Narelle + horses

07/06/2026

In some ways this applies to learning any test. It's not learning the order, that's the easy part. It's learning how you will ride it, where you will push, where you will breathe, where you will steady, where you will prepare.

31/05/2026

"Horsemanship is the art of mastering our own movements, thoughts, emotions and behaviour. Not the horses."
Mark Rashid

28/05/2026

27/05/2026

I calculated a year's worth of greenhouse gas emissions from my herd just for funsies.

Doesn't include feed production, feed transport and other scope 3 emissions. Don't trust its accuracy or use it for any purpose of significance.

24/05/2026

Keep an eye out please!

14/05/2026

I’ve realised my horse ownership style is probably best described as:

✨ affectionate neglect ✨

Which sounds deeply concerning until you actually see the horses.

Then you realise it mostly means:

🐴 ad-lib hay
🐴 muddy friends
🐴 freedom to move
🐴 standing in the rain by choice despite having three shelters available
🐴 scratches in weird itchy places
🐴 me wandering into the field saying “hello gorgeous goblin”
🐴 low-pressure expectations
🐴 no obsession with constant productivity

And honestly?

I think horses quite like being allowed to just… exist.

The equestrian world can sometimes make you feel like if you are not:
• riding five times a week
• drilling transitions
• filming every session
• buying seventeen supplements
• attending clinics every weekend
• producing an athlete worthy of the Olympics

…then you are somehow failing your horse.

Meanwhile your horse is stood there covered in mud, half asleep, emotionally fulfilled by a hedge.

A lot of horses do not need:
✨ optimisation
✨ side quests
✨ vision boards
✨ Pilates

They need:
🌿 safety
🌿 food
🌿 movement
🌿 companionship
🌿 consistency
🌿 appropriate care
🌿 nervous systems around them that are not permanently vibrating at 900mph

And before somebody panics:
Obviously neglect is real.
This is not that.

Your horse still needs:
📋 healthcare
📋 hoof care
📋 welfare checks
📋 appropriate feeding
📋 enrichment
📋 handling
📋 observation

But I do think some horse owners carry enormous guilt for not constantly “doing”.

Sometimes your horse genuinely prefers:
🐴 a peaceful field
🐴 a slow groom
🐴 a wander together
🐴 a scratch under the mane
🐴 being allowed to behave like an actual horse

Over another intense session with a human chasing productivity because Instagram convinced us every horse needs a career path.

Anyway.

If anyone needs me, I’ll be in the field lovingly ignoring my horses while they ignore me back. 🌿

06/05/2026

Bucking. Rearing. Bolting. Repeated spooking.

These are often labelled as “naughty” or “hyper” behaviours.
But in many cases, they’re something else entirely.

They’re conflict behaviour.

Conflict behaviour occurs when a horse is struggling to cope with what’s being asked. It can be linked to confusion, discomfort, pain, fear, or a combination of pressures the horse doesn’t understand how to respond to.

It’s not disobedience. It’s a response. And importantly, it’s both a welfare issue and a safety issue.

There can be a tendency to encourage riders to “push through” or “ride it out”. But when a horse reaches the point of bucking, rearing or bolting, they are already over threshold.

At that point, continuing to ride often escalates the situation rather than resolving it. Instead, the focus should shift to de-escalation:
• Pause the session
• Remove pressure
• If needed, dismount
• Take time to understand what triggered the response

From there, the question becomes not “how do we stop the behaviour?” but: “what is the horse trying to tell us?”

Addressing the underlying cause, whether that’s training clarity, physical discomfort, or environmental stress, is what leads to safer outcomes for both horse and rider.

🟢 This is reflected in the Pony Club Australia Horse Welfare Policy (Domain 5: Mental Experiences), which states that hyperreactive or conflict behaviours - including bucking, rearing, bolting or repeated spooking - should never be ridden through, and that riders should be supported to de-escalate the situation before continuing.