Bitless & Natural Equestrian Centre

02/02/2025

The amazing Slow Bale Buddy is currently on sale, conserve your hay or haylage to last longer!

Slow Bale Buddy from the inventors of Big Bale Buddy Top quality net Slow Feeders for hay made with 100% knotless nylon Can be used in conjunction with the Big Bale Buddy or a Haybell or suspended …

01/02/2025

Your horse doesn’t owe you anything.

Let that sink in.

A great horseman once told me: "Riding a horse is an honor that the horse grants us."

Think about that for a second. They don’t owe us a ride, a jump, a perfect transition, or even their cooperation. They didn’t ask to be ridden. They didn’t agree to trot in circles or load into trailers or work through our training plans.

EVERY single thing we do with horses is our idea.

They have no say in their own lives...

• They don’t choose where they live.
• They don’t choose who they share their paddock with.
• They don’t decide when they eat, what they eat, or if they can graze.
• They don’t control how much time they spend in a stable.
•They don’t get to say, "Not today, I’m not feeling up to this."

And still, despite all of that, they try for us.

That’s why we MUST listen when they tell us no! When they resist, when they hesitate, when they don’t comply—it’s not disobedience. It’s communication. It’s our job to stop and ask, Why?

When you really think about it, it’s incredible that horses tolerate humans at all.

They try so hard to understand what we’re asking, even when our signals are confusing, even when our emotions cloud our cues, even when we don’t always listen to them in return. And still, they trust us. They trust us not to hurt them, not to push them too far, not to forget that they are living, breathing, feeling beings—not machines.

That trust is a privilege.

So the next time you feel frustration bubbling up because your horse won’t pick up the canter, won’t load into the trailer, won’t move away from the gate—pause. Take a breath.

Your horse isn’t here to serve you. They are not an object. They are a partner.

Ask yourself: Why am I asking them to do this?
And then: How can I make this better

And the fact that they choose to partner with us at all—despite having every reason not to—is something we should NEVER take for granted.

🩷 We don’t always deserve horses. But every day, we have a chance to be the kind of people they deserve.🩷

Appreciate them. Listen to them. Be better for them.

25/01/2025

When we had the Bitless riding school, we always asked people to stroke or scratch, rather than pat (hit) our horses and ponies 💖

Let's always consider what they truly understand and enjoy, according to their animal language and behaviors 💙

Picture credit: Maija Karala/Arador Publishing

24/01/2025

This is so important

Equines and losing their herd mates.
Most equines don’t process death in the same way we do, but its important to understand how they look at it.
Firstly its they way they understand it, they can watch it but it does not mean much, it’s the smell that tells them. So horses should be allowed to smell their departed friend, this is two part, firstly its for them to work out they have died, second part is they will be smelling for adrenalin and endorphins. Generally animals don’t fear death but they fear pain and the process of dying, which if most people are honest is the same for us, most people don’t fear death it’s the getting there, when its your time most people just hope its instant or they go in their sleep, animals are often the same.
You can put a horse down with another one watching and they will often finish their bucket of food before they go to investigate why their mate is laying down. Then they smell a lot around the dead one and if there is no adrenalin or endorphins then they died quickly and were not attacked, so nothing to worry about, even though they saw it the nose overrides all other senses, (hence why horses dislike the wind, stops them smelling in one direction)
So how do we help the horses, ponies etc accept the death of a herd member.
Time is the most important thing, giving them long enough to investigate.
The best thing is to put down the horse in an area that’s safe to let their heard mates into afterwards loose.
This is because some horses run “tests” to check they are dead, this will involve walking in arcs up to them, running away in short bursts (trying to get a flight response) grazing next to dead ones head, pawing with hooves, sometimes biting. If there is some blood they will often put on their nose or taste it, again checking for adrenalin or endorphins to ensure that they are safe and it was not a lion hiding in hedge that killed it. They will then walk away grazing and return about 3 times, after this they accept it and just walk away.
The time it takes varies on the position in herd of the one that’s dies, (one that has been pushed out of herd due to being ill the others will only take 20min to accept as they were expecting it, on other hand if it’s the leader of herd that unexpectedly died, accident etc, it takes far longer as no one is giving instructions so the upset is 2 fold this might take a hour and a half to accept whilst sniffing)
Also the breed is big factor, Shetland ponies for example only take a few minutes (they appear hard and uncaring often due to this) where a thoroughbred or Arab takes on average 45min to accept.
Leading a horse up to dead one tends to slow process down or sometimes they don’t understand at all as they will try to feed of body language of the one who’s leading them and we are not good at horse body language. If there is no choice due to are its still better then not showing them at all but its best done with long lead rope and keeping it as loose as possible to allow the horse to jump around as remember this is partly how they work it out.
The more horses in the herd the quicker they will figure out that’s one died but its nothing to worry about as they will look to each other.
Some special cases, donkeys are terrible at being so attached they one died they will pine to death, so they need another animal for company when their mate goes and we find they should have a least 12 hours with their deceased friend, this is why when we put down donkeys we recommend they we put it down one day and we will come back next day to collect, even trough this means 2 trips.
Mares when they lose their foals (or if foal pts ) again if we have put foal down and you are not going to foster mother then its best to do it and leave foal in stable for example where mother has free access, it can take her up to 48hr to realize her foal is dead and not just sleeping at which time she will bury it and its then safe to remove it without causing any upset.
All of this is why we allow at least a hour and a half for every horse we are putting down but are prepared to wait even longer if needed, 2 part it ensure the euthanasia is never rushed so we can ensure its instant and best as it can be but also the grieving process is vital to any other horse that are part of hear if they were attached. And the more time they have with their field mate who passed on the better.
If you have very closely bonded herd I’m always happy to discuss what’s the best way not only for the one who’s going but also for what’s best for their companions.
This photo shows a group of horses checking out their sadly deceased field mate, no stress just working it out and accepting it.

*edit*
I will add that the times I have said are different horse to horse and it's the time it takes them to normally understand the their friend has died and not just injured or sleeping.
Once they accept this they will then start to greve, like people some horses will take a few hour, some a few days and some a couple of weeks to get over a major change to their herd. But it's much better when they know what's happening to the other option my friend is missing and they will keep looking sometimes for months..

22/01/2025

Sadly very true 💔

Unfortunately there are so many horses having little interest in the world, I see them everyday here too... Horses not being curious about the training, about people, about the environment and sometimes even about food treats or other horses.
These are the horses we may define as "shut down", describing a miserable condition that can be caused by chronic pain, some medical conditions, the loss of a beloved companion or much more commonly simply by their being in a state of "learned helplessness".
The learned helplessness happens because of a training and handling being based mostly on punishment, where horses have learned that it's simply useless to try any behaviors in order to change something they don't like, because the response they get is always punishment. So they finally learn to feel simply helpless in any situation, with their best option being only the one to completely surrender and not try to communicate anymore.
Consequently horses being trained in this way end by looking robotic, simply doing everything that is asked of them without any question and being mentally closed to any environmental stimuli too. In short they are living a sort of real depression that is extremely common in many dead broke horses, high performing show horses, lesson ponies, horses that have changed homes a lot and so on...
And unfortunately the majority of people just don't even recognize the difference between this learned helplessness and a well trained horse, consequently they just go on perpetuating this state of chronic depression believing to be doing right, creating an endless vicious circle that unfortunately becomes just the sad normality of the equestrian world 💔

21/01/2025

Very interesting research, I hope people read and take notice 🙏

INDIVIDUAL STABLING FOUND TO ALTER IMMUNE RESPONSE

Research has found that horses moved from group housing to individual stabling showed changes in their white blood cell counts and plasma cortisol levels. These changes could mean they are at a higher risk of infectious disease.

Equine scientists at the University of Hohenheim in Germany studied 12 warmblood geldings aged 2-3 years old during several management changes, monitoring their behaviour and immune response.

The horses used were all living in a group, turned out at pasture. For the first part of the study the group was then split into two, each kept in a separate paddock so that the horses in one group could not see the others. After a trial period of eight days all the horses were returned to their original group, living together. They were then were left out at pasture for eight weeks.

For the second part of the study the horses were all moved into individual stables, where they could see and touch their neighbours through bars. During the first week of being stabled, the horses were given 30 minutes of turnout in an indoor area. From the second week onwards, the horses were lunged.

Throughout the study the research team collected blood samples from the horses to analyse their immune cell numbers and cortisol concentrations.

The results showed that moving the horses to individual stabling led to acute stress-induced immune changes. However, dividing the larger group into two smaller groups at pasture did not.

“The number of eosinophils, monocytes and T cells declined, whereas the number of neutrophils increased resulting in an increased N:L ratio. This pattern of change resembles the well-known picture of an immunomodulation induced by acute social stress."

The plasma cortisol concentrations didn’t change after dividing the group into the two smaller groups at pasture, but there was an increase in cortisol concentrations one day after stabling which then returned to the previous levels eight days later. However, the researchers reported that “Although cortisol concentrations returned to baseline level after 8 days, the alterations in most immune cell numbers persisted, pointing to a longer-lasting effect on the immune system of the horses."

The team also found that some of the horses started to perform stereotypical behaviours as soon as one week after stabling.

The team reported that the results “strongly indicate that social isolation is a chronic stressor with negative impact on welfare and health of horses and highlight the advantage of group housing systems in view of immunocompetence."

The researchers concluded that “relocation to individual stabling represented an intense stressor for the horses of the present study, leading to acute and lasting alterations in blood counts of various leukocyte types. In contrast, fission of the stable group did not result in behavioural, endocrine or immunological stress responses by the horses."

This sudden change from group turnout to individual stabling with training being introduced is a very common scenario for horses being started for the first time. This study gives us yet more evidence that stabling horses individually is stressful for them and detrimental to their physical and psychological wellbeing. The majority of the horses I see are stabled for the bulk of the day. I do wonder how much evidence is needed before horse owners, yard owners and professionals act on this information and change their management to increase turnout and group living...

The research is free to access and is a very interesting read: Schmucker S, Preisler V, Marr I, Krüger K, Stefanski V (2022) Single housing but not changes in group composition causes stress-related immunomodulations in horses. PLoS ONE 17(8): e0272445.

09/01/2025

KONIE ZIMĄ – CO TRZEBA WIEDZIEĆ:
1) konie lepiej znoszą zimno, niż gorąco
2) konie są przystosowane do znoszenia mrozów
3) zimowa sierść koni, jej natłuszczenie oraz warstwa tłuszczu podskórnego zapewniają koniom izolację. Zdrowa sierść nie przepuszcza wilgoci do skóry, a pozwala jej spływać.
4) Śnieg na koniu to dobry objaw. Nie topi się dlatego, że termoizolacja końska działa. Oczywiście będzie się topić w ciepły dzień, to też koniom nie szkodzi
5) konia nie ogrzewa gorąca herbata ani zaduch stajenny, tylko fermentacja włókna w jelicie grubym. Konie potrzebują siana. To ono zapewnia im ciepło zimą.
6) grzebanie w śniegu to naturalne zachowanie żywieniowe koni. Nie oznacza, że są głodzone tylko, że są końmi
7) konie w naturze rzadko piją częściej, niż raz dziennie. Opiekun wcale nie musi rozbijać lodu w poidle co godzinę. W zupełności wystarczy, jeśli zrobi to i uzupełni wodę raz lub dwa razy dziennie; konie same potrafią utrzymać 'przerębel' w lodzie
8) leżenie i tarzanie się w śniegu to zdrowy objawy. Koń, gdy czuje się bezpiecznie, śpi czasem na leżąco. Śnieg mu w tym nie przeszkadza, tak samo jak nie przeszkadza np sarnom
9) krążenie w nogach koni jest świetnie przystosowane do tego, by nie marzły zimą. Niedalecy przodkowie dzisiejszych koni tworzyli tzw 'megafaunę' epoki lodowcowej i do zimnego klimatu świetnie się przystosowali
10) konie nie muszą nosić zimą derek. Derki mogą być potrzebne koniom CHORYM, tak jak lekarstwa: w żadnym razie nie są wymaganym standardem zimowego utrzymania
11) wolnowybiegowy chów koni, gdzie są w grupie, na dużym wybiegu, z dostępem do schronienia (może to być wiata lub grupy drzew) i jedzenia, jest najzdrowszy dla koni
12) częściej spotyka się konie za grube, niż za chude. Dla grubych koni zima to okazja do spalenia nadmiaru kalorii. Otyłość prowadzi do ciężkich i śmiertelnych chorób, np ochwatu. Jest też związana z syndromem metabolicznym - EMS. Szczególnie podatne są kuce – dlatego najzdrowiej, by zima spędziły maksimum czasu na dworze
13) układ oddechowy konia bardzo źle znosi zapylenie i amoniak, obecne nawet w najczystszej stajni, dlatego zdrowo jest, by koń spędzał w niej jak najmniej czasu
14) koń wychodzący codziennie na wybieg chodzi po nim ostrożnie. Konie zamknięte w stajniach po kilka dni z rzędu, "szaleją" po wypuszczeniu. Przetrzymywanie w stajni jest źródłem kontuzji.
15) Konie mające swobodny dostęp do otwartej stajni lub wiaty, częściej korzystają z niej w upały, by chronić się od much, niż podczas mrozu :)
AUTORSTWO TEKSTU I ZDJĘCIA: JOANNA SMULSKA
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09/01/2025

On Sale - Alternative haynet - Safer and stronger than a hay net – the webbing holds its shape, doesn’t tangle or cut like nets can, knotless ingenious design

Visit the post for more.

24/12/2024

The public must not condone this by paying to watch abuse

16/12/2024

Equinectar Blog

The study, led by Rosemary H. Waring, T. Forcht Dagi, and John O. Hunter, introduces the concept of "anabiomics" - approaches to restore healthy gut microbiomes without introducing foreign microorganisms. This research suggests potential applications for managing digestive health in various mammalia...

12/12/2024

Please think before you rug your horse! Photo of our horses out unrugged in Storm Darragh.

Interesting article https://www.yourhorse.co.uk/horse-care/when-to-rug-horse/

11/12/2024

08/12/2024

I hope you've all survived Storm Darragh without too much damage. Here is our herd out & happily grazing in the gales yesterday, only one with a (no fill) rug; Ralphie, now our oldest resident feels the need for a rug in the worst weather. It will be off again as soon as the weather improves, so he can soak up the Vitamin D on sunny days and enjoy mutual grooming sessions with his equine friends.

We have plenty of hay feeding options to help you keep your horses happily living out with constant forage supplied and minimal waste https://bitless-equestrian.co.uk/product-category/hay-haylage-feeding/

02/12/2024

Definitely!

If you can’t ride a horse on a loose rein out of fear of them taking off or otherwise behaving dangerously, there is a big hole in training that needs addressing.

Horses should be relaxed enough to be ridden at all gaits on a long rein. Or, at minimum, walk and trot.

Riders shouldn’t rely on hanging off horses’ faces to control speed.

If more people prioritized this, a lot of harsh bits would become obsolete.