Dr Shelley Appleton Calm Willing Confident Horses

20/03/2025

"The Death of Truth (and Other Fun Lies We Tell Ourselves)"🔥

You know what’s really out of fashion these days? No, not flip phones or Facebook😆- the truth.

Yep, facts are out. Evidence? Optional. Critical thinking? Cancelled. Instead, we have vibes-based reasoning, where feelings trump facts, expertise is elitism, and anyone asking for proof is a "bully."

How do I know? Because in the last couple of weeks, I’ve apparently become the Simon Cowell of science, simply for pointing out when people are, well… not making sense.

Case #1: The Mysterious Expert with a Mysteriously Missing Degree

There’s a person out there claiming to be a "clinical neuroscientist." Sounds impressive, right? Except, their bio is the résumé equivalent of a magic trick—implying they’ve studied multiple medical and biomedical disciplines but somehow never quite mentioning a degree or official qualification.

So, I asked a reasonable question: "What are your qualifications?"

Answer? Crickets. The only thing that followed was a post about how they had been the targeted by cyberbullies. Because apparently, expecting transparency from someone offering mental health advice is just mean-spirited gatekeeping.

The new rule of online discourse: If you say you’re an expert, you are one. No credentials required. Just believe!

Case #2: The Science Page That Took Creative Liberties

A well-known page dedicated to scientific discussion posted a quote from a newly published research paper, claiming it supported a fascinating new idea about horses.

Just one problem: the actual paper never mentioned horses. At all.

When this was pointed out, they quietly edited the "typo" 🙄—but then insisted that their original claim was still valid because, you know, facts are fluid now.

Then came the pièce de résistance: When asked for a legitimate reference to back up their claim, they provided completely unrelated studies. That’s like saying, "The moon is made of cheese—look, here’s a paper on dairy farming!"

When pressed further, they fell back on the all-time classic: "You’re just arguing semantics."

Yes. Yes, I am. Because words have meanings, and if you don’t think they do, I’d love to sell you a "mansion" (it’s just a tent, but let’s not get caught up in semantics).

Case #3: The Social Media Scholar Who Loves Science (But Not That Much)

A well-meaning person posted a long explanation about the nervous system and dissociation. One small issue—it was riddled with factual errors.

I politely pointed this out. Gave them a few concepts to check out to help their explanations. Their response? "I’m not sciency, but I believe this makes sense."

Ah. Of course. Not being ‘sciency’ now means facts don’t apply to you. Much like not being ‘mathy’ means 2 + 2 can equal whatever makes you feel safe.

And, naturally, I became the villain for daring to suggest that if you’re going to confidently explain neuroscience, it helps to actually understand neuroscience....not to mention it's really interesting!

Case #4: The Guru Who Knows Everything (Except How to Prove It)

Ah, the Guru. The wise, enlightened horse trainer / life coach / healer of all wounds and traumas. The one who speaks in vague profundities and whose greatest gift to the world is their deep personal insights (that just so happen to contradict known science).

They don’t need qualifications. They don’t need evidence. They just know.

And if you ask for proof? Well, you simply "lack awareness." You are "closed-minded," a product of a broken system.

And so, we are left with The Great Paradox of the Guru: They claim to have profound, secret knowledge about the world… but somehow, the moment anyone questions them, they collapse into victimhood. They are being "attacked," "bullied," and "persecuted" —for no reason other than being right.

What’s fascinating is that their followers will then flock to their defense, not by presenting facts, but by telling you how the Guru makes them feel. Because in the Age of Anti-Intellectualism, good vibes are more important than good information.

Now, Let’s Get One Thing Straight😎

Before anyone starts clutching their crystals, let me be absolutely clear: I do not believe that formal qualifications are the only path to knowledge and evidence exists in different forms and levels. You don't have to be "sciency" to have really cool insights to share.

Some of the most insightful, skilled, and knowledgeable horse people I know don’t have degrees—but they don't make stuff up. They don’t dress up their opinions as facts. And crucially, they’re still curious, open to learning, and deeply engaged with the science—not just when it supports their beliefs, but even when it challenges them.

So if you’re someone who values learning, accuracy, and rigorous thinking, I respect that. If you don’t have formal credentials but actually know your stuff, I rate you.

But if you’re the type who…
✅ Claims to be an expert without ever proving it.
✅ Thinks "personal truth" overrides objective reality.
✅ Dismisses critical thinking as "bullying" the moment your ideas are questioned…

…then I am not your cup of tea. In fact, I am probably the double-shot espresso of critical thinking, and I will not apologise for that.

If you believe that everyone’s opinion is equally valid, regardless of whether it aligns with reality, you should probably just unfollow me now. If facts make you uncomfortable, block me and retreat into the warm embrace of pseudoscience.

I am always respectful in my approach to people if I ever do question, ask for evidence or point out an inaccuracy.

Because here’s the thing:
💡 Questioning claims is not an attack.
💡 Asking for evidence is not bullying.
💡 Facts don’t care about your feelings.

I don’t do comforting fiction. I don’t do 'everyone’s truth is valid,' because sometimes, it’s just not. What I do is critical thinking, real discussion, and intellectual integrity.

Explaining complex topics in a simple way is a skill—you don’t have to make things up to do it well. I can even respect if you’re not ready to accept certain things; everyone is on their own journey.

But let’s be clear—questioning or disagreeing with you does not mean I am bullying you.

Why This Matters
When we let people fabricate expertise, misrepresent research, and reject correction as ‘bullying’, we don’t just damage intellectual integrity—we create a world where belief beats reality.

And here’s the problem:
🚨 Reality doesn’t care what you believe. 🚨

If you claim expertise you don’t have, you’re misleading people.
If you cite a paper that doesn’t say what you say it does, you’re misrepresenting research.

If you spread misinformation about mental health, the nervous system, or horse behaviour, training, physiology, biomechanics, trauma etc. you’re leading people astray.

And when challenged, if your response is to double down instead of getting curious and fact checking yourself, you’re part of the problem.

Final Thought

I have channelled my inner Tim Minchin for this post because I am currently reading his book "You Don't Have to Have a Dream". He might be satirist, musical comedian but he is also an unapologetic advocate for reason, evidence, and critical thinking. Here are two of my favourite Tim quotes:

Firstly, to all the scientists out there....

"Do you know what they call a scientist who questions everything, demands evidence, and changes their mind when confronted with new facts? A good scientist.."

And then to everyone...

"We must think critically, and not just about the ideas of others. Be hard on your beliefs. Take them out onto the verandah and hit them with a cricket bat. Be intellectually rigorous."

If you’re making claims—about science, horses, or the human brain or whatever —you don’t get to just manifest them into truth.

You need evidence.

And if someone points something out, maybe that is a heads up to consider your claims.

Otherwise, you’re not educating anyone. You’re just storytelling for an audience that prefers fiction to facts.

And quite frankly, I think we all deserve better.

12/03/2025

A Reality Check on Horse Welfare – A Challenge for your Mind 🤯-

This post might challenge some perspectives. It might even make you uncomfortable. It might pi$$ you off! But that’s exactly why it’s important.

We often hear about the “major horse welfare crisis” happening today. But is it really a crisis? Or are we overlooking some glaring contradictions in how we think about horse welfare?

Personally, there are indeed welfare issues occurring but what I find disturbing is what we do not see as a welfare issue. We can see the skinny starved horse and the stressed dressage horse - but what about the grossly overweight horse that is being ridden or foot sore horse that is performing tricks that you just clicked "love" on?

This post dives deep into the fallacies, emotional biases, and contradictions that shape modern horse care. It asks hard questions:
❓ Are we actually improving horse welfare, or are we caught up in appearances and virtue signaling?
❓ Why do we idolise “natural” feral horses when their average lifespan is a fraction of that of domesticated horses?
❓ Are more horses suffering from abuse, or are they now suffering from misplaced kindness?

It's not about being controversial for the sake of it. It’s about thinking critically, questioning narratives, and using common sense.

Read the post. Let it challenge you. And if it makes you think, then it’s done its job.

Hate mail can be sent directly to Daulphin Horsemanship 😎🤪

I had a post cross my newfeed about THE MAJOR HORSE WELFARE CRISIS going on world wide. Welfare Crisis?

Imagine what a graph would look like that showed horse welfare improvements from 1800 until 2025. That would be a very flat line with a major escalating curve starting 40 or so years ago. How do you look at a graph that shows exponential improvement and pick a point on the high part of the rapidly escalating curve and call out a crisis at that point? People somehow find a way. It really is like there’s a movement to ruin the meanings of words… Crisis in horse welfare? Now? During the best time in history to be a horse, horses are simultaneously in crisis? Really? I think you need to explain that. Like, are the horses in the welfare crisis in the room with us right now? Are they talking to you?

How is it that we simultaneously live in a time where “people” are more concerned about and looking down on horse welfare than at any point in history, while conditions and lives of horses are at an ALL TIME PEAK in that same history? People believing the dumb stuff and not being aware of obvious realities is my answer. The sky, is not, in fact, falling. Easy guys.

It's definitely the case now that WAY more horses are being killed with kindness than suffering anything approaching abuse. There’s mountains of peer reviewed research proving that keeping horses in stalls is detrimental to their physical and emotional wellbeing. Most people still think stalling horses is the best way to care for them. And it’s not just the people who don’t know anything about horses. We’ll pay triple the board so they are in a foot of shavings, protected from another horse being able to bite or kick them. We want shiny and flawless coats and ribs that are covered with lots of flesh. You’re an excellent horse mom now! You get tons of likes on your Instagram. Your horse has its own hashtags and 35k followers…

We all weep when we see the rescue putting up pictures of the horse they took in or bought at auction that is a body condition score 2. Where's the GoFundMe? We don’t flinch at all or even notice when we come across the masses of horses that are a body condition score of 8… That one’s fat and happy. In our minds, he’s somehow not morbidly obese and inflamed with insulin resistance and joint issues. Don’t you dare ride that young horse though! It’s bad for their body, long term…

Are we really in this for the horse, or are we stroking our own egos? Is your priority what’s best for your horse, or the best you can reasonably provide? Or is your priority what looks best to the rest of the world? Virtue signaling is a term I hate, yet it applies to so many situations.

We keep finding ways to point out and idolitize the “natural” state of the feral horses like mustangs. According to the BLM the average lifespan of a mustang is 8 years. Apparently, and inexplicably, this is in spite of the absolute pinnacle of natural hoof care. If you worked with a horse that was raised in captivity that had the emotional baggage those mustangs carry and was that self-protective and defensive and scared, you’d call out the previous owner for abuse.

If you went to look at places to board your horse and the barn manager told you that in 30 years and hundreds of horses they’ve cared for, the average age of death was 8, would you board your horse there? Yet we model so many things on an ideal that’s not very ideal at all. Someone on social media said there’s research though that says…

Can you imagine trying to find a job to care for wild horses in 1950? In the US, the federal gov't spends, over their lifetimes, $75k/mustang to care for our ferral horses. Average age of 8, I remind you.

How about imagining someone suggesting we needed to have specialists to spend their entire career researching and treating geld scars or ulcers in horses in 1924? The concerns of today are miniscule compared to the concerns they had decades ago. These problems weren't even close to being on the radar back then.

So the horse that has a nutritionist, osteopath, podiatrist, dentist, custom saddle fitter, and sc***um massage technician is in crisis for improper or lacking care? We're not doing enough yet and are practically abusing all these horses? Are you smelling anything yet?

We employ people whose sole concern is the emotional wellbeing of someone else's horse... We have fu***ng horse psychics and animal communicators working during the welfare crisis...

I don’t want to be your guru. I want to provoke thoughts. I want to see common sense become common again. I want sound judgement to prevail. I want people to think critically. I want for their BS filters to start working again. I’m not out to stroke your ego or give you the emotional warm and fuzzies. I’m also not out to just stir up crap and be the controversial person who gains the Jerry Springer audience.

I know a lot of stuff about horses, but I am also still learning and am totally capable of being wrong. You shouldn’t blindly follow me or anyone else. You should think and be skeptical. Being hyper rational, I’d even say you should be critical and skeptical of your own feelings. You probably feel like that body condition score 8 horse is being well cared for. He’s not. Feelings often have s**t for brains. I would expect that some things I say are going to make you feel uncomfortable. Sorry, not sorry. If I’ve made you think today, then it’s been a good day. There are plenty of emotional predators out there if you need to find virtuous validation outside of reality. They know that emotions are easy to manipulate. You'll swipe that card so fast when it feels good to "help". That’s just not what we do here.

Look with a critical eye at things. The sky isn't falling. Life for horses is the best it's been since eohippus scurried around trying to avoid predators. Fun fact: eohippus lived during the longest period of global warming on record, lasting 2-3 million years between ice ages. What more do you want? Seriously, what more could you ask for? Welfare Crisis? Send more $$$? Reality Check I say.

So, what's the standard "They" are trying to attain? When does the Welfare Crisis end? Will it ever end? There will always be unfortunate happenings on an individual level. Always. This is the Equine Rennaissance. You're in it, right now. This is it! Crisis? Where?

12/03/2025

Hidden Impact of Menopause on Equestrian Life 🌺🐴

Last year, I wrote a popular post about the unspoken topic of hormonal changes—perimenopause, menopause, and their impact on equestrian life (see post below⬇️).

Now, it’s time to dive deeper. After exploring this issue extensively, I’m ready to share what I’ve learned.

For the first time, I’m combining my professional background in pharmacy with my insights into equestrian life and horses. This journey has been incredibly eye-opening, and I’m excited to highlight key insights and connect you with experts who can make a real difference in your life.

Here is the link to register for the free webinar:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FmjqdmgfSqeOgJMFOk6__A

_______________________________________________

The Unspoken May Be the Most Significant

There is something that changes you in profound ways.
And if you are a woman, we don't talk about it...

It is the thing that fogs your mind, makes you burn, makes your heart race, steals your shape and takes you on a roller coaster ride of change.

It happens between the ages of 40-55 years old and you know what I am talking about.

The thing that changes us so much yet we never join the dots of its impact on our horse riding.

I never did, until it was pointed out to me today.

Let me tell you what happened...

Today, I had a good friend tell me about watching back footage of herself from a clinic a few years ago. She was 50 at the time and had completely lost her confidence in her horse.

The clinician just kept saying again and again that he did not understand how she could be worried about her horse!

He said he would happily put his grandmother on the horse!

She looks at the footage recently and she would put a grandmother on the horse too, but she now understands why she was so worried.

She is nearly over the roller coaster ride of change and she is feeling the upheaval in her body settle.

The upheaval that made everything feel worse.

The feelings that had taken small concerns and turned them into overwhelming worry.

Now her body has settled, this has stopped and she can feel it going.

We might recognise the foggy brain, the loss of regularity, the ability to put on weight by breathing, the sweating and burning heat, the palpitations but do we recognise the loss of our confidence?

The magnification of feelings?

There are also the physical changes in our bodies... bodies that are acutely calibrated to our horses. When our bodies change the calibrations go off-kilter and so does our balance.

When your balance goes off, vulnerability triggers alarm.

Maybe if we talked about this...

Maybe if we understood this...

Maybe if we realised what strength rises inside us when it is over...

Maybe that would make a difference?

➡️It is time to talk....

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DdzANh15s/?mibextid=wwXIfr

❤Please SHARE to as many women as possible, they deserve a chance to understand what is interfering with their equestrian life...not to mention all other parts of life!!

CLICK HERE FOR SHAREABLE VERSION:

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DdzANh15s/?mibextid=wwXIfr

10/03/2025

WHIPS (PART 2) - GUILT, SHAME, AND MANIPULATION

Why Women Are Susceptible to Being Guilt-Tripped, Shamed, and Manipulated Over the Topic of Whips🔥

Let me explain…

First, I want to acknowledge that many people seek a guru, and there are reasons for this. People who follow gurus often want an authority to look up to and a clear path to follow. Gurus provide them with an identity, a way to think, and a community to belong to. If that sounds like you, then cool :)

But then there are kind, thoughtful people who just want to do right by their horse—people who can get sucked into movements or beliefs that are deeply flawed and potentially destructive. They get sucked in by accident - if this could be you then read on...

The Role of Social Media in Manipulation

Social media is the feeding ground of equestrian gurus. But in this space, we call them influencers. Influencers like the infamous Belle Gibson, who convinced the world she was a cancer survivor thanks to clean eating, manipulate people into believing their stories and ideas—often with no real evidence.

I am not an influencer—I am an educator. That’s why my posts are too long, my graphics are clunky, and my goal is to make you think (because I trust that you can). In contrast, influencers are not here to educate—they are here to hook you in. They don’t want you to learn; they want you to subscribe, follow, and isolate yourself from the rest of the equestrian world with their “us vs. them” propaganda.

To them, they are the enlightened ones, and people like me are the cruel, ignorant "traditionalists" that horses need protecting from.

The Perfect Manipulation Tool? The Whip.

One of the easiest topics for influencers to manipulate is the whip (or training stick, stick and string—whatever you want to call it).

As a woman, and the first in my family to have the freedom and opportunity to pursue education and independence, this manipulation grates on me because it specifically targets my gender. And it’s perpetuated by both male and female influencers.

Let me break this down for you…

The Social Conditioning of Women: Do You Recognise These?

From childhood, women are shaped by societal expectations:
✔ Be nice, polite, and agreeable – Assertiveness is punished, and standing up for yourself gets you labelled “bossy” or “difficult”...or "a bitch".
✔ Avoid conflict – Keeping the peace is prioritised over expressing frustration or challenging authority.
✔ Be accommodating in relationships – Sacrifice personal needs, tolerate bad behaviour, and fear being “too much.”
✔ Be likeable to succeed – Women must be warm, friendly, and non-threatening to gain acceptance. Being in a leadership position as a woman is an incredibly difficult role to navigate!
✔ Self-sacrifice as a virtue – The “good girl” trope rewards women for putting others before themselves.

These ingrained expectations make it difficult to push back, especially when doing so invites criticism....yes - even in 2025!

(Note: Watch with interested what I am going to be labelled for writing this post! 😎)

And this is exactly what certain influencers in the horse world exploit.

How Manipulative Influencers Exploit Women

Many influencers sell a fantasy of horse training that aligns perfectly with the social conditioning of women, keeping them trapped in self-doubt and guilt.

1️⃣ “Assertiveness is bad, kindness is good.”

🔹 Manipulation: Any form of pressure is framed as “dominance” and therefore morally wrong.
🔹 How it exploits women: This feeds into the conditioning that women should avoid confrontation and prioritise harmony. Sadly, the reality is that it is mostly through confrontation that you can even achieve harmony!
🔹 Example: “Kind and loving horse owners do not use whips!”

2️⃣ “If the horse doesn’t respond, it’s your fault.”

🔹 Manipulation: Women are already conditioned to take responsibility for others’ emotions.
🔹 How it exploits women: Influencers tell them they aren’t “soft,” “receptive,” "regulated" or “connected” enough, rather than acknowledging that horses need to be taught how to respond.
🔹 Example: “If you are receptive to your horse, your horse will be receptive to you.”

3️⃣ “Tools = Control = Bad.”

🔹 Manipulation: Just as women are shamed for being “too aggressive,” they are made to feel guilty for using effective training tools.
🔹 How it exploits women: This keeps them stuck, reliant on the influencer’s so-called enlightened methods.
🔹 Example: “I am against terrifying horses, and you won’t find me using anything like a whip they represent pain or fear to horses. - I am not cruel.”

4️⃣ “The illusion of mutual understanding.”

🔹 Manipulation: Women are taught that relationships should be built on deep emotional connection.
🔹 How it exploits women: Some influencers insist that horses should “choose” to work with us rather than acknowledging that training is about communication and clarity.
🔹 Example: “Your horse will choose to protect you if they know you are listening to them.”

5️⃣ “Avoid direct action—just wait.”

🔹 Manipulation: Instead of providing practical skills, these methods encourage women to wait, breathe, regulate, connect and listen until the horse magically cooperates.
🔹 How it exploits women: This reinforces societal messages that women should be passive rather than decisive.
🔹 Example: “You’ll be surprised at how giving horses become when they are allowed to say no.”

6️⃣ “Weaponising guilt.”

🔹 Manipulation: Women already struggle with guilt, and some influencers pile it on.
🔹 How it exploits women: If you use a whip, bit, spurs, or even discuss boundaries, you are failing the horse and betraying the ideology of “gentleness,” "kindness," "love," and “deep care.”
🔹 Example: “Using a whip to create your so-called boundary is not caring—it is showing the horse you are not open to their connection.”

The Real Agenda⚠️

These influencers aren’t enlightened—they’re exploiters.

While their knowledge of horses may be questionable, their ability to influence people is exceptional. They know exactly how to manipulate women by tapping into beliefs that FEEL right because they align with the CONDITIONING we’ve been subjected to all our lives‼

[Note: People put "intuition" on a pedestal and there are lots of cool things about it, but it is also what gets programmed with social conditioning and bias!!]

🔹 They paint a false picture of horsemanship—one that fosters guilt, submission, and fear of stepping into authority.
🔹 They trap people in vague, ineffective methods and gaslight them when their horses don’t respond.
🔹 Or worse—people give up on riding or even owning a horse altogether.

And the worst part? It’s not just harming women—it’s harming horses (and there is a real bit of guilt!). But that’s another conversation for another day.

So, watch carefully those conversations about whips…😎

📸IMAGE: Me next to a whip on the ground, demonstrating I am a potentially an ignorant and unenlightened horse trainer😬

09/03/2025

WHIPS (PART 1) – TRAINING TOOL TO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION OR WEAPON OF PAIN, FEAR & DOMINANCE? 😱

I’m starting a discussion about whips. It's long (sorry)but needed and I hope you manage the attention to get through these words I have written. This is Part 1, focusing on their use and role in training. In the next part, I’ll dive into the conversations surrounding them—because there’s some seriously manipulative stuff happening in influencer land on social media. It is unfair to shame and guilt people for using a tool that is effective at establishing communication and meaning with horses in the early stages of training.

Standing up against such tactics and misinformation is worth the inevitable backlash I know I am going to be subjected to😎.

I use whips. In fact, I also sell them—because I struggled to find one with the right weight and length, so I had some made.

A whip can be used in many ways to shape that communication. Whilst it can touch (to varying degrees of aversiveness), it is also a tool that can be used to help block or direct a horse’s thought or draw attention to a body part to help establish meaning. In a nutshell, whips can help create a physical experience for the horse’s sensory system to identify and adapt to. All with the aim of creating meaning and understanding—what can be labelled “clarity.”

Seeing it as a device that works by causing pain and fear is an incredibly limited idea of how a whip is used. However, I am not going to judge anyone for thinking that way because that is exactly how I used to see them until I was exposed to being taught to use them with finesse and skill and was able to experience how horse after horse responded.

I have also seen whips described as tools used with the intent to dominate a horse. This is also an extremely limited insight into what a whip helps you achieve. I do not even consider the concept of domination when I work with a horse; I am simply training them to understand what I mean and how to recognise that. I don’t want a horse that is fearful, submissive, and scared of me. I want a horse that does not feel threatened, that understands, and is confident with what I am asking them to do… and I am very successful at achieving this by using a whip with finesse within a training framework.

However, the whip is indeed a tool that requires great respect.

Poor use of the whip can cause a range of issues with a horse, from fear and frustration to confusion, and can even result in the horse completely disregarding you as anything to pay attention to. It is a tool that requires the development of great skill to use for its purpose of conveying meaning. It requires practice to use it well. Still to this day, I practise my whip skills regularly. I practise my timing and coordination and make sure I keep my body ambidextrous in its use.

Therefore, having people see the whip as a weapon of pain, fear, and dominance is not surprising! It was my experience of trying to use a training stick without good guidance and instruction that led me to my initial thoughts. I will never forget it. I went off to a horsemanship clinic, and my horse at the time freaked out at the training stick in my hand. One of the trainers came over and offered to help—my horse continued to freak out. The trainer then gave up. So I had very good evidence! However, in hindsight, that was because I was not getting good instruction, and the trainer that helped me wasn’t that skilled. It is the equivalent of someone attempting to train using clicker training with positive reinforcement, doing it badly, and ending up with a stressed, food-obsessed horse and concluding that positive reinforcement training has a terrible effect on horses!

I have people come to me saying their horse does not like whips or training sticks, yet I haven’t had a horse I couldn’t help work out that the whip is no threat to them. These horses have been exposed to a whip used poorly or have been reacting to doing something they physically struggle with due to a soundness issue. The emotional response of the horse to the activity has then been falsely attributed to fear of the whip, when in reality, the horse has been overwhelmed by the activity, and the whip is magnifying that. Hence, the misguided correlation to the whip being the cause of the overwhelm displayed by the horse. Not only can I get these horses good with whips, but I can also get in there and train the response and adapt the horse’s behaviour, therefore eliminating the need to use a whip.

My goal with a horse is to establish a way of communicating with them that is very soft and gentle. Primarily, this is through the gentle pick-up of reins, the application of leg and seat signals. On the ground, I want to be able to guide them around softly too. I want a way of handling the horse that is devoid of conflict, resistance, and brace—where the horse doesn’t feel threatened and works out that I don’t cause them any trouble. That they can navigate what I ask, what we do, and where we go. I want my communication to be quiet and gentle, not just for their comfort in working with me, but because getting a horse to pay attention to small sensations or feelings on their bodies, sounds, or small gestures I make is how I get a horse “with me” and not distracted by the world. I capture their attention through their sensory system… not just through fear. Some people get so hung up on the role of fear in learning. They miss the important detail about how associations and conditioning change with time, experience, and an animal being able to identify a stimulus or situation as safe.

Therefore, I use the whip to eliminate it from the horse’s life and from my communication with them. If I am still using the whip, I haven’t managed to achieve true clarity with a horse. I haven’t been able to get them to a point where they identify their interactions with me as safe. My need to keep using the whip is a red flag that there is a potential interference in the horse’s ability to learn. The interference may be something else they have learnt in their past, an association they have that I need to address first, or commonly, it is coming from a soundness issue. It is hard to teach a horse to perform something if moving and performing the task makes them feel uncomfortable.

I welcome your thoughts. I allow you to have your own beliefs as long as you respect mine and my experience. I have not come to my own conclusions lightly. They have been cultivated by extensive research, study, and, importantly, by working with hundreds of different horses. My number one priority and consideration is the welfare of the horse. I acknowledge my previous beliefs about whips and flags and how they were formed and changed. My skills and ability to work with horses mean that I can help a wide variety of horses and the situations they may be in.

My hope with this article is to open people's minds to the fact that there is much more to whips than pain, fear, and dominance. Just because some equestrian influencer is telling you to throw away your evil whip because loving horse owners don’t use whips - does not mean they have any credibility about how to help you or your horse. This is a manipulative, narrow and flawed view of the role and use of a whip within the training framework.

📸IMAGE: Learning to hold and coordinate the whip comes before learning how to use it. Many people struggle to hold and coordinate the whip and then trying to create communication and meaning between themselves and the horse because a struggle.

PS. Respect to all my fellow horse trainers, coaches and instructors who understand the years of dedication and learning to not only train horses but help and encourage people to develop the skills they need. ❤

fans