Heartfelt Horsemanship

25/08/2026

It's time we actively find our tribe.

Algorithm hacking has exhausted most content creators I know.

We keep getting fed new lines about what we have to do to increase reach

Those 12 thousand organic followers that took years to build don't matter, unless you're dramatic enough to keep people arguing in the comments, instead of noticing what's actually going on around them.

It doesn't matter that those 12 thousand followers want to read and watch positive, kind content, that doesn't distract people enough

So how do we walk away from the algorithm?
Isn't it just ' how the world works now?'

No. If we are mindful and take responsibility for what we consume, the algorithm has little effect on us.

I have been using social media differently lately

I don't scroll.

I have a list of positive creators who I mostly align with philosophically, and I look them up every single day.
I like and engage in their content. Not with emoji's , but human conversation. Thoughtful human conversation.

I scroll by the horse abusers. Occasionally I might screenshot some misinformation so I can post the truth at a later point, but I don't engage with their content so they get more reach, make more money and continue to pollute the industry with their abuse.

Part of my current list is as follows. I intentionally didn't tag them, in case they don't want o be tagged, but you can go search for them. It's not hard.
Warwick Schiller's Attuned Horsemanship
Shelby Dennis- Milestone Equestrian
Grow Horsemanship
World Bitless Association
Forageplus
Lightrider bitless bridles

There are about 40 that I check daily... If you have some to add, please list hem in he comments.. If I don't already have them on the list I will check them out.

I don't know about other content creators, but I am losing motivation to create content when less that ten percent of my followers actually see the posts.

Let's take back some responsibility for what we put in our eyes and ears everyday.

25/08/2026

How does your horse feel around you?

If our sessions are focused on what you make them do, or enough repetitions of a certain movement to have it perfect, it might not have your horse feel great in your presence.

If you go fetch you horse from the field and they walk away, you might want to reconsider the structure of your sessions.

If they walk away unless you have treats, it's not much better. They at least get something out of your interaction, but it might be masking how they really feel.

I have had this discussion with people and there is a common misconception that horses would never want to be with us if we ever asked anything from them.

We can build communication and understanding and work on all the things we ask of our horses, and still have them feel good in our company ( okay, maybe not all, some expectations are too high).

If our focus is on how they feel, before we think about what e can get, we have a more willing and trustworthy partner.

It stops being a battle between a n animal they would rather be anywhere but with us, and the tools that keep them with us, and it starts to turn into partners enjoying their time completing a task.

You are safer when your partner feels safe and comfortable in your prescence. It also takes less effort to have them perform.

How do you achieve this?

Less drilling and more rest between movements is a simple answer, which can make a huge difference. There are studies on ' recess training' which show drilling is less effective that sessions that focus on rest and release

There are also techniques that help horses feel safe and confortabel with humans. If you would like to learn more about these drop a comment or go to the links in the ' about' section to learn more.

Gareth Made

Photo by Val Batchelor

20/08/2026

' The obstacle is not in the way, the obstacle IS the way' Marcus Aurelius.

There is, however, a right way and wrong way to approach obstacles with a horse.

Having them get over ' by any means necessary' will cause more harm than good.

Breaking down obstacles into manageable components, and building the language to ask a horse to cross, builds the horses confidence.

Photo: Val Batchelor

15/08/2026

'Obedience and dominance is the industry standard because it works'

Spoiler alert: it doesn't

If it did I wouldn't have any work.

I have a career because it doesn't work.

Sure, some people get away with obedience some of the time, with some of the horses, but when that goes wrong you see the reason behind the ghastly safety records in the equine industry.

There is this crazy myth I keep hearing people parrot back, like an industry defending mantra, that the reason safety is poor is because more people aren't doing conventional lessons.

That's not it. It's because the conventional lessons teach dominance over a prey animal.

Safety records in recreational sports have improved since better information about behavioral science and more ethical training practices have started popping up.

' well how is it we only used dominance training when I was younger, and it worked fine', says Karen as she shares another meme about her Ibuprofen muesli, and posts an advert to move on yet another horse that she ' just doesn't gel with'.

Dominance doesn't work. It gets obedience that makes you think it's working, but obedience runs out when something scarier than the punisher shows up, or the level of stress overwhelms the poor horse.

Obedience has a limit, connection is infinite.

14/08/2026

Then and now...

Yesterday was Martinis 4th birthday.

This is a photo from the day he was born and a photo from his first ride last week.

Don't panic.. I know he still has loads of growing to do, but for now he gets a short ride at a walk once or twice a we. In a couple months we will do short trots, and next year we will add a little cantering..

Every single one of his rides, and the prep for them is up on the 15 dollar tier on patreon, as well as his first faltering at three months old, his first time having his feet done at 6 months and his first ever saddling.

They are high level productions, but if you are intrigued by a more empathetic, science based development of a young horse .. Get Martini a nice birthday present and sign up for my patreon page..

The link is in the about section of this page

12/08/2026

The most progress comes from the quiet conversations, not the movements..

Whether it's an anxious horse, or an ' aggressive horse.. It's the quiet conversation.. Because it's the same motivation behind these different behaviors.. Self preservation..

The quiet conversations are where the horse learns they are safe with us

Photo: Val Batchelor

06/08/2026

There is an African Proverb that says:
' It is only when a mosquito lands on your testicles that you realize there is a way to solve problems without violence'.

It's a little crass, I know, but nothing makes men more empathetic than the threat of being hit in the testicles.

Jokes aside, the equestrian world is desperately in need of finding solutions that don't include violence.

The comments sections of some recent posts have been appalling.

In my experience more that 90% of riders and owners genuinely love horses.

I have only come across a few psychopaths that genuinely get their kicks hurting horses, but the idea that needing to use violence, or the threat of violence, is the only way to be safe around horses, still prevails.

This comes down to indoctrination.

People learn this at a young age, from people who were taught it at young age, and genuinely believe it to be true.

So much so that they will campaign against any information to the contrary. Regardless of how much science supports that new information.

The violence taught and perpetuated by the industry plays a major role in the terrible safety standards.

You can call a horse spooky and unpredictable all you want, but I would say it's rather predictable that an animal threatened with regular violence will be inclined to be spooky around their aggressor.

In other words: your violence harms you.

Stop hitting your horses, and learn some new tools, and they might be less inclined to leave you writhing on the ground when something scarier than you shows up.

( gross self promotion)
I can help you with those tools through online coaching, and my patreon page

Photo credit: Val Batchelor

06/08/2026

I am not opposed to feeding carrots, but I am not a fan of people getting mad at horses when they are not being mindful, and get their fingers bitten.

I think food based rewards are an amazing training tool, in a mindful and educated program, but too often people confuse mindless treats with positive reinforcement.

Giving treats without being aware of what you are reinforcing creates issues, not least of which is the bad name it gives positive reinforcement.

People keep going on about how food rewards make 'muggy, pushy horses'. Only food rewards used badly cause pushy horses.

It would be like saying negative reinforcement results in skittish horses, because when it's used poorly, without an understanding of the difference between reinforcement and punishment, it illicits a fear response from horses.

I don't use food rewards at foundation stages, but the reasons have nothing to do with it causing pushy horses.
. Just a reminder though.. If your fingers get bittten while feeding carrots... Your horse isn't mean or naughty, you're not paying enough attention!

05/08/2026

I did Martini's fourth ride in the big herd paddock this week.. His Mom, Bella, came to offer some moral support. I think she is very proud of him.
While I have been working him in the other paddock she has been watching from the fence.. It is very sweet to see her come over and encourage him.

Thanks to Val for the great photo!

03/08/2026

Great article...

Is it remembered pain... or just pain?: Part Two

“It’s just pain memory, so just ride them through it to show them it doesn’t hurt”

Whilst we cannot rule out pain, that does not discount the presence of remembered pain:

"Because it involves the nervous system, physical sensations, emotions, and past experiences, pain is subjective and highly personal" - National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke

One of the most salient things I learned from completing Understand Horses’ Trauma-Informed Horse Trainer Certificate was the relay between the amygdala and the hippocampus.

The amygdala is essentially the emotion centre of the horse’s brain – it determines how the horse feels by assigning an emotion to the experience.

The hippocampus is the memory centre in the brain – it compares the current lived experience with a memory of last time it happened (or a similar event) which then helps the amygdala to assign an emotion to it.

Positive experience = positive emotion

Negative experience = negative emotion

From here the body produces a physiological response - e.g. upregulate into fight/flight/freeze or downregulate into rest/digest.

This then initiates the behaviour that we see.

But the question that I have is this:

Because all behaviour arises out of an emotion… Is it memory of pain or memory of negative experience?

As in, is the horse remembering the physical sensation of the pain, or are they remembering that in that specific context, they had a terrible time?

It might seem like these are exactly the same thing – but they’re not.

The physical sensation of the pain could be the hot, searing, burning, aching [insert any other painful adjective here] associated directly with a body part and the activity that they were being asked to partake in.

For example, if the horse has pain arising from kissing spines, they will feel pain directly associated with the affected spinous processes and structures that are compensating – if they only felt that when being ridden, maybe they begin to anticipate that being ridden will hurt them and perhaps that makes them feel painful.

Whereas the context is a little more complicated than that – it’s more to do with the association they build to the circumstances that they were in when they experienced the painful event(s):

1. How many times they have been put in the painful situation?

If we go back to the kissing spines example, every time they are ridden it will likely be painful. If they are ridden every day, they will likely be experiencing pain every day – and with prolonged repetition, they will develop an unpleasant association to it even after the kissing spines has been treated and it no longer hurts, because it was always unpleasant for them.

2. Who & what was associated with the painful situation?

Think people, equipment or locations… These will become predictors of not very nice things happening to them.

If we are sticking with the kissing spines example, their tack or the mounting block may become a predictor that unpleasant things are about to happen because previously it always hurt.

Likewise, if one specific person rides the horse, that person may also become a predictor for unpleasant things – e.g. “when this person is around, it hurts, so I don’t like this person”.

3. What happened when they tried to advocate for themselves? Were they listened to?

When the rider went to put their foot in the stirrup and the horse swung their hindquarters away, were they squished between a fence and the mounting block so they couldn’t get away?

Or were they punished?

This is where repetitive lack of autonomy breeds negative associations:

“When I am put in x situation, I am not allowed to advocate for myself, so I don’t enjoy being put in that situation.”

This invites us to take a look at the trope of “it’s just pain memory, so ride them through it to show them it doesn’t hurt”

Because if their body is telling them it hurts, no amount of riding them through it is going to make it not hurt for them.

And if they’re remembering that doing the thing was horrible for them, doing the thing which invokes the negative emotions whilst expecting the horse to feel different about it is utterly ridiculous.

And now I’ve gotten to the end of this, I actually don’t think determining whether it is memory of pain or memory of negative experience really matters – because either way the horse is having a terrible time and we need to do something very different to build more positive associations.

And “just riding through it” isn’t going to do that.

Because after all, if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.

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If you want guidance with supporting your horse, I have some things that may help:

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📸 Olivia Rose Photography