http://millypatonhorsecraft.com/

Milly Paton Horsecraft, Lymington (2026)

21/06/2026

How well do you read your horse's energy?

Today whilst pottering around picking up feet, doing fly spray, etc, Harry's energy changed from outward facing to a very intense inward energy, drawing me in.

I turned around, had a look at him, and was immediately drawn instinctively to a spot on his hind quarters.

As soon as I put my hands on it, he absolutely melted and fell asleep in an absolute instance. He then stayed like that whilst I worked through the trigger point for him and for a little while afterwards. He then woke up, did several massive yawns ans then his energy was back to being bright and outward facing again.

It was a really lovely moment and satisfying to be able to give him what he needed!

Whether you work with me as a training client or a massage therapy client, reading and understanding energy and body language is central to what we do.

Massage therapy clients will always leave with some skills to help their horses in between sessions. If you want to learn how to massage your horse, mention that on booking as I am super happy to come and teach you!

-----

Work with me:
📍In person: Hampshire, South Wilts, East Dorset
🌍Live online lessons: Worldwide
💻Free Behaviour, Training and Rehab Assessment Calls available.

20/06/2026

Harry has had some beautifully calm walks lately, but leaving the yard has been historically really hard for him.

The weather was perfect at 4pm today and the whole world decided to go riding. With so many other horses moving about, Harry was getting a bit overly excited and was getting overly stimulated. The risk with this is that although it seems like they're having fun, this could turn into overwhelm at any moment.

How did I know he wasn't at baseline if he wasn't showing signs of stress? He was walking with a very intense purpose, he was holding tension in his neck whilst moving and didn't want to stop and graze when I gave him his grazing cue. His energy was becoming more and more intense with each horse that passed us, and he wasn't regulating inbetween.

Then a horse fly followed by a crab fly landed on him and I could see things were going to go south quickly.

The primary goal is always to help your horse find emotional regulation, and continuing to stay where we were was not going to help with that. So I took him straight back into the yard where it was quieter and he is more confident.

The temptation at that point is just to chuck him back out in the field and declare the mission a failure. But there's one crucial thing you can do to turn your training session into a successful one, and set yourself up better for next time.

And that is to help your horse find regulation and calm with you before you turn them out. In this case it was hand grazing, but it could be anything - a walk round the yard, a good scratch, a haynet or a tail brush. The important thing is that your horse feels themselves calming down in your presence, as when they come into training next time they will remember how they felt when it ended last time - and also what it feels like to be around you.

My only caveat to this is if you're dysregulated, scared or stressed, then turn them back out and regulate yourself away from your horse.

Today nothing bad happened, no big spooks, rears or bolting. But by responding to the smaller changes of energy and making sure we find regulation together with our horse, we're going to set ourselves up for calmer and happier training!
🩷💚�

19/06/2026

‼️I am nearly fully booked for July‼️

Thanks to a flurry of new clients booking in, I am now nearly booked up for July and I am already taking bookings for August! If you're considering booking a session over the summer, please get in touch asap to secure your spot.

Here are some of the reasons people have been booking in with me lately, if any of these resonate with you, please get in touch to find out how I can support you and your horse! Or if there's anything you're struggling with, let's talk about it! 🩷

If you are outside my travel distance, have you thought about booking an online lesson? I have more availability for online than inperson currently!

----

Work with me:
📍In person: Hampshire, South Wilts, East Dorset
🌍Live online training: Worldwide
💻Free Behaviour, Training, and Rehab Assessment Calls available

18/06/2026

These posts are my absolute favourite to write!!! I love reflecting on the past week and celebrating all your successes! 🥳

If any of these problems resonate with you, please get in touch to find out how I can support you and your pony achieve your goals.

----

Work with me:
📍In person: Hampshire, South Wilts, East Dorset
🌍Live online lessons: Worldwide
💻Free Behaviour, Training and Rehab Assessment Calls available

16/06/2026

As part of my nursing job, I work with people with mental health difficulties, and I also work with people needing treatment and rehab for brain and spinal cord injury.

This week I've been really privileged to hear Matt Hampson from the Matt Hampson Foundation speak, alongside one of their ambassadors and a beneficiary of the foundation.

The foundation supports people who have had brain and spinal cord injury to get back into sport, and find the joy in life again. Matt Hampson has lived experience of this, and has written a brilliant book about his experience (pictured).

Although as equestrians we have a much higher risk of head injury than most other sports, that's not the reason I wanted to talk about the foundation (although it is a good reason, and they would support people injured through riding accidents). The reason I wanted to speak about them was because of how inspiring they all are.

All three speakers spoke about making a decision to embrace their new future. Although it didn't look like the one they had envisaged, they still found worth, hope, joy, and achievement, but just in a different way. And this is the motto that the foundation is built on - "Get Busy Living."

Although not the same kettle of fish, this principle can be applied to ourselves and our horses when things don't turn out the way we hoped. We can get stuck in a rut trying to make the horse we have fit the vision we had, for them to be a show jumper, a dressage horse, an eventer.... but when they're physically not up to the job, have behavioural issues, don't enjoy the job or we're physically unable to do what we had originally planned, we can get stuck on making them fit the vision we had.

But what if, like these three inspirational humans, we decided to stop chasing a dream that's not physically possible for us or our horse, and we decide to get busy having fun instead?!

Just because the future doesn't look like the one we'd hoped for, doesn't mean it's not worth having.

If you're ready to get busy enjoying the horse you have, and achieve new goals that you never imagined possible, get in touch today to find out how I can support you and your horse!
🩷💚🩷

14/06/2026

Horses with complex rehab needs (mental or physical) can often fall out of love with movement.

Forward movement, particularly in a training environment (because what you see in the field does not reflect how they feel in the arena) has often become uncomfortable and scary.

Of course we could use pressure to encourage faster paces, and that resolves the issue of cardiovascular fitness and completing transitions, but does that address how your horse really feels?

And as we know, unhappy horses are more likely to hold tension and have poorer postures, which increase the risk of injury long term.

Now, although pressure is not a dirty word and can be used effectively, in these circumstances it is not my go-to approach.

Why?

To overcome past fears and discomforts, the horse needs to explore for themselves, experiment, and build confidence, without fear of escalating pressure.

My approach uses appetitive methods, including joy and play, to help horses feel truly secure in moving forwards again.

If your horse has stalled in their rehab, has complex needs or looks unhappy with their rehab program, please get in touch and book a free assessment call to find out how I can support you and your horse. I have upcoming availability for both inperson and live online training.

----

Work with me:

📍In person: Hampshire, South Wilts, East Dorset
🌍Live online training: Worldwide
💻Free Behaviour, Training, and Rehab Assessment Calls available

13/06/2026

🐴 Two appointments available next week
🐴 Thursday 18th AM - in person
🐴 Sunday 21st - in person or online

I support horses and humans through:

✨ Force-free, reward-based training
✨ Equine sports massage
✨ Rehabilitation support
✨ Rider and handler confidence
✨ Emotional regulation and wellbeing

My approach is centred around welfare, communication and sustainable progress.

If you're looking for support with behaviour, confidence, rehabilitation, performance-related tension, or simply understanding your horse better, I'd be happy to have a chat.

------

📍 In person: Hampshire, South Wilts, East Dorset
🌍Live online lessons: Worldwide
💻Free Behaviour, Training and Rehab Assessment Calls available

📩 Message me for more information or to discuss whether I'm the right fit for you and your horse.

10/06/2026

One of the corner stones of Trauma Informed Training is Resist Retraumatisation.

If your horse is showing behaviours of distress every time you try to go for a hack, unfortunately by carrying on as you are, you're more likely to retraumatise your horse every time, rather than help them learn to cope.

Every so often, you might get a ride without any explosions because the overall number or scale of the triggers has been low enough to cope with.

Our brains then cling onto this as evidence that our horse can cope, and we just need to carry on so they get used to it.

Sadly, those rides are usually luck created by the environment that day.

It can feel really hopeless - trust me, I know, I've been there!!

But the excellent news is that there is another way to get you and your horse hacking with ease, without using force, and without fear.

If this sounds like something you need some help with, then get in touch today to book your free assessment call to find out how I can support you and your horse to achieve your hacking goals!

-----
Work with me:
📍In person: Hampshire, South Wilts, East Dorset
🌍Live online lessons: Worldwide
💻Free Behaviour, Training and Rehab Assessment Calls available

09/06/2026

Who are you if you can't ride?

Horse owner?
Horse lover?
Horse rider?
How do you currently identify yourself?

Is it all 3? It certainly was for me.

Particularly for those of us who grew up riding, seeing ourselves as a horse rider can be part of our core beliefs about ourself. We form our core beliefs by the time we are seven years old, so for some of us, the fact we are horse riders is as central to our identity as our name.

After I lost my mare, retired my old man and my young horse went lame all in quick succession, as well as the overwhelming grief, there was also a crushing loss of identity that came with it.

This brought overwhelming pressure to "fix" Harry, but it wasn't about him.

If I could get back on board, it would put my world in order again.

For a long time, I was stuck in this cycle of inner conflict of wanting to do the right thing for Harry, but the motives for pushing his rehab, being dedicated and motivated, were to resolve my inner crisis.

I'm pleased to say the inner crisis has now resolved. Yes I'd love to be riding regularly again, but the pressure to get Harry there has gone.

How?

I found positive reinforcement. It gave me fun things to do with my horse that gives me as much joy as riding. It gave me a training method that my horse also loves, and seeing him enjoy himself just melts my heart more than I can explain.

My identity now?
Horse lover.
Horse owner.
R+ enthusiast.

If any of this resonates, if you’re doing “all the right things” with your horse but still feeling pressure, grief, or conflict underneath, you’re not alone.

This is the work I now help others with, both for the horse and the human.

My inbox is always open.

-----
Work with me:

📍In person: Hampshire, South Wilts, East Dorset
🌍Live online lessons: Worldwide
💻Free Behaviour, Training and Rehab Assessment Calls available

08/06/2026

With the emerging situation, I will be contacting clients before in-person appointments to check if your horse or any neighbouring horses are showing symptoms or have been in contact with infected horses.

Training can easily be converted into online training if your horse is not unwell so you don't miss out on your sessions.

Massage therapy will be risk assessed whether it is safe to go ahead with the appointment. If your horse is symptomatic or has had a recent vaccination then we will need to rearrange.

There will be no cancellation charges for any short notice changes due to flu - let's all help each other to slow the spread.

Any questions please don't hesitate to ask!

-----

Work with me:
📍In person: Hampshire, South Wilts, East Dorset
🌍Live online lessons: Worldwide
💻Free Behaviour, Training and Rehab Assessment Calls available

Milly Paton Horsecraft

21/06/2026

20/06/2026

19/06/2026

18/06/2026

16/06/2026

14/06/2026

13/06/2026

10/06/2026

09/06/2026

08/06/2026

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category