Rebel horse care

24/09/2025

This is what it can look like when your horse needs a foot soaked because of an abscess.

When we have built a foundation of trust, mutual respect and care with our horse, things like soaking a hoof becomes less of a big deal.

I don’t need to have a whole lot of preparation practice in this particular situation to have a communication of calm understanding between us.

We have a general language that works in our every day life together and Caroline knows the language of positive reinforcement, so I can apply it in this situation too and she quickly understands that I would like her to keep the foot in the bucket.

After a little while she feels the relief of pressure in the hoof from the warm water, and that then becomes rewarding in itself.
She relaxes into it and almost dozes off.

And yes I’m aware that these kinds of situations are not always easy peasy, but having created a solid foundation of communication that both parties understand and feel calm and confident about, truly helps in any situation.

🐎

16/08/2025

My friend’s horse Kathy has now been here for one and a half month.
I already see quite remarkable changes happening in her hooves.

She came from a place where she lived a good life in a paddock with other horses, but she did not have much motivation to move and she spent a lot of time standing still, eating from a big hay feeding station.

Here on the farm she lives in a track system with many small hay nets spread out around the track, and with many twists and turns and hills up and down.
She moves a lot more now and she gets part of her hay in hay nets and part of it loose on the ground.

When she arrived here, she was very foot sensitive and had thin soles.
I know this is not from incorrect trimming as I have been her trimmer for several years.
She had boots on-off in the first few weeks she was here and then she started walking better.
Her soles are still thin, but getting stronger with the extra movement.

The lighting is different in the photos, but I think you can still appreciate the changes happening in this hoof with only 3 weeks between the shots.
All photos are after trimming.

A proper diet, sufficient movement, a calm life in a herd with other horses, a stimulating and movement motivating environment and frequent, good hoof care is setting these hooves on a path of healing.

13/07/2025

New podcast out from Emotional Horsemanship by Lockie Phillips
Lockie has been so kind to invite me to come and speak on his podcast twice.
He’s a brave, intelligent, controversial and kind person that I have great respect and love for.❤️
Have a listen to our conversation where we respectfully disagree on and discuss some important subjects.

Food Rewards, Whips and Bits. Not enough discussions are out there on these subjects between two colleagues whom disagree on some things, agree on others, but respect each other regardless of agreement.

As per recent postings, if your confidence in a horse is reliant upon their compliance and obedience, I question if that is real confidence.

Same is true for professional collaborations. If our respect for a colleague, or love, is contingent upon them agreeing with us, validating everything we think and feel, and being in perfect obedient unison, I question if that is a strong relationship at all.

Louise is a friend and colleague that I love and respect, unconditionally. Meaning I do not require her agreement or validation to remain respectful and appreciate her work. Or even hire her. I am willing to hire people I find myself partially disagreeing with. Why? Because I can find skill in a variety of horse people. Not just people who are exactly like me. This is not a cult.

Due to that fact, we jumped on zoom and discussed:
1. Food Reward in training of horses.
2. Bits.
3. Whips/sticks

We discussed it with nuance. We allowed different perspectives to be shared. And despite the entire industry believing I am a stick zealot that automatically believes they are abusive, you might be surprised to discover that I allowed Louise to train one of my own horses with a stick, and also describe situations where I would use a stick to aid the training.

Stop projecting.

Nobody is prejudiced here.

Come and listen to this interview, it is probably my favorite episode of this season.

Listen where ever you get your podcasts, or on my website (link below).
Rebel horse care Louise Bach-Holler

24/06/2025

Do you allow yourself to take a break?
A break from all the noise, all the voices, all the opinions, all the people wanting to tell you what is right and what is wrong.

I personally HAVE to take breaks to stay healthy and happy.
If I don’t, I can’t hear my own voice in the inferno, I loose my connection to my inner true essence, I can no longer feel my hearts true message.

You might be scared to miss out on something important, to not see your idols latest post or to not hear your mentors newest message.
Maybe you feel you need constant guidance from others, that you are not capable of making choices for yourself and your horse.

But I bet you are more than capable of making those choices. The choices that are right for you and your horse in this moment.

If you allow yourself to take a break occasionally, to step back and breathe, turn social media off for a couple of days, meditate, go for walks in nature, you will most certainly miss out on something important, but the thing is, you will find something else instead, something far more valuable.

Your own inner voice. Your gut feeling, your hearts calling.
You are allowed to have your own opinions and to make choices that might not correlate with the people you follow or your teachers or mentors. That is ok.

Listen to your heart, follow your own inner voice. Don’t ever let anyone overrule you with their ideas.

But be aware. Finding your true inner voice can be difficult and tricky.
Finding your own hearts calling takes some practice.

Taking a break from social media could be the first step.

❤️