✨ I want to share something that’s been sitting heavily with me the past weeks. Recently, I found out that a mare I knew of was put to sleep due to behavioural issues. From what I observed, she had all the right physical checks -chiro, physio, ulcers, bloods the lot. But what I saw daily was a horse showing very clear signs of distress during handling. During tacking up she would bite, strike, kick. It escalated to the point she couldn’t even be tied safely. Bridling would start in one place in the barn and end 20 metres away. There was no punishment - which is good but there was also no guidance. No change in approach. No outside help. Same pattern in - same pattern out. And eventually…the behaviour became the label. 👉 Here’s the hard truth: Even with experience. Even with knowledge. Even with good intentions. If we don’t ask for help, nothing changes. Years ago I would run after people, offering help whether they wanted it or not. I learned the hard way that if someone isn’t open, they aren’t open. You can’t force readiness. Do I wish I had stepped in more? Of course part of me does. But I cannot take responsibility for every situation I witness. That would mean carrying the weight of every horse everywhere - and that’s neither realistic nor healthy. What I do believe, deeply, is this: If the horse is physically well and the owner is open, most things are fixable. Horses with “people problems” were created by people - often unknowingly. That means they can be un-created too. Some in a few sessions. Some in a year. Some longer. But behaviour is information. I’ve known horses who survived trailering accidents and calmly loaded the next day because the owner didn’t label them as trauma victims. I’ve also seen horses who had no accident, but after one frightening moment were labelled “traumatised” where from that day forward, they carried that identity. We are powerful in what we reinforce. We are powerful in what we ignore. We are powerful in what we assume.

I am just sharing a video from the last sunny day we had in England 3 wks ago!!! Just "being" sometimes with our horses is all we need💙🥕🐴🫶 Share some of yours " just being" shots 🤠🐴🫶

✨ Something I see a lot and something I’ve done myself in the past - is over-desensitizing. Now before anyone panics, I’m not against helping horses become confident. Quite the opposite. But there’s a fine line between education and emotional shutdown. Desensitizing should mean: - the horse understands - the horse processes - the horse can stay curious - the horse has a choice What it sometimes becomes is: - repeated exposure without understanding - pressure until the reaction stops - “See? He’s fine now.” But is he fine…or has he simply stopped expressing? A truly confident horse is not dull. They’re attentive, thinking, responsive. When we over-desensitize, we can accidentally: - reduce sensitivity - create delayed responses - dampen expression - teach the horse that their voice doesn’t matter And here’s the subtle part, a horse that shuts down can look very obedient. Still. Quiet. Tolerant. But confidence isn’t tolerance. Confidence is clarity plus trust. If something feels scary to a horse, the goal isn’t to make it “not scary.” The goal is to help them learn how to think through it. That requires: - timing - release - allowing try - space to process I’m curious, have you ever noticed the difference between a horse that’s genuinely confident and one that’s simply learned not to react? Let’s talk, Zoë 🐴✨🫶

Hi all, I'm happy to be home, was out all day again today. Definitely gonna be in bed by 9pm tonight 😅 In the last ' Observations in the Field' post, we talked about feet and how our footwork quietly shapes clarity and/or confusion. Today, I would like to talk about hands. Good horseman’s hands are not busy. They’re not grabby, poking, pulling, or pushing. 👉 They’re: - quiet - listening - consistent - patient - able to wait - AND close slowly and open quickly And that’s not easy, because as humans, we’re wired the opposite way. From the moment we’re born, we grab. We pull ourselves up. We poke to explore. We push to get a response. That’s how we survive and learn. But horses know this about us. They feel it in: - rushed corrections - constant adjustments - gripping instead of guiding - hands that act before the horse has time to answer When our hands are always doing, the horse has no space to think. And when there’s no thinking, there can be no true softness. Good hands don’t force slowness, they allow it. They give the horse time to: - process - respond - offer something back This is why developing good hands is often less about learning what to do…and more about learning what not to do. Just like with our feet, our hands are always communicating, even when we think they’re not. Curious to hear your thoughts: What awareness's and changes have you had to implement into your hands to get to you to your next best level? Adding to that, what do you need to learn/unlearn, to get to the next level after that...? Zoë 🐴✨🫶

✨ Something I help people change often and it’s a subtle one, is how often our feet give a very different message than what we think. For example: When asking a horse to move out on the lunge or stay out of their space, people are often walking backwards, and end up doing the opposite of what they intend. 👉 Why? Because walking backwards draws the horse in. It activates our magnetism which, by the way, is one of the real secrets of liberty when you know how to use it well. So instead of clarity, the horse receives: 🔹a push with one part of the 🔹body and a draw with another That conflict in the message can lead to horses becoming: 🔸dull 🔸unresponsive 🔸sticky 🔸pushy 🔸uninterested Not because they’re stubborn but because they’re trying to make sense of mixed information. Our feet matter. Where we step, how we step, and why we step communicates just as loudly as our hands, rope, or energy. It’s one of those small details that can completely change the feel of an interaction when we get it right. Curious to hear your thoughts: Have you ever noticed how changing your footwork changed your horse’s response? Zoë 🐴✨🫶