Connie Colfox Young Horse Specialist. "How does your horse Really feel", Lower Moorbath Farm, Bridport (2026)

12/08/2026

We spend a lot of time thinking about training sessions. What we're going to work on, whether something went well and whether it didn't. But I often find myself wondering about everything that happens during the rest of a horse's day.

What's their day-to-day life actually like? Do they have friends they enjoy spending time with? Are they getting enough rest? Is it a busy yard with horses constantly coming and going? Have they had a quiet morning, or has there been lots happening around them before you even see them?

I don't ask those questions because I think there's a perfect yard or a perfect routine. Every horse is different, every owner is different and every yard is different too. But I do think it's easy to forget that the time we spend training is only a tiny part of that horse's life.

If a horse seems worried, distracted or finds something difficult, I think it's worth stepping back and looking at the bigger picture before assuming it's just about the training itself.

Sometimes it is the training, but sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it's the horse telling us that something else in their day isn't quite working for them.

It's just something I've found myself thinking about more over the years. Behaviour doesn't happen in isolation, and the more we understand about a horse's everyday life, the easier it can be to understand what they're trying to tell us.

I'd love to know what you think. Have you ever changed yards or changed your horse's routine and noticed a difference in their behaviour?

10/08/2026

The 4 quadrants in horse training. What are they? 👀

We hear a lot about them, but here are some really simple examples.

Positive reinforcement: Give your horse a nut when they step on the ramp.
Negative reinforcement: Take some pressure on the rope, then when they step on the ramp, take it away.
Positive punishment: Tap your horse on the bum when they try to push the camera stand over.
Negative punishment: Withhold food when the horse mugs you for food.

Of course, they are only punishment or reinforcement if they actually change the behaviour.
Are they important? I think they are, but what’s more important is what’s going on in front of you. How is your horse behaving and how do you think he’s feeling?

We can’t know for sure how he feels, but we can watch how he expresses himself. If we don’t pressure him to come to us, but reward him when we call him, how he comes to us can tell us a lot.

If he comes but looks stressed, maybe he wants the food but what you’re asking is too much. If he’s hesitant to return, maybe he’s unsure or there’s something else he’d rather be doing.

I have no problem with using all 4 quadrants. We all use them in training whether we mean to or not. What matters is thinking about how it feels for the horse.

If your horse is more focused on the spur in his side to do a flying change than the reward afterwards, he might be more worried about the spur than thinking, “I’ve got this, I want to do the change.” Then it’s probably worth thinking about changing that balance.

Near the end of this video I do some things the horses aren’t keen on. I push a horse’s head, flap my hand at the dapple grey’s face and push the iron grey. The dapple grey did what I wanted and was rewarded. The iron grey was pushed and wasn’t.

Do you think either horse was significantly affected emotionally? Watch their reactions and tell me what you think, it's always a really interesting conversation to have.

31/07/2026

One of my favourite things about training is watching people realise that they don't always need to do more, they just need to understand a little more.

When we change how we teach, our horses often change far more than we expect. And sometimes the biggest breakthroughs happen after you've stopped actively training because they've had time to process everything you've shown them.

I absolutely loved hearing this. Not just because of the progress, but because it shows how powerful giving horses time, choice and clarity really is. Confidence isn't something we can force or rush. It grows when the horse feels safe enough to learn, and that's exactly what we're aiming for.

Thank you so much for sharing your journey Fritha, I couldn't be happier for you both. 🤗

If you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed or like you've hit a wall with your horse, I'd love to help. You can book a free discovery call via the link in my bio, or comment below to chat about whether Eohippus is the right fit for you!

29/07/2026

Client messages that make me smile. 😃

These are the moments that remind me why I do what I do.

Every message represents a horse who feels a little safer, an owner who understands a little more, and a partnership that's moving forward together. Not because we've "fixed" a problem, but because we've taken the time to listen, understand and build confidence from the ground up.

That's exactly what the Eohippus course is all about. Over 12 weeks, we work together to help you understand your horse, build trust, and give you the skills and confidence to keep making progress long after the course ends.

Thank you to every client who trusts me with their horses, and for letting me celebrate these little wins alongside you. They never stop making me smile. 🤍

27/07/2026

Next on the topic of Mounting! 🏇

Firstly, there are lots of things we have to think about if using food when training.

Can the horse think through problems? If the food makes him too excited this can create problems. We must introduce food in a way where he can remain calm. So the first main behaviour I teach is a neutral where your horse can stand unaided and know food is coming so there is no need for mugging or searching for the food. I do have a post from a while back that you can find.

When you've got that in place calling your horse is super important to me. It tells you loads. If he comes when called when you're not carrying a head collar but when you are carrying the head collar he won't come then you know just that. He doesn't want to because... insert whatever you think it might be for your horse and work on it.

Same with mounting. If he comes when you are on the ground but doesn't want to come to where you always get on then he's telling you why. Is it because he knows you are going to hack alone and he doesn't want to go? Or that his back hurts? Or that he's still a bit frightened of you being up there? Trust me there are lots of older horses who are still a bit worried about the rider.

This is the puzzle you need to solve. The horse solves the puzzle of how to get the food, how hard he wants to try and get the food and what stops him trying. We then need to start working out what troubles him.

Just as a little note, introducing things like mounting comes much further along in my process, once your horse really understands food rewards and has a calm, reliable neutral. It's one piece of a much bigger picture.

If you're new here and all of this is a bit different to what you've seen before, I'm always happy to chat it through. I offer a free consultation where we can talk about your horse, where you're at and whether this approach might help you. 😊

21/07/2026

Pressure and negative reinforcement…What does it mean? Is it useful? Is it ethical?

Negative reinforcement means taking something away to encourage a behaviour.

For example, you might apply pressure from behind, like in this video, and then remove that pressure the moment the horse moves forward. The removal of the pressure is what reinforces the behaviour.

Personally, I think it's a very useful training tool and not something to be afraid of.

I also think it can be completely ethical, provided we stay aware of what is happening for the horse. How is he feeling about the experience? Has it helped, or is it making him more resistant? Is he responding because he understands what we're asking, or because he's worried the pressure will be applied again?

This is where observation becomes so important. We need to pay close attention to the horse's response to what we've done.
Training horses is all about observing behaviour and the outcomes of our training.

Sometimes a horse will show very subtle signs that the pressure has affected them. They might still take the reward, but with less enthusiasm. They might bite at your hand as they take the treat, which is usually a sign of tension or stress rather than rudeness.
They might become very still in their body, holding themselves with increased tension, or show other small changes in their behaviour.
There are many subtle signals if we're prepared to notice them.

One of the things I love about training with choice is that horses can make their feelings very clear. If the pressure has been too much, they may simply choose not to come back for another repetition. That feedback is incredibly valuable because it tells us we need to rethink our approach.

Pressure isn't inherently good or bad. Like any training tool, it's how we use it, how well we observe the horse in front of us, and how willing we are to change our approach based on what they're telling us that really matters.

19/07/2026

So it’s time for a new series. 👀

This time, we’re talking all things mounting.
It might seem like such a small part of riding, but if your horse can’t stand confidently and happily to be mounted, it’s often a sign there’s something worth looking at.

So we’re stripping it right back to the beginning. No quick fixes, no skipping steps, we’re starting with simply helping your horse feel relaxed and confident around the mounting block, and building from there.

Over the next few weeks we’ll work through the whole process together, troubleshoot common problems, and hopefully make mounting something both you and your horse feel good about.

What do you struggle with when mounting your horse? Walking off? Not standing? Fidgeting? Swinging away? Something else?

Pop it in the comments and I’ll make sure I cover as many real-life problems as I can throughout the series. 🤍

15/07/2026

I always say I want my horses to understand and feel OK about pressure. And there are times where pressure gives clarity to a training situation, when a horse is in a calm enough state to work it out.

In this instance, it did the opposite. It just reinforced that the scary, noisy ramp was just that, and stopping with it behind her not only was disconcerting because she was being asked to have something frightening behind her, but she was also being restricted by the head collar by me, who, for nearly all of her training, had been a reliable person to her. She was allowed to tell me what she struggled with by being given the choice to behave how she felt she needed to, to stay safe. But I was becoming part of the problem, the discomfort of an already difficult situation for her.

Sometimes, if a horse is a little unsure, stopping on the head collar followed by a reward could change the way they behave and feel. But for this mare, her fear was too much, and I was actually just confirming that it was a good thing to run off.

There are so many different situations where this can happen with a horse, like rushing a fence when jumping or scooting past a narrow gap between the hedge and a car. If these behaviours aren’t changing with repetition, then you need to change your approach, as you might just be reinforcing the behaviour and making them feel more panicked.

Although I train horses daily and have done for over 44 years, I still have hiccups along the way. As I get longer in the tooth, it becomes clear that if, after a few goes at doing something, they aren’t improving, it is likely you need to cut things into much smaller chunks. Even going away from the problem, doing more preparation, and then reintroducing it. I love this process of figuring out how to do this, and if I keep the horse in a calm state and reward them, they love it too.

15/07/2026

I always say I want my horses to understand and feel OK about pressure. And there are times where pressure gives clarity to a training situation, when a horse is in a calm enough state to work it out.

In this instance, it did the opposite. It just reinforced that the scary, noisy ramp was just that, and stopping with it behind her not only was disconcerting because she was being asked to have something frightening behind her, but she was also being restricted by the head collar by me, who, for nearly all of her training, had been a reliable person to her. She was allowed to tell me what she struggled with by being given the choice to behave how she felt she needed to, to stay safe. But I was becoming part of the problem, the discomfort of an already difficult situation for her.

Sometimes, if a horse is a little unsure, stopping on the head collar followed by a reward could change the way they behave and feel. But for this mare, her fear was too much, and I was actually just confirming that it was a good thing to run off.

There are so many different situations where this can happen with a horse, like rushing a fence when jumping or scooting past a narrow gap between the hedge and a car. If these behaviours aren’t changing with repetition, then you need to change your approach, as you might just be reinforcing the behaviour and making them feel more panicked.

Although I train horses daily and have done for over 44 years, I still have hiccups along the way. As I get longer in the tooth, it becomes clear that if, after a few goes at doing something, they aren’t improving, it is likely you need to cut things into much smaller chunks. Even going away from the problem, doing more preparation, and then reintroducing it. I love this process of figuring out how to do this, and if I keep the horse in a calm state and reward them, they love it too.

Connie Colfox Young Horse Specialist. "How does your horse Really feel"

12/08/2026

10/08/2026

31/07/2026

29/07/2026

27/07/2026

21/07/2026

19/07/2026

15/07/2026

15/07/2026

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