Zen Dressage

01/02/2025

🚨

Horses owe us nothing 🐴

I am baffled by the way I used to think about horses, I would always bleat the “horse first, sport second” line, but it wasn’t true, not really.

Anything that made me feel uncomfortable would be justified away in my head, I’d find others who would also validate that line of thinking and dismiss anything to the contrary.

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s followed this page for a while that I don’t agree with the idea that horses must do a "job" for their life to have value and for them to deserve to have their needs met. The idea that the horse, who had no choice in who bought or sold him and never agreed to any of this, should provide what we think we’re owed makes me really frustrated.

I’m going to tell you about a conversation I had with someone several years ago that I still think about to this day. They wanted help with their severely nappy horse. This horse had been retired from a very intense life of showing with significant arthritis and they had been told by the vet that he could only work in straight lines. They were struggling to even get him out of the gate. Along with all of his joint issues, the horse was overweight and the rider, in my opinion, was too heavy for him in his current condition.

We talked back and forth for a while as I tried to explain my ethos and how we needed to look at the bigger picture. They described how they’d had another trainer out who had got on and essentially beaten him with a whip and it still didn’t work.

We just kept talking in circles as they’d keep coming back to “what would you do to fix the problem though?” I explained about positive associations and building confidence with hand walking. They told me they couldn’t hand walk him as they also had joint issues. I then gently suggested that seeing as he was quite loudly telling us he wasn’t feeling okay about being ridden and we knew he had several chronic pain issues that we should perhaps think about whether continuing to ride him was appropriate.

“I’ve already put so much money into him getting his joint injections and I've even moved off the yard I like so he can have turnout every day. He can’t retire because I can’t walk far and he is my legs so I can actually get out and enjoy nature. I just want him to go out walking for a few hours I’m not asking for much”

Isn’t it interesting how someone who cannot walk far due to their own pain cannot empathise with their horse having the same issues?

I hear similar things to this all of the time, everyone wants to put the horse first to a point. But when things start to get really complex and we realise we may not get the happy ending we envisioned our morals start to slide. I often get a bit of "but he has a really nice life I just want him to do this for me". A nice life should be a given, you are not owed damaging your horse's body because you spent money on him and met his basic needs.

I find it a really difficult line to walk as an ethical trainer. While I don’t want to alienate anyone from improving their horse’s life and learning a better way, I also don’t want to be an enabler to continuing to treat horses like crap. I realise that sometimes my line in the sand is in a different place to some of my clients, but that is something I have to navigate and question for myself all of the time. What am I okay with even if its not what I would do myself, and what am I definitely not okay with?

Any professional out there who is really for the horse knows how difficult this is to do. Its a really terrible business model and it makes you the fun police a lot of the time.

I’m not here to fix your horse, I’m here to help you understand your horse and make better choices. Times are changing and if I can just improve things for one horse then I guess it’s worth it. 🐴

www.lshorsemanship.co.uk

www.patreon.com/lshorsemanship

01/01/2025

Happy New Year! ✨

12/26/2024

Merry Christmas from the Ungurain family! 🎄❤️

12/10/2024

Exactly...: there's so much knowledge behind living horses for what they truly are, instead of simply using them as sporting tools.... And also so much more experience and skill is needed to deal with a horse being allowed to truly express himself and his animal nature 💙

12/07/2024

Imagine being at the top of the sport, and using your platform to try to rebrand stress signals as “arrogance” in an animal that lacks a prefrontal cortex and isn’t even capable of feeling such emotions in the first place. 🤦🏼‍♀️🤯

If you think the discussion on equine welfare is problematic for our sport, but straight up lying to people about the animal we claim to be an expert on isn’t—give your heads a damn shake. I’m honestly embarrassed and ashamed that so many of my peers who claim to be advocates for the horse are condoning and supporting this crap.

I grew up with Isabel posters on my wall too… but the hell with this s**t. 🙅🏼‍♀️

Isabell Werth on how success in the show ring “changes” horses.

Apparently, a horse going from calmly tolerating horses passing them or walking near them to pinning their ears flat back any time another horse comes close is evidence of “arrogance” and a sense of the horse knowing how talented they are…

Instead of, you know, a sign that the horse has learned through experience that competitions are stressful, other horses may be a potential threat and is now displaying signs of more discomfort than they previously showed.

This level of anthropomorphism is delusional and harmful to the horse.

Horses do not have the capacity to be “arrogant.”

They don’t know they’re winners.

They don’t even know how competition is structured, what constitutes a win and what the purpose of their travel around the world to compete even is.

Wendy, the horse, is simply displaying signs of behavioural change that speaks more for an increase of stress than it does for anything else.

I am so sick and tired of elite riders trying to rebrand communication of stress, pain discomfort etc as signs of an exceptional and successful horse.

The reason why so many competition horses behave in this way is because of the shared similarities in trauma… not because they win.

12/06/2024

12/04/2024

“The by-product of a calm brain is confidence and cognition (PFC access).” 🎯

The more we learn about equine behaviour, and how their brains actually work—the clearer it becomes that many of the “old ways” are outdated and quite literally counter-productive. The best thing you can do for your horse or your riding is to learn how horses think, and stop “humanizing” their behaviours.

Comparative neurobiology of horse and human.

Horses and humans are both mammals.
Our brains may not be the same size, but they are almost identical in their structure and function.

Why can our brains look so similar but our behaviours and sensitivity to the world look so different?

The area in the picture highlighted is the prefrontal cortex or the (PFC). Its job in humans, horses, dogs, dolphins, elephants, cats, mice, rats, all mammals, and even birds is to carry out "higher executive functions" such as:

🧠 problem solving
🧠 decision making
🧠 reasoning
🧠 risk assessment
🧠 forward planning
🧠 impulse control
🧠 intention

Obviously, these executive functions are more advanced in humans than in other species of mammals, but this part of the brain plays a pivotal role in higher levels of learning beyond primal behaviours and learning survival skills.

So why aren't we seeing these higher executive functioning skills and behaviours in horses as much as what we see them in dogs, dolphins, elephants and even birds?

Ultimately it comes down to safety!

The latest neuroscience research suggests that when the brain feels unsafe it causes the body to produce stress response hormones and these stress response hormones cause the PFC to go "offline".
This means that subcortical regions of the brain (deeper parts of the brain) such as the primal brain (AKA limbic system, survival brain, flight/fight brain) completely take over to increase the chances of survival.

Feeling unsafe causes the feeling of fear and it is fear that gets this party started.

So behaviours come from two areas:

1. The PFC, carrying out problem solving skills, reasoning, impulse control, forward planning etc. that may be interpreted as "obedience" and "partnership".

2. The primal brain, carrying out reactive survival behaviours. This brain does NOT carry out impulse control, forward planning, problem solving, etc. It just reacts to the world. This brain heavily relies on patterns and consistency. This brain will cause freeze/flight/fight behaviours such as shutting down, bolting, biting, rearing, bucking, kicking, barging, etc.

Which brain is the domesticated horse spending most of it's time in?
It's primal brain!

This is why we don't get to see their full intellectual and cognitive potential because most of the time, domesticated horses are perceiving their world in a fearful way to some degree.

We can help our horses with this!

Feeling fearful is the OPPOSITE to feeling calm.
If we want to help our horses access their PFC then we MUST do whatever it takes to help them feel calm.

☝️ ONLY when a brain feels calm can it slow down enough to develop TRUE confidence. Only when the brain feels confident will it access TRUE cognition (PFC).

☝️ We first need to understand that when we get "bad behaviour" from our horses, it's not intentional or naughty or rude. What you are seeing is either a horse that is just reacting to the fear they feel or they are carrying out their "coping mechanism" in response to their anticipation of feeling fear.

☝️ Try to remove expectations that your horse should "know better".
"Knowing better" implies that all behaviours are coming from the PFC and there should be some impulse control and reasoning. Unless your horse feels calm, they can't access the PFC to "know better".

THIS STARTS WITH YOU!!!

You need to be consciously aware if YOU feel calm first. If you feel calm, your horse will have a better chance at feeling calm. Expecting them to feel calm when you don't is unfair.

The best way to create calmness is to intentionally be SLOW!!!
SLOW EVERYTHING you do down.
SLOW your movement down.
SLOW your talking down.
SLOW your walking down.
SLOW your breathing down.
SLOW your horse down.
If you feel too slow, then you're going slow enough.

Calmness is slow, not fast.

This will help you and your horse to connect and feel safe together.
When the brain feels stressed, the stress response hormones cause the body to speed up.

Stress = speed

We can reverse engineer this process and create a calm mind through slow intentional movement and a relaxed posture.

The by-product of a calm brain is confidence and cognition (PFC access).

Happy brain training 🧠
Charlotte 😊

Photo: Credit: Adult horse (equine) brain, sagittal section. Michael Frank, Royal Veterinary College. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

11/29/2024

𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀

Have you ever wondered how gear like nosebands impacts your horse’s comfort? A recent study* reveals some important facts about the effects of very tight nosebands on horses. The findings show that nosebands tightened to the extreme can cause stress and stop horses from showing natural behaviours. Here’s what the study discovered and why it matters.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁?

Twelve horses wearing double bridles and crank nosebands were part of the study. Researchers tested four levels of tightness:

1. Unfastened (UN): The noseband was loose.
2. Two-Finger Space (CAUN): Room for two fingers under the noseband.
3. One-Finger Space (HCAUN): Room for just one finger.
4. No Space (NAUN): Noseband tightened all the way, with no room underneath.

During each treatment, they measured heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), eye temperature, and how often horses licked, chewed, or yawned.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱?

Stress Levels Went Up
- Heart Rate: Increased significantly when the noseband was tightest.
- HRV: Decreased, showing the horses were under stress.
- Eye Temperature: Got hotter, a common sign of stress in horses.

Natural Behaviours Disappeared
- Licking and Chewing: These behaviours stopped completely when the noseband was tightest.
- Swallowing: Horses swallowed half as often with the tightest noseband.
- Yawning: Rare during all treatments but increased after the nosebands were removed.

𝗥𝗲𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀
When the nosebands were taken off, the horses made up for lost behaviours. They yawned, licked, and chewed more than they did before the nosebands were put on. This rebound suggests the tight nosebands left them feeling deprived.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻?
The study shows that very tight nosebands cause stress and stop horses from acting naturally. Researchers recommend:

- Keeping It Comfortable: Ensure at least two fingers of space under the noseband.
- Checking Tightness at Competitions: Gear stewards should enforce rules against overly tight nosebands.
- More Research: Experts need to explore how nosebands combined with rein tension and a rider affect horses.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀
Your horse’s well-being is key to a good partnership. This research reminds us that gear like nosebands should always prioritise their comfort and health.

📸 Pic: An example of an infrared image of the eye region. The cross indicates the position of the maximum temperature within the area of the eye used for analysis.

* "The Effect of Noseband Tightening on Horses’ Behaviour, Eye Temperature, and Cardiac Responses," by Kate Fenner, Samuel Yoon, Peter White, Melissa Starling & Paul McGreevy (2016)

11/28/2024

LOUDER FOR THE ONES IN THE BACK… when we KNOW better, we DO better. And that’s something to be celebrated, not shamed. 👏🏼 Growth is a beautiful thing.

11/27/2024

📣 ANNOUNCEMENT 📣

In the new year, we will be offering a limited number of training spots to horses outside of our sales program.

Through a variety of balanced training methods, focusing on softness, connection, in harmony—our program specializes in developing young horses, managing breeding stallions, and preparing Warmbloods and Friesians for Keuring season.

We have full indoor and outdoor board packages available. Some of the services and amenities available are:

- Private pens with shelters
- 12x12 box stalls with softstall mattresses
- 2 indoor arenas, 1 outdoor arena
- HayBoss feeders
- Automatic waterers
- On-site tack and feed store
- And much more!

🔍 Please contact us for more info & pricing.
📍 Located in Parkland County, Alberta.

Parkland Equestrian Centre
SM Patron Gold - Westfalen Stallion

11/25/2024

The 4 White Socks Club 🤍😎

Touch of Gold
Parcival x Mirabeau (Mascarpone)
2023 KWPN Filly

*For those who noticed the name change… her papers weren’t sent in yet, so we decided to go with KWPN instead of Westfalen! We had to pick a “T” name instead of “P” as per their naming rules.*

Pholcus UFW
Patron Gold (Parcival) x Fürstenball x Rubinstein
2024 Premium Westfalen C**t

Patron Gold’s full sister and son. Bling runs in the family!