Forageplus

06/06/2025

If Forageplus made some postcards which we give out to people, like we reference in this post below, so they can send them to WHW and all the other organisations who say welfare of the horse comes first but …… actually ….. it’s human interest first ….. would you give them out and encourage people to send them to the organisations?

I was at an engagement party last Friday. I chatted to a lovely older couple who asked me about the Forageplus horses.

The inevitable happened and I whipped out my phone and showed them videos and photos. Fortunately 🤪 they were enthralled by liberty and said that’s so much kinder than what we normally see.

They hated the Grand National and said they didn’t like watching horse riding. They thought it was cruel! They have no other experience with the horse world other than what they see around them on and in the media. They seemed more in tune with welfare issues than WHW!

They understood why I don’t subject my horses to bits anymore. Their comment was ‘how can someone pulling on metal in a mouth not hurt’ 🤷‍♀️ yet WHW slips that little bit of welfare info under the rug.

That rug bump is getting bigger and ultimately the horse world is going to have a nasty trip accident if we don’t wake them up! Would you give out postcards? Would you send them yourself?

What do you think they should say?

Which organisations should they be addressed to?

Do you think an avalanche of this type would do anything?

Any other ideas?

The annual World Horse Welfare survey about public acceptance of horse sport shows that few people think all sport horses live good lives.

05/06/2025

🔑 3 Liberty Training Tips (with food, and no whip for coercion):

When I started …..

Yes - my horse mugged me.
Yes - he ran off.
Yes - I thought I’d made a huge mistake.

What took time to realise was this:

🎯 Food doesn’t fix things. It reveals things.
It showed me the trust holes
It showed me where I lacked clarity.
It gave me the tools to rebuild communication without coercive control.

I will never finish the journey that has brought me the most happiness with my horses and improved my riding and horsemanship beyond what I ever thought possible.

Here’s where I’d start if I was at the beginning:

1. Teach a “start button” behaviour.
👉 Something simple like touch the target or lower your head to begin.
It gives your horse a clear, safe way to say yes to the session. Teach this in or outside your stable first - get it as very solid behaviour.

2. Prevent mugging with clean reinforcement.
🌟 Your hands go to the food after the behaviour is marked, (with a click or a sound that the horse understands is a yes) not before.
Your hands = neutral until it’s time to reward. Then deliver the food to your horse’ mouth with their head in line with their chest. Get this solid at a stand still first before asking for movement.

3. Keep cues soft, short, and consistent.
✨ No pressure. No chasing. No repeating the cue 10 times. Try not to talk about stuff that doesn’t mean anything to the horse.
Say the cue once. Wait. Watch. Let them offer. If they feel confused, then feed food rapidly to them without asking for anything. This will reset both of you again. Dont worry if you have to do this a lot in the beginning, it will lessen once the horse understands how this new system works.

This is a conversation, not a command.
And once your horse learns you’re listening. … everything changes.

💖 Curious to try?

Save this post, drop a ‘YES’ if this is your dream too, and comment with your biggest question, I’ll answer each one as best I can.

05/06/2025

Go Mais Pest you look marvellous flying that bit free flag. How fantastic that the Armed Forces are so enlightened and progressive. MORE of THAT everywhere please!

28/05/2025

Next G*I*V*E*A*W*A*Y …… It’s a tough one ….

Should it be APRICOT for summer warmth ……

Or perhaps another GLACIER for that cool ,
smart, matchy vibe.

Perhaps you’re still in love with FIG and dying to get your hands on that!

MARINE suits greys and looks just fabulous on the bays.

Then there is SPRUCE a colour just rocks the equestrian look on any horse and rider.

Saddle pads and more for your horse , a base layer or jacket for you.

Hmmm how to choose?

Just tell us in the comments.

We’ll add up the colour with the most mentions in the comments so get your friends and family involved and then it’s go for another bundle launch.

Apricot
Glacier
Fig
Marine
Spruce

Let’s GO

23/05/2025

Is that it? Has Wales seen the last of the sunshine?

☀️ What an incredible few weeks it’s been — beach days, mountain adventures, and sunny polework sessions under bright blue skies!

☁️ I’m not ready to say goodbye… I’m crying 😢 tomorrow, the classic Welsh drizzle, probably with wind returns ☔️

Share your favourite sunny moment with us below with a comment or photo — let’s keep the sunshine going a little longer!

21/05/2025

Those were the days 😂😂

21/05/2025

Just wondering what the wider horse community thinks?

Professor Emeritus David Mellor takes aim at a recent study on Bridle and Bit Fit which fails to address bit-induced mouth pain

21/05/2025

Inspiration for everyone 💕

Absolutely incredible! Every year, we follow the inspiring journey of Jane Dotchin from Northumberland — now 84 years old and still going strong! She has just started on her 2025 annual trip.

Since 1972, she’s been riding 600 miles over 7 weeks. She is embarking on this journey once again with just her horse Diamond, her dog Dinky, and the bare essentials. She covers 24–32 km a day, fueled by porridge, oat cookies, and cheese — all while navigating with limited vision and an eye patch.

Armed with a tent and a mobile phone that lasts six weeks, she travels to visit friends and enjoy the beauty of the Scottish countryside.

We’ve loved following her adventures year after year and this year is no different — what a legend!

21/05/2025

Always great stuff to say 💕

“We’d never ask a young person to lift weights without teaching them how to move well first. Yet we put tack on young horses, climb aboard, and expect them to carry us—with no real understanding of how to engage their core or support their back.”

This isn’t about blame. It’s about education—and it’s time we talk about it.

If you care about your horse’s spine, posture, or future soundness, this blog is for you.

👉 Read the full post: blog link below
🧠 Bonus: You’ll find a practical way forward inside—my Core Exercises Course, used by thousands of owners and physios alike.

20/05/2025

What do you think? Have I missed anything?

This call for participants in a research project comparing riding in bit free (side pull and cross under) and bitted (snaffle) bridles popped up on the Forageplus feed.

It’s a subject close to our hearts as a whole horse, ethical company determined to make the world a better place for equines.

Having spent the last year retraining a horse from bitted (snaffle) to bit free, with the intention to never go back to bitted for welfare reasons, I have some questions about how this study will be designed.

The issues surrounding what bits mean emotionally to horses are considerable and extremely complex. For what it is worth, from someone who walks the walk as well as talks the talk, I have grave concerns that this study will be unable to cover the extensive variables and be too simplified to be of use in pushing forward urgent welfare changes for horses.

I also wonder if any of the study group understand and have experience of the extreme complexity of the issues surrounding the behaviour of horses and their reaction to riders using aversive training and riding approaches?

Just the fact that the study design is already rooted in the riders riding in both a bit free and bitted bridle is enough for me to have alarm bells ringing.

We would love to hear your thoughts about the study and engage in an honest discussion about how it should be designed so it gives clear, honest and very useful data for the horse.

So here goes this is what we would like the researchers to consider if they haven’t already done so.

1. Aversiveness of the Bit & Learned Helplessness

Issue: Horses may show less rein tension in a bitted bridle not because it’s less aversive, but because they’ve learned to avoid rein pressure by responding promptly and obediently potentially under duress or pain.

Relevant Research:

Mellor (2020) details how bits activate multiple nociceptors in the oral cavity, likely causing pain. This may lead to quicker compliance under rein tension, falsely appearing as “better control.”

Fenner et al. (2020) and Warren-Smith & McGreevy (2008) show horses often respond to rein cues with signs of conflict or discomfort, even when appearing obedient.

Implication: Lower rein tension may not reflect improved welfare or acceptance, but instead reflect pain avoidance or habituation to discomfort.

2. Rider Skill & Bias

Issue: The rider’s balance, feel, and skill drastically influence rein tension and horse responses. Skilled riders often have lighter hands and better timing, while less skilled ones may inadvertently create pressure, regardless of bridle type.

Relevant Research:

König von Borstel et al. (2009) demonstrated that rein tension varied more between riders than bridles.

Clayton et al. (2011) found significant differences in rein tension based on rider technique and posture.

Implication: Without stringent controls for rider competence and style, results could reflect rider effects rather than bridle differences.

3. Noseband Tightness & Flash Use

Issue: Snaffle bridles often involve tight nosebands and flashes that can suppress unwanted behaviours like mouth opening or bit evasion. This equipment masks discomfort or pain.

Relevant Research:

Dyer et al. (2017) showed tight nosebands restrict oral behaviour and may suppress signs of stress or pain.

Fenner et al. (2016) and McGreevy et al. (2012) discuss how tight cavessons and flashes can inhibit welfare-related behaviours (licking, swallowing, yawning).

Implication: Behavioural data could be skewed in favour of the bitted condition because the horse is prevented from expressing discomfort.

4. The Precautionary Principle & Sampling Bias

Issue: Highly ethical, skilled bitless riders may decline participation if it means using a bit on their horse, especially if they’ve transitioned away from bits for welfare reasons. (That’s me folks, it’s been a long road to reduce my horses anxiety surrounding his memory of bit pain. I would consider it a backward step and extremely unethical to subject him to a bit again, for any reason)

Relevant Context:

The precautionary principle suggests avoiding potentially harmful interventions when animal welfare is uncertain (Mellor, 2016).

Voluntary sampling often introduces bias; in this case, those most competent with bitless may self-exclude, skewing results in favour of bitted riders who are more familiar or compliant with mainstream methods.

Implication: You risk under-representing skilled bitless riders, making bitless results appear less effective or refined.

5. Bridle Type & Fit Variability

Issue: “Bitless” is a broad category; sidepulls and cross-under bridles work through very different mechanisms (direct vs leverage/indirect pressure). Comparing them directly may be misleading.

Relevant Research:

Byström et al. (2018) emphasized the need for clarity in defining and categorizing bitless bridles.

Cross-under bridles often exert high pressure on the nose and jaw (von Borstel et al., 2019), which can distort conclusions if treated as equivalent to gentler designs like sidepulls.

Implication: Without distinguishing between bitless types, conclusions may blur meaningful differences or unfairly represent certain designs.

In addition a big category of bitless bridle has also been missed out - the wheel hackamore, which is what I personally use and have found my horse responds to the best out of all the bit free choices. This might change going forward but wheel hackamore’s should be included in the study.

6. Rein Tension as a Welfare Proxy

Issue: Rein tension is an indirect measure of welfare. Horses may endure high rein tension without overt behavioural signs if they’ve been conditioned not to resist.

Relevant Research:

Hall et al. (2013) suggested rein tension should be interpreted alongside behavioural and physiological data.

Ijichi et al. (2013) noted that horses in high-tension systems may be “shut down,” leading to misinterpretation of quietness as relaxation.

Implication: Rein tension alone may be misleading—necessitating multi-modal welfare assessment including heart rate variability, facial expressions (e.g. HGS), and stress hormones.

Conclusion

This study has potential to contribute meaningfully to bridle-horse interaction research, but MUST be carefully designed to avoid misleading conclusions.

Key recommendations would be:

Stratify participants by rider skill and bridle experience.

Control for noseband type and tightness, require no flashes to be used.

Treat rein tension as one component in a multi-indicator welfare model.

Consider ethical concerns and the precautionary principle in recruitment designs.

I include a picture of my lovely horse Gatsby and pay tribute to him being a major part in opening my eyes to the possibilities of bitless, bit free riding, which has enabled me over the past couple of years to embark on a journey and given me enormous enjoyment which was lacking from my bitted riding days. I have become a much better rider in the process.

Sadly he won’t be able to take part because not one part of my body would ever jeopardise his welfare, due to the precautionary principle, as per the suggestions and research of David Mellor (2016)

Link to original post https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DwvB5GGjW/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Link to World Bitless Association who are the leading organisation to learn about bit-free riding and the welfare issues surrounding the use of bits

19/05/2025

Good advice

💊✋ Avoid moving your horse straight on to clean pasture after worming!

It might feel like the right thing to do, but it actually helps drug-resistant worms take over faster. Instead, keep your horse on the same pasture for a few days. This helps dilute the resistant worms that survived treatment with those the chemical can still target, slowing down resistance. It's the smarter move for your grazing land and your horses in the long run! 👉 bit.ly/AfterWorming

🛒 Remember to test first 👉 bit.ly/ShopEquineTests

18/05/2025

💡What I need is 🔅🔅🔅

3 more tyre plinths, then I can make a square with a circle at each corner 💫

Watching myself on video helped me stopping my inside arm flailing about 🙈 it’s going much better now!

💕 Looking forward to the next liberty horse, June clinic, with Ben Atkinson - who gives excellent tips on how to control your body, be clear and consistent with your communication, and know what next steps to take with your individual horse 💕

Aiming to be in trot on the square and mastering the circle at each corner.

Ommmmmmmm ….. if I manifest it enough it will happen 😎