Horse Conversations

14/01/2025

Are you ready to move beyond traditional ‚training‘ and truly communicate with your horse? 🐴✨

Our relationship with horses should be a dialogue, not a one-way street of commands and corrections. It’s time to embrace integrity, kindness, and fair approaches that foster real connection and understanding.

If this speaks to you, drop a comment below, and I’ll send you an invitation to my FREE masterclass on interspecies communication.

🎓💡 Let’s start building relationships that are as meaningful as they are effective!

07/01/2025

Labeling a horse as ‘cranky’ or ‘lazy’ can mask serious health issue

One tragic example involved a mare with a fractured jaw, dismissed as just being ‘moody,’ leading to lifelong suffering.

Tragically, this stereotype fed into neglecting her need for medical attention, leading to immense suffering that could have been avoided.

This example underscores the importance of shifting our perspective from labeling behavior to understanding it. When we fail to do so, we risk not only perpetuating harmful stereotypes but also ignoring critical signs of pain and distress.

The phenomenon of labeling behavior instead of analyzing its root causes is deeply rooted in human psychjology. Several cognitive biases and psychological effects contribute to this misunderstanding: […]

…

Therefore: Understanding equine psychology and behavior isn’t optional—it’s essential!

From pain signs like head tossing to the importance of ethology, this blog dives into why learning the science behind your horse’s actions can transform their life with practical insights into the why’s and how’s.

Read now and take the first step toward compassionate, informed horsemanship.
Because we owe it to them. 🖤

👉 Read the article on my blog

06/01/2025

The lack of information in this industry is astounding.
The plenty of misinformation, mistrust and ignorance is frightening.

When you get into horses, you have one job, first and foremost:

Get. Informed.

Before you ask for a discipline to learn, learn about the animal that will be under your care.

But what it makes even more complicated, is to choose the right information to follow.

One does need its own mind to think for that and the ability to ask questions - yes also the professionals!

Let’s have these conversations about horses.
Before another horse suffers from unidentified bone fractures, malformations, gut diseases and lameness throughout their while lifespan.

Finding bizarre evidence in autopsy reports of horses that clarify “cranky” “moody” “dramatic” - personality traits (aka behavior > communication) - because of immense pain and suffering is inexcusable.

They tell you, please listen.
And ethology is not even that complex to learn. It’s quite simple. We’re mammals, too you know.

And ones with big frontal lobes. Just lets get into it.

For them.

05/01/2025

Brings you to tears ..
And hopefully realizing that nothing, I repeat NOTHING, of any behavior that stands out is just to be put away with a “personality trait”.

They tell us all.the.damn.time so listen!!

01/01/2025

When you watch that one trainers reels and think “yeah well maybe there’s a poi…”

And then they start explaining their made up arguments of why horses behave the way they do.

31/12/2024

Let’s just not end the year selfish and destructive and skip the fireworks.

Many thanks from all the other inhabitants of this planet that prefer keeping their eardrums and sanity.

24/12/2024

If you understand the difference between being kind and being nice, you are on the right track.

Especially when it comes to caring for animal - who cannot tell us what they need - we often must make tough choices. Presenting us with the philosophical question: is this the kindest choice we can make?

Or is it just “nice”? For us? For them?

Making informed choices can make the difference in the happiness and longevity of your horses life.

With the complexity of their needs and the contrast to our modern world, it can be a frustrating road, filled with misconceptions, myths and conspiracies.

But it’s all there - all you need. We have years and years of equine study and science, it’s all published and available.
We CAN know what’s best. It’s just not so easy to come by.

You can do a study in equine science for example.
You can practice for years and visit uncountable stables in different counties to form a knowledge base.
Or you can let me do it. In fact I already done it.

And it put it all up in comprehensive video form with lots of illustrations because I am a visual learner that needs several input channels.

Combined with a community of like-minded equestrian, the horse conversations platform becomes an invaluable resource and my life’s work.

I have several courses up there - for everyone’s needs. And a direct line for personal consultation.

But I’ll keep the doors open only until New Year’s Eve.
So I can focus on new and more content to fill it with.

If you want to join us now to be part of this movement, use the last coupon code HOLYHORSES to get additional 20% off before the year ends.

So we can be enough, for them.

See you there!

21/12/2024

What if 2025 became the year you transformed your relationship with horses—and even influenced the future of the equestrian world?

The Horse Conversations Platform is here to guide you with its all-in-one flagship course, created for horse owners and trainers who are ready to embrace ethical, informed horsemanship. Together, we dive into horse psychology, behavior, health, care, and welfare—helping you become empowered, confident, and truly connected with your horse.

🚫 Gone are the days of outdated practices and guesswork.
✅ Now is the time to get informed, prioritize empathy, and take real action for the horses in your care.

Join the movement for better horsemanship—a community of passionate horse lovers committed to making a difference. The platform is your resource for understanding, improving, and advocating for horses in the most compassionate way possible.

✨ Start fresh in 2025 with us—and save while you’re at it! Use code HOLYHORSES at checkout for 20% off any course. This holiday offer is available until the end of the year.

Make this the year you become the change your horse deserves. 💡💞

16/12/2024

🎁 Start 2025 with Confidence & Connection 🎁

This holiday season, we're giving YOU the chance to step into the new year as an informed, empowered horse owner! 🐴✨

✅ A Welcome Gift: Join now and get an exclusive holiday discount to kickstart your journey.

✅ Upgrade Discounts: Already in? You can upgrade your course to the next tier with the full price of your current course taken off!

Imagine walking into 2025 with a deeper understanding of your horse's psyche, body language, and needs. No more guesswork—just clarity, confidence, and the tools to create a harmonious relationship.

🎄 This opportunity ends when the year does, so don’t miss it! Drop a 🎁 below, and we’ll send you all the details to claim your discount and start making real changes for you and your horse.

Make this holiday season the turning point for you and your horse. Let’s rewrite the future of horsemanship—together. 💛

15/12/2024

I am (and I am sure you are, too) all for physiological and psychological health and happiness in horses - or welfare. Sounds simple but of course it’s much more complex in real life.

Everything starts with the definition of what welfare, health and happiness is, because people tend to have different views on things due to the very fabric of existence (we all have different experiences that shape our brains so we all do have in fact different world views, literally)

In the animal protection law, welfare is the absence of sickness, pain and suffering and the presence of experienced comfort.

Fair enough but still, that lies in the eye of the observer right?

Especially with animals, who can not talk and will hide weaknesses, it’s almost impossible to tell if an individual is experiencing stress or pain or comfort. Well, almost.
Since the last few decennia we have more and more evolved in our abilities and ethics to study and understand animals.

We do understand that welfare is more than just the basic absence of suffering.
We do realise that an animal has to actively fulfill and satisfy its complex needs - just as we do.
And with ‘we’ I mean a broad variety of scientist, professionals and private people that are involved with theses topics. But it’s unfortunately not all and by far not the broad mass.
So there’s work to do.

Here’s how you can determine the health and happiness of your horse.

Read on in my blog (link in bio) or dive directly into the topic to make sure your horse receives the highest standard of welfare to live a long and happy life 💪🏻

Drop a comment to get more information ✨

You also find all links in my bio.

12/12/2024

“How to teach your horse to trust you”
You cannot teach trust.
You cannot learn trust.
You can only give trust.

So how does trust actually look like?

A horse that got startled but immediately turns, secures and looks for reassurance in the handler with active communication

How does learned helplessness look like?

A horse that’s suppressing any bodily reaction, seems unbothered and uninterested in the surrounding or trying to increase the distance to the handler slowly but steadily.

The goal is not to shut a horse down - to make them NOT react. You can ask that a robot but not a living being.

The goal is to GIVE them trust - not to take their nature away.

However, it is possible to shut a horse down. And certain schools of horsemanship have made that their primary focus through psychological techniques.
But just because it works doesn’t make it ethical. It just offers a quick fix for a human made problem for which the horse must bow.

To teach trust you must give choice first.

Learn to see the difference - and ask yourself are you really okay with horses being horses?
Or are you afraid of their reactions, wanting them to shut down to make YOU feel safe?

So don’t talk about trust if you’re not understanding what that actually means - especially from the horses point of view.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk about how I can’t stand those flags on sticks wiggling around anymore.

08/12/2024

This is not (only) about the big namens in the international arena’s.

This is about the organizations behind those events.

This is about the sponsors of those events.

This is about the visitors of those events.

This is about the media for those events.

This is about the trainers at the local stables.

This is about the stable owners.

This is about the boarding clients.

This is about you. And me.

These psychological patterns are apparent in all of us. In all levels of the equestrian sport and recreation.

We must change.
Collectively.

We ALL must do our part.

This is not about who rides at what level. Who is better than who.

This is about your willingness to learn, to open up, to get informed. And make better choices. If you have won gold in the Olympics or just the day between job, stables and groceries.

Be prepared to face the consequences and we will come out better at the other side. Better for horses.

Start your learning journey right now, no matter where you are.

07/12/2024

Since I call my dog “the best dog in the world” she got too much arrogance in herself and started becoming leash aggressive, charging at other dogs, growling and snapping. I guess she’s just confident 💁🏼‍♀️

Said no dog person ever. Like wtf. Wouldn’t it be ridiculous to put such human traits on a dog? An animal we do have in our home, who does share similar emotions and habits but still we realize that such behaviors are not normal, nor healthy and good for them?

Yet, with horse, which we DENY any kind of empathy towards our own humanity by forcing them to perform under control by metal and leather, the elite draws on them such ridiculous feelings and egocentric behaviors like arrogance through winning competitions.

One must be very silly to assume such.
Unfortunately it’s just one of the most successful riders in modern dressage.

The need for real behaviorists has never been greater.

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.

06/12/2024

I love this and this is exactly why I advocate for kind training methods - because when the horse feels scared it won’t reach its potential. If you want your horse to learn something make him feel safe. Period.

Although a lot of old fashioned folk think the old rules work best - they are based in fear and compliance.

While the oh so controversial food reward actually makes them feel safe.

But you wouldn’t need science for that. You could experience yourself first hand if you would give it a try. Except, this would ask for courage. From you.

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)

05/12/2024

Reposting one of my favorite graphics until it reaches every corner, mind and heart.

There is always more to behavior than what most people think. We can’t assume that animals (and children too, for that matter) always share their needs with us in a constructive way - how could they? Animals don’t even speak our language. So behavior is their way of communicating with us.

Saying that behavior is ‘naughty’ and ‘on purpose’ is so short sighted and does a terrible injustice to animals and children.

Horses are incapable of doing things to us ‘on purpose’. They only do what they think they should do. If you don’t like it what you’re seeing, then you have to find out WHY the horse does it and to what extent YOU evoke that behavior.

Because communication is always a two way street.

Guilt has no place in a relationship. So, if you want a true relationship with your horse, stop the blaming. Watch your words. Be brave. Ask questions. And face the answers.

It will tell you a lot about yourself.

You might grow here.

04/12/2024

We can train and manage and condition our horses - but we can’t change the fact that they are horses.

Horses are prey animals. Their whole existence is wrapped around the ever on going play in nature between prey and predator.
Their whole being has evolved around the behavior and skills they need to play this game.

They played this game more than 50 million years.
The 5000 years of domestication won’t change that soon.

Your horse is supposed to spook from noise and sight.
Your horse is supposed to bolt when it feels threatened.
Your horse is supposed to buck off what’s on his back.
Your horse is supposed to search for food.
Your horse is supposed to be buddy sour.

All what we call „vices“ is simply a surviving mechanism, implanted deeply into the DNA of every horse.

Your horse lives in a human world, where he has no handbook for in his genes. He is just being a horse.

It’s your task to show him trust, patience, calmness, strength, assertiveness and fairness. But you have to be like this yourself.

You cannot expect what you are not ready to give.

It’s your responsibility to help your horse navigate.

Acts of aggression, confining him, calling him names, defining him as „naughty“, does not teach or proof any horse to behave the right way. It only shows your capability of teaching a horse.

There are so many techniques, methods, tools and trainers all defining „bad behavior“ and their solutions, all hustling and managing around a horse to bend and press it into a form. All of them, that claim to be so knowledgeable, so experienced, so wise, have forgotten, that the horse is just a horse.

It’s our responsibility to make sure they are heard 👉🏻
Learn how to read them and care for them as the owner and trainer they deserve ✨

01/12/2024

To withhold an animal from executing his species appropriate patterns is not animal friendly.
If an animal does not show appropriate patterns, it’s a reason for serious welfare concerns.

Thanks to behaviral studies from real scientists, we do know a lot about appropriate behavior patterns of most animals, especially our domesticated ones.
It is no secret to specifically and exactly know what a horse needs to live a species appropriate (and fulfilled) live.
The problem lies in the patterns of humans who listen to “what we’ve always done” and stick with old believes.

What is a behavior pattern?
We can organize the behaviors we observe in functional cycles that follow a certain pattern. Within these patterns, every species has their own appropriate behavior circles that can be further organized in function, time or order.
How often, long or intense a certain behavior is displayed, then becomes predictable and helps us to understand the individual animal and its species. It also is the best indicator to notice when something is not right.

We call this an ethogram.

Every species has its own ethogram, put together by years of observation.
An ethogram contains descriptions of appropriate behavior, for example:
- General forms of movement
- Comfort and care
- Acquiring and taking in food
- Orientation�and so on…

For example: We do know that non-stop grazing and searching forage is part of the species appropriate behavior of horses. Same as having strong social bonds and practicing social grooming.

When we label behavior as inconvenient or dangerous and manage their surrounding that forbid these patterns, we enter a welfare discussion with nature we by no means can win.
We are no gods.
We can’t change what horses are.
We can’t change what nature is.

We can’t possibly control nature without paying a prize - a prize which we are just starting to realize how much it already had cost us.

Stalling horses in boxes, giving them minimal turnout and let them go without forage, friends and freedom is not species appropriate nor animal friendly. That’s not just someones opinion, its written down, in science, since decades.

We CAN do better.
Let me show you how 👉🏻

27/11/2024

The horse - the privilege

From all the human feelings one can have towards horses, there’s one that should top it all: gratefulness.

I’m all here for turning things around and changing mindset.

It’s us who need to have respect for them.

Horses did not choose to be we with us. They did not choose to be used as a tool for practical or emotional purposes.
We choose to bring them into our lives. But we don’t need them.

However, in this world, there is no stone left unturned. This world is made for humans. And we can’t give them back what our ancestors took from them.

They need us. They need us to take care of their BASIC needs and requirements - free movement, free forage, free friends.
So simple, yet, we fail to provide on a grand, systematic scale. And then we turn it around and think they owe us some kind of service.

How twisted is that?
While, when I look at his face, all I see is pure intent, striving for harmony and curiosity towards life.
Qualities, I often miss in my life and humans of this society.

How lucky we are to have horses, to be able to learn from them, connect with them.

That this horse is in my life comes close to a miracle. Like I’ve moved mountains to make it possible. And all I’ve ever expect from him is to continue breathing. And I do all I can to make sure he does.

Because it is my responsibility and I am grateful for that.

The end.

Now you.