients have been chosen to help mares maintain an even temperament and steady energy levels, while supporting muscle tone and topline for good-doers.

The new balancer provides mare owners a practical and easy feeding solution that offers an alternative to adding a supplement to their existing daily feed ration. As a small daily serving, the balancer can also be fed by hand, which makes it ideal for fussy eaters.

Blue Chip describes the formulation as being underpinned by a strong focus on digestive health, recognising its critical role in hormone function, adding that when the gut is out of balance, hormones can be, too. By combining targeted ingredients with the right balance of essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and advanced digestive support, Happy Mare balancer is formulated to help mares feel more consistent, settled and comfortable.

This balancer is not recommended for pregnant mares or broodmares because of its chaste tree berry content.

Blue Chip Happy Mare balancer

The Blue Chip Happy Mare balancer is available in a 3kg recyclable pouch with an RRP of £31.75. This bag will last a 500kg horse one month.

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Best feed balancers for all horses: what’s on the market?

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Horses can smell humans’ fear, a study has found, and its scent and that of other emotions can influence horses’ behaviour.

Research published in scientific journal Plos One found that horses showed “significantly heightened” fear responses and reduced interaction with people when they were exposed to fear-related human odours.

“These results highlight the significance of chemosignals in interspecific interactions and provide insights into questions about the impact of domestication on emotional communication,” the researchers said. “Moreover, these findings have practical implications regarding the significance of handlers’ emotional states and its transmission through odours during human-horse interactions.”

The research team, led by Plotine Jardat, equine welfare and behaviour researcher at the Institut Français du Cheval et de l’Equitation, said that smell is the most common sense by which animals communicate, but human understanding of this is limited.

They cited previous work highlighting the role of sweat produced in human armpits in conveying information about emotional state to other people, and research indicating that dogs respond to human odours linked to fear and stress.

“Mice and cows also appear to discriminate human odours associated with different emotional states,” the researchers state. “But to date the role of olfaction in interspecific interactions remains insufficiently understood.

“The aim of the present study was to further explore the role of emotional olfactory signals in interspecific interactions, and more precisely in human-animal interactions.”

Recognising human expressions

Previous research has found that horses can recognise individual human faces from pictures, and remember them for at least six months, and that they can perceive our emotions, reacting differently to angry and happy expressions.

The researchers recruited 30 human volunteers, who watched horror and “joyful” films on separate days, each time with cotton pads in their armpits. The pads, and others that had not been exposed to any sweat, were held in front of the horses’ nostrils in different situations. The team observed their behaviour and measured their heart rate and levels of stress hormone cortisol in the saliva.

“More than just a reaction to odours, there appears to be an analogy between the emotional state of the donor (human) and that of the receiver (horse),” the researchers said. “Indeed, the observed responses indicate a shift towards a more negative and higher arousal emotional state in horses, consistent with the emotional valence and arousal of the human emitters.

“Our observations suggest that emotional contagion of fear through odours, previously observed among humans, could also occur interspecifically, although these results still need validation from independent studies.”

In conclusion, the researchers said they have shown that human emotional body odours can influence horses’ behaviour and physiology – that horses can smell humans’ fear.

“This highlights the significance of chemosignals in interspecific interactions and provides new insights into questions about the impact of domestication on emotional communication,” they said. “Practical implications include acknowledging the importance of handlers’ emotional state and its potential transmission through chemosignals during human-horse interactions.”

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A new guide on whether to use a whip, and in what way, has been published as part of ongoing attempts to see the world through horses’ eyes – and strengthen our relationship with them.

World Horse Welfare’s guidance, titled “Should I carry or use a whip?” is published today (29 January), the result of years of extensive work.

The aim is to start a conversation on whip use in equestrianism. The message is not that whips are bad; used wrongly, they can cause great harm, but there is a place for them if used correctly, which the guide aims to set out.

Equine vet Janet Douglas, who works with World Horse Welfare, said: “Challenging our own habits and beliefs is never easy but it is important that we start to consider whip use from the horse’s standpoint.

“If we can be brave and open-minded, ask questions of ourselves and others and follow ideas where they lead, the horse-human relationship will almost certainly be better for it.” Read Dr Douglas’s thoughts.

The guide states that the whip is an “optional piece of equipment that, when used correctly, can be an ethically acceptable way to train horses”.

“There may also be times when riders may feel that its use could be helpful in maintaining horse and rider safety,” it states. “However, when used in the wrong way or at the wrong time, a whip can cause a horse to become confused or scared, endangering both horse and rider. And undoubtedly, in uneducated or angry hands, its use can constitute abuse.”

Read the guide in full

The guide aims to encourage people to talk and think about whether they need to carry or use a whip. It explains equine learning theory, and how whip use can align with this in training.

“We’ve talked to a lot of people, from those who don’t think we should be using whips at all, all the way through to those who believe that actually using a whip with force at times is needed, not least for safety, and everyone in-between,” World Horse Welfare CEO Roly Owers told H&H. “Everyone has a perspective and it was really important to understand that.

“The origin of this was very much to simply ask the question: why do people pick up a whip? Because for so many people, it’s an instinctive thing. You’re going for a ride, you pick up the whip. I include myself; I’d feel almost naked if I didn’t have one. So it was: why do we do that? And the other question was: when we use a whip, does the horse understand?”

The key themes that emerged were ensuring that we understand how horses learn, and training them in a way that puts the horse’s experience at the forefront.

The guide explains operant conditioning, the way horses make associations between their actions and the results of these. It explains positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement (pressure and release) and punishment (see box) and asks riders to consider which approach they are taking and what the effects might be.

It then sets out how minimally aversive whip use can be used in training, giving examples of using light pressure, removed as soon as the desired behaviour is shown, and includes a series of questions to ask, to determine whether in any given situation whip use is appropriate or not.

“Very much the intention is to ask the questions, to be a conversation starter,” Mr Owers said. “One key challenge, I think, is that a lot of people think they know how horses learn, but when you start to dig under that, general understanding of how horses learn is not as good as it should be.

“Before you have a view on using a whip, or any aid or equipment, I think that’s a really important basis. It’s widely recognised that horses can get confused; they don’t think like us, and if they don’t understand what’s being asked of them, they can get confused, and that can have real negative consequences.

“So if I am to look through the horse’s eyes, I have to start with ‘how do they learn?’ It’s so important that as a first step, people really commit to understanding that better if they need to.”

Changing rules

Different governing bodies have changed whip rules in recent years; British Showjumping, the Pony Club and British Riding Clubs have all banned use of the whip to discipline or punish, reflecting not only a focus on equine welfare but scientific research that has found such use is ineffective in helping horses learn.

Equine vet and Horse Trust director of equine behaviour Gemma Pearson, who was involved in creating this guide, told H&H she was very impressed by how much work has gone into it.

“It’s not a document saying, ‘Don’t use whips in this scenario,’ it’s about how we should use them,” Dr Pearson said. “I think the whip can be a really valuable tool; it can make things easier for horses, it can make things clearer for horses, the problem is that people have traditionally used it very badly.

“I think first of all, you have to have the knowledge, and I don’t think many people have explained to them how we would use whip taps from a negative reinforcement perspective. And after that, the next thing really is changing that mindset, which is hard if you’ve been brought to believe something different.

“If you’ve been used to using a whip in a certain way for decades, someone saying that’s wrong can feel like a threat to your personal identity, to who you are as a person. I think the mindset change is going to take time, but the nice thing about this document is that it’s not telling people what not to do. It’s giving them options and telling them how to use it.”

Feedback

Mr Owers added that the guide’s publication is a first step; feedback will be taken on board and it will evolve as our understanding of equine learning and behaviour increases. There are other areas for it to expand on, such as safety.

“We absolutely recognise the paramount importance of rider and horse safety, but I think we need to be open when we say we’re using the whip for safety. Is that really the case, and is it really having the impact we think it’s having,” he said.

“We’ve just got to be open to challenging: that may be appropriate on occasion, but really, every time we think about using a whip, we’ve just got to challenge ourselves, and I hope that’s where the decision tree is so helpful.”

To all equestrians, Mr Owers added: “Have a read. Keep an open mind. Challenge yourself on how much you know about equine learning and how horses learn and commit to a better understanding. With that knowledge, take the guidance and each time you think about the whip, think about that framework of questions.

“At first it’s quite a laborious process, but like anything, it will become natural. As equestrians, we’re making decisions the whole time, and it’s so important those decisions are as informed as possible. Hopefully this guidance, this discussion and the questions we raise in the guidance, will really help people make better informed decisions about whip use, and improve their relationship with their horses.”

What do you think of this guide? Please write to us at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine.

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news from major shows throughout 2026, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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The owner of a pony who was the subject of a loss-of-use insurance payout as he was deemed too dangerous to ride wants to share his story to show how “the right understanding, management, and partnership can transform a horse’s life”.

Astynn Cadman only bought Connemara Blue last summer because she was worried about what might become of him, or to any children who might ride him in future. The pair are now out trail-hunting and team chasing, and Blue is “keen, genuine and absolutely loving it”.

“I’ve had horses my whole life, and I’ve never met a horse like him,” Astynn told H&H. “He is absolutely incredible.”

Astynn said everyone who rode Blue in his previous home was coming off and that when extensive veterinary checks found no issues, he was the subject of a loss-of-use payout as he was seen as too dangerous to ride.

“He was bucking, rearing, lunging at you, being bolshy on the floor, walking through you,” she said.

“I saw the previous owner’s post on Facebook; she was very honest about all his issues and I’m one of those psychotic horse women who thought ‘I can change him’. I’d really lost my confidence on my horse; I’d had quite a few bad falls, and I just wanted something I could spend all day and every day with, to just enjoy and just be my happy-go-lucky, fun horse.

“And I was worried about what would happen if I didn’t try. I decided to take a chance on him and honestly, it’s the best chance I’ve ever taken.”

Blue arrived at the start of July last year, and it was not the most auspicious beginning.

“Everybody, because everyone was here when he arrived, was saying ‘What the hell have you bought?’” Astynn said.

“On the ground, he was really nervous and under saddle – the first time I got on him, I ended up over his ears. We took him in the school, and the first thing he did was try to throw everybody off. I was thinking ‘What have I got myself into?’ Every ride, it seemed you put your leg over and ended up on the other side.”

Astynn said she is surrounded by people who have extensive experience in backing horses so after an array of veterinary checks, they went back to basics, spending weeks re-backing long-reining and working from the ground.

“I’d say by November, he was a nice rideable horse,” she said.

“We took him team-chasing and being able to run with a team, no one holding on to him, that’s what clicked for him, he was a different horse. He went that first time, then he did the whole season, and it’s changed his life. He’s so mannerly; we have children who now take him out hunting too.”

And the process helped Astynn as much as it did Blue; she had lost confidence from falls from her bigger mare, who turned out to have discomfort that has now been treated. So going back to basics and building the relationship meant they made progress together.

“He’s brought all my confidence back and it’s been amazing,” Astynn said.

“He hunts every week, he team-chases at intermediate level – if he was taller, we’d open team-chase him but unfortunately, he doesn’t meet the height requirement – and he’s running in a couple of hunt scurries in the next couple of weeks.

“He’s a once in a lifetime animal; he feels like an absolute machine. He’s 14.2hh so you’re riding him into these hedges about 1.40m and there’s this ping, and you’re over the other side. I don’t think anything matches it, in my opinion. He’s absolutely incredible.”

Astynn said seeing Blue go from what he was to a pony enjoying what he does so much has been very rewarding, and she believes Blue’s story shows what can be possible.

“They can be hope,” she said. “I didn’t know what it meant if they’re loss of use. Horses aren’t nasty creatures; if they’re lashing out, it’s normally to try to tell you something, so you don’t know if they’re lame or have back problems. With him, he can’t be insured now due to his behaviour, but he’s still so physically capable, yeah and if somebody was to meet him now, they’d say ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

“He’s here for life now. Other people’s children now come and steal him, and I’ve never been so happy. Other people are riding your horse, and I think ‘You’re like that because I managed to change you and that 10-year-old kid’s going for a hack down the lane, and is safe’. It’s incredible.”

Astynn’s aim for this year is to contest working hunter Horse of the Year Show qualifiers.

“That’s the dream,” she said.

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

The story of a North American beaver who went from repetitively pawing glass to successfully building dams could have repercussions for the way we keep our horses.

Rick Hester, director of animal care and wellbeing at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado, was among the speakers at the 2025 World Horse Welfare conference (21 November), the theme of which was “Through the horse’s eyes”.

Mr Hester, who has spoken at the International Society for Equitation Science conference, told guests it is clear the zoo and equestrian worlds “have a shared goal of improving the lives of the animals in our care through a compassionate science application”.

“I hope that this crossover continues, and I’m excited to see where it might lead us,” he said.

Mr Hester explained that to understand behaviour, we have to “know what the genes are doing, what the brain is doing and what the environment is doing”. He added that his role considers species’ natural history and behaviour, considering the role of the animals’ environment.

“When we behave, the environment changes too,” he said. “It’s like casting a stone into water, there’s a ripple. The environment responds; individuals act upon the world and change it and are changed in turn by the consequences of their actions. There’s this transaction, this interaction, exchange, between our behaviour and the world around us. And that’s what’s meant by the term operant behaviour. We’re talking about learned behaviour, the result of experience where the organism is an operator, they act on their world.

“So what does it look like? What does behaviour look like when an environment is lacking? An environment is insufficient when it lacks diversity, variety and variability, and similarly, a behavioural repertoire is insufficient when it lacks diversity, variety and variability.”

Repetitive pawing

Mr Hester showed footage of a beaver who, as seen on video camera, spent two to four hours a night repetitively pawing a pane of glass bordering her enclosure.

“We see in this way how behaviour and environment mirror one another,” he said. “She is not in a diverse environment, so she doesn’t perform a diverse repertoire.

“We call patterns of behaviour like this stereotypic. We’re talking about a narrowness, a lot of one thing. The problem is not inside the animal, the problem is inside this animal’s environment, so we change conditions, we change the environment to change behaviour.”

Mr Hester said that the zoo team provides elements to ensure each environment is responsive to changes resulting from operant behaviour. He cited a 1996 research paper that identified free operant freedoms, which guide engineering of environments.

“The first is the freedom to initiate, to start, stop, start over and skip an activity,” he said. “If I were to put an asterisk on one of these freedoms, it would be on this one. In the wild environment, animals are always free to initiate behaving for reinforcers [meaningful outcomes of behaviour].

“The second is the freedom to repeat responses, then to form responses, to inventively select what you do, and to self-pace. So what does this look like from a practical point of view?

“There are four criteria that help us improve engagement. We try to design environments where the resources the reinforcers are slow to deplete, to satiate or we’ve come in with a strong enough dose, there’s enough reinforcers present in the environment to be meaningful. And where there is some intermittence, the animal doesn’t succeed on every attempt, just like in the wild environment, they learn to be persistent problem solvers.”

Studying the wild animal

Mr Hester said that when trying to identify any species’ reinforcers, it is key to ask those who have studied them in the wild.

“If you ask that question for North American beaver, you tend to get these answers that they will be where there’s running water, abundant vegetation and manipulable substrates, dirt or mud,” he said. “So that’s what we provided for these beavers.”

The zoo could not provide running water in the beavers’ enclosure but having seen research that found the sound of running water alone had encouraged beavers to build dams, they provided a recording. They provided abundant branches and vegetation and, having seen one beaver digging in a particular place, moved the speaker to the same spot.

“They began building a dam there that night,” Mr Hester said.

There was no more pawing of glass and within a week, the beaver who had been pawing had refined her dam-building skills. A year later, the pawing had not returned.

“Here, we ask what reinforcers do we want animals behaving to get,” Mr Hester said. “Our focus is on the reinforcer, when we put those in the environment, behaviour will emerge to control them.

“How do we make environments responsive to animals? How will those reinforcers depend on their behaviour? When we map out the answers to those questions, we’re on the road to freeing up the operant and a more enriching lifestyle for the animals in our care.”

Translating to the horse world

Asked if this would translate to horses, Mr Hester said he is confident it is applicable.

“Behaviour is this uniting principle on the planet, so it has cross-species relevance that’s very exciting,” he said. “I’d start by looking at what horses do in the wild; what choices do they make in environments where their choices are maximal?

“I work with a conservationist named Michael Brown, and he calls the wild environment a decision landscape; it’s full of choices, but species make relatively predictable choices.”

Mr Hester said in the day’s other presentations, he’d seen video of horses in a diverse environment, including water holes, dust baths and play with other members of the herd.

“What are those features of the environment?” he said “That’s where I would begin, and when you put them in, then you stand back and watch; watch animals learn how to control those outcomes, and it often requires a few revisions.

“As you see the animals interact, like the location of the running water sound, we had to make a revision in order for that to work.”

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news from major shows throughout 2025, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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Hay feeders, mirrors and activity balls can improve horses’ time in the stable, research has shown.

In a study published in Animals, US researchers assessed the physiological and behavioural responses of nine stabled horses to hay feeders, mirrors and activity balls, provided in addition to their usual bucket feed and hay fed from the ground.

The results showed that enrichment increased heart rate, foraging and locomotion and that overall, horses performed more “species-typical time budgets”.

“The hay feeder, activity ball and mirror appeared equally engaging, so we concluded that both edible and non-edible items can be effective enrichment,” lead author Miranda Brauns of the University California Davis told H&H.

“Additionally, enrichment decreased frustration behaviours, so we suggest that horses responded to enrichment with a positive emotional state, although additional research involving judgment bias testing is needed to more definitively conclude horses’ emotional states.”

Ms Brauns said the aim was to improve understanding so we can “better utilise enrichment as a welfare tool, particularly for horses who may spend sizeable time in a stable setting”.

“Enrichment effects on horses have been studied before, but there is very limited research that analyses both physiological and behavioural components. There is also limited research that compares multiple items within the same study. Therefore, our research incorporated these variables so we may obtain a more comprehensive understanding of enrichment,” said Ms Brauns.

“This study gives evidence that providing enrichment has a positive effect on physiology and behaviour, so it is strongly recommended to improve the overall welfare of stabled horses. We also found a time-of-day effect, so we recommend providing enrichment during times when horses do not have daily meal provisions.

“Individual horses may respond to enrichment in different ways, so horse owners are encouraged to try different enrichments to see what works best for their horse.”

In the study, the horses’ had at least one and a half hours of training and 30 minutes of turnout per day. H&H asked Ms Brauns if she felt the results might be different with increased turnout.

“I would hypothesise that results would be different if turnout time was greater. This is supported by enrichment studies that tested in larger paddocks and had differing results to ours,” she said.

“For example, Benhajali et al. 2009 saw a decrease in locomotion with enrichment whereas we saw an increase. Even if testing remained in stalls, a greater time in turnout may change how horses behave while in their stalls, due to the fact that turnout can be considered a form of enrichment itself. Therefore, this would be another interesting question future research could undertake.”

• Read the full study

World Horse Welfare director of UK welfare Malcolm Morley said the charity always recommends that people turn out their horses as much as possible.

“It’s really important to provide horses with the three Fs – friends, forage and freedom. Nothing replaces regular turnout with companions,” he told H&H. “However, if a horse has to be stabled, they should ideally have continuous access to forage, supplemented by a variety of forms of enrichment that may help them cope, so it’s great to have some evidence to support this in the form of this study.

“As ever, we’d urge owners to treat all horses as individuals and try out several different types of enrichment and ways to provide forage to see what their own horse prefers – our farms have seen some quite distinct preferences when trialling this with our horses. More research on longer-term impacts and with larger groups of horses would be welcomed.”

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news from major shows throughout 2025, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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Horses may learn socially by “eavesdropping” on human behaviour, a study has found.

A team of researchers from universities in Germany and Scotland concluded that horses may change their feeding strategies having witnessed human-to-human demonstrations, even if the demonstrators are not present.

The pilot study, led by zoologist and behaviour researcher Konstanze Krueger, involved 17 horses, aged four to 28, at five private yards. The horses were allowed to watch a human participant take pieces of carrot from two buckets; when taking it from one, another human would convey approval as they would to a horse, using body language and a firm “no” or similar. When they took it from the other bucket, the other human would convey disapproval, also via stance and tone of voice. The horses watched this six times, then were allowed back in to choose which bucket to feed from. They had previously become used to eating from both buckets in the test area.

“In this study, 12 of 17 horses significantly changed their preference for a feeding location after observing approval in a human-human interaction there,” the researchers said.

The horses involved were kept differently; 14 lived in “social housing”, in open stabling, three in individual housing, two in “paddock boxes” and one in a single box with turnout.

The team found that those kept in social housing adapted in a higher percentage of trials to human-human demonstrations than those in individual housing.

“This indicates, for the first time, that some animals change their feeding strategies after eavesdropping on human-human demonstrations and that this adaptation may be dependent on social experience,” the team said. Some of the demonstrators were more familiar to the horses than others, and some had more impact on the horses’ performance than others.

“Future research should further investigate the durability of this preference change in the absence of repeated demonstrations, and establish whether long-term social learning sets in. This would have important implications for unintentional long-term impacts of human interactions on interspecies communication.”

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news from major shows throughout 2025, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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Everyone knows a “moody mare” – whether their hormones are causing them to be difficult to handle, ride or train, or are interfering with a broodmare’s natural breeding cycle, it can present a real challenge. But this is something that the best supplements for moody mares can often help with.

The length of a mare’s natural breeding season varies, but it typically starts around March/April each year, so early spring is a great time to begin supplementing to encourage regularity, reduce unpredictability and support more consistent behaviour, which will in turn lead to improved performance and a happier horse.

Supplements for moody mares: what are your options?

Here is a selection of the best supplements for moody mares that are currently available, including the manufacturers’ descriptions of their products…

NB: Cost per day has been calculated using the maintenance measure for a 500kg horse in light work (where there was variation) and the RRP of the smallest available tub. Some products require you to feed more in certain situations or a loading dose, which will increase the cost per daily measure, while buying a larger tub will likely decrease it – these costs per day are a guide only.

Dodson & Horrell Stroppy Mare

Form: Powder

Sizes: 1kg

RRP: £18.78 for 1kg

Daily measure: 30g

Cost per day: £0.56

A comforting blend for a hormonal mare that includes herbs that support hormonal function and the reproductive system, as well as having calming properties.

NAF Five Star Oestress

Form: Liquid

Sizes: 1l, 2l, 5l

RRP: £39.99 for 1l

Daily measure: 25–50ml

Cost per day: £1.00–2.00

This supplement compliments the natural oestrus cycle by encouraging regularity and supporting hormone balance. Also available as a powder.

Equine America No More Moods

Form: Liquid

Sizes: 1l

RRP: £25.99

Daily measure: 15–30ml

Cost per day: From £0.39

This supplement contains micronutrients that help to balance hormones, contribute to relieving muscle tension and support a calm mare.

Premier Performance Sassy Mare Plus

Form: Powder

Sizes: 480g, 960g, 1.3kg, 1.92kg, 3.84kg, 9.6kg

RRP: £26.25 for 480g

Daily measure: 16–32g

Cost per day: £0.85–1.75

Formulated with a specific blend of herbs, minerals, vitamins and amino acids to support hormonal balance, wellbeing and overall calmness.

Equine Products UK Mood Balancer

Form: Liquid

Sizes: 1l

RRP: £28

Daily measure: 30ml

Cost per day: £0.84

Designed to maintain normal behaviour and temperament so that performance doesn’t suffer.

Global Herbs FriskyMare Plus

Form: Powder

Sizes: 1kg, 5kg

RRP: £43.50 for 1kg

Daily measure: 25g

Cost per day: £1.09

A mix of traditional calming herbs that help manage the behaviours and comfort of cycling mares, reducing unpredictability and aggression caused by hormone levels.

EquiNutritive Moody Madam

Form: Powder

Sizes: 1kg, 3kg

RRP: £45.99 for 1kg

Daily measure: 30g

Cost per day: £1.38

This natural mare supplement is a carefully cultivated mix of seven dried herbs combined to maintain hormone balance and support your mare through her season.

Science Supplements HormonAid

Form: Powder

Sizes: 1.55kg

RRP: £44.99

Daily measure: 51g

Cost per day: £1.19

Designed to work alongside the natural cycle of the mare, this supplement helps to relieve tension and support a more amenable demeanour. It contains vitex agnus-castus extract, which helps to ease transitions through the oestrus cycle, selected herbs that encourage a stable mood, vitamins that promote a good mental attitude and magnesium, which helps to ease hormone associated muscle cramps or tenderness.

Hilton Herbs Easy Mare

Form: Liquid

Sizes: 1l, 3l, 5l

RRP: £32.95 for 1l

Daily measure: 25ml

Cost per day: £0.82

This supplement contains medical grade herbs selected to help support a balanced hormonal system and offer mares comfort during their seasons.

Cavalor Venus

Form: Liquid

Sizes: 500ml, 2l

RRP: £42 for 500ml

Daily measure: 20ml

Cost per day: £1.68

A herbal extract that supports the hormonal balance in sensitive and moody mares by helping to regulate the hormonal cycle.

Omega Agnus Castus

Form: Powder

Sizes: 1kg, 3kg

RRP: £14.99 for 1kg

Daily measure: 30g

Cost per day: £0.45

Agnus castus is linked to supporting a healthy pituitary gland and endocrine system. This allows horses to healthily self-regulate their metabolism, growth, reproductive system and response to stress. It’s also a powerful antioxidant that contains compounds that ease stress and low mood.

How to choose the best supplement for moody mares

Most hormonal supplements for mares are made of a combination of a range of herbs that are known for their regulating and calming properties. They are available in both liquid and powder form. Your horse may have a preference to one over another, you need to make sure your horse is receiving the recommended dose or they won’t receive the benefit.

We’ve calculated the daily cost of all the supplements featured in this guide to help you compare them easily. To make it as comparable as possible, we’ve used the smallest tubs available, but if you’re better off buying a larger volume of supplement if you can as the daily cost can become significantly lower.

If you compete with your horse then it is important you make sure any supplements you use do not contain any prohibited substances.

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We have previously discussed the first two levels of learning theory, which is the laws that govern how all animals learn. These were level one, association and sensitisation; and level two, classical conditioning – predicting what will happen next. The third level is operant conditioning, which can be used to great effect in training desired behaviour.

When we use classical conditioning to train our horses, our primary aim is to change the animal’s emotional response to a stimulus, so that consequently their behaviour changes.

In contrast when we train using level three, or operant conditioning, our aim is to change their behaviour and, if done well, consequently their emotional state will change.

What is operant conditioning?

Operant conditioning – the third level of learning – can be summarised as rewards and consequences. This is how horses learn what to do (and not do) to make life enjoyable.

The terminology is initially confusing (see diagram, below), but essentially the words positive and negative mean addition or subtraction of something – as in the mathematical rather than emotional sense.

Reinforcement means making a behaviour more likely, while punishment means they are less likely to offer that behaviour again in the future.

Positive reinforcement

The most common form of positive reinforcement we see would be clicker training. Because horses have a short short-term memory, the click is used to tell the horse the exact timing of the behaviour you want – perfect timing is very important in training.

The click is always followed by a reward; this might be food, but could also be a nice scratch. The horse will then offer the same behaviour again to get more of what they like – food or scratches. Over time we can train more complex behaviours.

Positive reinforcement training is an excellent way to retrain horses that are fearful because they make positive associations with learning to be brave. But it is also a great tool for teaching pretty much anything, from getting better steps in piaffe to moving in the desired frame on the lunge.

Negative reinforcement

Better known as pressure and release, this is the foundation of most of our ridden training. Negative (removal of pressure) reinforcement rewards the correct response so the horse wants to offer that behaviour again.

If we apply gentle pressure to both reins, the horse should slow down and by releasing the pressure on the rein the horse knows that slowing down was the correct response. To put it another way, slowing down makes the mildly uncomfortable rein pressure go away.

Key aspects of negative reinforcement are the timing of the release and carefully shaping the desired behaviour.

How can we use it?

Rein-back is a movement that many riders struggle to train. Pulling on the reins can result in a horse hollowing its back, and so people often teach rein-back with leg cues. But this is confusing for horses; instead, keep things simple – rein pressure elicits backwards movement/deceleration, and leg cues elicit moving forwards.

On the ground apply light backwards pressure to the reins. As soon as the horse starts to take a single step back, release the pressure and give a scratch. Once this reaction is established, you can transfer the technique to the saddle.

When riding, apply light backwards pressure on the rein from halt. Most horses will recognise this pressure and take a step back. The crucial thing is to release the rein pressure as soon as a foreleg starts to move backwards. If they don’t move back from light pressure, have a friend assist from the ground by applying light pressure to the horse’s chest.

After a few repetitions the horse should have learnt that they need to step back to make the rein pressure stop. So they should step back immediately and lightly from light rein pressure.

You know it is trained well if the head and neck position does not alter. If it does, this means that the release of pressure has been associated with changes in head and neck position rather than just leg movements. Work on your timing of release more carefully to train rein-back rather than raising of the head.

Only once the horse steps back immediately from light pressure, without altering the head and neck posture, should you start to ask for more than one step.

Now you can classically condition the response by starting with a postural cue (legs back) before cueing backwards with a light rein aid. When you come to ask in a test your rein-back will look harmonious.

No more nagging

If we squeeze with the leg, a trained horse knows to move from halt to walk to release the leg pressure. But if we then fall into the trap of nagging with the leg to keep the horse moving forwards, we are training the horse to ignore that level of leg pressure – they don’t know how to make the leg pressure stop, so instead habituate to it.

It would be better to allow a lazy horse to slow, then use a leg cue to ask for trot, release as soon as they trot (so they can remove the leg cue) and after a few steps bring them back to a walk. This walk will normally be more forward-going.

If they slow again, push for a few strides of trot again. You will find after several repetitions the horse remains more forward in the walk without a nagging leg.

What not to do in operant conditioning

Punishment means achieving the reduction of or cessation in behaviour over time through the addition (positive) of something aversive or removal (negative) of something nice.

Punishment really has no place in training as it is often associated with fear, pain or both. Furthermore, one of the main problems with punishment is that it is telling a horse what not to do; a better way to solve problems is to train the response you do want instead.

For example, if a horse is rearing does this happen because the rider is trying to hold the horse slower than they want to go or in reaction to the rider’s leg? If the former, retrain them to slow from light rein pressure, then maintain self-carriage; if the latter, retrain them to go forwards from a light leg cue.

If, however, the rearing happens unpredictably or they do not respond to retraining, then it is almost inevitably due to pain and you should seek veterinary advice.

In none of these scenarios would punishment be appropriate.

Keep calm and clicker train

Does clicker training lead to mugging (grabbing treats)? What if the horse becomes too excited?

We always start training horses to “look away” for a click and food. Then, once established, “click for calm” so they learn to be calm and relaxed when training with food. This is important because as a species, horses are predisposed to become frustrated (often confused with excitement) when food is used in training.

To train to look away for food, start with a bum bag with a low-value food in it – chaff or fibre pencils work well. Avoid high-value foods like carrots or treats as these can easily result in frustration.

Stand on the other side of a stable door and give your horse a small bit of food – they will usually start to nuzzle you for more. Stand still and do nothing until your horse stops nuzzling and moves their muzzle slightly away – as the muzzle starts to move away click and then reinforce by giving the food. If you think you might get bitten, stand just out of reach.

After a few repetitions your horse will learn to move their muzzle away from you to get a click (which is always followed by food). Slowly build up to clicking when their head and neck are still and in a straight line from their body, and then when you see any evidence of relaxation – dropping the head slightly or softening of the eye, for example.

In a few sessions you will have a horse who automatically chooses to stand calmly when they see you have food.

You can see an example of starting to train “look away for food”, as well as other aspects of operant conditioning, on the YouTube Don’t break your vet series – simply search the site for “Don’t break your vet”.

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To be an effective horse trainer and rider, we must endeavour to understand how horses learn, and to work within that framework. In the first part of this series on the theory of horses’ learning processes, we examined the first level – non-associative learning. After this comes classical conditioning and operant conditioning. In this article, we will look at classical conditioning for horses, the second level of learning.

What is classical conditioning for horses?

Most people are familiar with the story of Pavlov’s dogs. Pavlov was a Russian scientist who rang a bell and then fed the dogs in his experiment. It did not take long before the dogs would start to salivate and wag their tails when they heard the bell, even though no food was present.

Classical conditioning is all about predicting what will happen next because the order of events is always the same. Classical conditioning results in an emotional state being triggered by a previously neutral stimulus – once trained, Pavlov’s dogs became excited when they heard the bell because it predicted food.

Another key aspect to understand is that the neutral stimulus (in that case, the bell) has to be presented before the innate reinforcer (the food). If the bell was rung after the food, or even at the same time as food was presented, the effect would not be the same.

We can use classical conditioning as part of good training, but we should also be aware of where it causes us problems.

How can we use it?

One way is always to give a postural cue immediately before an aid from the leg or hand, such as slowing your rising in trot before asking for a downwards transition. You will be surprised how quickly your horse learns to respond to the postural cue alone – getting you top marks for harmony.

We can also use this phenomenon to introduce horses to novel stimuli. If you have a young horse you can stand them near to other horses who are being shod and associate this with something nice like a mineral lick or getting stuck into their favourite scratchy spots.

You have to stand far enough away that they can remain calm and enjoy the experience, but if you always present something nice when farriers start working then the arrival of a farrier will have the same effect as Pavlov’s bell – and you will have a happy, relaxed horse who will less likely to be concerned about their first set of shoes.

When does it cause us problems?

Perhaps you have a horse who lacks confidence to jump a filler. If the horse is put under pressure every time they approach a filler (by leg, voice or whip) they will start to associate the sight of a filler with increased pressure from the rider.

As a human we have the cognitive capacity to understand that if they jump it they won’t be put under pressure. But horses can’t rationalise thoughts like these. So instead, they see the filler, which triggers negative emotions like fear and anxiety and so they, understandably, want to avoid it.

Instead, it is better to help the horse form positive associations with fillers so they become more confident. This might start with walking towards one, stopping before they get too close and become fearful, letting them stand and then giving them a scratch, then repeating this several times. Now approaching the filler predicts a reduction in pressure and the possibility for a positive experience (the scratch).

Once they are confident try walking then trotting between two fillers with a wide gap that you gradually make smaller – remember to keep it easy, the aim is that the sight of the filler elicits positive emotions and not negative ones.

You could even jump over several other fences before trotting between the fillers and then bring the horse back to walk on a long rein for a minute on the other side. Approaching the filler now predicts a break in training and the horse will be actively wanting to take you to it. At this point the gap is probably that small that they are jumping the filler.

To counteract the risk that the horse will learn to stop after a filler, once you have them confident to jump it and they are drawing you to it, pop the filler and then ask for a circle in canter before coming back to walk. Build up to where they jump it and look for the next question.

If you have trained this well it will become their favourite jump!

Case study for classical conditioning: overcoming clipper fear

A teenage cob mare was the perfect horse for her owner, apart from her aversion to clippers. Even when sedated she became dangerous to clip. In this scenario the clippers elicited a fear response that overrode the sedation.

We started by turning on some human beard clippers, giving her a handful of chaff and turning them off again. The noise was below the threshold that elicited a fear response and the sound soon began to predict food. Gradually the beard clippers were brought closer and then rubbed on her body, turning them on was still always followed by food.

The same process was repeated with small and eventually large clippers. Anyone watching would have found the process boring as she remained calm throughout – a sign of good training. Now she stands with no sedation to be clipped all over.

We’ve now covered non-associative learning and classical conditioning as two important levels in the theory of how horses learn. The next and final part of this series will address operant conditioning – or, in layman’s term, rewards and consequences.

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

How horses learn is integral to how we work with them. It is stating the obvious to say that we need to understand the processes through which horses learn to be able to train them effectively. Yet, multiple studies have shown that an understanding of the basic “nuts and bolts” of how horses learn is lacking in many professional and amateur equestrians alike.

Learning theory describes the processes through which horses learn, and is split into different levels of complexity. The first three levels are the most important for horse training:

• non-associative learning
• classical conditioning
• operant conditioning.

You may be familiar with other words around this area of learning theory, such as desensitisation, sensitisation, imprinting, habituation, overshadowing and more. In this series, we’re going to look at each of these levels of learning theory, one by one, beginning with non-associative learning.

How horses learn: non-associative learning

When a horse encounters a stimulus repeatedly, they either habituate – that is, get used to it – or become sensitised, which is when they become more likely to react to it. What people often don’t realise is that which one occurs depends on the horse’s perception of the potential for it to cause them harm, not whether the threat is real or not.

This might sound silly – surely a horse will get used to things that don’t hurt it? But consider how many people fear spiders, and how many of them have actually been harmed by one? Realistically spiders are no threat to us – at least, not in the UK – yet they still elicit a fear response in many people. The sight of a spider triggers a reaction in the amygdala – the fear centre in the brain – and this memory of fear is then stored for next time.

So the next time your horse is scared of something you think they shouldn’t be, don’t get frustrated. Instead focus on training them to be confident and you will find they get braver over time. In future articles we will address how to do this.

A complex balance of habituation and sensitisation

Both sensitisation and habituation are important when training horses. Consider that we expect horses to habituate to contact via the bit, or a rider’s leg against their sides. Yet at the same time we expect them to be sensitive to an aid and respond immediately – the only difference is the amount of pressure and the direction in which it is applied.

This knowledge should motivate riders always to work on having an independent seat, to allow a clear differentiation between light and consistent contact versus an aid. In contrast the more novice rider may sometimes be using the hand or leg as an aid, and other times the same amount of pressure is applied because they lost their balance – no wonder some horses become confused.

Similarly, we expect showjumpers to habituate to all the sensory information they might be exposed to at an international show, including “spooky” fences, yet at the same time remain reactive enough to become sensitised if they touch a pole.

Our job is to help the horse assess and balance those demands. Again, understanding training in more depth is important to navigate this complexity.

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Training techniques used in zoos could have benefits in the horse world, as owners are encouraged to consider whether their horse is an active participant in what is being asked of them.

“Cooperative care” was the topic of a World Horse Welfare webinar on 29 January, featuring zookeeper and equine behaviourist Barbara Dreyer, and equine behaviourist Samantha Couper.

Ms Dreyer explained that “cooperative care” is training animals using positive reinforcement to willingly participate in their own care and husbandry tasks, including grooming, hoof care and medical examinations.

“Rather than using force or restraint, animals are taught behaviours that allow them to stay calm and engaged during these procedures,” she said.

“It’s all about choice and trust – the animal learns that participating leads to positive experiences, and they always have the option to say no. This reduces stress for both the animal and the handler, making care safer and more efficient.”

Cooperative care has been used in zoos since the 1980s, starting with marine mammals and extending to animals including bears, big cats and hippos. “Target” and “recall” training are used for activities, such as encouraging movement or to come in and out of an enclosure. Ms Dreyer has trained eastern black rhinos to accept blood-testing and Grévy’s zebra to accept worming treatments using these methods.

Ms Dreyer said cooperative care can be used in the horse world to help with medical procedures, standing still, hoof care, clipping and loading. She advises owners starting out to ensure that horses’ everyday routines are stress-free and remain consistent, to create a comprehensive training plan and to be prepared to take a step back when things do not go to plan.

“You can’t train a stressed animal,” she said, adding that there will be days when a horse does not want to participate.

“And that’s OK – they have to have the right to say no,” she said. “You have to work with the horse you have in front of you, not the one you had yesterday or the one you want. The more you give them the choice to say no, the less they will do it.”

Ms Couper gave an example of cooperative care helping a “feral” horse under her care who had sustained an eye injury. Training resulted in his accepting treatment.

“We took something that was going to be stressful and dangerous to a thing the horse actively enjoyed, and from then on he was much easier to catch,” she said.

In a question-and-answer session, Ms Couper addressed horses’ continuously seeking treats from their owners during cooperative care training.

“One of the first things we need to do is teach the horse what is actually getting the food. Those behaviours where they start searching, and they get muggy and bite, or they get frustrated, are occurring because the horse doesn’t understand how the food is being obtained. Once they understand that if you set up the foundation really well, you shouldn’t see those behaviours.

“If you’re seeing them, it’s an indication that either you’re not being clear or you might be seeing frustration with the process, and you might need to break it down further. If done properly, that behaviour should not occur.”

It was asked whether cooperative care can still apply when dealing with emergencies, and it was agreed that animal welfare should always come first. But Ms Couper said that when working with horses, she will try to train them for “as many scenarios as possible” so when situations occur, they are prepared for them.

Ms Couper said the take-home message is for owners to try to find ways to give their horses opportunities to have more control in deciding whether to engage.

“Even if you’re not doing cooperative care directly, figure out what your horses are searching for and try to meet them so that you stay away from those bigger behaviours, and try and make both of you more happy,” she said.

Ms Couper said the “cooperative care skill set” is still growing in the equine community and it can be difficult to find local trainers. But she said that owners can find support and resources online, including courses through the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants.

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A link between continual mouth opening and the presence of oral lesions has been identified in dressage horses.

A Danish study, published in October and presented at the International Society for Equitation Science 2024 conference, aimed to investigate if horses competing at upper national level with oral lesions differed in behaviour compared to horses without lesions.

The research was based on data collected at a routine, but unannounced, inspection of 11 randomly selected horses’ mouths immediately after an intermediate I class at a national competition. Five of the 11 had “abrasion of the skin and/or mucosa” at one or both corners, and were eliminated from the competition.

The inspections were carried out by the federation’s then veterinary consultant and the study’s co-author Mette Uldahl, who has since joined Animal Protection Denmark as chief consultant.

Co-researcher Janne Winther Christensen, who was unaware of the outcome of the oral inspection, analysed the behaviour of the horses from footage of the competition to record mouth opening, tail swishing, breaking of gait, head movements and hyper-reactive behaviour.

It was found that the frequency of mouth opening ranged from five to 59 times in the 11 horses, and horses with lesions had a “significantly higher frequency” of mouth opening compared to those without lesions. The frequency of other behaviours did not significantly differ between the groups.

Ms Winther Christensen told H&H the five horses with lesions were given high scores by the judges and some would have been placed had they not been eliminated.

“We know that the most frequently observed conflict behaviours in dressage horses are mouth opening and tail swishing, and it appears that horses can show a lot of these behaviours and still win,” said Ms Winther Christensen, adding that this is “concerning”.

Ms Winther Christensen added that it is difficult to know if the riders were aware of the lesions beforehand, but said they were not new – and lesions are “fairly simple to see in horses by looking at the mouth”.

“Usually lesions are pressure wounds that develop over time, they don’t happen suddenly. Even if riders have someone who tacks up their horse, it is still their responsibility to check that the horse is OK,” she said.

Ms Udahl said this research is part of a portfolio of work she has been carrying out on oral lesions since 2014, with the aim of developing future protocols.

“Of the thousands of horses I’ve examined over the years, there has never been one horse with an acute bleeding lesion – they have all been chronic pressure wounds, where the horse leans too heavily on the bit as a strategy to solve something else,” she said.

“Our research is focused on mapping the horse language and we need to be more observant, what do they tell us? If we can predict a link between oral lesions and mouth opening, then it’s better to eliminate riders before they start and for them to figure out what is the key to the problem.

“There’s no doubt that there is a lot of work to be done and at top-level competitions we need to acknowledge the behaviour of these horses. We don’t do this work to blame individuals, we do it to understand what is going on and to ensure that at governance level we can protect horses by being knowledgeable of human nature, and build the sport so that the incentive to ride horses with oral lesions is not there any longer.”

A Danish equestrian federation spokesperson told H&H the findings from the study, which was conducted in 2022, made it a “top priority” for the federation to conduct further inspections across all levels in dressage competitions, before horses enter the arena rather than after.

The spokesperson said this change in approach since the study has “significantly reduced” the occurrence of oral lesions identified; from 659 inspections in 2023, 11 horses were eliminated, and of 1,689 inspections in 2024, 37 horses were eliminated.

“In percentage terms, the proportion of horses eliminated during horse inspections is now below 2.5%. That is still too much, but it is an improvement from the first initial inspections,” he said.

“The goal is to have no horse eliminated due to welfare concerns. From the 2024 inspections the horses eliminated were entered by amateurs and in competitions medium level and below.”

The spokesperson said the federation is “committed to advancing horse welfare at all levels” and as new knowledge is gained, the federation “continuously” updates its rules to align with this.

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Have you ever stopped and thought about how you reward your horse for good behaviour – and in what way that can influence how horses learn and behave in the future?

“Operant conditioning is how horses learn to operate within their environment and it’s really important to how we train horses,” says Dr Gemma Pearson, a qualified equine veterinary behaviourist who is director of equine behaviour for The Horse Trust.

The first aspect of operant conditioning is positive reinforcement.

“This is positive in the mathematical sense – the addition of something to reinforce behaviour, so that behaviour is repeated over time,” says Gemma. “This is the basis of clicker training, but you don’t have to use a clicker.

“What’s important is that you use an innatory reinforcer [something the horse naturally enjoys]. Horses don’t particularly enjoy being patted – they associate it with a break, perhaps, but it’s not something that matters to them – and they don’t enjoy being told that they’re good. We haven’t bred horses to want to please us in the same way as we have dogs.

“So for positive reinforcement we can use food, we can use scratches, we can use stroking the horse. And we can use that to train behaviours that we want, both in hand and under saddle.”

The other side of the coin in operant conditioning is negative reinforcement.

Gemma explains: “Negative doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing – you have to think about it in the mathematical sense. Maybe we should call it removal reinforcement instead,” says Gemma.

“This is the bread and butter of horse training. Negative or removal means subtraction of a cue when the horse offers the correct response. If you want to teach a young horse to go forward you might use a light leg cue and as soon as the horse goes to step forward, you release the pressure. Therefore the horse learns that stepping forward was the behaviour he needed to perform to make the pressure of the leg go away.

“This gives the horse control of their environment – we talk about them being able to operate in their environment because whenever they have any pressure put on them, they know what behaviour they have to perform to make the pressure go away again.

“We may use the legs to ask the horse to go forward, we may use the reins for slowing and stopping and we may also use the reins in a different fashion to get the horse to turn. If we give them a cue, as soon as the horse offers the correct response, we release that cue.”

Gemma stresses that “you get the behaviour you reinforce, not the behaviour you want” and that sometimes it’s easy to accidentally reinforce the wrong behaviour.

For example, think about a horse that’s difficult to worm. You put the wormer towards the horse’s lips and the horse throws its head up – that removes the pressure of the wormer from the horse’s lips, which accidentally reinforces that behaviour.

“Horses have no concept of winning and losing; they have no agenda, they don’t think they’re the boss or anything like that, but you get the behaviour you reinforce, not the one you want,” says Gemma.

The simple way to improve this is to put the wormer on the horse’s cheek and remove it before the horse moves its head away. Then over time, you gradually put the wormer closer to the horse’s lips.

Gemma explains: “Now the horse is starting to think, ‘Gosh this is different. Previously every time my owner put the wormer to my lips, I had to throw my head in the air to make the wormer go away, now I put my head down and relax and the wormer goes away.’ And because they keep their head still and relax, you can then easily insert the wormer into their mouth and they’re happier to have this done.

“We could accelerate this learning by using positive reinforcement, so we remove the syringe of the wormer but also give a click and give the horse a little bit of food for standing still and relaxed.”

The final aspect of operant conditioning is punishment, which can be positive or addition punishment where you add something, such as hitting the horse, or negative punishment where you remove something, such as taking away food.

“I think in this day and age, there isn’t really any need for punishment in horse training – we know that horses are not innately bad, we’ve often just accidentally reinforced the wrong behaviours or there’s another motivator involved, such as pain,” says Gemma. “Rather than trying to stop the behaviour we don’t want, which leads us down the route of punishment, we should think about trying to reinforce the behaviour that we do want instead.”

You can listen to Gemma talking about rewards, consequences and how horses learn on episode 126 of The Horse & Hound Podcast. She also recommends the British Equine Veterinary Association’s video on worry-free worming.

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If you’ve ever been the proud owner of a post and rail fence, you’ll know that as the weather starts to turn some horses embrace their inner beaver and start chewing any wood in sight.

Wood chewing is a common issue, and it can damage not only your fencing and stabling but also your horse’s well-being. It can also be an indicator that all might not be right with your horse’s diet or routine.

To help keep your horse in top condition, and to keep those fences picture-perfect, we’ve created this comprehensive guide about wood chewing…

Why is my horse chewing wood?

Horses chew wood for a variety of reasons, but it’s most commonly a behavioural response born out of boredom or a coping mechanism to deal with stress.

Research shows that wood chewing correlates strongly with the amount of time a horse is stabled and the amount of long-stem forage available. When horses are stabled or their grazing is restricted, they’re unable to perform species-appropriate behaviours.

Horses are grazing animals and have an instinctive need to be chewing. They’re not only doing this to consume food. Horses are looking to ingest long-stem fibre and produce saliva to help neutralise stomach acid.

Unlike humans, horses are continuously secreting stomach acid. Prolonged periods without producing saliva can lead to issues like gastric ulcers. That’s why if horses don’t have access to long-stem fibrous forage, they’ll start to chew on something else.

If horses spend a lot of time in their stable, they cannot move around and interact with other horses as they’d naturally do. A lack of social interaction can lead to increased stress levels and boredom. Chronic stress and boredom have both been shown to lead to vices like wood chewing.

Over the winter it can be much harder to ensure regular turnout and good grazing, which is why wood chewing is often associated with cold, wet weather. But even if your horse is having to stay in more, there are things you can do to stop them chewing wood.

How to stop my horse chewing wood?

It’s important to catch wood chewing early because once the behaviour becomes established it’s much more difficult to stop.

The first step to preventing wood chewing is to review your horse’s management. Ensure your horse is getting adequate turnout, with good grazing and company. If your grazing is restricted over winter, replacing some of that need for movement through frequent exercise may help.

Studies have shown that horses in exercise are less prone to chewing wood. As long as you wrap up warm and avoid overtraining, nice long hacks with other horses are an invaluable addition to your winter routine.

You should also provide more long-stem forage, like hay. Increasing your horse’s access to forage enables them to engage in more natural grazing behaviours. Using multiple hay nets or slow feeder boxes helps to regulate intake and allows the horse to trickle feed as they would in the field.

If feeding more forage isn’t possible, boredom busters that dispense high-fibre food help to mimic foraging behaviours. Horse-safe toys will also help to stave off boredom and keep your horse occupied.

Wood chewing deterrents

If you’ve made all the management changes you can and your horse is still chewing wood, it might be time to explore deterrents. The most popular deterrents are products that are sprayed or wiped onto wooden surfaces to make them taste unpleasant.

Although wood chewing and crib-biting, or windsucking, are not the same behaviour, the deterrents used to prevent them are often the same.

Topical deterrents, such as Cribox (which is available on Viovet), are the most cost-effective way to prevent wood chewing, but it’s important to ensure that it’s safe for horses to consume and that you follow the instructions provided.

Chew guards on stable doors, or metal panels on ledges, physically prevent horses from chewing wood but can be expensive to install. Likewise, electric taping running along the top of fencing in the field can stop horses from getting to the wood.

If you have any areas that cannot be taped, such as upright posts in a field shelter, corrugated drain pipes can be wrapped around them as long as they are safe and secure.

However, it’s important to bear in mind that restricting a horse’s access to wood won’t necessarily address the underlying cause of the behaviour and should be balanced with good management practices.

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Even if you’re lucky enough to have great off-road hacking, introducing your horse to traffic is a sensible step. Whether it’s in the car park at the vet clinic or the lorry park at a show, every horse will come across traffic at some point and it makes sense to do everything you can to reduce the risk of an accident.

“The first thing to say, and this applies to all training when introducing something new to a horse, is start with a safe environment that you can manage,” says Jason Webb, a trainer who specialises in starting young horses and retraining those with problems.

“There are horses with whom you can just say, right I’m going to introduce the horse to traffic, and you just go for a ride out on the road and you can get away with it, but for safety’s sake and your horse’s ongoing future in terms of being able to deal with those environments, it’s best to do things with a process.

“That means being able to increase the intensity of an environment to increase your horse’s ability to cope and reduce the amount of energy in an environment so it’s manageable and doesn’t push the horse into an incoherent flight state.”

Before starting the process of introducing your horse to traffic, Jason says you need some basics, including being able to control flight, such as by using one-rein controls and bending the horse.

“This puts your horse in a shape that means they can’t drive,” he says. “It disengages the hind end and engine. Their ability to run is hindered.

“It also means the horse’s head comes round and not up. When a horse’s head is up, they tend to be more anxious and adrenalised. In this sort of situation, you won’t generally be able to force your horse to put their head down, but what you will be able to do in a bend is relax one half of your horse and allow energy to dissipate by moving round in a circle.

“That’s really important because if you hold with two reins, energy is trapped and can explode out in all sorts of unwanted ways.”

Introducing your horse to traffic: a five-point plan

1. Assess your horse’s responses

Jason suggests starting by leading your horse into somewhere like the car park at your yard and letting them look around.

“Just note how your horse is coping in that environment,” he says. “Are they really looking at the traffic? Do they become more aware or flighty or are they just normal? This gives you an idea of how to move on from this point.”

If your horse is anxious, Jason suggests repeating this exercise, not forcing the horse to look at the vehicles or touch them, but just letting them take in the environment and absorb it all.

“Once they start to get familiar with it, you’ll start to see them become more inquisitive. Then you can start to approach areas you might not have been able to approach before.”

2. Use tying up

Jason’s next step is to tie the horse up and drive a vehicle smoothly past them, with the distance depending on their responses during step one.

He says: “It’s important not to creep. I just move the vehicle consistently past them. Horses like to see a rhythm and pattern. If you’re moving erratically, it makes it harder for horses to process and therefore makes a more anxious or flight response.”

If the horse gives no response, then Jason will start to bring the vehicle closer, until it’s in a place where the horse is just able to tolerate it, and then he’ll repeat the exercise until the horse starts to relax.

“The important part is that my horse doesn’t swing from left to right while this is happening and I can control this by using the standing on the tie exercise. The reason this is so important is because I want to be the person to show the horse that where I’ve put them is a perfectly safe place to be even when traffic is moving past – that not only gets them used to traffic going past them, but it gets them used to you being able to show them it’s all right and their confidence in you starts to build.”

Jason will build this up so the horse sees traffic coming towards them from in front and approaching from behind and uses different combinations of traffic and speed.

3. Follow a vehicle

As the first mounted exercise, Jason will ride the horse behind a vehicle driving around a familiar paddock or arena.

He says: “Initially the horse is going to want to go left and right and keep their distance, but as they become more familiar with the vehicle moving round, you’ll start to feel you can ride them a little bit closer. I use this exercise until I can get the horse to go up and actually make contact with the vehicle when stopped.”

4. Go round the vehicle and vice versa

Next, Jason will trot around the stationary vehicle, with the engine on or off.

“Again I’m assessing where’s that comfort line and I’m just focusing on riding straight lines around the vehicle,” he says. “If you ride a circle you’re more likely to lose your horse’s shoulder and they sort of bow out.”

Then Jason swaps things round so the vehicle goes in circles around the horse, initially at a distance the horse is comfortable with and then pushing this circle slightly closer.

“If my horse starts to become more anxious and move, I allow them to walk a small circle in the opposite direction to the way the vehicle is travelling and I just allow this to happen until my horse stops. When my horse stops, we’ll simply reverse the roles. I repeat these two exercises for however long it takes for my horse and me to feel comfortable that my horse is becoming confident with the vehicle moving and stationary.”

5. Ride the horse past the car

Jason will then ride the horse backwards and forwards up a fence line 5-10m from a stationary car.

He says: “If I get a slight flight response, I’ll immediately bend my horse, face them back in the new direction and then go back past again and I’ll do this until my horse can go through this gap calmly. Then I’ll change the sequence so I’m standing still and the vehicle will move backwards and forwards past me. I’ll just ask my horse to stand and be relaxed.

“Backing up is not a problem in this instance. I might ask if this happens that the vehicle give me a little more space and or as the rider your job is to keep your horse’s head straight until the vehicle moves past – until the horse realises that if they stay straight and allow the vehicle to go past, it will be fine.

“If a horse learns to turn in this situation, then they can start napping or spinning behaviours. A horse that just goes backwards will lose that will to go backwards once they realise the vehicle will travel past and it’s fine. If the horse wants to shoot forwards then I simply turn my horse back to where they were – so a small figure of eight – and I repeat this until my horse can stand and deal with the traffic passing.”

Jason recommends using combinations of these exercises and variations when introducing your horse to traffic, depending on the horse, before heading out on to the roads.

“Think how you can teach your horse to find that place of comfort,” he concludes.

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Do you struggle to ride your horse behind when hacking with friends? Perhaps your mount is great when he’s leading the way, but becomes hot and buzzy if he’s asked to take a turn in the rear.

Jason Webb, a trainer who specialises in starting young horses and retraining those with problems, says to start training the horse to go behind when hacking in a low energy environment – with just one other horse, in a familiar place.

He suggests three exercises to help with this problem.

1. Alternate positions

“The first thing to do for a little while is to ride in front,” says Jason. “Don’t make a big fuss about it, just allow the horse to be in front and relax.

“Then get the person with you to ride up alongside you. Then I would alternate positions, just checking your horse in behind and coming up to the other side of the other horse and riding along again.

“If your horse gets bothered by this movement, allow him to spend some time in front, before switching again.”

2. Variation within the pace

A problem with your horse going behind when hacking comes down to being able to control your horse’s paces, slowing the horse’s walk and then allowing them to walk on again, says Jason.

“This must be done in an environment that your horse is comfortable with at first and generally I practise this going away from home, with or without company,” he says.

“When I’m on my way home I always find the the most comfortable place for my horse and allow him to be there because a lot of problems with riding in company, and hacking in general, come from holding your horse up when on the way home.

“So on the way out, practise getting your horse to walk slower and then walk out again.”

3. Let the horse choose

You need a companion horse who is happy to stand quietly while another horse walks past in both directions for this exercise.

“Set yourself to go 100m down a track – that’s as far as I want to go because I know when he’s behind my horse gets anxious,” says Jason.

“I start out behind the other horse, then if I feel my horse get anxious, I ask the other person to stop and I’ll allow my horse to go past. When I get in front, I’ll start to ride around in fairly small circles left and right. I’ll do this for a minute maybe, then I’ll ride back past the horse standing patiently waiting for me and position my horse where I want him to be, behind the other horse.

“When I ask him to stand there, he may choose to walk off again to get back in front. If so, all I do is repeat the process of a few circles walking around in front of the other horse and go back. I do this until my horse can stand with a loose rein behind the horse in front.

“The idea of this exercise is that when I’m behind, I don’t hold my horse, I allow him to choose to stay there. If he chooses not to and chooses to go in front, I make it slightly awkward for him by doing some small circles and figures of eight and then I take him back behind and leave him alone again.

“In doing this, I allow my horse to make the decision – if he decides to go in front he has to do these circles and serpentines and it’s quite tight and slightly awkward or he can choose to stay behind where it feels like he’s got space to relax. The horse in front isn’t going anywhere so he will realise maybe this is the best place to be in this situation.”

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Do you want some advice on introducing horses to new places? Perhaps you have a youngster you are ready to start taking out to lessons? Or have bought a new horse and want to try some small shows? Get off on the right foot with advice from Jason Webb, a trainer who specialises in starting young horses and retraining those with problems.

“When you take a horse out to a new environment for the first time it can be quite an overwhelming experience,” says Jason. “Having a plan of what to do is critical in creating behaviours that relax your horse and help them as they move forward into their careers and learn to relax in new places.”

Introducing horses to new places: Jason’s six-step plan

1. Do as little as possible

Jason says: “So you’ve unloaded and the horse is looking around, taking it in and they’re quite anxious. At this point I just allow them to take in the environment. People say get your horse busy, but a horse that’s in a flight state doesn’t tend to be able to learn or listen very well, they are slightly incoherent.

“At this point I allow them to move around, potentially on a circle so you can manage where they are going, and just wait for them to settle. Wait for their head to drop and then you can start to do something.”

2. Protect your personal space

“When they first come off the lorry, depending on your horse’s level of obedience on the ground, the main thing is to protect your person space,” adds Jason. “Some horses when they first come off will drop their shoulder into you or sort of tow you off.

“If you’re having those problems they need to be looked at in a familiar environment before you introduce any new environment, so when you come to this new environment you can use a few skills from home to keep your horse away from you, while doing as little as possible.”

3. Do some stretching exercises

Jason says you can recognise when a horse is starting to settle because their head lowers, their movement decreases and their eye starts to soften.

He goes on: “Then you can potentially start to say, ‘Here I am and it’s fine’. You do that by using familiar exercises. You’ll have your own thing you do with your horse, that your horse already knows, so use those things. What I like to use is static flexion or a carrot stretch, except I don’t use carrots, I just use the pressure of a headcollar, just to bend my horse’s head around towards me.

“So stand by the horse’s wither, use the headcollar to apply some pressure to ask the horse to bend its neck by about 90 degrees. I think of this like a tension barometer – if horse is really stiff and doesn’t want to bend when they know this exercise, it tells me they’re still a bit worried about the environment so I may need to wait a bit longer or do these stretches few times.”

Jason adds that stretching the body like this is a relaxing thing to do, if the horse knows the exercise, which in turn means the mind starts to relax.

4. Controlled leading

“So depending on how you lead your horse, I start to establish boundaries,” says Jason. “If leading from the side of the horse I start to say, ‘All right, you need to walk in a straight line for a little bit and only turn when I ask you to turn’ because some horses will push through you so we want to start to reduce that idea.”

Leading from the side, Jason establishes an invisible boundary parallel to the horse so he doesn’t look or walk across your body or line of travel. Leading from the front, he suggests putting your arms out to both sides and the invisible boundary is where your arms were once you’ve lowered them.

5. Lungeing may work – but approach with caution

“Some people recommend lungeing and getting horses moving – yes, if you have a suitable environment and the horse is receptive to it, that’s great,” says Jason. “But it isn’t always possible and I’m always careful with lungeing as it can excite a horse more before it brings them down.”

6. Ride in a small space

“When it comes to riding, I do a very similar thing to on the ground – allow the horse to move around a small area using bend, so small circles or serpentines in an area no bigger than 10m, to help me control horse,” says Jason.

“This allows the horse to get rid of excess energy without introducing them to more new environments. You are staying in one area but allowing movement to happen. Allow it to happen until you feel the head lower, the controls and movement become softer and the horse isn’t really looking to power on.

“When you to feel this, start to use work the horse knows at home to introduce similar boundaries before you move into new areas.”

Introducing horses to new places: where to go

If your horse hasn’t left his home previously, Jason suggests a “neutral environment” for his first outing, such as a friend’s place or a lesson – somewhere relatively quiet where you can manage the surroundings. Once a horse is used to this you can incrementally move to more energetic or intense environments.

“My last word is that horses tend to be more spooky in new environments, he says. “Make sure you have a plan to manage that spooky situation – for me flight situations are managed using one-rein controls and bend.”

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Whether it’s due to bad habits, over enthusiasm or tension, being left dangling with one foot in the stirrup as your horse walks off can be a recipe for disaster. Lottie Buttler asked Jason Webb of Your Horsemanship how to train a horse to stand quietly beside the mounting block and to stay still throughout the mounting process

How to teach a horse to stand still for mounting

Teaching your horse to stand still while mounting is 90% groundwork. You need to be able to move your horse forwards, backwards and sideways. You should also be able to move away from him while he stands still for a minimum of 30 seconds — I call this parking. This work sounds easy, but it takes some practice.

What’s the best approach?

Before you attempt to position your horse near a proper mounting block, you need to de-sensitise him to the action of getting on and off the mounting block. Your horse should be comfortable with you jumping up and down alongside him at the very least. Then, to get him used to a mounting block, if you have a light weight one, pick it up, throw it in front of you and then follow, leading your horse.

When the horse is comfortable with that, start throwing it back past the side of him and following it. If you have a fixed or heavy block, use something else to simulate it, like a plastic water bucket. When the horse is fully de-sensitised to the block, he should be comfortable with you pushing it all around him, and even under him.

What’s the next step?

Once your horse is confident with the first two exercises, practice positioning your horse one step at a time beside an imaginary mounting block.

Try to do this while staying in front of them. I use a whip as an extension of my arm to gently encourage them to move forwards, backwards and sideways as required. Once in position, leave him “parked” until he relaxes, then give him a rub to reward him. Repeat until he is doing it easily and without question, before moving onto a real mounting block.

When you have your horse standing by the mounting block, expand on the rubbing by doing it all the way down each side, including from the mounting block. If the horse moves away, go back to the front and move him back into position by asking him to move the opposite way to how he stepped out of position. For example, if he steps forward, get him to step back. If he stepped back, bring him forward.

Once your horse can stand while you give him a rub all over from the mounting block, get down, lead him away and repeat. It’s the repetitions of this that make horses good to mount. Being able to do this three or four times in a row would be a good session.

What if my horse swings his quarters away?

Practice getting a turn on the forehand from the ground. Being able to do this is great for correcting horses that shuffle their hind end away when you’re about to get on.

Start by teaching your horse to do a static flexion. Static flexions are like carrot stretches, but you train them to do it as a response to the bit. Apply a gentle pressure on the bit and release when they stop moving and offer a bend. Eventually your horse will bend without moving.

Next, check your horse can move their hind end over from a simple gesture or cue. He should already be responsive to this from your previous work moving them forwards, backwards and sideways.

Once your horse is comfortable with static flexions and moving the hind end over, it’s time to put the two together. Stand to the left of your horse with the reins over their neck. Put your hands into a riding position from the ground then bend him to the right, rewarding him whenever he offers to bend. Your left hand on the left rein acts as a break if he moves forward. You can adjust your hands up and down the reins as you see fit.

To initiate the turn on the forehand, bend your horse to the right and follow their head round. As you do, you will get to a point that you can see the right side of your horse. From here cue your horse to move their hind end towards you. When he does move, watch his feet — the back legs should pivot around the right foreleg (turn on the forehand). Your horse is unlikely to do this straight away, so you may need to stop with the left rein and start again, or persevere until you see the correct step. Release and reward whenever you see a correct step. As your horse starts to realise what you are asking, he will respond to a light pressure on the right rein. Timing is key!

Then, if he tries to swing his quarters as you mount, you can pick up your right rein and he will step his hind end back towards the block.

Other useful tips to teach a horse to stand still for mounting

When you’re getting on, prepare your reins so you are able to shorten your left rein. This allows you to bring your horse around you should he move off as you’re getting on.

It is important that you and your horse are not in a hurry to move off. A good way to help with this is, after getting on and before you do anything else, work on your static flexions from the saddle. The horse might move off through habit, but work on the flexions until the horse can bend to the left and then to the right without moving.

After a week or two of being consistent with this, mounting issues should be a thing of the past. If you are still having issues while trying to teach a horse to stand still for mounting, this may be because the horse is physically uncomfortable, which could be a saddle-fit problem or a physical issue. In this situation I would organise visits from a professional saddle fitter, equine physio and vet. Remember, a horse in pain is impossible to train.

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Have you ever wondered how to stop your horse being pushy on the ground? Does he barge when you lead him or refuse to stand tied up?

Dr Gemma Pearson, a qualified equine veterinary behaviourist who is director of equine behaviour for The Horse Trust, says improving this sort of problem comes back to training the horse’s basic responses.

“A lot of people will say, ‘I walk and my horse walks and I stop and my horse stops’ but this can lead us into problems,” she says, explaining that the horse’s cue to walk or stop in that situation is the person’s legs moving.

“So then you tie the horse up and walk away. Your legs have moved, but now you don’t want to horse to follow you, so that can be a bit confusing for the horse. Or the horse follows you until you go up the ramp of the trailer and then the horse doesn’t follow you any more, so what’s the next thing people do? They put pressure on the lead rope.

“In the case of the horse stopping when you stop, if a wheelie bin falls over behind your horse and it jumps forward, you’ll probably be knocked to the side anyway, but the next thing you do is put pressure on that lead rope [which the horse doesn’t understand as a cue] and that horse is not looking at your body language. So it’s really useful to teach horses to go and stop from pressure from the lead rope.”

How to stop your horse being pushy: retraining the basis responses

Gemma starts with the horse in halt and without moving her feet, puts gentle forwards pressure on the lead rope.

She says: “As soon as the horse goes to step forwards, I release that pressure back to neutral. Then of course you have to start walking with the horse, but the key thing is that the horse’s cue to move forward is pressure from the lead rope.

“The easiest thing with teaching a horse to stop is to teach it back up because the same muscles are involved in backing up as stopping. Stand still, facing the horse, so you can watch what the hooves are doing. Put light pressure on the lead rope and as soon as a hoof lifts off the ground and starts to go backwards, release the pressure.

“The timing is so crucial to training the correct response here because the horse then starts to think, ‘Oh the way to make pressure go away when the pressure is backward is to step back, the way to make pressure go away when the pressure is forwards is to step forwards.’ And once the horse understands that, you can lead them forwards, you put backwards pressure on the lead rope and the horse will stop.”

Gemma says that once these responses are ingrained, in the scenario where a wheelie bin falls over and the horse shoots forward, they get to the end of the lead rope, feel pressure and stop.

She also gives an example of a situation where a young horse being trained to lead was useful. Her partner at the time was a farmer and rang her at work, at a vet hospital, to say her three-year-old stallion had cut its leg and needed vet attention. She told him to put the horse in the trailer and bring him in to work.

“He said, ‘But he’s never been in a trailer before’ and I said, ‘No, but I’ve taught him to lead correctly.’ So he arrived there and I asked how he was loading, and he said, ‘Yeah, I walked him up to the ramp and he went to stop and I put pressure on the lead rope and he stepped forward and then he was in the trailer.’ Obviously that’s not ideal – we want to practise before we take horses on journeys – but in this scenario, we had to get him up to my work.”

Pushy horses: they’re not naughty

Gemma says people often think bargy or pushy horses don’t respect humans, are naughty or think they’re the boss.

“None of that is true, it’s simply because we haven’t taught them to lead correctly,” she says. “So if you have a bargy horse just teach them to go forwards, to stop, to step back, and when you’re leading them, if they start to accelerate a little bit, just slow them down again.

“You’ll know if this works because horses shouldn’t change their head and neck position when you give them a lead rope cue. With bargy horses, what happens is they start to go faster than the person wants, often into the person, the person puts pressure on the lead rope and they raise their head in the air or they flex their head and neck or they bend their head and neck round to the side and that is their response to lead rope pressure. So just by teaching them to immediately slow off light pressure, these horses stop being bargy.”

Teaching horses to stand still

Gemma reiterates that in terms of teaching horses to stand still unless they are given a cue otherwise, it’s important not to teach the horse to follow your legs, as otherwise if the horse is tied up or in the trailer and you move away, it is receiving confusing signals.

To teach her horses to stand still she faces the horse, looks at it and at their hooves particularly.

She says: “Then I might take half a step back and if the horse tries to follow me, I’ll step them back to where they started and give them a scratch. Then I might take half a step and if they don’t follow me, I’ll go in and give them a scratch. I’ll build that up until I can walk all the way to the end of the lead rope and the horse doesn’t follow me.

“I may then put the lead rope over the end of the neck – if I’m in a safe enclosed space – and walk all the way round the horse and the horse doesn’t follow me. So they learn to stand still unless they’re asked to do otherwise.”

If you’re thinking about how to stop your horse being pushy, this is advantageous.

“A horse that stand still as a habit is calm as a habit, she says. “When we talk about bargy horses, they have a high level of arousal. Whether it’s excitement or stress, their level of arousal is too high and that’s why they start pushing into people.

“So teach them to stand still as a habit, to be calm as a habit, to step forwards and back off lead rope pressure. This means they are really light and then they develop their own self carriage [continuing at the same speed until cued otherwise] for leading correctly.”

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Dismissing certain unwanted behaviours as “mareish” is doing mares a huge disservice – and could contribute to compromised welfare.

This is the view of equine behaviour consultant Shelby Dennis, who was driven to bring attention to the extent of the “internalised misogyny” projected on to mares, who may be trying to communicate they are in pain or discomfort.

Shelby, from near Vancouver, Canada, told H&H she frequently sees such comments online, on her own posts and videos and others’.

“Especially on Instagram or TikTok, you see really upset, stressed horses, showing stress or pain behaviour, and either the person making the video will make a comment about a ‘typical mare’, or people will comment saying ‘definitely a mare’,” she said. “I’ve noticed such a distinct bias, and not just from everyday equestrians, from professionals too.”

Shelby said she too once favoured geldings, but now has more mares.

“When my [former racehorse] mare arrived, she was a ‘typical mare’,” she said. “She was dangerous; leading her could be like flying a kite, she’d try to kick and bite when you brushed her. We treated her for ulcers and it solved the brushing issue instantly. She enjoys it now.”

Shelby said the mare had some other issues, including pain in the poll area caused by the bit she had been ridden in.

“Those things played into her stress,” she said. “Because she was so physically uncomfortable, it took less to stress her out. Looking at her face now, compared to when she came – she’s like a different horse. If I’d tried to ‘ride her through it’, I don’t think she’d be where she is now as she’d still be dealing with all the causes of her discomfort.”

Shelby said she believes much “mareish” behaviour is down to the fact mares may be more likely than geldings to try to communicate that something is wrong.

“It might be because it’s the mares who teach their foals how to communicate with other horses, and deal with the world, so communicating is critical to their job,” she said.

“I think things are changing in people realising such behaviour can be relating to pain or discomfort; even a few years ago people were less likely to believe that, but maybe if a horse fits the stereotype, it’s easier to write her off as ‘mareish’ than face the fact there might be something bigger going on, or admit that she’s in pain.”

Although she agrees it can be difficult to know where to start with veterinary intervention for non-specific unwanted behaviour, Shelby believes people may be less likely to investigate the cause in mares owing to the stereotypes, which “does them a disservice”.

“We need to denormalise aggression,” she said. “Aggression is a last resort for horses; they’re flight animals, so if they choose to be like that, it’s something we should all take note of.

“This bias against mares and how many of their attempts to communicate their discomfort are simply attributed to their sex is archaic and embarrassing.”

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Emotions in horses can be difficult to read. Horses don’t smile in the same way as humans and they can’t tell us if they are sad, miserable or in pain. So as riders and horsemen (and women), we have to learn how to figure out horses’ feelings.

“Obviously we’ve all been brought up to try not to anthropomorphise too much – we don’t want to infer emotions on horses that they’re maybe not capable of experiencing,” says Dr Gemma Pearson, a qualified equine veterinary behaviourist who is director of equine behaviour for The Horse Trust. “I still see an awful lot of that – riders and trainers talking about the horse doing this because of that and actually you think that really is anthropomorphism. That’s not a route we really want to go down.

“But at the same time, there are things we do understand about emotions in horses.”

Gemma splits this knowledge into two different areas.

“First of all we talk about the horse’s level of arousal – that’s almost like the horse’s level of alertness. We can have horses which have a low level of arousal, which are very relaxed, and then we can have horses that have a very high level of arousal,” she explains.

The second area is the “affective state” of the horse.

She says: “This is basically whether the horse is happy or sad. How do we know if a horse is happy? To be honest we never will, but we shouldn’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Just because we can’t measure something perfectly, it doesn’t mean we can’t have a good idea from other work that we’ve done. I’m sure we all know the difference between a horse that’s eating its feed or grazing with its friend and it’s very happy, compared to a horse that’s very stressed.”

A happy horse with a high level of arousal would be experiencing what we might describe as excitement.

“We often talk about a happy horse with a low level of arousal being relaxed and that’s great, but if you’re taking a horse around a cross-country course, you don’t want them to be too relaxed – you’ve got to have some adrenaline flowing and the horse’s level of arousal has to be pretty high. That keeps them sharp,” says Gemma.

“The other side of the coin is where we have a negative affective state so unhappy horses. Again, we can have that with a high level of arousal so that’s horses that we might describe as stressed, or with a low level of arousal so that’s where we might start to think about things like depression in horses or learned helplessness, where a horse looks really dull in its eye and they’re not reacting to very much in the environment.”

Emotions in horses: arousal levels

Gemma says a lot of the time when she sees people having problems working with horses, it’s because the horse’s level of arousal is too high for what the person is trying to achieve.

“When the horse’s level of arousal is too high, they can’t learn any more,” she says.

Gemma says this is the same in people – there’s an optimum level of stress or arousal for learning or performance. If the level is too low, you’re too relaxed and don’t perform well, but once it gets too high you can’t perform well either.

“Most of the time when I see problems with horses it’s because their arousal level is really high and we need to break it down, make whatever exercise we’re doing easier for the horse and help them to stay calmer.”

How can you check a horse’s arousal level?

“Obviously we can look for the normal behavioural indicators that the horse is hypervigilant – its ears and eyes are focused on everything in the environment but not necessarily the rider or the handler, and the horse may have a lot of muscular tension,” she says.

“Look at the eye, look at the ears, look at the muzzle. The muzzle may become longer so the corner of the lip gets drawn back, the chin may become more prominent. Look for generalised muscular tension in the horse and that will give you a really good indicator whether their level of arousal is acceptable or not.

“If you’re riding them you’ll feel it in the way they move – rather than being nice and loose and relaxed, the steps just become that little bit more jerky and tense.”

Gemma says that being able to recognise these different states in horses is really important for optimising training.

Coping styles: active and reactive

We also need to remember that horses have different coping styles.

Gemma explains: “When we talk about horses with a high level of arousal, with a negative affective state, so a stressed or tense horse, people automatically think of the fight or flight response.

“This is what we call an active coping mechanism – the horse sees something they are fearful of and they try and run away from it. For example, the horse is fearful of clippers, someone’s holding on to them, the horse barges them out the way. And if that’s not going to work, if the horse feels it’s their only option they may resort to kicking or biting or striking out at people.”

Gemma adds fidget to fight and flight as active coping mechanisms.

“This is with a slightly lower level of arousal – when you have a horse that’s fairly relaxed and you go to do something with them, maybe think about clipping them, and all of a sudden they have to rub their head on you or they have to sniff the floor or they have to start itching their side. These horses are actually showing they’re not very confident with what we’re doing at that point in time, so they’re starting to fidget.”

Then there are horses which are “reactive copers”.

“This is where horses can freeze and I think this is something people miss a lot in horses. They’ll often say the horse was stood still and then they suddenly exploded. These animals will freeze, stand there and do nothing, until they get to a certain threshold and then that’s when they may explode – a little like a rabbit might freeze in the headlights or when someone’s approaching it, until the person gets too far, too close to them and then they may suddenly shoot off.”

Gemma frequently sees horses freezing when they are being loaded onto the trailer or lorry and they plant on the ramp, leading handlers to believe the horse is being stubborn.

“But when you actually look at these horses, they’re not calm and relaxed and enjoying life – they’re actually really tense. They’ve gone into this freeze response where they just try to switch off to all the cues and that may be people shouting at the horse, hitting the horse, pulling on the headcollar. That’s their coping mechanism until it gets to a certain level and then the horse may shoot backwards or try and jump off the side.”

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The more relaxed horses are, the better they can learn new tasks, a study has found, “tentatively demonstrating that arousal has critical importance for learning”.

Scientists at Nottingham Trent University looked into how level of arousal in horses – the extent to which they might be excited or stressed for instance – affected performance in a cognitive task.

For the study, published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, the researchers measured physiological markers of arousal, including heart rate variability and eye temperature, while horses were resting and during learning.

A group of 20 horses was given a choice of two targets, and given a food reward when they picked the correct one. Once they had learned to pick the right target, the task was changed so the horses had to pick the other one for the reward.

“Horses who had lower arousal, at rest and during learning, performed significantly better in the cognitive challenge, the team found,” a spokesman for the university said.

“Horses that did best in the task also showed an increase in left-eye temperature, and this was a significant predictor of performance.”

The researchers suggested that this temperature may have risen owing to increased blood flow to the left hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for learning targeted responses to stimuli and feeding behaviour.

“The team argues that, as well as revealing that horses which are more relaxed perform better at tasks, their study demonstrates the use of physiological markers to predict how individual horses might learn,” the spokesman said.

Lead researcher Louise Evans added: “We regularly expect domesticated horses to learn different and complex behavioural responses as part of their working roles.

“In their day-to-day lives, horses require behavioural flexibility, the ability to adapt to changing environments, such as different riders and handlers. However, we also need horses to have excellent cognitive control so that we can safely rely on them to give consistent responses to important commands such as ‘slow down’ or ‘stop’.

“This delicate balance between flexibility and control is what makes horses such good teammates. However, when things go wrong there can be dangerous consequences, so it’s vital that we understand how horses learn and can better predict their learning performance.

“This study has really helped aid our understanding to predict how well individual horses learn – and more relaxed horses clearly learn better. It’s important for us to recognise the impact that arousal in the home or training environment can have on horses’ learning.”

Ms Evans added that the potential evidence of left-hemisphere activity by measuring eye temperatures was “fascinating”.

“This requires further investigation but, if a link can be demonstrated, this means we can for the first time measure hemispheric activity non-invasively and in real time,” she said.

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Research on horses’ initial and longer-term reactions to startling objects could help identify genes associated with “spookier” horses, it is hoped.

Scientists at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) have published a study on equine responses, as part of work that could identify genes that influence horses’ tendency to react in a certain way to, for example, flapping plastic bags.

“Identifying these genetic traits would be a first step toward one day selecting or breeding horses for the temperament types we prefer,” a university spokesman said. “These research results might be a decade away.”

In this peer-reviewed study, published in journal Genes, UF/IFAS professor of equine genetics Samatha Brooks and her team worked with a group of young horses who are part of the institute’s breeding program.

The horses wore heart–rate monitors and were turned out in a round pen. At set intervals, an umbrella was opened suddenly in the horses’ sight. The animals’ behaviour and heart rate were monitored during and after the initial startle reaction.

“We can’t read their minds,” said Professor Brooks. “Their heart rate tells us what is going on inside that we cannot see from reading their body language alone. It was interesting to see the stories their heart rates told us.”

The data showed there were two clear groups. One was startled by the umbrella, showing a spike in heart rate, then maintained a reactive or hyper-alert state afterwards, including more time spent looking at and moving away from the umbrella.

The second group startled in much the same way, with a heart-rate spike, but then “calmed quickly and carried on with their day”.

“These animals perceived the stimulus and found it startling but did not go through the behavioural patterns of avoidance, fear, etc. like the first group,” the spokesman said.

The team will now take the data and develop a study to investigate the genetic components that may influence how horses react to fear.

“Understanding each horse’s genetic make-up will help you understand the type of animal you need,” said Professor Brooks. “If we learn early on what this animal’s natural tendencies are most likely to be, we can make educated decisions on training and future careers to give the horse the best shot to grow into their potential, rather than becoming a problem or danger.”

Understanding a horse’s reaction to uncomfortable situations could also make a difference in how it is handled for transport and veterinary procedures.

“It’s important to know these traits because it can impact how we care for horses overall,” said Barclay Powell, a PhD student working on the project. “This will be hugely important to the veterinary field as well. It’s not only helpful for the people handling the animals, but also for the horses’ welfare.”

Professor Brooks added that whether it is a top sport horse, a therapy pony or pulling a carriage, an unplanned startle response can be an issue.

“We are just beginning to scratch the surface of this,” Professor Brooks said. “It might take us 10 years or more to really have a clear understanding, but it is worth the effort.”

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Riding a horse which is bucking and rearing isn’t fun for anyone.

Dr Gemma Pearson, a qualified equine veterinary behaviourist who is director of equine behaviour for The Horse Trust, emphasises that it’s vital to consider pain as the first reason why a horse might show such behaviour.

“Almost all the horses I see with bucking and rearing have pain as a component,” says Gemma. “I’ve seen horses working at elite level dressage, I’ve seen horses that are jumping, doing endurance riding, hacking and everyone says they’re fine except when they’re bucking and rearing. They’re winning at competitions, therefore pain can’t be a component, but if often is.

“So it’s really important to speak to your vets and have a good look into pain for bucking and rearing. Sue Dyson’s ridden horse pain ethogram is a great way to consider whether any of these other signs of pain are occurring at the same time.”

Gemma sees a very small number of horses where bucking and rearing is not due to pain.

She says: “So then it comes back to deficits in the trained responses. Horses never have an agenda, horses are never naughty. You get the behaviour you reinforce, not the behaviour you want. So most of the time these behaviours have been accidentally reinforced.

“For both bucking and rearing, it tends to come back to deficits in the go forwards response or the stop response. On the one hand, you may have a horse that’s going along well, perhaps you’re in a field where you always canter with your friends, perhaps the horse starts to buck or the horse starts to rear. It’s normally because the rider is holding the horse back with the reins. The horse wants to go faster than the rider does because they don’t want to run into their friend on their horse in front of them.

“In this scenario we need to think about retraining the horse to slow down off light bit pressure and then to maintain self carriage [keep going at the same speed]. The reason the horse may start to rear or may start to buck in that scenario is because the horse is motivated to go forwards, it wants to gallop with its friends, so the bit pressure then becomes uncomfortable for them.

“So the way that they feel they can resolve the bit pressure ,which is stopping them being able to gallop, is often to do a little rear. And if they do a little rear, obviously we don’t want to pull the horse over backwards so the rider often changes the bit pressure, which is self reinforcing.

“The same if the horse does a little buck – it’s going to displace the rider in the saddle slightly, therefore the bit pressure has been released for a fraction of a second and that has just reinforced that behaviour, so we are training these behaviours.”

On the other side of the coin are horses who don’t want to go forwards. The rider uses increasing leg pressure, then the horse suddenly stops and either rears or bucks or kicks out.

“That is the horse’s way of trying to remove the rider’s leg pressure,” explains Gemma. “This horse has not been trained to go forwards off the leg successfully, therefore its alternative way of removing this increased leg pressure is to rear or buck.”

If the horse needs to be retrained to slow or stop from light rein pressure, Gemma recommends looking at her advice for retraining strong horses; if it needs to be retrained to go forwards from light leg pressure, she recommends revisiting her advice for horses who nap.

Bucking and rearing: why punishment doesn’t work

Gemma says riders should not try to punish horses for bucking and rearing.

“If the horse goes to rear and the rider smacks it with the whip, all that’s going to happen is the horse is going to associate the increased pressure from rein or leg with that. The horse thinks about rearing, the next thing that happens is the whip is there so the horse may try rearing higher, they may try napping or launching or bucking. They’re probably going to try a different behaviour to prevent being hit with the whip,” she says.

“What the horse can’t understand is that if they were going forwards in the first place, the rider wouldn’t have had to use the whip. That’s a higher cognitive process, that concept is too hard for the horse to understand.

“We should never use punishment, we need to identify what the deficit is in going forward or slowing or stopping and then quietly retrain that by breaking it down into easy to achieve steps.”

Gemma adds that when horses rear, the don’t tend to land straight but to one side or the other.

“As with napping, most horses that rear tend to land to the left because they like to push off that right foreleg, so you often need to retrain straightness in these horses as well,” she says.

Gemma also says she sees two types of buck.

“If you put the leg on or excessive rein pressure and the horse kicks out at that, that’s often because of the pressure. If the horse raises its head up and its bum comes up in the air to buck, that can be due to pain but it can be due to increased rein or leg pressure that the horse is trying to remove. And I would call that a U-shaped buck – the horses’ head and bum are at the highest point and the saddle is at the lowest point,” she says.

“The other sort is an N-shaped buck, like broncing, this is when the head stays down, the bum stays down and the wither and the saddle becomes the highest point of the buck. I’ve honestly never seen a single case that bucks like that that isn’t due to pain – things like kissing spines, other forms of spinal pain, neck pain, are probably the most common reasons we’d see that type of buck in horses. It can be due to other musculoskeletal pain or fractures of the sternum or ribs.

“If a horse is bucking like that I think they’re the most dangerous ones, the ones where people are most likely to get severe injuries if they’re bucked off. And if it’s an N-shaped buck not a U-shaped buck, no one should be sitting on that horse until you’ve had a really thorough veterinary investigation.”

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

MANY riders are always seeking the “true connection” and full mutual understanding with their horses – but could this be doing more harm than good?

Equine anthropologist Rosie Jones McVey gave a talk at a webinar titled “Is true connection always a little out of reach?” organised by Intelligent Horsemanship.

Dr Jones McVey, whose work focuses on human-animal relationships, ethics and morality, and mental health, was discussing her recent research on British equestrians’ stances “toward knowing and being known by (animal) others”, which was published in Ethos: Journal for Psychological Anthropology.

She explained that her research is based on ethnography; spending a lot of time with and getting to know a smaller number of people than in some studies with more subjects but less time spent.

“This is specifically about mindsets in human-animal relationships,” she said. “What do we think about being known by our horses, and knowing them?”

Dr Jones McVey said in the people she worked with, the idea of being known by their horses mattered a great deal, “particularly important was the idea of authenticity, of being known as who we really are”.

“People felt it was important their horses know them in a way other people don’t,” she said. “That their horses really recognised and noticed them.”

She cited riders who said horses do not lie, and that the comparison with human-human relationships was often raised.

“There’s value to the feeling that horses have authenticity, as they come from the natural world, and don’t have human language so can’t represent or misrepresent themselves,” she said.

She added that the riders felt what they had with horses was “true”, as the animals would not put up with things that were “not right”, which gave them a feeling of accomplishment, and that consumerism and social media “are part of the context in which having a relationship with a horse who knows what you are starts to carry real value”.

“We pay thousands and put all this work into keeping this creature, and one reason is so we feel seen,” she said. “That’s quite an interesting state of affairs.”

Dr Jones McVey said there is a gender aspect; not having to feel judged matters to women, she had found, as does finding a space where “you count, other than societal roles of mother or wife”.

She added that of course the horse world is not free of negative judgements, but women told her it was a relief to be with an animal who noticed them as people, rather than judged them as women.

In terms of knowing horses, Dr Jones McVey had uncovered high hopes of developing “feel”.

“British horse people have high standards for understanding the minds of their horses, higher than they feel they can achieve,” she said. “They’re looking for a way of feeling completely, fundamentally and intimately connected with their horses.”

She said the riders were always seeking true “connection” with their horses; a harmonious, cooperative relationship and way of going, something “non-horse people find absolutely amazing”.

She explained that much of people’s stress around not riding well is connected to this idea, and that “a lot of riding time is trying to feel for a reality that may be just beyond our grasp”.

“What we want is quite extreme cooperation. It’s become quite naturalised in the horse world that horses were put here to fulfil this mission of making us feel connected, which is potentially harmful depending on how you do it.”

Dr Jones McVey said as people seek the connection, they become more aware of others “doing it wrong”, citing “hot” debates on issues such as rollkur, which can mean riders feeling “vulnerable” and concerned they are riding in a way that might be harmful to the horse.

“What becomes of horses in a world where owners are so obsessed with true connection?” she asked. “There are lots of good things about this state of caring so much about knowing and being known by your horse; we’re extremely attentive to their point of view and comfort, but I think the ‘horse knowing the real you’ could be problematic when people feel rejected by their horses, if you see the horse’s reaction as reaction to his knowledge of you as a real person.”

She added that this seeking for connection can mean riders not feeling good enough, or not welcome.

“The highly critical environment in the horse world can be very difficult for people to navigate,” she said. “Overall, it’s open for debate about whether the idea of true connection is doing more harm than good. I think it’s good to keep other ways of evaluating horsemanship.”

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

The story of a horse who would not be caught for weeks – and later bolted into a fence – who is now successfully competing shines a spotlight on both equine and human behaviour change.

Hannah Bryant and her Welsh cob Gavin feature at the National Equine Forum today (2 March), with Horse Trust director of equine behaviour Gemma Pearson and social scientist Tamzin Furtado.

The aim was to use Hannah and Gav’s story to explore the science behind the way people and horses learn, what makes horses behave as they do, and how to tackle unwanted behaviour.

Hannah told H&H she bought Gav as a five-year-old, six years ago. She constructed a paddock at her livery yard so he could be kept in temporary isolation.

“On the first night, he got through the electric fencing and in with horses who weren’t in isolation,” she said. “We then realised he had a very strong fear response to people, and it became a massive problem. We couldn’t get within 25m of him.”

After four weeks, Hannah’s vet recommended Dr Pearson.

Dr Pearson told H&H that Hannah “must have been under a phenomenal amount of pressure”.

She added that Hannah had got close enough for Gav to take a mouthful of feed before he ran off, which was progress.

“But that’s really reinforcing,” she said. “He got the food and was increasing the distance [between himself and Hannah] by running away. I did the opposite.”

Dr Pearson would back off herself before Gav got any food; she would increase the distance rather than him. She introduced the cue word “good”, and within two sessions, progressing very slowly from being able to scratch Gav, was able to catch him.

“It’s about recognising what’s motivating the behaviour, which Hannah certainly did,” Dr Pearson said. “Others thought he was ‘taking the mickey’ but she saw that he was very fearful, and what was reinforcing that was the increased distance.”

Hannah said the process “seemed somewhat magical”, as they worked through Gav’s terror of being stabled.

But a couple of years later, Hannah needed Dr Pearson’s help again, as Gav had started to rear and bolt, on one occasion breaking a fence at a competition venue.z

After Gav had had a full examination to eliminate pain, Dr Pearson worked with Gav from the ground. She retrained his response to bit pressure by asking him to step backwards at light pressure. With Hannah on, the cue word and food rewards were reintroduced when Gav responded appropriately to light pressure.

Hannah is now competing at novice and elementary level British Dressage.

“The big thing for me is that I’m enjoying him, and he’s a nice, proper horse,” Hannah said. “He’s stabled regularly, we compete and go to stay-away shows; we’ve just had another top-10 Area Festival finish. Gemma’s incredible and the skills she’s taught me have enabled Gavin and me to do far more than I ever expected.”

Hannah said she hopes her story will encourage other owners to think broadly in terms of solutions to unwanted behaviour, and also to highlight the influence other riders can have, both positive and negative.

“Be open-minded, but aware of the impact you can have on each other,” she said.

Dr Furtado told H&H her role is to think about the situation from the perspective of human behaviour change.

“This is a great example of someone who’s managed successfully to understand her horse, change his behaviour and come out of it really well,” she said. “So what is it that’s made her be able to be so successful, and what can we learn from it?”

Dr Furtado cited rider feelings of embarrassment or humiliation caused by unwanted equine behaviour, and asked why this is common, especially on livery yards. She said this could have put more pressure on Hannah.

“Gemma and I have done lots of talks, her on equine behaviour and me on human and we always say they’re so similar,” she said. “Whenever you’re helping a horse with a behavioural issue, it’s also so much to do with people.

“Try to set horses up for success and make change easy, break change down into small steps; positive reinforcement – that’s exactly the approach that works for people.”

Dr Furtado cited Hannah’s open-mindedness.

“If I could ask the audience to take two things from Hannah’s story, it would be first not to underestimate the impact we have on one another,” she said. “Our support and understanding can make the difference between someone being able to cope with a tricky situation with their horse, and feeling a failure. Second, it would be to remember Hannah’s open-mindedness, but also her commitment to look at the horse in front of her and find an approach that worked with what she was seeing. When people told her he was being naughty, she listened, then disregarded their input because she could see that wasn’t the case – and she found an approach that matched with what she could see, instead.”

Dr Pearson added that it was “lovely” to see Hannah and Gav’s progress, and advised anyone experiencing unwanted behaviours to work with an accredited behaviourist. She added that there are helpful resources on equine learning theory on the International Society for Equitation Science website.

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Undesirable equine behaviour associated with a lack of forage has been discussed – as concerns are raised about owners misinterpreting learned helplessness for “coping”.

“Promoting positive equine wellbeing and behaviour through diet” was the topic of a World Horse Welfare webinar last month, during which experts discussed horses’ basic needs – friends, forage and freedom, and the importance of horses’ having enough access to enough forage.

Rosa Verwijs, senior lecturer in equine behaviour at Writtle University College, highlighted that horses usually spend around 16 to 20 hours per day grazing, if they have the choice to do so, and emphasised the satisfaction horses gain from foraging. She also discussed the challenges around equine obesity and restricting diets, but encouraged owners to look for different ways to provide horses with enrichment – for example, feeding hay in a variety of different slow feeders, instead of one very small-holed haynet, to help prevent frustration.

Rosa talked about different unwanted behaviours that can be caused by a lack of forage, such as stress, anxiety, aggression and resource-guarding – and how these might be displayed, such as abnormal oral behaviours, door-kicking, difficulty in handling and poor performance under saddle.

“Horses will do whatever they can to help them cope with the frustration and stress they’re feeling, and these coping behaviours can manifest in so many different ways,” she said, adding that depression can be seen in horses, and research in this area shows that as horses’ frustration increases, it can lead to learned helplessness.

“I think that’s where a lot of people mistake their horse as ‘coping’. People might say, ‘My horse was ridiculous for three weeks and then after that he was fine.’ That misinterpretation of shut-down horses is probably one of the most concerning for me as a behaviourist. These horses are not suddenly coping and saying ‘I’m fine,’ it’s them saying, ‘I’m just going to wait it out and hope life gets better.’

Justine Harrison, a certified horse behaviour consultant, said lack of forage is the cause or a contributing factor in “most” of the behavioural cases she has dealt with.

“It’s a huge problem. I’ve seen a massive range of behavioural problems in horses and ponies of all disciplines, from grand prix sport horses to a children’s pony,” she said.

British Equine Veterinary Association veterinary projects officer Lucy Grieve, who hosted the webinar, said owners need to keep evolving their management systems.

“Forget the idea of meals and the human way of feeding ourselves, horses are completely different. As humans we enjoy making feeds and buying different foods, but your horse’s needs are very different to what satisfies us as humans,” she said.

Lucy added that this is difficult when it comes to livery yards, where owners might not have as much of a say about forage and feeding routines.

“Education is key to try to get that message to those responsible for managing yards, and we can do that as a team and work together. If we keep singing from the same hymn sheet, we can only make our horses’ lives better in terms of diet, nutrition and day-to-day behaviour.”

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Clicker training is popular in the dog training world, but many people use clicker training for horses, too. It’s a method of positive reinforcement training, which means a reward is offered in response to a desired behaviour. The theory is that by rewarding the behaviours you want to see, your horse is more likely to reproduce these behaviours again in the future.

What is a clicker?

A clicker is a small mechanical device that makes a sharp noise when pressed. It’s used as a marker to communicate the exact moment of good behaviour. You could use other distinctive sounds, such as saying “yes” or “good,” a whistle or a cluck of your tongue, but using a clicker is more clear cut and contains no emotion, so it’s more consistent and your horse is more likely to respond.

How does clicker training work?

Using a clicker is a way of marking a moment. There’s nothing special about the noise, except that it’s not something your horse is likely to hear elsewhere. By always following up the click with a reward, your horse will learn that the click indicates a reward is on the way. The clicker communicates the exact moment your horse does what you want, so the timing of the click is essential and every click must be followed by a reward.

Horses learn at different speeds. Some will make the connection quickly, while others will require a number of sessions.

How to introduce clicker training to your horse

You’ll need a clicker with a wrist strap (like this one), some horse treats, and a bag that you can put them in that keeps your hands free – a small bum bag (like this) is ideal.

To begin with, it’s important that you teach your horse how to behave during training. He must learn not to nudge or sniff the bag for treats. Instead, use the following steps to teach your horse to be polite, look straight ahead and wait for the treats to come to him. This process will help your horse understand that the clicker is part of training, rather than just being associated with food.

• Stand to the side of your horse in a position that allows you to easily move out of the way if necessary.
• Take a treat from the bag and hold it in your hand. If your horse tries to take the treat, ignore him and ensure that he does not receive the treat.
• When your horse give up and looks away, click the clicker and instantly give them a treat.
• Repeat this exercise from each side.

Keep the sessions short – no longer than 10 mins at a time – and feed your horse away from the bag so that he can’t steal treats.

How to use teach your horse with clicker training

Once your horse understands the basics, you can introduce the clicker to your normal training routine. Think carefully about what you want to teach your horse and break down the training step by step.

A good action to begin with is teaching your horse to touch an object, such as a cone, with his nose.

To do this, first click and reward your horse when makes a movement towards the target, however small it is. Follow this up by clicking and rewarding every step of the behaviour, so that every movement towards the target earns a click and a treat. Continue in this way until your horse touches his nose on the target and fully understands the command. Once he fully understands what you’re asking of him, you can add a vocal cue.

Once your horse starts to offer the behaviour more frequently, wait until the touch is more dramatic – for example, when your horse come from a few feet away to touch the target instead of a few inches. You can increase the difficulty by looking for “duration”, which is when your horse touches the target and keeps his nose there for a few seconds.

Once a behaviour has been learnt on command and is performed consistently, the clicker and treat can be phased out. You can apply this method to any action or behaviour you’d like to teach your horse to produce on command.

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Strong horses can be a nightmare for riders – it’s never fun being out of control and it can be downright dangerous if you can’t adjust your horse’s speed.

Dr Gemma Pearson, a qualified equine veterinary behaviourist who is director of equine behaviour for The Horse Trust, offers advice for retraining such horses, but she starts by saying that as a behaviourist, she hates the term “strong” being used about horses.

“Obviously horses are strong. We wouldn’t – or shouldn’t – be riding them if they were weak, so what do we mean by a strong horse?” she says. “What people normally mean is that the horse pulls on the reins and that you need increased rein pressure to control the horse.

“So from a behaviourist’s perspective, I would start to break that down and say the horse has a deficit to slowing and stopping from rein pressure. I would also say that the horse is unable to maintain self carriage – so when the horse is being ridden, the horse starts to accelerate without being cued from the rider.”

Gemma says a typical scenario is a horse whose owner says he’s fine to ride in most situations, but becomes strong on a cross-country course.

“The horse associates the cross-country course, the start box, the jumps, with galloping so it triggers that kind of emotional response of excitement, of let’s start galloping, so the horse does that. Then the rider is unable to control them from the reins, but that can in itself cause discomfort in the horse’s mouth, which can mean some horses try and get faster and faster. And then you need increasingly strong bits, and different or tight nosebands to control these horses.”

Retraining strong horses

“To state the obvious, we retrain the horse to slow and stop from rein pressure,” says Gemma. “It is important they understand this from rein pressure and not just from our seat – once the rein pressure works correctly, then we use our seat so hopefully we don’t need to use the reins, but it’s always there as a back up and to reinforce the seat if needed.”

When backing a young horse, Gemma will teach them to step forward and back from rein pressure in hand and then will put the reins over the horse’s head and her hands either side of the withers, mimicking the riding position.

“I’ll put light pressure on the reins and these horses just step backwards, because they’ve learnt that backwards bit pressure means to step back,” she says, adding that horses use the same muscles to step back as to slow down when moving forwards, so the better the horse steps back from light rein pressure, the better their slow down response will be.

Sometimes, horses will flex or raise their head and neck instead of stepping back, so they associate bit pressure with changes in head and neck position, not with movement of the feet.

“If you put too much pressure on, horses just brace against it or as we often see, they raise their head and neck in the air and they hollow through the back,” says Gemma.

“If the horse really doesn’t understand rein pressure, you may even have someone in front and they can put a bit of pressure on the horse’s chest with a hand or even with a light whip tap. The millisecond the horse starts to step back, we release the pressure on the mouth entirely. The horse will very quickly learn not to move the head and neck and that the way to make the bit pressure go away is to step backwards. Eventually we’ll go back to a contact level of pressure, but initially we make it really clear for the horse.”

Once the horse can step back from light rein pressure, Gemma repeats the process with walk to halt transitions.

“I count the number of steps of the front feet. If you use light rein pressure, the horse should be able to halt within two steps. If it takes five, that tells me there’s a deficit in the stop response. So if you do two steps without stopping, I would put more rein pressure on and make the halt happen. But again the millisecond you feel the horse slow down and stop, release that rein pressure – that’s the reward and reinforces that that was the correct behaviour.”

Gemma will then do trot to walk and canter to trot transitions, before working on changing speed within the pace.

“If you think about the amount of squeeze on the reins it takes to bring the horse down from trot to walk, think about using 10% of that to get the horse just to take some slower steps,” she says.

Once the horse can slow down or stop from rein pressure, then we need to teach them to maintain self carriage – that is, to maintain the same speed until the rider cues them otherwise.

Gemma explains: “So at this point I may be cantering the horse and I may use light rein pressure to bring them into a slow cante,r but then I’ve got to be able to give and retake the reins without the horse accelerating again. That proves to me that I’m not holding the horse slow. If the horse does accelerate, you just slow them down again and then try again a bit later on. And you’ll find the horse learns to maintain that slower rhythm.”

The next step will be to work the horse in a field with jumps in it, but without actually jumping.

“The visual stimulus of the jump might encourage that horse to want to accelerate, but if we can train the horse to slow down and stop off light bit pressure and then maintain the slow canter around the jumps, in a couple of sessions, then we might start to work over the jumps,” says Gemma.

“If you’ve got a horse that starts to bolt towards or accelerate rapidly towards the jump, teach them to go slowly towards it. If you’re a long way out from the jump, I would even halt if you can feel them starting to rush.

“Once you get within about five strides of the jump I wouldn’t try to halt because we don’t want to teach the horse to refuse and we also don’t want to upset them – it’s their job to actually get over the jump. But what I would do is when they land on the other side, I would quietly bring them back to a halt. Release the rein pressure – that’s the most important bit – and let them gently walk away.

“If you just keep repeating that, you’ll find that these horses start to approach in a decent rhythm. Even if you get that nice draw into a fence where they may accelerate slightly into it, but then they’re expecting to halt after it so they immediately slow themselves down again. And then you might not need to slow down, you might be able to use your leg and go on and jump the next jump.”

The role of bits and nosebands

As a final point, Gemma emphasises that she would like to see horses ridden in snaffles with normal cavesson nosebands.

“Obviously there are lots of different scenarios and there are times when horses may need something different, but people often use a pelham or a gag because it feels lighter in their hand, but you’ve got to remember that because of the leverage, it putting an awful lot more pressure on the horse’s mouth so it’s not any lighter in the horse’s mouth, it just feels lighter to you,” she says.

Gemma adds that more severe bits and tighter nosebands can sometimes result in damage inside the horse’s mouth. If horse sport is to maintain its public acceptance it’s important that we train horses to stop off light rein pressure, to maintain that slower speed and not to accelerate without being asked.

“If we can do that, we never get into the situation of needing stronger bits and tighter nosebands,” she says.

She does, though, emphasise that safety is paramount.

“I’m not saying if you’ve got a horse that you struggle to control in a gag bit with a tight grackle noseband, just put it in a snaffle. Safety is the most important aspect and you have to have control. But try to get the horse lighter and you’ll find most of these horses over time you can get back to using snaffles with nosebands that are not tight.”

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Napping horses. Every rider will have come across one or two of them in their time – the horse who refuses to go forward, who baulks at a certain point in every ride or when leaving the yard.

“As a behaviourist, first we want to understand what motivates this behaviour,” says Dr Gemma Pearson, a qualified equine veterinary behaviourist who is director of equine behaviour for The Horse Trust.

“About 80% of cases I see have pain as a contributing factor. There are often behavioural aspects as well and we need to put in place a behaviour modification programme for these horses, but pain is really common and it’s really under-recognised in horses.”

Gemma recommends looking at Sue Dyson’s work on The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram.

“Look for some of these things in your horse and if they’re occurring, particularly when they go to nap, that might indicate we need to get the vets to look at the horse before we even start to look at the behavioural aspects,” she says.

Assuming that the horse is not in pain – their saddle fits well, they’ve had his teeth done and been checked by the vet – why might a horse nap and how can we re-train them?

Napping horses: the cue to go forward

“Napping means the horse has lost self carriage for the go forward response,” says Gemma. “When I’m backing and training a young horse, I teach them they go forward off my leg and eventually off the seat cue. Then they keep going forward at the same pace, the same tempo, the same stride length, the same direction until I ask them otherwise.

“What you’ll often see when you watch horses who nap is that the rider is having to keep the horse going by nagging them with their leg. If you’re using your leg pressure and the horse isn’t going faster or taking longer steps, then you’ve habituated the horse to that leg pressure – you’ve taught them to ignore it. So then you may have to use more.

“When I ask the rider to stop using their legs, these horses often immediately slow down and that shows me there’s a deficit in one of the basic responses for these horses.”

Gemma says she thinks it is important that the horse goes forward from a leg cue, rather than any other aid.

“People will often say the horse goes forward from my seat or even from a voice cue, but when the horse has just suddenly put the brakes on, they never go forward from a seat or voice cue and there’s no way of reinforcing that or making that a little bit stronger – you can shout louder, but I think for the horse that becomes a different cue,” she says.

“So I’ll always teach horses that I put a very light leg cue on and as soon as the horse goes to take even a single step forward, we release that leg cue.”

When dealing with a horse who has been accidentally trained to ignore leg pressure, Gemma may use gentle whip taps.

She explains: “I’ll get the riders to take their legs away from the horse’s sides slightly and just tickle the horse right behind the leg, like an irritating fly. The millisecond that horse starts to take a step forward, we’ll get the rider to stop tapping with the whip and release the pressure. It doesn’t matter if the horse stops again. This is removal reinforcement or negative reinforcement – the millisecond the horse offers the correct response, you reward the horse by stopping using the stick.

“So we’ll do that from halt to walk and then we’ll do the same exercise from walk to trot and then we might even do it, just using whip taps, from halt to trot, so you keep tapping just a little bit harder until the horse goes into trot. At this point the rider has not used any leg whatsoever.

“It’s really important to say that the amount of whip taps we use motivates the horse to step forward, but it never induces pain or fear, so it’s more about it being an irritating pressure than using lots of pressure.

“And we never just use the whip once because the horse can’t predict that and they can’t release it. If you start off with really finger light tapping on the horse’s side and then make it faster and faster and very slightly stronger, the horse can release it by stepping forward.

“Then you go back and use your legs. If you use your leg to ask the horse to move forward and they don’t, you can back it up with the whip tap. But you’ll often find as soon as you use your legs, these horse do immediately step forward.

“So you’ve now got a horse which hopefully maintains self carriage for going forward – but if they slow down when you take your leg slightly away from the saddle, then you use a fresh leg cue to ask the horse to go forward again, until they can maintain that without ongoing leg cues. We’ve now got a horse who goes forward off a leg cue and it maintains self carriage for going forward.”

Training straightness

When horses nap, they usually slow down, stop and then spin away.

“Most horses spin left, says Gemma. “A bit like we’re right-handed, most horses will push off that right forelimb and go to the left.

“With horses that nap, I’ll get the rider to go down the centre line and take both legs away – sometimes the horse will drift a little bit, even if they maintain their speed and line. Also I ask the riders just to give and retake the reins for two seconds – you’ll often find the horses drift and a lot of them will drift left, because they are falling out through the shoulder.

“This tells me the rider is constantly using the reins to keep the horse straight and therefore when the horse does nap, they just push through that pressure that’s already there. So I want to train the horse to maintain straightness by themselves – that is their job.

“So we’ll retrain the horse, initially using the reins. I might open my rein away from the horse’s shoulder so the horse will step the foreleg on that side away from the horse’s body. We don’t want them bending the head and neck – how many horses do you see where the horse tries to go left, so the rider tries to use the reins to position the horse’s head to the right, but the shoulders keep going left?

“What’s really important is that if you give a rein cue, you can use that to move the horse’s foot away from its body and that initiates a turn response. If I move my right rein away from the horse’s body then the horse steps right, but if I put my left rein against the horse’s neck I also want the horse’s shoulders to move to the right and the horse to step to the right.”

Once you have retrained the horse’s responses to leg cues to go forward and to rein cues to stay straight, dealing with a nappy horse should become easier.

“In the worst case scenario, if the horse has spun, stop them, turn them back the same way,” says Gemma. “People will often say spin them in a full circle, but if the horse stopped and pushed off its right foreleg and you then continue to spin it round to the left, you’re practising pushing off that right foreleg more and more.

“If the horse spins round and is facing the other direction and it’s pushed off its right foreleg so it’s spun left, I then get them to push off the left foreleg to bring themselves right to straighten themselves up again. And then ask them to go forwards.”

And finally…

Gemma also reminds riders that if the horse always naps at one spot, they may be thinking that every time they come there, their rider puts them under lots of pressure.

“So I’d almost think of taking the horse towards that spot and halting them and giving them a scratch. Making it nice for them. Then just ask for a few steps forward and give them another scratch. Maybe even give them a small food reward. So rather than trying to force the horse to complying in an area they may be fearful of, instead we’re trying to set the horse up for success by helping them be more confident and want to go forward in certain areas.”

Gemma also has advice for riding horses which suddenly put the brakes on, having been walking forward happily, which she sees as a subset of napping horses.

“Sometimes you can even feel the horse’s heart beating through the saddle, so we know this horse has a very high level of arousal, she says. “The temptation is to put the leg on to try and get the horse going forwards.”

Gemma refers to a study in which an umbrella was lowered into an arena of loose horses. The most common response was for horses to stop and startle, and it took an average of 13 seconds for horses’ heart rates to start to drop. In some horses, it took nearly a minute.

“If they stop that suddenly and you can feel the heart rate and the head’s gone up and they’ve gone really tense, just give them a scratch, just let them stop for a second, because at that point in time, they’re probably in a high state of arousal so they’re not capable of learning.

“And if you just give them a scratch and let them look, just give them a second to think about it, the horse will often walk on ok. I will actually get people to count up to 15 or 30 and then quietly ask them to move on. But if you try and ask them to walk on at the start, the horse is in a freeze response, they initially respond to nothing, the rider puts more pressure on and then they suddenly explode.”

Gemma concludes with a reminder that pain is an underlying contributing factor in 80% of napping horses.

“So please do get these things looked into – just trotting the horse up in a straight line is not going to tell us very much. Work with your vets to see the horse on the lunge and under saddle,” she says.

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Anyone who has spent time around horses, will have witnessed a horse take to its favourite muddy patch, dusty arena, or fresh shavings, with its nose to the ground, pawing the dirt, circling, then buckle its knees, drop to the ground and roll from side to side. The horse will go back and forth in ecstasy, then maybe leap to its feet and give a buck, or simply shake itself off and start grazing.

So why do they do it? It turns out that there are many reasons horses roll, sometimes because they feel good, while at other times it’s an indication that a vet is required.

Sarah Clark, an equine behavioural consultant in Essex, who runs her own behavioural consultancy business, explains: “Horses roll for pleasure when they are relaxed and feel it is safe to do so. Similar to when a person yawns, rolling is evidently contagious, and you can often see more than one horse roll in sequence.”

She adds: “As well as for enjoyment, a horse will roll to help with shedding their coat and to maintain their coat and body temperature too. Mud and dust can act as a skin conditioner as well as a natural insect repellent. Any irritation caused by drying sweat can be relieved by rolling as the dust or mud has a cooling and drying effect. This is demonstrated when, to the horror of the horse owner who has just bathed their horse and turned them out, seconds later finds them dirt-coloured again!”

It can also be the horse’s way of communicating that he might be over-rugged. Sarah explains: “Excessive or frantic rolling in the winter can indicate that the horse has become too warm in their rug and they are trying to cool themselves or adjust their thermostat.”

An observant owner can use rolling (among other behaviours) to assess their horse’s social status in the herd and perhaps improve any behaviour problems they might be experiencing. A herd will often have a favourite rolling spot.

Sarah says: “The most socially confident horses in a group usually make their scent marks last. This includes being the last to roll, often in a favourite spot and near access points including gateways in a domestic setting.”

Rolling isn’t always benign or for pleasure or self-grooming though, and vets are often called to cases where the horse is rolling as a response to pain.

Brianna Harris, DVM, a vet in Colorado, says: “The big medical one would be rolling due to a belly ache. If you’ve ever eaten too much of a holiday meal, you can relate. I’ve actually tried rolling myself to ease the pain of a distended stomach from taking seconds way too seriously!”

She counteracts the myth that rolling makes colic worse, explaining: “It’s a mechanical way of trying to move stuff like gas or fluid pockets around to get some relief. For some horses, it likely works to their benefit, and they can work themselves out of a colic situation. We humans often stop them from rolling, because we think it could make the colic situation worse — it likely won’t matter either way.”

There are reasons, however, to prevent the colicky horse from rolling. Brianna points out: “Horses are often kept in areas of confinement in which they could do a lot of damage to the structure as well as themselves. Painful rolling horses can get cast in stalls, break legs and fencing, not to mention the abrasions they get on their faces from rubbing their head against the ground over and over again.

“For a sick horse, rolling can be an indicator of their level of pain and the importance of calling a vet out to evaluate the situation.”

Article continues below…

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She advises owners to get to know their horses well and learn the differences between rolling for pleasure and rolling in pain. A sick horse may be sweating, pacing, looking anxiously at its sides, often getting up and down, whereas a happy one will look bright and relaxed and after rolling, is likely to either play or graze.

“My own horse would have been tubed after every ride had I not known how much he loved his self-inflicted post workout message. He lived for the roll out after getting the tack off,” says Brianna.

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Understanding how horses learn may be beneficial in preventing vets sustaining injuries when dealing with “difficult” horses, research has suggested.

A study, Difficult horses – prevalence, approaches to management of and understanding of how they develop by equine veterinarians, by researchers of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, aimed to document the challenges faced by vets when dealing with difficult horses and their approaches to managing them, including their understanding of the processes through which horses learn.

Participants completed a survey and of 168 responses, 95% reported working with difficult horses on at least a monthly basis. Some 579 injuries were recorded in the past five years, of which 37% resulted in continued discomfort or loss of function. The most common unwanted behaviours were horses being bargy, not standing, or being needle-shy – but these were encountered less frequently by vets who had more years of experience. The most popular methods of dealing with unwanted behaviour were physical or chemical restraint, with 99% of respondents considering sedation very or fairly useful. Some 84% of respondents said they understood the term positive reinforcement, but when tested on what this meant, only 19% were correct. Of the 80% who said they understood negative reinforcement, 33% were correct when tested on its meaning.

Veterinary behaviourist and lead author Gemma Pearson, who has also published research on whether educational intervention can be used to help students become better at dealing with difficult horses, told H&H it was concerning how dangerous being an equine vet can be – and how frequently they were coming across difficult horses.

“These are injuries being caused by horse behaviour – whether they’ve been kicked or struck – and yet nobody teaches vets about horse behaviour. It’s assumed they’ll pick it up,” she said.

“It’s perhaps unsurprising that a lot of vets felt they understood equine behaviour really well because they spend a lot of time working with horses, but when we actually tested them on it, their knowledge of the processes through which horses learn were really poor. It’s disappointing, but probably not surprising. I’ve dealt with lots of vets who say ‘the horse is needle-shy and it’s just stubborn’ but they’re negatively reinforcing the behaviour, and actually we can reinforce an alternative behaviour.”

Ms Pearson runs courses for vets on practical learning theory and, in 2018, launched videos as part of the British Equine Veterinary Association’s (BEVA) Don’t Break Your Vet Campaign including a video showing how to inject a horse safely using positive reinforcement with clicker training and food. This year, for the first time, vet students studying at the University of Edinburgh will have lectures on learning theory and horse behaviour.

Lucy Grieve, chair of the BEVA ethics and welfare committee, told H&H the study demonstrates a potential problem “across the board” when it comes to horse behaviour.

“Everyone has their opinions on how to handle difficult horses, but with so much anecdote, and simply ‘doing what one has always done’, there has been little time spent trying to understand if there is a better, safer way,” she said.

“The more we can understand what people are doing, how well those things work, what effect it has on the horse short- and long-term, and whether it reduces the risk of injury, the better.”

Ms Grieve added that teaching and sharing up-to-date knowledge and proven methods is essential for learning and to help avoid horses suffering needlessly, and people getting hurt unnecessarily.

“As a practising vet on the road, often with little help when things get hairy, I have suffered my own injuries and been lucky to walk away from some pretty terrifying situations. But since I adopted the methods Gemma has been promoting, such as those featured in the BEVA Don’t Break Your Vet campaign, I can say they really work. I have several needle-shy horses which nearly hospitalised people and forced vets to abandon procedures due to fear of safety. Thanks to Gemma’s techniques based on how horses learn, these horses are now happily injected with no fear or danger in sight. This has to be the way forward. Safety is paramount in every case, but the methods used need to be sustainable and ethical.”

World Horse Welfare chief executive Roly Owers told H&H the charity is encouraged to see this type of research being undertaken as equine mental health and the safety of vets, and other paraprofessionals, are “hugely important issues that warrant much closer attention”.

“Too often, if an equine displays ‘unwanted’ behaviour, it is described as behaving badly or being difficult. But there is usually an underlying reason for displaying this behaviour, such as being confused or in pain,” he said.

“It is deeply concerning that so many vets are injured by horses they are trying to help, and it is unsurprising that the most popular method of dealing with these ‘difficult’ horses is physical or chemical restraint. The problem is this treats the symptom and not the cause, and using physical restraint might make the horse even more difficult to control the next time.”

Mr Owers added that while people are “generally good” at evaluating the physical welfare of horses, understanding their mental welfare is still “relatively novel”, although it is just as important.

“The use of learning theory – understanding how horses take in and process the world around them – and how we can use this knowledge to effectively and compassionately train horses – is crucial to promoting better handling and training methods,” he said. “There is a great opportunity for the veterinary profession to champion this type of approach as a way of not only protecting themselves but also promoting improved equine mental wellbeing. Many owners are not aware about learning theory and how to incorporate it into their daily handling and training and vets are perfectly placed to help to fill this gap.”

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Gaynor Davenport on how she hears horses speaking, and dealing with sceptics

When I was little, my grandad had an old pony in the field, called Dolly, who used to do the milk round with him. My aunt used to take me to feed Dolly bread and I would sit up on the wall and trickle my toes through her fur. That’s when I realised I could hear her.

One day she told me, “Dolly’s going away.” I told my aunt and my mum told her to bring me in, but I was kicking and screaming. The next day, Dolly was dead.

My mum never let me ride, but horses are in my blood. I remember being taken for a donkey ride as a treat on a trip to Blackpool, and I could hear the donkey telling me to choose him as he’d give me the longest ride.

When I grew up I had many different jobs – a hair stylist, a shop assistant and housekeeper, but I was in my element around animals and would pass on to their owners what they were saying. I could always communicate with them, but I didn’t start in any official capacity until the mid 1990s.

Word got around, and my first serious job was when a National Hunt trainer asked me to come and see one of his promising young horses. He didn’t want anyone else knowing, so when the lads came round with the hay I hid underneath some rugs with my handkerchief in my mouth to stop me laughing!

The horse told me he could feel tension in the area between his liver and spleen and it turned out he was a bleeder. He was then exercised for long, gentle sessions instead of fast gallops so he was under less pressure. He went on to win the Gold Cup.

I can’t describe what I hear. It’s like a quiet whisper. I hear guttural sounds, and they sound like a word I recognise. A vet friend of mine said I’m on a higher plane of vibration, and I am very sensitive to electromagnetic fields.

I have never met anyone else with this gift, and I can’t explain it, nor can I teach others. I am secretive because many people are sceptical, but I have had vets check me out and I’ve worked through it with a solicitor for my own peace of mind.

I’m an honorary member of the international federation of aromatherapists, but there’s no official body for what I do. I can’t cause pain, I don’t manipulate and I do work alongside vets. Many vets and farriers who were sceptical are now marvellous supporters of mine.

I don’t like to know anything about the horse before, except their name. I wouldn’t even know how to look up a competition record – I don’t have a computer or a smartphone.

I have to be very patient; I can’t impose communication against a horse’s will if they don’t want to talk, but usually they warm up. It’s a burden what they tell me, as sometimes they aren’t happy with what the rider’s doing and I have to pass this on, but I don’t judge.

I’ve talked to horses going to the Olympics, hunters, and horses belonging to royalty. One of the most famous was Tamarillo; many things were troublesome to him initially, but he went on to win Badminton and Burghley. I’ve met his clone Tomatillo and he definitely knew me. I think William Fox-Pitt was sceptical at first but I have worked with many of his horses over the years.

In lockdown I’ve been communicating from a distance. It takes longer, so I charge £170 rather than £150 if I can go in person. I draw the owner diagrams of the horse’s internal area and colour where he’s feeling pain or stress, so they can relate to that when they are riding.

I’ve been working with an advanced event rider in lockdown who had a horse who was sharp and moody. The horse told me he was uncomfortable behind the saddle and in his contact. The rider has changed his bit and treated him with oils behind the saddle and she’s delighted with how well he’s going. I’m not a trainer, I just listen.

● As told to Martha Terry

This feature can also be read in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 6 May

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Why do horses roll? H&H explains…

This comprehensive study of riders found they seem to revel in the idea of risk, and that fear is not seen as something that should affect riders’ decision-making. H&H finds out the impact this could have on both horse and rider

RIDERS who are pushed to be “brave” and “get tough” to overcome issues could be putting their own and their horses’ safety and welfare at risk.

Rosie Jones McVey’s research into equestrians’ bravery and its implications, published in journal Animals, was based on 14 months spent with 35 riders.

Social anthropologist Dr Jones McVey told H&H that as a trainer who travelled a great deal with Kelly Marks of Intelligent Horsemanship, she experienced a wide range of ideas and information, and so became used to “putting on different hats” and changing her language, depending on the people and horses she was working with.

This led her to her subject, and her PhD on the ethics of British horse people. Her time spent researching the PhD led to this paper.

“It was a chance to say something I hoped would help people,” she said.

The study report states that some of the subjects “seemed to revel” in the physical risks of riding. It adds that fear was seen as something that should not affect riders’ decision-making; “riders should… respond to recognised risk with pragmatism and gumption”.

But Dr Jones McVey said most of her subjects had confidence issues of some sort.

“Despite their anxieties, they kept on riding,” the paper states. “‘Horsiness’ was too deep a part of who they were. It was too painfully wrenching to consider a life without horses.”

Dr Jones McVey said rider “bravery” came to the fore if the horse was being “naughty”, at which point trainers might berate the rider to “get tough”; interpreting the horse’s behaviour as defiant, and the rider’s as “wimping out”.

“I heard things like ‘He’s laughing at you and so are we’; almost bullying the rider into bullying the horse.”

Dr Jones McVey said this approach sometimes works, and a bit of shouting can motivate. Some riders, having become cross, “kicked like hell” and succeeded, can feel validated as a “real horse person”.

“That’s where it gets complicated,” she said. “I want people to think, ‘Is this helping, or have I stumbled into feeling it’s normal, but I don’t want to feel I have to either hit my horse or be terrified’. If they feel they might be better in a different learning environment, it might help to make changes. That’s not to say no one should be told to kick on, but I don’t want them to feel the only way to move on is humiliation.”

A consequence of “getting tough” was often that the rider punished the horse, with whip, reins or spurs.

“Apart from physical punishment, there’s the welfare concern of pushing horses to do things they weren’t ready for,” she said. “And if a rider’s ‘being tough’, they’re more likely to miss a step. The decision-making capacity of riders being tough on themselves is less good for equine welfare.

“It can be exhilarating, to kick on and get tough, and it might work. But if it doesn’t, the horse has a bad experience and you might be injured. A horse’s education is worth more than a gamble.”

The report concludes by stating that programs that aim to help riders develop confidence without instilling a sense of “battle” with the horse, or ridiculing the rider, are likely to have positive implications for equine welfare and human safety.

Vet Gemma Pearson, Horse Trust director of equine behaviour, told H&H the report highlights many behavioural issues she sees. She gave an example of a video she was sent of a competent but nervous rider on a napping horse.

“You can hear the instructor saying ‘Give it a hot bottom’ and ‘Turn the whip upside-down and make it go forwards’,” she said. “The horse completely switched off and was standing there in a state but the instructor was still angry. The horse had kissing spines.

“I see it so often; people won’t get a vet or behaviourist as there’s pressure from people at the yard, saying ‘She’s just scared’ or ‘She’s looking for an excuse not to ride’. I do see some horses where the rider’s confidence is the issue but 80% of them that present with dangerous behaviour have an underlying pain cause.”

Ms Pearson said another issue with “being brave” can be riders’ being told, or thinking they must, get back on after a fall.

“It’s different if, say, the horse puts in a big jump and you come off; getting back on is the best thing for confidence, but most of the time I’ve seen bad cases, it’s when someone’s got back on. The horse is full of adrenaline, unsure what’s happened but knowing the thing that took the pressure away was getting the rider off. The scared rider is told to get on with it, and the horse thinks ‘This is scary’ and does the same thing as before, but because of the adrenaline, a lot bigger.

“A sad thing is that people don’t want to get vets or behaviourists as they think people will say they’re ‘just scared’, so they stop riding altogether.”

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Researchers have created an ethogram based on 35 years of research and observations. H&H speaks to the researchers and an equine behavioural expert to find out more

A NEW ethogram based on decades of observations of thousands of horses has been developed in the hope of creating a more “universal” understanding of discomfort behaviours.

The Equine Discomfort Ethogram by Catherine Torcivia and Sue McDonnell of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine was published in Animals last month and includes 73 behaviours shown by horses, with illustrations and video examples.

The ethogram was created based on 35 years of research undertaken at the university’s equine hospital with 24-hour video recordings of stabled horses, both well and with health issues, when their caretaker was and was not present.

Dr McDonnell told H&H the research is beneficial in understanding why a horse is displaying a behaviour.

“One of the underlying themes of helping vets, owners and trainers is to understand what horses do when they’re uncomfortable. In almost all cases it’s not to do with misbehaviour, they’re just showing their physical discomfort,” she said.

“Over the years, clinicians have asked, ‘How do we educate people on these behaviours?’, so we felt it was time to put in writing how we evaluate these cases with the help of diagrams. We wanted clear universal communication so whether you‘re in Japan or Pennsylvania, someone can say, ‘Yes, this is what I’m looking at.’ That’s why the illustrations are so important.”

Dr Torcivia added that the ethogram is not meant to be diagnostic, but can help owners describe their horses’ behaviour to their vets.

“It’s meant to help people recognise that these things are happening and if they see these repeatedly over time then it is an indication for them to contact their vet and have more diagnostics performed,” she said.

“We want people to understand not to panic if they see one incidence of a behaviour. When we’re evaluating horses for prolonged discomfort, it’s based on repetitive observations of the same behaviours. Some behaviours listed in the ethogram are normal in certain contexts and it’s not until you start seeing them repetitively or out of context that you need to be concerned.”

Horse Trust equine director of behaviour Gemma Pearson, who previously spent three weeks with Dr McDonell undertaking observation and videoing of semi-feral ponies, told H&H there has been a “massive shift“ towards people understanding that problem behaviours often relate to pain or incorrect training responses, rather than being “naughty”.

“Video footage taken overnight can be a really valuable tool where we think there may be something wrong but we can’t pinpoint what’s going on. It makes sense for a horse as a prey animal; they will hide indicators of pain when people are around, so getting video footage is really useful,” she said.

The full study is available online.

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

In our 34th weekly episode of the first series of The Horse & Hound Podcast, British Olympic medal-winning dressage rider Laura Tomlinson talks to H&H dressage editor Polly Bryan, where they discuss how she manages to juggle family life with being an elite sportswoman, among other topics. Moving on to the week’s top news stories, our news team join our host Pippa to discuss Brexit, rare breeds that are in danger and pony deaths on the New Forest’s roads. We also welcome back equine trainer Jason Webb, who talks about anxiety in horses and suggests, if your horse is feeling worried, why that might be the case. We hope you will find it useful.

Episode 34 of The Horse & Hound Podcast, our popular audio service available exclusively every Thursday morning for our H&H Plus subscribers, is now live.

Each episode is available for all H&H fans to listen to 24hrs after its early release to our H&H Plus members. Search for “The Horse & Hound Podcast” in your preferred podcast app and click subscribe to be notified about each new episode. This will allow more listeners to make The Horse & Hound Podcast an essential part of their week on Friday morning.

• View all episodes of The Horse & Hound Podcast

In episode 34, British Olympic medal-winning dressage rider Laura Tomlinson talks to H&H dressage editor Polly Bryan about juggling family life with being a top sportswoman, among other topics.

H&H podcast host Pippa Roome is joined by H&H news editor Eleanor Jones and news writer Becky Murray to discuss Brexit, rare breeds that are in danger and pony deaths on the New Forest’s roads.

In this week’s advice section we hear from horse trainer Jason Webb, who specialises in starting your horses and retraining those with problems. Jason talks about anxiety in horses and suggests, if your horse is feeling worried, why that might be the case.

We hope you will enjoy our latest episode and would love to hear your feedback, so please do send your thoughts to pippa.roome@futurenet.com

H&H Plus podcast: episode 34

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The social behaviour of horses living in herds can influence their body condition, a study has indicated.

It is hoped the research, conducted by the University of Bristol and the Royal Veterinary College, in collaboration with Spillers through the Waltham equine studies group, could help address problems associated with equine obesity.

Previous studies have found that social status of animals in social groups may influence their foraging success but there has been no research into the significance of other social factors on either foraging efficiency or body condition score (BCS).

This research, published in PeerJ, investigated 20 separate domestic equine herds.

The team measured each equid’s social dominance and, during 120 hours of observation, recorded the duration and frequency of interruptions to grazing, as well as the cause of the interruptions; classing them as vigilance, movement, social displacements given or received, scratching and startling.

They found the frequency of vigilance was the interruption behaviour most strongly associated with body condition; higher vigilance was linked to a lower BCS.

“Most owners and keepers know that individual horses and ponies experience different positives and negatives when living in groups,” said Spillers’ marketing, research and development director Clare Barfoot.

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“This is why we tend to choose field companions carefully so that a balanced and harmonious relationship can be maintained within the herd.”

“These results are novel and exciting in that they present the first behavioural evidence to confirm previous theoretical work. Neither the more vigilant nor the more frequently disturbed individuals compensated for their reduction in feed (energy) intake by spending more time foraging, which probably explains the link with lower body condition.

“We hope what we have learnt about the behaviour of individual horses when kept in groups could be included as a relevant factor when addressing health problems associated with equine obesity.”

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

A British writer has received an international literary award for the book she wrote about a life-changing trek across the Outer Hebrides with her horse and dog.

Karen Inkster embarked on the journey in a last-ditch bid to form a bond with her rescue standardbred mare Connie, who vets had recommended she put to sleep because of aggressive behaviour.

She recorded the journey in her self-published book The Deaf, The Daft and The Ditsy, written in 2018, and has since donated more than £7,000 in profits from its sale to charities.

Karen told H&H she was “astonished” this week to receive an email from the US-based Equus Film and Arts Festival announcing that she had won the award for international equine adventure.

“Somehow, one of the people involved with the festival had heard about my book and asked me to submit it,” said Karen, who is based in Perthshire.

“I had seen they had a vast amount of entries, some from quite famous authors, so I didn’t watch the ceremony, which was held online this year because of Covid. It wasn’t until I woke up on Monday morning (30 November) and checked my email that I found out I had won.”

Karen’s adventure began when she acquired Connie through a rehoming agency and although she was not a rescue case, she had spent a few years unridden. It is thought she had been raced in harness as she paced, and it also became apparent she had several behavioural issues, including unpredictable, unprovoked biting and rearing under saddle.

“The £300 donation I paid for her ended up turning into thousands spent on vets’ bills trying to find out if there was something physically wrong with her. I even thought at one point she might have a brain tumour,” Karen said.

“She broke my ribs twice in 18 months and I just wasn’t getting anywhere. I’d tried working with several trainers but in the end I just decided I wanted to journey somewhere with her that we didn’t know.

“I wanted the chance to be with her 24/7 and for her to have to be part of the herd and rely on us, that was the mad idea.”

As Connie had “always loved” Karen’s deaf collie Pip, whom she had rehomed from the Dogs Trust, he went with them on their 21-day trek across the 13 remote islands. Karen rode the mare half the time and led her for the rest as she also had to carry the kit and camping gear.

“Because she used to have tantrums that would last for hours where she’d do mad things like run you over or smash through a gate, my vet had given me two syringes of sedatives to use in an emergency, for my safety and hers, but I never needed them,” Karen said. “By day four, things had started to change, that’s how quick it was.”

Karen said that by the time they were half way through the trip, she could throw the lead rope over Connie’s neck and walk ahead of her and she’d “stop for a munch and then catch up”.

“In the mornings, once it got light, her routine was to come and stand near the tent and paw the ground as if to say ‘get up, it’s a new day and a new journey’. She’d bring herself over to stand by the panniers to tack up, whereas at home I had to tie her up to do anything with her,” she said.

“I was very much aware it could have been a one-way trip if it didn’t achieve what I set out to do but sometimes these things take an act of courage or madness. We’ve had an amazing bond ever since and she came home a completely and utterly different horse.”

The trio crossed between the islands using causeways and bridges and Karen also took a lorry so they could travel between the islands where they had to take the ferry. She would corral the horses and go and pick up the vehicle, often accepting lifts from strangers who were happy to help.

“People were phenomenally generous and halfway through I did start to feel like a minor celebrity,” she said.

“While the scenery was just stunning, what I will remember is the people and their stories. So many people were happy to see a horse. There used to be a lot of ponies on the islands as they used to help with cutting the peat but they have been replaced by machinery.”

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While Connie was quick to settle once they returned home, Karen said she struggled with “the blues” for a few weeks after coming back to normality but that it had been an amazing experience she would always remember. At 14, Pip is now too old to embark on a long trek but Karen hopes that further adventures will be in store for her and Connie and another project horse, a Spanish mustang, she acquired two years ago.

“He still needs some work on his issues but I am planning a thousand-mile trip round Scotland at some point,” she said.

All profits from the sale of Karen’s book are currently being donated to the SSPCA to help support hundreds of dogs and cats recently rescued from a Scottish puppy farm. Copies can be ordered via her Facebook page.

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Horses consider humans a “safe haven” but may not form specific attachment bonds with their owners, a new study suggests.

Previous research has shown dogs display the same four key attachment behaviours with their owners as children do with their parents but there has been limited research on whether horses form similar bonds.

The recent study, published in the December 2020 edition of Animal Applied Behaviour Science, explored whether horses displayed the same attachment-related behaviours towards a stranger as they did towards their owner.

In order to trigger attachment behaviours, the experiment stressed the horses by introducing them to a cordoned-off area of an arena where they were walked and then stood still before being left alone. They were later reunited with their handlers.

The experiment, conducted on 26 horses, was carried out first with the owner and then with a stranger.

As well as noting the horses’ behaviour, they used a heart monitor to record their levels of physiological stress.

The results showed that horses spent most of their time near the door to the arena during separation and sought human proximity when reunited, irrespective of whether the owner or the stranger was the handler.

The animals’ heart rates also significantly increased on separation and decreased when reunited, suggesting that they were stressed when left alone and reassured by a human presence.

“Dogs become stressed during separation from their owner, and they seek proximity and comfort upon reunion, indicating a safe haven effect. In addition, dogs repeatedly reveal behaviours such as increased play and exploratory behaviour together with their owner, indicating the secure base effect. To our knowledge, this has not been documented in horses,” the study’s authors Paulina Lundberg, Elke Hartmann and Lina Roth said.

“Thus, the horses showed at least two features of attachment, namely separation-related distress and safe haven as reflected in their heart rates.”

Where the horses behaviour deviated from attachment theory was that the horses perceived both the owners and strangers as safe havens. Another recent study, conducted by Ijichi et al (2018) found a similar lack of difference in behaviour when horses were led by their owners and strangers to navigate spooky equipment (eg across tarpaulins and through frames of plastic streamers).

The study also assessed whether the method the owners used to train their horses had any impact on attachment.

Owners were asked to fill in a questionnaire that identified whether they used positive reinforcement (PosRe), negative reinforcement or a combination of the two (combined reinforcement) during training.

During the reunion phase of the experiment, horses spent more time in stranger-proximity than in owner-proximity and the positive-reinforcement horses were found to be the source of this difference.

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“Our results are contrary to studies in dogs where dogs trained with PosRe seek more contact with the owner than the stranger during reunion,” the authors said.

Assessment of the fourth marker of attachment behaviour, the secure base effect, was supported by the horses’ showing more exploratory behaviour with the owners than the strangers but the report noted that the design of the study may have been flawed, with the owners always handling the horses first. The novelty of the environment may therefore have been reduced by the time the strangers took over and the arena set up may also have been too barren to maintain the horses’ interest.

“The results related to proximity seeking and the secure-base effect were unclear and might, if existing, differ between dyads of different training styles,” the authors said. “A larger sample size and a counterbalanced design would be preferred in future studies for improved evaluation of exploratory behaviours.”

The authors also suggested that more refined behavioural indicators could be used.

“We did find that ear flicking increased more when horses were reunited with the owner and since ears and facial expression are shown to be of great importance in horse-horse communication and expressing emotional states a more detailed analysis of the alterations in the horses’ facial expressions could be interesting to include in future studies,” they added.

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

I hope since my last blog that your lives are returning to some semblance of normality, or you may have been able to make positive changes to your lifestyle amid the uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic? I have been very fortunate to be able to continue working, and my family and business have been relatively unaffected. In fact, being able to take some time out from our usual crazy work and family schedule has been eye-opening, and I am sure I’m not the only one who said, “I’m going to simplify my life from now on!”

In my case, that sentiment has been a little short-lived! I’ve actually been busier than ever on the yard with horses in for training (such as Roland Tong’s stunning ‘Kevin’, pictured top sticking his tongue out at me!) and a lot of riders diverting their overseas holidays to my 1:1 weeks, where they have daily lessons with their horse and watch me working with horses in on training. I have also had more demand for lessons than usual; possibly because there’s a few horses that are a little fresh from their enforced holiday! Sometimes these require me to be a bit of a detective; my lesson with Nicky and her lovely (big!) Irish Draught mare, Shadow, being a case in point.

Nicky came to me with napping issues, as Shadow had taken to planting herself and reversing when she didn’t feel like going out on a hack. She also said that she had started to do this on the ground when she was bringing her in from the field.

Starting from the ground always gives me an idea of what is happening with the horse, but when I asked Shadow into a lunge, she took off up the arena with me “skiing” behind!

“Does she do that often?!”

“Yes, that’s her new trick!”

“So, do you worry that she’s going to do that when you’re riding her?”

“Yes, if she did that with me on her, there’s no way I could stop her.”

Therein lay the real problem. The napping was a by-product of Nicky’s forward cues not being convincing as she was worried that she could lose control. Therefore, the first part of the lesson was spent on giving Nicky techniques to control Shadow, such as the one rein stop and controlling the hind end, so that she knew she could stop her in all situations. Once she was confident in these processes, I then taught the “tapping” technique to solve the napping issue.

Horses have two forms of resistance, the first being, “I don’t know”, and the second being, “I don’t want to”, and without calm, consistent and decisive forward cues, these resistances can turn into napping, planting, spinning and rearing.

When Shadow planted, I showed Nicky how to tap her rhythmically and fluently with her whip just behind the leg at the same time as giving a light leg cue to go forwards and giving with her hands. The leg cue did not increase in intensity but more energy was put into the tapping until we got a forward step. When she got the forward response we were looking for, Nicky immediately stopped the tapping and took her leg off, so Shadow understood that she had done the right thing. It is so important to add energy from something other than our leg cue, otherwise our horse will become completely ‘dead to the leg’ and unresponsive in all our ridden work!

After a few goes, Shadow was responding to the light leg cue with no need for the tapping, which was the result we were looking for. I am delighted to say that after this one lesson, Nicky and Shadow are enjoying hacking out with only the slight hesitations that Nicky can now quickly manage.

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Off the yard, I have recently had the pleasure of judging the ‘Freestyle Performance’ class from the Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) National show that they have held virtually this year. It was so lovely to see ex-racehorses turning their hand to dressage, jumping, western and Le Trec, particularly as a few of them were even done bridleless and bareback! As someone who was bought up starting and retraining homebred racehorses in Australia, I love that organisations such as RoR exist, and I am hoping to be involved in their online showcase later in the year too.

Lastly, there has been much excitement in the Webb household as our daughter, Rosie, has got a new pony to go to Pony Club with and learn the eventing ropes. ‘Froggit’ has been a star so far, and Rosie can’t stop smiling — I’ll let you know how they get on at their forthcoming Pony Club camp!

Jason

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Penny and I had a blast at the Horse & Hound Awards in partnership with NAF last week. We were kindly invited to attend by H&H, and what an evening it was; a lovely meal, free bar and a great band — what more could we want?! It was fun to meet some fellow bloggers, including eventer Simon Grieve and Hovis’s wonderful owner, Karen Thompson, and see the joy from the winners of the awards. The cute factor was definitely miniature Shetland therapy pony called ‘Smurf’, who won The Balanced Horse Feeds Pony of the Year, who although blind himself, continues to transform the lives of hundreds of people living with dementia.

Since my last blog, I have been very busy on the ‘demonstration circuit’! I worked with an ex-racer, Scallywag, at the Horsemanship Showcase (pictured top and below), and Emmy and Bob, who were having handling and ridden issues respectively at Horses in Health and Motion. Although I would love to have a spectacular ‘show’ at my fingertips, the reality is that my days are spent training other people’s horses, and to produce liberty and ‘trick’ horses that are solid within a show environment takes a lot of time and focus. Therefore, I have always done ‘real-life’ demos, mainly with horses I have not had contact with before. Hopefully, this provides the audience with a great learning opportunity, and it can be edge of the seat stuff, particularly if I’m working with a very tricky horse!

The exception is when I do my monthly coffee mornings at home, when I work with horses that are in on training, or my own horses. Last weekend was our Christmas coffee morning when we ply everyone with mulled wine and put on some entertainment. Camilla Kruger, who represented Zimbabwe at the Rio Olympics, is based on my yard and she wowed everyone with ‘Sam’ (Biarritz, who she rode at the Olympics), pinging over a course of barrels to demonstrate incredible accuracy and massive oxers, showing his impressive scope. I rode my own JJ, who is now working at medium level dressage, while Hamish and I worked on my four-year-old Australian Stock Horse stallion, Haydon Oracle’s liberty work.

On the yard we tend to get more remedial work in the depths of winter, as opposed to starting young horses, and we have some interesting cases in at the moment. I am often asked about separation anxiety, which can rear its head during the winter as horses’ routines are varied according to weather, and opportunities for riding and exercise can be limited. My top tip with regards to managing this issue is to tie horses up on the yard to get them used to the comings and goings of other horses. At first they may get upset and move around each time another horse is moved, but after some time, they will become more patient and accept that if they stand quietly, they will get reunited or put back in their usual environment. Using my tying up exercise will really help with this as it gets their mind off the other horses, and switches their focus to you, and can be used in other situations and show environments. I also avoid turning horses out in pairs. Horses in groups of three or four develop a hierarchy and are much less likely to form an attachment to one horse, which can cause issues when that ‘friend’ is taken away. I also advise people to take a quiet horse to the anxious horse, rather than the other way round.

In ridden work, if you are struggling to ride out alone, then try this exercise:

Work in a field or arena with another, quiet, horse and rider. Position the quiet horse in the middle of the arena, while you work your horse round the outside. Make them work fairly hard, before giving them a break on the outside track well away from their friend. This will encourage them to think that they get a rest when they are away from their friend. NEVER go back and stand next to their friend when they are resting, even if you want to have a chat to the rider!

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As with many issues that stem from a horse’s natural instinct (in this case, the herd instinct), it takes time and consistency to overcome them. It is often a matter of maturity and experience, too. Get a routine at home where your horse is apart from his mates, before progressing to new environments.

This is likely to be my last blog for 2019, so it just remains for me to say Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year — let’s make 2020 one to remember for ourselves, and our horses!

Jason

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When you’ve watched a movie with horses, you have probably noticed that the horses on screen whinny all the time. It comes from the old Hollywood adage “See a horse, hear a horse.” However, it comes as no surprise to anyone who has spent time around real horses that they don’t make that much noise, and when they do, it’s for specific reasons.

Kay Willoughby, an equine behaviourist in Northampton, explains: “Vocalisation in equines is always social behaviour. Horses don’t cry out in pain as this would make them vulnerable.”

She adds that the whinny or neigh, the noise most often heard in movies, “is how horses greet their affiliates, and is also seen with tension, separation anxiety when trying to regain contact like ‘I am here, where are you?’” A horse separated from its herd or moved to a new place where it doesn’t recognise any fellow equines will neigh, and if there are other horses in earshot, they might respond with a chorus of whinnies.

Lynn Bird, a behaviourist based in Cheshire, adds several more reasons why horses whinny.

“Horses generally neigh to attract attention of other horses or of people.” She adds that it can also be “a sign of separation anxiety or a sign of social isolation. In general, increasing pitch and increasing frequency of the sounds making up the ‘call’ indicates increasing arousal, with the squeal commonly heard when meeting a new horse.”

The whinny with which a horse might greet its owner at feeding time has a much lower pitch and frequency than the high-pitched cry of a horse separated from its friend. The animal is much more aroused and stressed in the latter case.

Of course, horses make more sounds than whinnies and neighs.

Kay says: “A nicker is a low, soft sound used by mares as her foal comes to her. It is also the greeting many receive as they approach their horse who may be anticipating a treat. It’s basically an invitation to come closer. It is also part of courtship with stallions and a greeting to members of a herd when coming together.”

While the nicker indicates relaxed social interaction, the high-pitched squeal suggests tense, highly aroused social interaction.

Kay explains: “A squeal can be associated with defensive and aggressive behaviour. Commonly seen when mares are approached and when new horses meet.”

Often the horses will arch their necks and throw out a foreleg. Squeals can also be heard from mares in season, indicating their receptiveness towards the stallion and excitement, or conversely, a mare not in season will try to put off an overeager stallion with a squeal and a kick. According it Lynn, the squeal can mean any “extreme sudden arousal.”

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Other sounds you might hear are a snort.

“This is associated with alarm or a fear response and alerts the herd of possible danger,” explains Kay. “This will usually be followed by a socially confident individual investigating further and as they approach and circle, and they will blow loudly through their nostrils.”

You might also hear grunts and groans. Kay explains that they “can be associated with pain or exertion, especially in serious combat and olfactory investigation.”

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The term “welfare” may conjure up images of an emaciated, poorly kept horse, rescued by a charity. Realistically, welfare describes the state of an animal’s well-being — be it positive or negative — so applies to all horses.

One of the first people credited with promoting equine welfare was Anna Sewell, whose 1877 novel Black Beauty suggested that horses were capable of feeling not only pain and suffering, but also pleasure. The book’s aim was to “induce kindness, sympathy and an understanding treatment of horses”.

Almost a century later, Ruth Harrison’s Animal Machines led the public to question the welfare of intensively farmed animals. In response, and to promote better conditions, a government report declared all animals should have the freedom to stand up, lie down, turn around, groom themselves and stretch their limbs.

Five freedoms

The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) further developed these five “freedoms”. For physical and mental welfare, it was deemed that every domestic animal was entitled to freedom:

• from hunger and thirst, by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour;

• from discomfort, through provision of an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area;

• from pain, injury or disease, by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment;

• to express normal behaviour, through provision of sufficient space, proper facilities and company of his own kind; and

• from fear and distress, through conditions and treatment that avoid mental suffering.

This was a step in the right direction, but it became apparent that the focus was on an absence of negative welfare states rather than the presence of positive ones. A decade ago, the FAWC suggested that meeting an animal’s basic needs — providing “a life worth living” — should be the minimum standard, and introduced a higher ideal: “a good life”.

Similarly, there have been decades of equine-based research into negative emotions, such as stress and pain. This is important, but much less is known about positive emotions in horses. By understanding what makes a horse happy and how to tell whether or not he is feeling this way, we can work towards creating a good life.

Steps to happiness

What makes a horse’s life worth living — or, better still, good?

A life not worth living

This horse suffers prolonged negative states, such as hunger, pain or disease. He may live in a dirty environment with insufficient feed or water, or have a heavy lice burden or pressure sores. His diet may be inadequate and he may have no company — equine or otherwise.

A life worth living

While his basic needs are met, this horse has limited opportunity for positive experiences. His stable may be immaculate and his diet excellent, but his only exercise is when he is ridden, so he is always under control. He can see and smell other horses, but cannot enjoy mutual grooming.

A good life

Not only are this horse’s basic needs met, but he has the opportunity to indulge in pleasurable activities, such as play. He is kept in good health and has adequate nutrition, living out full-time with others so he can run, roll in the mud and interact with friends. His training is engaging and fun.

Back to nature

Research in other species has shown it is the frequency rather than the intensity of positive events that makes the biggest difference to overall wellbeing. Multiple events causing moderate happiness are more beneficial than a single, very positive incident.

Many positive experiences over time also help build resilience — the ability to cope with challenging circumstances. We know rodents subjected to more positive experiences have a lower in ammatory response to a stress test, suggesting some kind of protective measure. For a horse, this resilience could make it easier to learn new skills in training and to remain calm at competitions.

Certain components have been universally accepted as key to providing a horse with a good life. Turnout is highly beneficial; feral horses cover vast distances daily as they graze, but domesticated horses also need sufficient space to move and exercise freely. Chewing and foraging are important; horses evolved to chew for around 16 hours a day and the prolonged chewing of low-calorie feedstuffs is known to have a relaxing effect.

The third requirement is social companionship, ideally provided by other horses in an established group. In experiments testing preference, it was found that horses were willing to work harder to obtain companionship than food. The Swiss National Stud has demonstrated even stallions can be provided with companionship — theirs are turned out together in winter and stabled in “social boxes”, separated by walls with metal bars, in the breeding season. While the general principles of a good life remain the same across all horses, each animal should be recognised as an individual.

A positive experience for one horse might not be so for another. By observing your own horse and his responses, you will get a feel for what is important to him.

Measuring equine happiness

So how can we recognise and measure positive emotions? Increasingly, researchers are using specific methods to determine what makes horses happy: preference testing, which involves investigating which of two options a horse prefers before testing how hard he will work to gain access to it, and cognitive bias testing, which investigates how a horse’s living and training regimes make him more optimistic or pessimistic about life in general.

The concept of “approach versus avoidance” is one of the most basic ways to determine how pleasant your horse finds an experience. If he walks faster than average on his way back to the field, this tells you that he values turnout time. If he walks slowly to the place where he is given a bath — or tries to avoid it altogether — he obviously doesn’t enjoy being washed. You could, of course, pair the bath with food, which might change the way he thinks about it.

Several behavioural indicators have been scientifically documented as proof of positive emotions. These include the low, vibrating snort, often heard as a horse grazes, and rolling or settling down to sleep.

Is he willing to explore his environment and play — either with other horses, or by having a good run and a buck by himself? Social interaction with fieldmates, such as mutual grooming, is important for wellbeing and another indicator of happiness. Watch your horse’s reactions as you groom him and spend more time on the areas where he seems to enjoy getting a good scratch.

Training also has the potential to provide positive experiences, provided it is based on learning theory and within the horse’s physical capabilities.

Negative reinforcement (better termed subtraction reinforcement or pressure release) involves immediately releasing the rein or leg aid when the horse offers the right response. Being able to work out the “right answer” to an aid can be rewarding for the horse.

Positive reinforcement, such as clicker training, uses a unique sound to mark the correct response, which is then rewarded through either a scratch or food. Relatively quickly, the click itself releases “happy neurotransmitters” such as dopamine and serotonin in the horse’s brain.

The FEI promoted the concept of the “happy athlete” in 2009.

By breaking training down into small, achievable steps, we can make it easier for the horse to offer the right response. This creates more opportunities for reward, helping to develop a happy athlete.

Ref: Horse & Hound; 23 May 2019

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The year seems to be flying by, but also appears to be slightly confused; snow one week, positively balmy the next! Yesterday it was so spring-like that we took the horse’s rugs off, and then immediately regretted it as they came in covered from head to toe in mud! I hope this lovely weather continues as I have a half term youth clinic this week, and the first of my 2019 camps next week, where I am welcoming a small group of riders and their unbroken youngsters. This gives riders the chance to be involved in the starting process, safe in the knowledge that they can hand their horses over to us for the “scary bits” like the first ride!

Since my last blog, I have donned the breeches and competed one of my horses, JJ (pictured top), in his first dressage competition, where he behaved impeccably. JJ was given to me as a young horse as he was tricky; he was very anxious and hated travelling. He has provided me with a great learning opportunity as I rarely have horses long enough to train them to a higher level; we’re even nailing flying-changes now! He has not been plain sailing by any means, but his ability and way of going has now overtaken his tendency to spook at non-existent monsters as his most significant attribute. I’m at the stage when I feel like my lack of time is holding him back, so he will be looking for a new home in the near future.

Horses like JJ take a long time to get right, and will probably always need experienced and confident handling. When horses come to me with anxiety-based issues such as bolting, I wish I could tell people that there was a quick fix, but in reality, once I have got the horse back on the right track, it is a question of consistency in training and handling over a longer period of time to truly solve the problem. I have a lovely young horse in for re-education at the moment. She has come with a rearing problem, and physical reasons for this issue had been ruled out by the vet. Although she has a lot of training under her belt and has been out competing, she has steadily become difficult to ride.

In my first session with her, some close contact lungeing soon highlighted the problem. She has developed a strong and unnerving “head flick”, which she uses to evade contact. The natural, and understandable, instinct for a rider is to stop this by blocking with the rein and trying to keep the horse straight, but over time, this has resulted in her increasing her evasion by rearing. When I rode her for the first time, I let the reins go and just asked for forward, being very careful to duck out of the way of her head! In addition to her head flick, I also felt there wasn’t a clear pathway between my leg aids and the movement of her feet. This is one of those issues that will take a period of consistent re-training to solve, so my advice is to take note of any small issues before they escalate; prevention is definitely easier than cure!

It is so easy to ignore those little things that go wrong, particularly if it means going right back to basics, when all we want to do is to feel like we are progressing. This mare’s issue would probably have started with a small flick of the nose, and if it had been addressed there and then, with work on lateral flexions among other things, it may have been enough to prevent it escalating. Two weeks on, she is starting to relax and has become a lot more willing and forward in her way of going, so hopefully by my next blog, there’ll be more good news!

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Off the yard, I have been kept busy with my online business. I am not a particularly “techie” person, but with my children hitting their teens, it is interesting to see them inhabiting a totally different world of apps and social media channels, whereas we grew up round the family TV! A couple of weeks ago, a partnership between Your Horsemanship, my online horse training business, and the popular riding app, Huufe, was launched. Huufe now features some of my training tips, and allows users to buy Your Horsemanship membership at a discounted price. It’s exciting for me to be involved with an app that I actually use and enjoy, as well as the kind of global exposure that comes with it.

In a couple of months’ time, I will be facing other kind of international exposure (hopefully in a good way!) when I play for the UK at the 2019 Polocrosse World Cup in Australia. I’m flat out in the CrossFit gym, have a racquet in my hand as much as possible, and have even changed my diet to try and get any advantage that outweighs my slightly advancing years… or maybe I should be describing myself as a “highly experienced player”!

Jason

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday

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Christmas seems like a long time ago now. I had a good break from riding and a very relaxing time with family and friends.

As always, the New Year provided an opportunity to evaluate the past year and make plans and goals for the year ahead. 2019 promises to be an exciting and action-packed year for my family and I. I will be representing the UK in the Polocrosse World Cup in Australia in April, so Penny and the kids will be flying out to support the team, and taking a little trip to the Great Barrier Reef and the Gold Coast at the same time. As I’m now the wrong side of 40, this is likely to be the last time I play international polocrosse, so it would be fantastic to go out on a high. The last World Cup in 2015 in South Africa will take some beating. I acted as player/coach to the UK team, and we finished fouth in what was the highest standard of competition I have played in, or watched. I am actually writing this having just finished a tough session of CrossFit, which is part of my commitment to getting as fit and strong as I can for the event!

On the yard, we have started 2019 with a bang. We welcomed a range of horses in for training after the New Year, including three of the Bechtolsheimer’s home-bred horses for starting. I have been doing groundwork with them and will be giving them their first rides this week, although I may need a ladder to get on one of them! It’s always exciting working with horses that you know have the bloodlines and the training opportunities to reach the top of their discipline. Even better for me, is the fact that they have been left to grow up without much interference, so I am working with a blank canvas. I work with a lot of young horses that have been handled too much, or that have had a bad experience when being broken in, and it takes a lot more time and work to undo the habits formed and rebuild new pathways.

An example of this is a young gelding I have in at the moment (who I’m pictured with, top). I usually only have horses with me for around six weeks, be it starting them under saddle, or retraining a behavioural or ridden problem. But after an assessment I told the owner of this particular horse that it would take at least three months, and no guarantees, to fix his bolting issue.

Contrary to what many people think, bolters aren’t generally created through being mistreated, but more typically during the starting or breaking-in process, something has alarmed the horse and they have taken flight, resulting in the rider falling off, and the horse having had a very bad experience of a rider getting on his back. Some horses get over things like this quickly, but with those with a nervous disposition, it can make a lasting impression.

I worked with this particular horse at my coffee morning demonstration last week, and I could give the audience clear signs of what a bolter looks like; head held high, tension throughout the neck and body, ears facing out and back, and eyes looking back at the rider. With this kind of problem, you can have a breakthrough one day, and then feel like you’re back to square one the next, which is why they take a long time to retrain. I do feel like in this case, there’s a lovely, successful horse that is going to emerge from underneath his nerves. He has made so much progress already, I’m becoming quite fond of him!

Off the yard, I, like most people making a living from riding horses, have been forced to diversify. I started my online training business, Your Horsemanship, a couple of years ago, and after taking a breather and letting it run along, I am now ready to get stuck in for a second round of filming in order to update and add to the content. Over the years I have done quite a lot of riding and talking to camera, but I still have a very annoying habit of getting to the end of a really good piece before totally fluffing my lines! This, added to the fact that you also need the horse you are filming with to perform to the script, can make it a frustrating process for all involved.

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We have also been developing the facilities on the yard to include a new office and function room, so it has been fun thinking of ways to use this room to increase revenue. For example, I am looking forward to Russell Guire from Centaur Biomechanics coming to do a clinic and evening talk, and to conducting more business leadership programmes, which is something I have really enjoyed doing with Sainsburys and JLT Insurance.

So, whatever you 2019 has in store for you, and whatever New Year’s Resolutions you have made (and hopefully not broken yet!), I wish you every success for the year ahead.

Jason

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

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We’ve all heard the phrase “animals can smell fear” and a recent study has suggested that horses can indeed pick up on emotions from human sweat.

An Italian investigation monitored the heart rate of horses in response to human body odours, and appeared to show that equines displayed different responses to “fear” and “happiness”.

“Our results revealed that human body odours induce sympathetic and parasympathetic changes and stimulate horses emotionally, suggesting inter-species transfer of emotions via body odours,” said the authors of the study, conducted by Dr Antonio Lanata and colleagues at the University of Pisa.

Sterile pads were used to collect sweat from the armpits of human subjects, who were watching 25-minute “fear or happiness-inducing” videos. These were arranged into pooled samples for fearful and happy states.

Seven horses were then recruited for the study, and after baseline ECGs were taken, they were approached in their boxes by an unfamiliar person, who scented their hands in turn with test tube samples of fearful and happy odours, as well as a third “no odour” sample.

The horses’ ECG signals were recorded under these conditions and then analysed.

Statistics showed that human fear odour caused an increase in spectral power on both the low frequency and high frequency bandwidths of the ECG and that happiness and fear elicitation were statistically different in low frequency peak values.

“The results showed that human chemosignals affect the physiological status of horses as seen by the changes in their autonomic activity,” the study concluded.

The research aimed to explore the mechanism by which human emotions could influence equine behaviour, particularly the tendency of horses to perform “unexpected reactions” when ridden by a “nervous person”.

Continues below…

Horses can tell when human voices and facial expressions don’t match

Research found the horses reacted differently when pictures of human emotions did not match those in recorded voices

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Are horses affected by our tone of voice?

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“These findings can probably open the way of understanding the unexpected behavior of horses when interacting with humans. Of course, the novelty of the experimental protocol along with the limited number of subjects involved in the study has to be acknowledged and necessitates a more reliable and larger sample in a more naturalistic scenario,” the report said.

It added that the findings made it possible to design more effective strategies to manage animals across a range of situations in which “a strict human-animal interaction is required, such as the well known Animal Assisted Therapy.”

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Winter has definitely arrived, and with it a number of owners have recently asked me: “Why has my horse turned into a monster since the clocks have gone back?”

I do a monthly webinar for Your Horsemanship members, and this month’s topic was on how to keep your horse sane and reliable through the winter months. When the clocks go back, it usually means there is less time to ride and less turnout for your horse, and as owners, we need to recognise this and change their feed and routine accordingly, as the majority of problems are caused by horses being over-fed and under-worked. Horses evolved having times of plenty and times of hardship, and they developed strategies such as growing thick, water resistant coats to combat the winter months. With our domesticated horses, we are now so quick to rug them, stable them and increase their feed, because we tend to put our human reactions to the winter on to our horses! Of course, you have to treat all horses as individuals, but unless your horse is kept in work, the majority are perfectly fine with ad-lib roughage and a decent mineral block in their stable or field.

I had a great time as always at Your Horse Live. I did a talk on desensitising horses to clippers, which is also a very apt topic of conversation at this time of year. I follow a four-step process to convince your horse that the clippers aren’t going to eat him!

1. Show the clippers aren’t a predator by leading your horse behind you with the portable clippers (or an electric toothbrush!) in your hand. This has the effect of making the horse feel like he is moving the clippers away from him, and will create curiosity rather than fear.

2. Removal of the fear that they will be pounced on. If you keep your clippers still, your horse may think they are a predator that is about to pounce. Therefore, hold them still, away from your horse, and ask them to step forward towards them.

3. Teaching your horse to stand still with the clippers running, with the horse in-hand rather than tied up.

4. Making contact with the clippers, firstly with them turned off, then with them turned on, all the while your free hand should also be in contact with the horse (again the horse should be in-hand, rather than tied up).

As the event took place over Remembrance Sunday, I thought you’d like to see this stunning clip done by the Clippersharp team.

I also did three “spook-busting” demonstrations over the weekend with different horses, including dressage rider, Anna Miller’s stunning Ares. I went through the initial methods you need to adopt in order to control a horse that is spooking, before elaborating on the processes I use to actually fix the problem.

There are different forms of spooking, and horses have varying levels of education, so you need to have a number of strategies to deal with each situation.

If a horse is young or uneducated, my first aim is to keep the horse’s head going in the direction you want to go in, and not worry about what the rest of their body is doing! If my horse spooks, I use one rein to turn him back, which controls the spook, and then the opposite rein to re-establish them on the original track. These two one-rein turns combine to form an “S” shape. Using the S turns correctly will also encourage your horse to gravitate to the outside track. Over time, your horse will want to stay on the outside track, and therefore will be less likely to spook at something on the outside of an arena, which is where most of the “scary monsters” are lurking!

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I finished each of my demonstrations with Diesel, who captured the hearts of the crowd by picking up pairs of Toggi socks and caps in his teeth and delivering them to members of the audience! He was so beautifully behaved, I started to wonder what was wrong with him, as he usually makes me look stupid at least a couple of times over the course of the event. I have my Christmas coffee morning on 14 December, so maybe he’ll take out his revenge on me then… Everyone is welcome to come along to see me working with some special guests, and who knows, you may even get a present from Diesel!

Jason

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

New research has found more evidence to suggest crib-biting could be a way of soothing stress — and may inform research into human mental health.

Crib-biting — where a horse grabs hold of a solid object such as a stable door with his incisors and inhales, making a grunting noise — is considered a vice among horse owners.

Researchers from the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) and Aberystwyth University found neurological differences in horses who cribbed compared to those who did not.

They focused on a key part of the brain, the striatum, which receives dopamine. Dopamine functions as a neurotransmitter and is involved in reward, motivation and memory, among other things.

“We discovered some widespread neurological differences in horses who performed crib-biting behaviour,” said RAU’s Andrew Hemmings.

“The clear evidence of ‘neural sensitisation’ detailed in the research paper suggests that the performance of the food-motivated grasping behaviour might have self-stimulatory or rewarding consequences for the horse.

“On that basis, behaviours such as crib-biting could allow horses to ‘cope’ with stressful situations, in the same manner that humans use rewarding activities or commodities to counter the effects of stress.”

He added the findings “cast doubt” on whether the physical prevention of cribbing is a good idea.

“The presence of this behaviour raises a range of welfare-related questions because these activities normally develop under housing conditions which deprive the animal of food, social interaction and the opportunity to move freely,” he said.

“From a horse management perspective, physical prevention of crib-biting is not advisable as we could be interfering with an important coping strategy, leaving the horse vulnerable to the damaging and performance-reducing effects of stress.

“Rodents acting in this way are sometimes used to model human conditions such as schizophrenia, which are associated with altered function of the brain’s striatum. However, the anatomy of the rodent striatum is very different to that of the human, whereas the horse provides a much closer approximation.

“Therefore, there is potential for equine work such as this to inform future studies into human mental health.”

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The full paper, titled Causal and functional interpretation of mu- and delta-opioid receptor profiles in mesoaccumbens and nigrostriatal pathways of an oral stereotypy phenotype, has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Behavioural Brain Research.

The research was a collaboration between Dr Hemmings, Dr Sebastian McBride of Aberystwyth University, supported by Dr Matthew Parker of University of Portsmouth and independent equine nutritionist, Catherine Hale.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now