Two Strides Forward Equestrian

11/12/2025

The horse industry is overdue for change.
Not a new trend, but a shift in culture that reshapes how we think, talk, and connect with horses.

The last time we saw a movement that did that was in the 1980s and 1990s, when Natural Horsemanship began to rise. It did not solve everything, but it did something remarkable. It made people pause, pay attention, and see their horses differently.

Natural Horsemanship helped trigger one of the most significant cultural shifts in horsemanship, reminding us that change is possible.

It encouraged people to use timing instead of force, to listen to feedback, and to see partnership instead of dominance.

That shift was revolutionary.

At its core, Natural Horsemanship is a system built around pressure and release, where the horse learns by responding in ways that make pressure stop. In learning theory, that is called negative reinforcement, not because it is “bad”, but because something is removed when the horse offers the correct response.

There is not just one way to apply this, and that is what makes it so complex. It can be used with precision and feel, creating clearer communication and lower stress, or with too much pressure and poor timing, leading to tension and confusion. Those differences lead to vastly different welfare outcomes.

That is also what made Natural Horsemanship so influential. It was not just a set of techniques. It was a mindset shift toward communication, timing, and awareness. For many, the idea of release became the first clear, tangible way to understand how horses learn. It was influential in changing how people thought about training and communication, though welfare outcomes often depended on how it was applied.

Beyond the mechanics, and why I think it resonated so deeply, is because it changed mindset. It replaced the language of dominance with one of feel, timing, and partnership. It gave everyday riders a sense of agency and hope, the belief that they could understand their horses, not just manage them.

It arrived at the right time too.

Conversations about animal sentience and welfare were growing worldwide, and people were ready for a kinder, more connected approach to training.

We are standing in another moment like that now.

Welfare is finally at the centre of more horse conversations, and more people than ever are asking about emotional wellbeing, agency, pain faces, social needs, and evidence-based care.

At this point, it is going to be hard for everyone to agree on methods of training, and that is not what this conversation is about.

But I think, given what started the Natural Horsemanship movement and what welfare science is showing us today, we can all agree that welfare NEEDS to be the focus right now.

If Natural Horsemanship showed that culture could change once, this moment shows us that it can change again.

Through open discussion, shared learning, and a genuine commitment to welfare, we can write the next chapter together.

Natural Horsemanship changed how many people thought about control, communication, and connection. It showed that our culture can evolve, that awareness and empathy can reshape how we work with horses.

We have done it before.
We can do it again.

There is a growing movement calling for welfare to be at the centre of the sport.

Cultural shifts are never easy, but this time, for better and for worse, we’re more digitally connected than ever. Conversations that used to happen in small barns or clinics are now happening online for the whole world to see. If we use that reach with empathy and intention, with welfare science at its heart, it might just be what makes lasting change possible.

11/07/2025

My first-ever podcast episode with The Unbridled Equestrian Podcast is out now! Have a listen and let me know what you think!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5gWCAVesf8kTRGjznuXtcG?si=NyasQ9e1Tqm75m8ujOwOkA

The Unbridled Equestrian · Episode

11/02/2025

We’ve all read the ads. 14.2HH QH gelding. Anyone can ride him. More whoa than go. Been ridden in parades, had tarps dragged off him, did pony rides at the local fair etc.We’ve probably all also met that tried-and-true lesson horse, who safely carries kids around the jump course at their first s...

10/26/2025

This was a fantastic keynote at the BC Therapeutic Riding Association conference last weekend!
As many of you know, promoting evidence-based welfare practices, particularly for horses working in the EAS field, has been a passion of mine for many years. To have this topic be the highlight of the conference, presented by such a knowledgeable professional, was heartening and inspiring!

Most studies on relationships between humans and nonhuman animals focus on the benefits of the relationship to humans, the potential detriment or stress to animals, or how humans can better improve husbandry or handling practices in the domestic setting. By comparing existing research in human worki...

10/21/2025

If we see a wild animal in a zoo, in a small barren enclosure, alone with no enrichment or friends, unable to perform natural behaviours, we know that it’s inherently wrong. But for some reason, so often that thinking doesn’t extend to horses. Most modern zoos now do a fantastic job of creating enriching, species appropriate spaces for the animals in their care. How can we make that the norm, rather than the exception for horses across the industry?

Somewhere Along the Way, We Mistook Preservation for Welfare

I’ve decided to pivot. I was heading in one direction with doing a series, planning to stay balanced, measured, and focused on the science, but after weeks of working on these posts, I kept landing in the same place.

Every time I tried to make it neutral or balanced, to show both sides, I kept circling back to the same uncomfortable truth I didn’t want to water down.

After writing, rewriting, and collecting studies for weeks, I realized something:

The research has already been clear for years.
It’s not about proving the risks anymore.
It’s about asking why we keep justifying them.

I’m not speaking about short-term, once-in-a-while stalling, not rehab, weather holds, brief hours of rest, or decisions made with their health in mind.

I’m talking about confinement in the name of preservation.
Stall time that exceeds turnout time, a lifetime spent inside instead of out.
The kind that removes a horse’s freedom under the guise of keeping them show-ready, preserved, pristine, but no longer living as a horse.

There are endless studies documenting the risks of confinement, physically and mentally.
I’ve read them, collected them, cited them.
But no amount of studying changed what the science kept showing me, confinement isn’t welfare.

A horse is meant to be a horse.
And being a horse means the ability to roll, graze, rest, move, and socialize.

According to the Five Domains of Animal Welfare, wellbeing is built on nutrition, environment, health, behaviour, and mental state, and the Three F’s, freedom, friends, and forage, form the foundation of every one of those pillars.

So ask yourself: when a horse spends more time in a stall, isolated and confined, than turned out, is that supported by either of those models?

Every measure of welfare science says no.

When we take those things away, when we isolate, confine, and micromanage them, especially in the name of performance, we’re not protecting them.
We’re exploiting them.

And if the end goal, the prize and reward for good performance, is to one day “retire outside,” then we’ve already admitted there’s something wrong with the “care” they receive today.

We can’t call it care if it only exists on our terms or for our benefit.

Because at the end of the day, if being “the best” means taking away everything that makes a horse a horse, then maybe it’s time to question if we truly love the animal.