Frances Dixon - Independent Equine Consultancy

Frances Dixon - Independent Equine Consultancy BSc (Hons) in Equine Sports Performance,
Certified Equine Psychologist and NLP Practitioner
Based NW Leeds UK 🇬🇧

The only (2) times I've "fallen" off Nutmeg was because I hadn't done my girth up... HBU? 👇 Comment your fails you'd lik...
09/07/2025

The only (2) times I've "fallen" off Nutmeg was because I hadn't done my girth up...
HBU? 👇
Comment your fails you'd like to confess to 😅

Survived 🫠🥵 all too hot and bothered, flys were awful and yet another loose dog snapping at their heels (literally) - Wh...
30/06/2025

Survived 🫠🥵 all too hot and bothered, flys were awful and yet another loose dog snapping at their heels (literally) - What was I saying yesterday? Riding makes me feel better...? 🤔🙃

You know motivation has gone to sh*t when lunging 3 times in one week feels like an achievement 🫠I used to ride or at le...
29/06/2025

You know motivation has gone to sh*t when lunging 3 times in one week feels like an achievement 🫠

I used to ride or at least exercise Nutmeg 5 times a week

Then I got Franny back and brought her back into work

Then Nutmeg got injured (at New Year 2023/4)

Then wedding planning began

Then everything just seemed to get a whole lot more exhausting

All I've felt is drained

Physically, mentally, emotionally, financially

Riders Guilt is real - I want to ride, I know I enjoy riding, I know I feel good afterwards... but I've set myself "standards" so I feel really guilty if I don't keep to them. And for the last year and a half, those standards and routine have all but vanished

Nutmeg doesn't care AT ALL, let's make that clear. She is healthy, happy and fully recovered from that - at the time, extremely worrying - injury. She's also more than content just mooching along behind Franny (to be more efficient with my time and energy)

Franny also doesn't care if she gets ridden or not - she's "retired" after all 🤣 She's not as sounds as she once was but still more than raring to go as ever, so if she poodles (prances) out once or twice a week nowadays, thats a bonus for us all

I want my horses to be fit and strong physically and happy mentally for their own health

They're both of an age where "education" isn't as important; they're both well versed in the ways of the world now - and I'm so proud of that fact because THAT is a testament to all the hard work that I've put in over all these years

I've let the guilt go... I simply haven't got the headspace to hold onto it anymore

My horses deserve the best version of me, especially from a mentally stable perspective, and it's not their job to "fix" that for me

Some day soon, I'll "get back on the horse" but right now, I've "fallen off", and I need to rest...
..and thats ok

Once upon a time, a human saw a horse and thought the shape of its back looked inviting... and the rest, quite literally...
26/06/2025

Once upon a time, a human saw a horse and thought the shape of its back looked inviting... and the rest, quite literally, formed history.

Horses as a species have been nothing less than critical in the advancement of the human race.

From war horses, to vehicles, to farm workers: they have died for us, gone to war for us, worked hard for us...

Without the horse, humans simply would not be what we are today 🐴

What's missing? 🧐😅Tell me your horse is calm to clip without telling me 🐴😇
16/06/2025

What's missing? 🧐😅

Tell me your horse is calm to clip without telling me 🐴😇

Happy Father's day 💙 still giving me a leg up every so often even though he's a Old Man now 🤗
15/06/2025

Happy Father's day 💙 still giving me a leg up every so often even though he's a Old Man now 🤗

A group of AI and Data Analytics MSc students at the University of Bradford are conducting a research project that explo...
12/06/2025

A group of AI and Data Analytics MSc students at the University of Bradford are conducting a research project that explores how data and technology can enhance trust and transparency in the buying and selling of horses.

They’ve put together a short, anonymous survey and would appreciate your input:
👉 Complete the Survey
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexJsjDsaiO1Gd8lYYkOcTL1t-Fd4iKeFYcF5t-CTOKi774QQ/viewform

The survey is completely anonymous and no personal data is collected — it’s research designed to help us better understand the challenges in this space.

Please don't hesitate to share it with friends or colleagues who may have relevant experience.

Is Learned Helplessness and Dissociation the same thing? I will start by saying this is my own personal musing and not b...
12/06/2025

Is Learned Helplessness and Dissociation the same thing?

I will start by saying this is my own personal musing and not by any means a recognised scientific point of view. TW: This is going to get a little vulnerable so stay with me 🫣

Also, we must always be wary of personification when referring to our horses and to not project our human emotions on to them wrongly... However, I do believe that using human labels as a metaphor to better understand our equine friends can be helpful in certain circumstances.

A few years ago I had the revelation (as part of an emotional healing process) that I experience Dissociation as a trauma response. I won't go into details - as that's not the point of this post - but having a name to put on what was happening to me was a massive part of not only recognising but also recovering from some emotionally heavy sh*t.

I wasn't "broken". I was coping with past trauma. It was a subconscious behaviour I had inadvertently had to learn to "survive".

In knowing what I experienced personally during these episodes, I can't help but draw similarities between what horses (and other animals including humans!) go through or result in learned helplessness:

The "switching off"
The "shutting down"
The silencing of the voice
The inability to be present, zoning out to some far off distant place
The "waking up again" afterwards

When a horse has said "no" multiple times, often with increasing volume, and has been ignored or worse reprimanded for doing so, eventually, they stop trying... because they learn it makes no difference.

This is not saying "yes"
It's giving up saying "no"

Learned Helplessness is a tragic place for a horse to end up. It should never have got to that point

It is so important for us to recognise the horses right to say "no" - you wouldn't (hopefully!) force another human to disregard their "no... so why are we so prepared to dismiss the "no" of animals?

So, to answer the question at the start of this post: my answer, is yes.

Only one is a recognised trauma response, the other is often claimed simply as disobedience

Question is: can we get both sets of ears forward at once... 🤔🤦‍♀️🤣👍
10/06/2025

Question is: can we get both sets of ears forward at once... 🤔🤦‍♀️🤣👍

Disco cowgirls for the win 🤠🩷💍💄👑🥂🍾🍸🍹💃🪩
08/06/2025

Disco cowgirls for the win 🤠🩷💍💄👑🥂🍾🍸🍹💃🪩

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