22/10/2026
Your horse's resting posture affects its nervous system.
When a horse is standing tense and hollow, it's often a fairly good indication of a more defensive or reactive state of mind.
Intervention is the key to breaking this pattern.
If your intervention cue encourages a naturally relaxed body position, it can help the horse return to a more regulated nervous system state, particularly when that position is familiar and associated with relaxation.
Horses get good at what they practise. So make sure they're practising the right things.
My intervention cue in this regard involves squeezing their belly and catching them with my hands until they break over at the withers.
This intervention cue is particularly useful during moments of slight arousal.
For example, you're out in the bush and a bird suddenly takes off, activating your horse's nervous system.
You can intervene early, interrupt the developing flight response and remind your horse of a familiar, more regulated way of carrying itself.
The more consistently you practise this, the less intervention you may need.
Over time, through repeated experiences where the horse encounters a stimulus without needing to flee, its nervous system can become less likely to interpret similar situations as threats.
The goal isn't to stop a horse from reacting. It's to teach the horse how to recover from a reaction.
The body follows the brain.
