Justine Harrison - Equine Behaviourist

11/04/2026

THE CHANGING FACE OF EQUINE TRAINING

I am genuinely excited about this. The Professional Equine Trainers Forum brings together trainers from the very first cohort of the Understand Horses accredited Professional Horse Trainers course. These are people who have committed to doing this work properly, thoughtfully, and with welfare at the centre of everything they do. These are not just skilled trainers, but individuals willing to question, learn, and apply evidence in the real world.

This forum is important because it isn’t theory in isolation. The information comes from real problems, real horses, and real challenges. Across the presentations, you’ll hear how these trainers design their training, communicate with horses, and navigate the emotional and physical wellbeing of both horse and human in practice – not just in principle.

I’ll also be opening the forum with a session looking at the current state of equine training. The industry spans a broad, and often conflicting, range of methods, philosophies, and standards, yet formal education pathways are limited, inconsistent and often don't prepare the student to work in practice. Research shows that vets, professionals, and owners often struggle to accurately recognise fear, stress, and pain in horses, which has significant implications for welfare. So in this session I will take a look at where we are, explore how we interpret behaviour, whether ethical training is possible and what actually makes a good trainer.

Trudi Dempsey: Equine Trainer and Behaviour Consultant has done an incredible job creating and teaching this course. I feel very lucky to work alongside people like these. The high standard, the openness, and the willingness to keep improving is exactly what the industry needs more of. Spaces like this forum are rare – where you can hear directly from practitioners who are actively applying welfare-centred training in real-world contexts and ask questions.

Whether you are just starting out training or have years of experience, there is something here that will challenge your thinking and refine your approach. Come along and ask questions - we'll hopefully see you there!

A one-day online event featuring presentations and discussions from Understand Horses Certified Professional Horse Trainers.

29/03/2026

ARE WE WEANING FOALS TOO EARLY?

From the horses and problems I see, I know the answer is yes. Now an interesting new study suggests that how we manage the mare–foal relationship doesn’t just affect the foal in the short term, but can shape how they think, cope, and behave as adults.

Researchers compared foals weaned at around 6 months with those who remained with their mothers for longer, looking at brain development, behaviour, learning ability, and physiological stress markers.

Foals who stayed with their mothers:

• Showed differences in brain regions involved in emotional regulation and decision-making

• Had stronger connectivity in brain networks linked to processing information and responding appropriately to the environment

• Were more exploratory, more social, and quicker to approach novelty

• Learned handling tasks in fewer sessions and showed less resistance

• Despite spending less time feeding, foals with their mothers gained more weight

Whereas early-weaned foals:

• Showed higher cortisol levels, indicating greater stress

The concept at the centre of this research is allostasis – the brain’s ability to predict what is likely to happen and adjust behaviour and physiology in advance, based on past experience and current information.

Allostasis isn’t something a horse is born with. It develops through experience and from social learning. The mare appears to play a key role in this process, providing the foal with the information needed to interpret situations accurately. Without that early guidance, the developing horse may be more prone to overreact, misinterpret stimuli, or struggle to regulate stress.

We should be rethinking whether foals are being left with their dams for long enough. I very often see horses with behaviour problems who were weaned at 6 months or earlier (sometimes as young as 3 months), rather than the 8–12 months or longer they would remain with their dam naturally. The difference between foals who have had a more secure early upbringing and those weaned early is often striking in their behaviour, confidence, and ability to cope with the world around them.

The weaning process should not be treated as a management event driven by commercial timelines or the urgency to sell the foal. It is about how early life experience shapes the adult horse.

If behaviour, learning, and stress resilience are being influenced this early, what are the long-term consequences of how we currently raise and manage foals?

Study: Valenchon et al, Affiliative behaviours regulate allostasis development and shape biobehavioural trajectories in horses, 2026, Nature Communications

15/03/2026

IS YOUR HORSE REALLY DIFFICULT – OR JUST WELL-TRAINED?

When a horse pulls back, snatches a leg away from the farrier, lifts their head to avoid the bridle, barges through a gateway, opens their mouth when ridden, or nips when being girthed, they are often described as difficult or naughty. But if we consider how horses learn, something very different may be happening.

Horses repeat behaviours that bring relief from pressure or discomfort. Not because they are manipulative or lazy, but because they have learned from previous consequences. If a behaviour results in pressure stopping – even briefly – that behaviour has been reinforced. They are just repeating what has worked for them before.

And there’s something many people forget: you are training your horse every moment you are with them. This is why timing matters so much in training. Release at the wrong moment can teach exactly the behaviour we were hoping to prevent. Over time, that response then becomes stronger, quicker, and more automatic.

When behaviour escalates around injections, farriery, clipping, or restraint, it is rarely sudden. The horse has been learning all along. And the uncomfortable truth is that the problem is our fault, and suitable preparation is our responsibility.

If handling is rushed or only happens when something must be done – for example when the farrier is waiting, or when the vet needs to inject today, or when the situation is urgent – the horse is learning when they are stressed and possibly fearful. That is not the time to build new skills. Calm, systematic preparation should begin long before those moments arrive. Picking up feet, accepting touch, standing calmly, tolerating brief restraint – these are learned responses, not personality traits.

This also highlights one of the challenges with pressure-based training. Timing must be precise, and that is not always easy. Also, if pressure is too intense or poorly timed, the horse may not only learn the wrong lesson but also begin to associate the handler with discomfort or fear. This is often where horse–human relationships begin to break down.

When a horse struggles, or appears to be ‘difficult’, it is worth considering what they have learned in that moment and what you have just trained. Because a horse’s behaviour is in part shaped by their learning history. And if we ignore that, we risk creating much bigger problems further down the line.

It’s easy to forget that when you are with your horse, you may be training them without realising. So are you training what you think you are?

28/02/2026

CAN HORSES GET TRAVEL SICK?

We know transport is stressful. But could some horses actually experience motion sickness?

Research into road and sea transport suggests that vehicle movement can trigger motion-sickness-type responses alongside measurable stress changes in livestock, including horses.

In horses, this may include:

• Licking and chewing
• Frequent defecation
• Raised heart rate
• Teeth grinding
• Pawing and repeated weight shifting
• Restlessness
• Sweating
• Frequent yawning
• In some cases, colic

Many horses show some of these signs during travel and sadly they are often ignored, or the horse is considered to be ‘excited’, or even naughty. So have we normalised behaviours that might actually reflect nausea or motion sickness?

Unlike many other animals, horses cannot vomit – which is a classic sign of motion sickness – so we need to consider that gastrointestinal discomfort may present in other ways.

One explanation for these motion sickness-type signs is balance disruption. When a horse is transported either by road, sea or air, the vehicle will continually move beneath their feet. Acceleration, braking, cornering, vibration, and wave motion all challenge their posture and stability.

Research observations suggest that animals showing motion sickness-type signs were also working hard to maintain balance. Horses respond by splaying their legs, bracing, raising and moving their head and neck, and constantly shifting weight to remain upright. They need space to do this. However, many horses travel in spaces so restricted that they cannot properly widen their stance or use their head and neck to stabilise themselves.

If your horse arrives at their destination sweaty, tense, repeatedly passing droppings, or unsettled, that may not be ‘just travelling.’ Constantly working to stabilise their body can be physically exhausting. Stress responses elevate heart rate. Gastrointestinal disturbance may increase colic risk.

Transport is not only about getting from A to B safely. It is also about what the journey feels like for the horse. Small changes in how we transport horses can make a significant difference to how they feel about travelling. The experience matters just as much as the destination.

10/02/2026

WEBINAR TOMORROW EVENING: REDUCING STRESS, RISK & FEAR IN HORSE TRANSPORT

Tomorrow evening I'll be presenting a free webinar for World Horse Welfare about why so many horses struggle with loading and travel – and how we can make it less stressful, safer and more welfare-friendly.

I'll be looking at:
• Why loading and travelling are difficult for horses
• The role of learning history, pain and environment
• Common mistakes that increase stress (often unintentionally)
• Practical ways to reduce stress and risk

This webinar isn’t going to be about 'getting them on at any cost'. It’s about understanding the process from the horse's perspective and what their behaviour is telling us. And doing better by the horse.

If you work with horses, own horses, or ever need to transport a horse, this one really matters!

You can sign up here: https://worldhorsewelfare.zoom.us/webinar/register/5917684155659/WN_PP907B1CR9u7FGQZrW9wMQ

02/02/2026

SHALL I GET YOUR COAT? AND WHAT ELSE SHOULD WE BE ASKING?

Over a decade ago, some clever Norwegian researchers did something remarkably simple: they asked horses what they preferred.

By teaching horses to point to symbols, the researchers showed that horses could reliably indicate whether they wanted to wear a rug or not. Rather than humans guessing based on weather, tradition or habit, the horses themselves communicated their preference. That study challenged the idea that horses should simply accept whatever management decisions humans make for them.

That same symbol method is now at the heart of a new research programme – HorseVoice.

HorseVoice builds on the original rug study but goes much further. Instead of asking just one question, researchers and equine students are now exploring whether horses can express preferences about equipment, training methods, housing, management routines – and even whether they want to be ridden at all.

An important part of the project also looks at the humans. Researchers are examining whether learning to listen to horses in this way changes how future owners and professionals see them – hopefully recognising them as individuals with their own needs and opinions.

The long-term aim is to produce a practical handbook so the symbol method can be used widely across the equestrian sector.

It will be really interesting to see how this project progresses. If horses can tell us what they want – what will happen when their answers don’t align with ours?

Project: Giving the Horse a Voice – Horse Welfare and Owner Awareness (HorseVoice: the project is a collaboration between the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, Ridskolan Strömsholm, and Malmö University.)

01/02/2026

One week to go and two places left!

28/01/2026

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HOT AND COLD SHOEING IN HORSES

Hot versus cold shoeing is often discussed in terms of tradition, farrier preference, or hoof mechanics. Much less attention is paid to how the horse’s body responds during and after the process itself.

A recent study looked at this question using heart rate variability (HRV), a measure that reflects how the autonomic nervous system responds to stimulation and challenge. The autonomic nervous system is the part of the nervous system that automatically regulates things like heart rate, breathing and recovery, without conscious control. HRV tells us something about how the horse’s nervous system is coping and recovering, not just how fast the heart is beating.

The researchers compared 25 horses that were cold shod with 26 horses that were hot shod. HRV was measured before shoeing, during the procedure, and for up to two hours afterwards. Several HRV variables changed over time in both groups, showing that shoeing itself — whether hot or cold — does trigger a measurable physiological response.

Responses differed between methods. In the cold-shod horses, physiological changes were more limited, with only one HRV measure increasing during shoeing. In contrast, horses that were hot shod showed broader changes across multiple HRV measures, with the clearest differences appearing around 30 minutes after shoeing. Some indicators of nervous system activity remained higher in the hot-shod group for up to 120 minutes post-shoeing, suggesting that the physiological response may extend beyond the shoeing process.

However, the horses' behaviour was not recorded, and the time being shod varied between horses. So we can’t say whether these findings reflect stress, heightened arousal, physical exertion, discomfort, or simply normal recovery from the procedure.

What this study does show is that hot and cold shoeing are not the same experience for the horse at a physiological level. What it doesn’t tell us is how these bodily changes relate to how the horse actually experiences shoeing, or what they mean for horse welfare. To answer that, we would need further research looking at behaviour alongside physiological measures.

Study: Heart rate and heart rate variability in horses undergoing hot and cold shoeing, PLOS ONE, 2024.

20/01/2026

UNDERSTAND HORSES LIVE COMES TO CHESHIRE!

My favourite weekend of the year is heading to Reaseheath College, Cheshire, 27–28 June 2026.

Understand Horses Live returns for two full days of expert lectures, practical demos and deep dives into horse behaviour, training, physiology and welfare — with an amazing line-up of presenters (and more still to come).

It is a welcoming, inspiring space for vets, equestrian professionals, students and horse owners to connect, network and learn.

Tickets are available now (weekend or Saturday lecture day only) – early booking strongly recommended as places are limited.

27-28 June 2026 at Reasheath College, Cheshire. Lectures, demos & workshops on horse behaviour, training, physiology, equine science and welfare.

17/01/2026

DOES YOUR HORSE HAVE SELF-CONTROL?

When food is involved, we often assume horses have no self-control. But research suggests that some horses are surprisingly good at waiting for a better reward.

Self-control is the ability to restrain one's own impulses or emotions. It has been widely studied, revealing enormous variation between and within species. However, there has been little research into self-control in horses. As a grazing species that eats for most of the day you might expect them to show low self-control around food, however their social complexity could be linked to high self-control abilities and more advanced cognitive skills.

Researchers in Germany explored this by testing the self-control of 82 horses using a delayed-gratification task. Each horse stood loose behind a barrier while a human held two different treats: a low-value reward available immediately, and a higher-value reward that could only be accessed if the horse waited. If the horse took the low value treat, the human removed the high value one.

In a later phase of the experiment, the set up became more challenging. The human held both treats, but only presented the low-value one close to the horse’s nose, while the higher-value treat was visible but out of reach. Over time, the researcher held the higher value treat for longer before making it available to the horse. So the horse needed to decide whether to take the low value treat immediately, or wait for the tastier one to be presented.

In the first part of the study, 20 horses waited up to the maximum delay of 60 seconds. In the second phase, only two horses managed to wait the full minute. Overall, horses waited an average of about 13 seconds. Some were highly impulsive and couldn’t wait even two seconds, while others regularly waited 30 or 40 seconds.

Unsurprisingly the feeding management of the individual horse mattered. Horses that were fed ad-lib hay tended to wait longer for the higher-value reward. Horses that had restricted forage were more impatient, suggesting that their relationship with food reduced their patience around food – perhaps their feeding routine left them frustrated or hungry.

Horses that showed coping behaviours – such as looking away, moving their head, pawing, or increasing their distance from the food – were more successful at waiting. The horses also appeared able to anticipate how long the delay was likely to be.

The researchers were surprised by how long many horses were willing to wait, given that horses rarely need to delay gratification in natural feeding contexts where food is usually abundant and easily accessible.

These findings suggest that horses can show self-control in ways comparable to other domesticated species. This matters for welfare and handling. Horses with better self-control may cope more easily with challenges such as novel environments, busy competition settings, or changes in routine. Waiting for food may also have real-world relevance in social grazing situations, for example, choosing to wait for access to a fresh hay pile rather than settling for lower-quality forage elsewhere.

So, if some horses can wait a full minute for a better reward – what else might they be capable of when we give them time, choice, and the right conditions?

Study: Horses wait for more and better rewards in a delay of gratification paradigm, Frontiers in Psychology, July 2022.

11/01/2026

It's just a few weeks now until my next Horse Behaviour Consulting Mentorship starts and there are a couple of spaces left. If you are considering working as a behaviour consultant this programme will be so useful for you. get in touch if you have any questions!

The HORSE BEHAVIOUR CONSULTING MENTORSHIP with Justine Harrison - Equine Behaviourist starts on 7 February.

This in-depth programme is designed for those looking to develop real-world consulting skills, guided by an experienced, accredited equine behaviour professional.

Advance your ability to assess, interpret and solve real world horse behaviour challenges with personalised mentoring and expert feedback.

10/01/2026

WHEN ‘LEADERSHIP’ LOOKS LIKE A THREAT TO A HORSE

Some trainers tell students to make themselves big, stand tall, take up space, and be the “confident leader” when training horses. But this advice is built on a misunderstanding of horse behaviour and how horses actually respond to us. And yes — this is where that ‘dominance’ narrative raises its ugly head again.

Researchers at the University of Sussex carried out an interesting study testing how horses respond to different human body postures. They worked with 45 riding-school horses and unfamiliar human demonstrators. Each horse was led into an arena, released, and allowed to choose between 2 people standing still several metres apart.

First, both people used neutral postures and rewarded the horse with food so the horse learned that approaching humans was safe. Then the test began. One person adopted a ‘dominant’ posture (upright, chest out, shoulders squared, arms at sides). The other adopted a ‘submissive’ posture (slouched, shoulders rounded, knees relaxed, arms held close to the body). Faces were covered, no talking, no movement.

The results were striking. Across trials, horses chose to approach the smaller, closed posture 90 times, compared to just 27 approaches to the larger, expansive posture. Not a single horse showed an overall preference for the ‘dominant’ posture.

This does not mean horses are submissive or looking for weak leaders. Horses are not trying to dominate people, nor do they need to be dominated. What this study shows is sensitivity — horses rapidly read human body language and may avoid postures that resemble threat or pressure, especially when the person is unfamiliar and the context is neutral.

Standing calmly, softly, and predictably is far more likely to feel safe to a horse than deliberately making yourself tall and imposing. Context matters — but large, intimidating body language does not create respect or leadership for horses.

Study: Domestic horses (Equus caballus) prefer to approach humans displaying a submissive body posture rather than a dominant body posture, Animal Cognition, 2017.

The photo used is for illustrative purposes - not taken from the study.