Brook Barn Equestrian

01/07/2025

💯🐴

28/06/2025

Been missing out for a while, but its ok, horse first not the sport. Oscar is feeling well but I ll bide my time.

FOMO is real this week.

Seeing everyone at Bolesworth International — sunshine, stunning horses, amazing rounds — and I’m sat at home. I should be there. I want to be there. But my mare’s just not quite right, and I knew deep down the right call was to stay home.

It’s so hard doing the right thing when your heart is screaming to be in the ring, in that atmosphere, part of it all. When you’ve worked so hard for this. But horses don’t care about our plans or timelines. They need us to listen when something’s off — even when it breaks our own heart a bit.

So yes, I’m feeling left behind. Yes, I’m watching every story and reel and wishing I was there. But I’m trying to remind myself that doing right by your horse is never the wrong decision. And there will be other shows, other days, and when we go, we’ll go stronger for it.

To everyone out there chasing their goals this week — good luck, ride your hearts out. And to anyone else at home for whatever reason — I see you too. 💛

24/06/2025

A memory for Jane Eyre

22/06/2025

Yesterday we delivered Freddie to his new home. A lovely lady who already has 3 retired racehorses horses.

Lovely to get this photo today of him with her daughter. We look forward to following his progress.

We now have availability for a schooling livery .

22/06/2025

Why did I encourage Oscar to touch what he was afraid of ? This taps into the natural instincts and learning behaviors of horses.

Horses are prey animals, so their first reaction to anything unfamiliar is often fear or flight. But they’re also curious and intelligent. Allowing a horse to investigate something by touching it with their nose is a self-directed behavior that helps them process and make sense of what they’re seeing.

Here’s why it helps reduce fear

🧠 1. Engages Curiosity Over Fear

When a horse touches something with its nose, it shifts from a fear-based reaction to curiosity. Curiosity and fear can’t really exist in equal measure — so the more curious the horse becomes, the less fearful it feels.

🐴 2. Activates Sensory Processing

Horses explore the world through their nose and lips — they have highly sensitive whiskers and upper lips. Sniffing and mouthing gives them a lot of information: scent, temperature, texture, and whether it moves or reacts.

🧘 3. Gives a Sense of Control

When you let the horse decide when and how to interact with a scary object, it feels more in control. This builds confidence. Forcing a horse to approach or touch something too quickly can make it more anxious.

🧩 4. Builds Positive Associations

Once the horse learns that the object doesn’t hurt, chase, or scare it when touched — especially if followed by praise or relaxation — it begins to reassess the object as non-threatening. That’s how desensitisation works.

Example: Plastic Bag on a Fence

A flapping plastic bag might terrify a horse at first. But if it’s allowed to approach it slowly and eventually touch it with its nose, the bag goes from being a "predator" to "just a weird crinkly thing.

Letting a horse "touch to understand" is a key part of:

desensitisation

confidence building

liberty work

and even trust-based groundwork

If you're working with nervous horses, giving them the space and time to use their nose is one of the best tools you can offer.

22/06/2025

A little video from this mornings hack and why I sometimes let Oz have a snack while hes out 🤓
We had been chased by some dogs earlier so nice to keep him chilled afterwards.

22/06/2025

From 2 years ago but a good reminder. ' With gratitude, optimism is sustainable " Micheal J Fox

18/06/2025

Hot Forecast Due 🌅 Met Office Heat will build through the week. On Wednesday the highest temperatures values in the UK are expected to be around 27ºC.

Is it true that if we use cold water on heat stroke pets they will go into shock?

One of the most common things we still hear is that we can only use tepid water on a pet with heat stroke, incase they get some complications like hypothermic overshoot, peripheral vasoconstriction hindering a cooling response, and cardiogenic shock...

We have heard not to use cold water in case it causes shock... this rarely happens!

But guess what? In a recent study over 26% of dogs presented with heat stroke died, with flat faced breeds making up nearly half of heat stroke cases seen in the study.

You should:

💧Get someone to call the local veterinary practice and tell them you're going to travel down with a heat stroke patient
💧Pour, hose or if possible immerse the pet in very cold water (this should obviously be done under constant supervision, ensuring the head is fully above water and immersion should not be attempted if the animal is too large, or you are unable to do so without hurting yourself)
💧NB: If using a hose pipe, make sure it has run through until cold, as they can often contain water that is extremely hot in the tubing initially
💧Do not drape in towels and leave them in situ. Keep the cold water flowing.
💧Move to a cool, shaded area
💧Prepare to transport to vets in a cold, air conditioned car

In studies they found that:

🌅International consensus from sports medicine organisations supports treating EHS with early rapid cooling by immersing the casualty in cold water.
🌅Ice-water immersion has been shown to be highly effective in exertional heat stroke, with a zero fatality rate in large case series of younger, fit patients.
🌅Hyperthermic individuals were cooled twice as fast by Cold Water Immersion as by passive recovery.
🌅No complications occurred during the treatment of three older patients with severe heat stroke were treated with cold‐water immersion.
🌅Cold water immersion (CWI) is the preferred cooling modality in EHS guidelines and the optimal method applicable to UK Service Personnel
🌅Studies suggest using either ice-water or cold-water immersion

The best intervention is PREVENTION, but if you find yourself with an animal with heat stroke, using cold water either by pouring, hosing or ideally (if safe) immersion then this may help reduce their temperature to safe levels while you transport to a veterinary practice.

Read more below:

https://www.vetvoices.co.uk/post/cool-icy-cold-or-tepid

16/06/2025

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