Heart to Heart - Equine

14/07/2025

It's been well overdue - another clinic in Kaitaia. This is for spring, so there's time to prepare.

This clinic will be a bit different to my past events. We will focus on one horse at a time in the arena. This way we can go deep into each horse's behaviour. The work is more concentrated, and the horse can rest before and after, so there's no drilling, just what's needed for each horse in the moment. And of course, everyone will benefit from watching each other.

If you're interested in attending or have any questions - please send me a message.
If you live in a different region and want to have a clinic in your area - I'm open to suggestions 😊

13/07/2025

How to Help Your Horse Relax?

When your horse is nervous and you want to help them relax, there are a few things you can do. But before we start, I want to clarify a few important points:

* Each horse-human combination is unique. You need to get to know what works best for you and your horse and build that understanding over time.

* Each situation is unique. The more you know your horse and have developed clear communication with them, the better you’ll be at responding in the moment.

* Your relationship is the foundation of everything. Your horse will be more likely to relax if you take on the leadership role in your relationship.

Now that we’ve clarified these things, let’s look at some methods.

When a horse is on high alert, it can be really hard to get their attention. At this point, your attempts to calm them down might not seem effective. What often works is first focusing their mind on you. Once you have their attention, you can show them that there is no danger and model the calm you want them to feel.

So, how do you get their attention?

This depends on the situation and the horse, but typically, it involves engaging their mind with something simple that they are familiar with. You can do this by introducing a small change, such as asking for a change of direction, a halt, or a transition between gaits. These shifts help draw their focus away from what is making them anxious and back to you.

Once you've captured their attention, you can help them relax with slow breathing, a soft voice, and a relaxed body posture. A deep sigh with the drop of the shoulders is a good way to model release of tension.

This process can be repeated as many times as needed. It’s like a dance, and the most important thing is to be attentive to what your horse is communicating and respond accordingly.

11/07/2025

Kaitaia/Peria area - I have an opening for weekly sessions. If you're looking for help with your horse - working through an unwanted behaviour, teaching new skills or just work on your own skills - message me to check if this a good fit.

Send a message to learn more

10/07/2025

Do you want a free 1:1 session to work on your horsemanship or explore your horse's behaviour?
This is how 👇

09/07/2025

What to Do with a Bolting Horse?

Bolting is a behaviour that can be seen as both completely natural and also an extreme reaction. Confusing? Let me explain.

We all know that horses are prey animals. Their primary method of avoiding predators is to run – fast! Bolting is essentially a horse responding instinctively to perceived danger. It’s a survival response that has kept the species alive for millions of years. A horse that couldn’t run quickly enough was often the first to be caught.

However, in domestic life and when working with humans, it’s possible to build such a high level of trust that the horse feels completely at ease. Even when they’re nervous, a horse can trust their human enough to guide them towards a calmer, safer response.

So, a horse that bolts with a human is behaving in a very natural way—and at the same time, they’re showing that they don’t trust the human to help them feel safe. In many cases, it’s actually the human or their actions that the horse perceives as the danger. That’s why I see bolting as an extreme behaviour for a domesticated horse.

So what can you do?
Now that you understand your horse is acting out of a survival instinct, I hope this knowledge alone helps you take the next step forward with more compassion. Our goal is to help the horse relax and build enough trust in us humans. It makes a big difference when we learn to read the subtle communication cues from our horses, so we can address their emotional state before they reach their threshold.

Do you need more help reading your horse’s signals or learning how to help them relax? Feel free to leave your question in the comments—I’ll answer it in my next post.

05/07/2025

When you come to feed your horses on a winter day and find that your old gray pony was replaced with a strange type of pinto..

03/07/2025

Would you like a free session?

I am doing a market research and I'd love to ask you some questions. In return I am offering a free 1:1 session to help with your horsemanship journey.

We will chat through a video call, each call is 45 minutes.

Who is it for?
- you have your own horse or a horse you visit and work with regularly.
- you care about your horse's physical, emotional and mental well-being and you want to make decisions that are in their best interest.
- there is a behaviour in your horse that you struggle with, or you just want to deepen your connection.

If this sounds like and you can spare some of your time, in return for a personalized online session, please message me.

27/06/2025

When exactly did the obsession with tarps and horses begin? I can’t go one day without seeing a horse wearing a tarp in my feed. Is this a scam by tarp producers? 😆

And for a more serious discussion — exposing your horse to a variety of possible triggers is a good thing, as long as you don’t flood or overwhelm them, which is what the word desensitising seems to have come to mean (it’s not). But there are lots of real-life situations you can expose your horse to. A moving tarp is just one of them — and I’ve certainly been in that situation. I just don’t get the obsession.

26/06/2025

Title this..

24/06/2025

For my birthday, my kids made me cards telling me how much they love and appreciate me. It feels good to know you are loved and appreciated.

My horses have never made me a card. Sometimes my husband jokes about me being their slave—especially when he sees me hauling wheelbarrows of poo and bales of hay. I do remind him how much they do for me.

But really, do they even care?

While a lot of people like to call themselves “a horse mum”, or say their horses are their pets, I’m very much aware that the relationship with them is unlike any relationship we have with family members—including our beloved dogs.

With horses, I get positive feedback when they simply feel safe to be with me. If they get excited to see my car (when they’re not at home), I know full well it’s the promise of food that gets them going.

But at other times—when there’s no food involved—a little nicker as I approach is a gentle but much deeper sign of our connection.

Just relaxing in my presence, choosing to stay with me when the halter comes off, coming to stand near me and wanting touch—these are all my appreciation cards, and I cherish them just as much.

Did you get a “thank you card” from your horse lately?

19/06/2025

Buddy Sour Horses - the root cause and the kind path forward - full presentation
https://mailchi.mp/heart2heart-equine/odqswy1yk0

16/06/2025

What if we looked at our horse's behaviour and expressions as feedback?

What happens when we start moving away from fear- and pain-based methods, and instead approach our horses with the intention of creating a harmonious relationship?

When we begin to care about what the horse is saying—when we understand that any interaction with a horse is a conversation, and in a conversation there are two sides speaking—we open ourselves up to truly hearing and seeing our horse.

People often struggle with the idea of listening to the horse. I still struggle with it sometimes, and still fight the habit of just telling. But listening to your horse is not the same as letting them call all the shots—just as listening to your child doesn’t mean they get to make all the decisions.

Listening to your horse means being open to understanding their experience. You're much more likely to pick up on pain or physical issues, and you gain a deeper understanding of what your horse needs in order to succeed. After all, most of the time, your horse wants to please you—so why not set them up for success?

When Margo became hard to catch for her previous people, she was giving them feedback about how she felt in their presence. When she was still hard to catch after moving to my place, she was giving me feedback about her level of trust. When she became easier to catch but still cautious, again, she was offering feedback about her current state. And when she comes to the gate—more feedback. When one day she became more cautious again, that’s still feedback.

When Ms Dolly pinned her ears as I asked her to move, she was giving me feedback. And to be clear—acknowledging it for what it is doesn’t mean I won’t ask her to move. It means I need to change something. Later in the same session, when she softened her expression and chose to stay close to me at liberty, even when the work got harder—that too was feedback.

Just by making the simple shift to viewing our horse's expressions and behaviour as feedback, we open the doors to a much deeper bond—and, over time, to greater cooperation and flow in our work together.