Karin Gracey Equine Success

02/06/2026

The horse's ability to notice and remember details in their environment is truly remarkable. Understanding how horses perceive, process, and respond to the world around them helps us become more effective, and compassionate trainers.

This astute recognition memory also accounts for their abilities in context-specific learning. They are stimulus bound animals (sensory-based thinkers) and their memories of the various stimuli (sight, sound, smell, etc.) are superb.

However, the horse does not have an ‘aha!’ moment during learning like humans do, unless they have been presented with the same or similar task. Instead, horse learning requires repetitions, which gradually reduce to form habitual responses to stimuli.

You could say that in layman’s terms, the horse exists in a truly ‘zen’ state of living 'in the moment'. For humans, we have to learn to do
that.

An excerpt from our latest publication 'Modern Horse Training: Equitation Science Principles & Practice, Volume 2' by Andrew McLean.

27/05/2026

20/05/2026

You ask your horse to move forward, but they plant their feet.

You ask for canter, and they rush, pigroot or pin their ears.

You ask them to stand quietly, but they paw, call out, fidget or pull back.

It can be easy in those moments to say the horse is being naughty, lazy or stubborn. But unwanted behaviour is information. Labelling a horse as naughty, lazy or stubborn can stop us from understanding the cause.

The Pony Club Australia Horse Welfare Policy is clear that using terms like naughty, lazy or stubborn to describe unwanted behaviour demonstrates a lack of understanding.

That does not mean people are trying to do the wrong thing. These words are common in horse communities, and many of us have heard them used for years. But they can lead us down the wrong path.

When we call a horse stubborn, we may stop asking whether the horse is confused, worried, uncomfortable, in pain, tired, overwhelmed, or responding to unclear aids.

The Policy reminds us that horses need clear and consistent aids, and consistent expectations for their behaviour. When aids are unclear, or expectations change from one day to the next, the horse’s world can become confusing and worrying.

Good horsemanship means looking deeper. Before we label the horse, we need to ask:

❓ What is the horse trying to tell us?

❓ What part might our timing, pressure, training, handling or environment be playing?

❓ How can we make the right behaviour easier for the horse to understand?

Understanding the cause helps us support the horse, improve safety, and build better partnerships.

18/05/2026

Imagine having someone simultaneously pushing you forward and pulling you back, only to label you difficult for not knowing whether to move or stay still.

This is the reality for many horses when riders apply leg and rein pressure at the same time.

Over time, horses exposed to consistent conflicting signals don't just get confused, they may develop learned helplessness, a state in which the horse stops trying to find the right response altogether because no response has ever reliably worked.

This is not stubbornness. It is a predictable outcome of unpredictable training. The horse has simply learned that trying doesn't change anything.

This is also one of the reasons escalating pressure rarely solves the problem. If the foundation of the signal was never clear to begin with, riding stronger only adds more noise to an already confusing picture.

Horses learn best when one signal means one thing, every time, with an immediate release the moment they respond correctly.

If your horse seems resistant, confused or shut down, before assuming it is 'horse' problem, ask whether the signals you are giving can be reasonably interpreted.

🔗 Equitation Science, 2nd Edition by Andrew McLean, Paul McGreevy, Janne Whinther Christensen & Uta König von Borstel is available for purchase on our website.

13/05/2026

Picture this: you’re at a rally, muster, competition or clinic. Horses are tied to floats and rails while people catch up, walk courses, gear up, spectate, or help elsewhere around the grounds. It’s a very normal part of horse sports.

Some horses are perfectly happy to stand quietly tied up all day. That’s often a combination of temperament, training, experience, and good preparation.

But others genuinely struggle with being tied for long periods, particularly in busy or unfamiliar environments. They may become anxious, agitated, hypervigilant, sweaty, vocal, fidgety, or escalate into pawing, weaving, pulling back, or panic behaviours.

This is why Pony Club Australia’s Horse Welfare Policy states that members must not:

“Leave a stressed horse tied (whether to a float or a fixed rail) without constant supervision and attempts to reduce the stress.”

In other words, it is not appropriate to tie up a horse, leave them in a state of escalating stress, and walk away in the hope they will eventually “get over it” or simply stop reacting.

Horses are flight animals, and movement is one of their natural coping strategies. When tied, they lose the ability to move away from things they may be struggling to cope with, including isolation, noise, unfamiliar surroundings, or mounting pressure and arousal.

Without intervention, stress can continue to build and escalate into panic, injury, or conflict behaviour.

Good horsemanship means recognising when a horse is no longer coping and intervening early.

Attempts to reduce stress may include:
• staying with the horse and monitoring them closely
• moving the horse to a quieter or less overwhelming area
• tying the horse near a calm companion horse where appropriate
• using calm, predictable handling rather than punishment or force
• giving the horse a break from tying if stress continues to build
• untieing the horse and finding somewhere they can settle more comfortably, such as a yard if one is available
• asking a parent, friend, or another trusted person to help supervise the horse if you are unable to stay with them yourself

In some cases, recognising that the horse is struggling and changing the plan is the most appropriate response.

Active supervision means continuing to monitor the horse’s behaviour and welfare while they are tied up, and responding appropriately if they begin to show signs of stress.

08/05/2026

New research looking at whether horses consume more salt from loose salt or compressed salt blocks. Sixteen horses were monitored over four weeks while alternating between the two salt forms.

The horses *tended* to consume more loose salt than block salt (41g/day vs 32g/day), although the difference just missed statistical significance.

But the really interesting part was how individual the horses were.

Some horses only consumed around 2g of salt per day, while another averaged 135g/day. And despite all horses having free access to salt, over half still failed to consume enough to meet sodium requirements.

This lines up pretty well with what I recommend and see in practice. Some horses are great at regulating salt intake, others barely touch it, and preferences seem to vary between individuals.

A good reminder that salt intake is something worth monitoring and adding directly to feed, rather than assuming all horses will manage from a lick alone.

Murphy, B., & Catalano, D.N. (2026). *The effect of form on equine salt intake*. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science.

20/04/2026

On Saturday little Boris grew his Angel Wings.
Boris an his 2 siblings Missy and Tully came live with me when my Stepfather passed away last August. Boris, Missy and Tully were my stepfather Bob’s most loved dogs. His dogs meant the world to him.

I feel honoured to have been able to give little Boris a safe and loving place to go to after losing his human Dad. Little Boris was 16 yrs old. So sad to say goodbye to my little friend, my nickname for Boris was ‘Boris Button’

‘I know you are back with your Daddy now, Boris Button, I love you heaps and I will miss you!

I want to thank Clinton Street Veterinary Clinic and Dr Lloyd, who was so incredibly gentle, caring and kind with helping little Boris transition.

21/03/2026

Excellent post. The photo I also find fascinating. At 45-60 days old the formation of the hooves are even there. Incredible!

04/02/2026

Wind sucking and crib biting are often misunderstood — and there’s a lot of outdated advice still floating around.

In this week’s welfare post, we look at:

• Why these behaviours develop in the first place

• Why horses don’t learn them from each other

• The link between chewing, gut comfort and stress

• Why some wind suckers are actually very good learners, according to Equitation Science International - ESI CEO and PCA patron, Dr Andrew McLean

• What actually helps horses showing these behaviours

The article is based on information contained in the Pony Club Australia A Certificate Manual and current equitation science.

Link in the comments if you’d like to read more.