Heart Horse Training, LLC

08/28/2024

Rachael's book is #2 and #6! Her book is a must have for every horse lover and horse owner!

Come and learn from the author herself September 26-29 at our farm! You and your horse will be glad you did!

08/26/2024

So many beautiful moments this past weekend at the Tara Davis clinic! The attendees, the horses, Tara...I can't wait to do it again! 🤗❤️🐴

08/20/2024

Interesting information on the connection between dopamine and cortisol and ways you help your horse!

Quickly and easily listen to Healing Horses with Elisha for free!

08/19/2024

CAN YOU FORCE A HORSE TO DO SOMETHING THEY DON’T WANT TO?

There's a common belief among some horse owners that "if a horse didn't want to do something, they wouldn't do it." This idea often arises in response to videos where horses display signs of stress – like rushing, nipping, fidgeting, or showing the whites of their eyes – for example when they are asked to jump, load, stand still, or hack out alone. However, this notion oversimplifies the reality.

It is actually very easy to make a horse do something they don't want to do. Horses, by nature, are incredibly tolerant and often comply with what we ask of them, even when they are uncomfortable or afraid. This is why it's crucial for us as handlers to recognise both the subtle and obvious signs of stress or fear in our horses. Just because a horse does what we ask doesn’t mean they are comfortable with it or that they aren’t being coerced in some way.

A horse's response to a situation is influenced in part by their past experiences. For instance, a horse that was frightened during their first clipping session might have been restrained with a twitch or pressure halter for fidgeting or trying to escape. The fear of pain can then override their initial fear of the clippers, causing them to freeze and stand still. Sadly, this is a common method of training, where pressure is applied to force the horse to comply, rather than teaching them gradually and rewarding relaxed behaviour.

Forcing a horse to comply doesn't eliminate their fears; it just adds new ones – which could be of the halter, the handler, and even the environment where the clipping occurred. The horse may learn that trying to escape leads to more pain, eventually leading to learned helplessness, where they no longer attempt to avoid stressful situations.

As humans, we understand that adding pain or fear to an already frightening situation doesn’t resolve our fears, so why would it be different for horses? Recognising the early signs of fear, stress, anxiety, or discomfort in your horse is vital. These can include raised head and neck, tail swishing, pawing, shying, whinnying, increased oral behaviours increased oral behaviours (eg. mouthing the leadrope when led), the four Fs (flight, fight, freeze, fidget), tension in facial muscles, change in the shape of the eye, or an inability to concentrate.

If your horse starts to perform an unusual behaviour, pay attention! Does the behaviour stop when you stop a certain action, and resume when you start again? Observing these patterns can provide valuable insight.

We should also consider whether what we ask is right for them or not. Training is a necessity, not a luxury, and we must ensure our horses are confident and prepared for the things we ask them to do, without expecting too much.

If your horse's behaviour changes suddenly, always consult a vet. If no physical issues are found, a certified behaviour consultant can help you address the underlying causes.

08/16/2024

Really great video on the effects of riding behind the vertical. It happens in all disciplines, not just dressage. And it is incredibly damaging to the horse.

08/15/2024

Elizabeth Uhl, DVM, PhD, Dip, ACVP, wrote, “Muscles do much more than create the forces needed to extend and flex joints, which is what has been traditionally taught in anatomy courses. Muscles are also critical for the buffering of the mechanical forces on the joints. They do this by absorbing very large amounts of energy and are thus critical to preventing overloading and to the stabilization of joints. This function is so important that the energy produced by normal walking would tear all the ligaments in the knee if it were not absorbed by muscular activity! Think about the implications of this. This means that joint stress and injuries can be predicted based on muscle function assessment. This allows prevention strategies to be developed before there is serious damage to the joint aka prehabilitation, which is widely used in training human athletes. It also means that a muscle may be overdeveloped and/or hypercontracted because of a weakness or loss of function in another muscle, in which case, simply trying to release a contracted muscle without considering whether it is compensating for dysfunction in another muscle group could further imbalance and stress the affected joints." (For discussion, see Brandt KD et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2006 Oct;65(10):1261-4).

Before the Ego Take Over
Pauline Porsons’s beautiful sculpture illustrates why we are attracted to horses: a personal and friendly relationship. We have an apple and would like to share it with the horse. Then, the ego takes over, and we reward the horse with an apple if the horse performs as we want. Instead of partnership, we deviate to submission. We read about “unconditional obedience to the rider’s aids,” and our ego finds “classical support.” Science, instead, wonders about the sophistication and complexity of the horse’s physique. Our ancestors expected obedience because two-thirds of the highly complex body coordination the horse needs to achieve to perform efficiently and soundly was unknown to them. Consciously or unconsciously, the horse was expected to fill the blanks of superficial education.
Elizabeth Uhl, DVM, PhD, Dip, ACVP, wrote, “ Muscles do much more than create the forces needed to extend and flex joints, which is what has been traditionally taught in anatomy courses. Muscles are also critical for the buffering of the mechanical forces on the joints. They do this by absorbing very large amounts of energy and are thus critical to preventing overloading and to the stabilization of joints. This function is so important that the energy produced by normal walking would tear all the ligaments in the knee if it were not absorbed by muscular activity! Think about the implications of this. This means that joint stress and injuries can be predicted based on muscle function assessment. This allows prevention strategies to be developed before there is serious damage to the joint aka prehabilitation, which is widely used in training human athletes. It also means that a muscle may be overdeveloped and/or hypercontracted because of a weakness or loss of function in another muscle, in which case, simply trying to release a contracted muscle without considering whether it is compensating for dysfunction in another muscle group could further imbalance and stress the affected joints. (For discussion, see Brandt KD et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2006 Oct;65(10):1261-4).
We can have a friendly conversation with the horse all the way to the education of superior movements. The technicality became complex as the difficulty level of the movement increased, but we know the performance’s athletic demand and how to coordinate the horse’s physique for the effort. Instead of activating the horse’s hind legs with a whip for the Piaffe, which is technical nonsense, as the whip activating the hind legs creates a muscular reaction opposed to the coordination that the horse needs to achieve to perform the Piaffe, we can from day one riding the horse educate the back muscles to convert the hind legs thrust into upward forces. It does not mean that a young horse is ready for Piaffe; the refinement of the back muscle coordination takes years to reach the necessary sophistication, but once the horse’s physique and mental processing have reached the necessary level, the horse masters the athletic demand of the performance and perform at ease, at the best of his talent and soundly.
The education is the pleasure. If the horse has the talent, the horse performs the Piaffe or any superior movement. If the education focuses on the body coordination instead of movement, the horse performs at ease and soundly. When I was in France, Dr. Lesaffre watched me train my three-day even horses. Lesaffre told me, you change the limb kinematics of your horses.” I said yes. Dr. Lesafre asked, “Why?” I told him that it was for greater efficiency and, therefore, soundness. Lesafre asked me, “Do you realize the considerable therapeutic possibilities?” Lesaffe added, even if I am half retired, I am your vet. You constantly have five or more horses that you train for the advanced three-day event level, and you have a low level of limbs or back issues. I often wondered how that was possible, so I come regularly to watch what you do.” Then Lesafre asked me, ”How do you change your horses’ limbs kinematics?” I told him I corrected or refined the function of their thoracolumbar spine. Lesafre laughed loudly, “Do you realize that you just blow away what the actual paradigm tells us to believe? We are told that the legs create back issues, and you tell me and show me that the proper function of the back corrects limb kinematic abnormalities.I believe it as I see it; I love it, but that will be hard to sell. “
Indeed, even if what we knew four decades ago was elementary compared to actual knowledge, theological thinkers attack the practical application of new knowledge through nasty and uneducated statements. Even if the practical application of new knowledge could efficiently prepare horses for the athletic demands of modern performances, the cult mentality prevents riders from exploring an efficient and friendly partnership with their horse. Upgrading the wisdom of our ancestors to actual knowledge, we could share an apple with the horse because we both like it and share the learning of an advanced movement because we enjoy the partnership. Based on our understanding of the performance’s athletic demand, we create a situation likely to guide the horse’s willingness and mental processing toward efficient body coordination and assist the horse’s processing with insights, keeping the horse’s mind in the right direction.
Riding like that is an immense and daily pleasure for the horse and the rider.
Jean Luc Cornille

08/13/2024

08/12/2024

Scentwork is amazingly beneficial to horses for many reasons! To learn more, join us September 26-29 for your only opportunity in the US to learn from Rachael in person!

🇬🇧 What was the last time you were curious about something?

Maybe you read a book on a subject you didn't know much about yet, decided to look up the name of a certain plant in your pasture, or were curious about how that new brush for your horse actually felt?

The essence of curiosity is wanting to investigate something you don't yet know. By wanting to solve that curiosity, you gain knowledge. It doesn't have to be immediately applicable. You may also gain knowledge that will give you something in the future. So curiosity and your memory are connected and help you grow.
This is so true for humans, but also for horses.

So why do I think doing Scentwork is so important and fun? It can encourage horses to be curious and explore. As a result, they gain knowledge that can help them at that time or in the future. We set up a situation where we can help the horses grow.

Want to know more about it? I tell you all about it in my book or online course Scentwork!

🇳🇱 Waar was jij voor het laatst ergens nieuwsgierig naar?

Misschien las je een boek over een onderwerk waar je nog niet zoveel van wist, besloot je de naam van een bepaalde plant in je wei op te zoeken of was je benieuwd hoe die nieuwe borstel voor je paard eigenlijk aanvoelde?

De kern van nieuwsgierigheid is iets te willen onderzoeken wat je nog niet weet. Door die nieuwsgierigheid te willen oplossen, verkrijg je kennis. Dat hoeft niet direct toepasbaar te zijn. Het kan ook dat je kennis opdoet die je in de toekomst iets oplevert. Nieuwsgierigheid en je geheugen zijn dus verbonden en helpen je te groeien.

Dit geldt zo voor mensen, maar ook voor paarden.

Waarom ik het doen van Scentwork dus zo belangrijk en leuk vind? Het kan paarden stimuleren om nieuwsgierig te zijn en te gaan ontdekken. Ze doen daardoor kennis op die ze op dat moment of in de toekomst kan helpen. We zetten een situatie op waarbij we de paarden kunnen helpen om te groeien.

Wil je er meer over weten? Ik vertel je er alles over in mijn boek of online cursus Scentwork!

08/12/2024

08/11/2024

I have a couple of openings for haul in lessons once school starts next week. Message me if you're interested. ❤️🐴

08/11/2024

The bones don't lie. We should not be riding horses so young.

08/09/2024

From 1909.

I found this educational sign today at Beamish museum in County Durham. The Equine Defence League who produced this, was founded in 1909 by Francis Cox, his initial objective being to improve the conditions for pit ponies working in the mines. His cause was supported by such big names as Jerome K Jerome, Jack London, James Keir Hardy and Winston Churchill.

These signs could at one time be found in places where horses would be pulling heavy loads up hill.

But this is so relevant to every situation in which a horse might be worked today. Perhaps more than ever before.

08/08/2024

❤️🐴

08/07/2024

Good information for breeders! I've been seeing several posts lately of breeders saying their babies will be ready to wean soon but those babies are only 4-5 months old.

It makes me sad and also makes me hesitant to ever buy a young horse, even one that I really like, unless I know I can get one from a breeder that truly understands and follows what is natural and needed for the horse.

What happens during weaning has long reaching effects on the horse and their well being. I have worked with many horses that were weaned too early and it really does make a difference in how they act and how they are to handle as adults.

INDUSTRY STANDARD PREMATURE WEANING PRACTICES

Weaning is naturally gradual, whereby the physical and psychological bond between mother and offspring is ended. To date, there are numerous studies, across a wide range of species, showing the physical and mental harm that is done when animals are prematurely and forcibly weaned. The act compromises an animal's welfare and goes against best-practices for raising a physically and behaviourally healthy animal. Therefore, it should be avoided.

Premature weaning of horses (~4-7 months of age) is sadly still a common practice in the horse world. While young horses can physically be kept alive when weaned at this age, the practice is harmful in the short-term. It can also result in the creation of unwanted behaviour problems in the long-term.

While we have selectively bred horses to perform a wide range of activities for us, we have not been able to breed out the basic needs which they still share with their wilder relatives. Studying how horses behave under natural conditions gives us valuable information on how best we can provide for our domestic horses. For example, horses have evolved to need fulltime access to what I call the 3 F's of Friends, Forage, and Freedom: living in direct contact with other horses, having continual access to forage so that they can trickle feed, and having the ability to freely engage in a wide range of normal behaviours in their environment. When horses are denied access to one or more of these three F's, or when we interfere with their ability to engage in normal behaviours it results in stress, decreased welfare, and can result in the creation of unwanted behaviours.

To better understand the effects of weaning practices, researchers in France and Iceland examined how and when foals wean themselves when living under natural conditions. Of the 16 mare-foal pairs they observed, they found that all of the foals spontaneously weaned themselves at around 9-10 months of age. Two weeks prior to self-weaning, the mares and foals remained closer to one another than they did to others in the group, usually within 1-5 horse lengths of one another. Suckling bouts also didn't decrease in the two weeks prior to weaning, and the foals made no attempts to suckle once weaned. This self-directed weaning also caused no signs of stress to either party.

A frequent rationale for premature weaning is to preserve the physical condition of the mare. Interestingly, none of the mares in this study lost physical condition, despite the length of time mares and foals were together.

In summary, to quote the authors:

"Modern breeding practices generally impose strong constraints as compared to the conditions of development of foals in a more natural environment. One major aspect is the early artificial weaning, which is not just a stage of diet transition but also a stage of social separation. There is increasing evidence that such a practice, although carried out on a routine basis by horse breeders, leads to short- and in some cases to long-term severe negative outcomes.

There is therefore a clear need to better understand the factors at stake (e.g., cessation of milk intake, immature digestive system, maternal deprivation, absence of adult models, additional changes in feeding or housing…), to improve the domestic management of weaning and animal welfare."

You can read the full paper, 'Domestic Foal Weaning: Need for Re-Thinking Breeding Practices?' by accessing it at this link: https://tinyurl.com/PrematureWeaningHorses

Image by Hans Benn from Pixabay

08/06/2024

Horses: The Impact of Forced Riding

Sadly, forced riding is mostly what we see these days - horses "trained" with abusive methods, gadgets, sharp bits and more, all carried out in line with the theory of dominance, long since debunked.

Although it was bad when we started this platform, we are saddened to see that it has gotten considerably worse, particularly in mainstream equestrian sports.

This is surprising in some ways, and in some ways, not.

Surprising because the wealth of evidence and research based information that can inform our methods is out there in volumes.

Not surprising because the industry seems to have made a massive and almost complete move towards prioritizing everything but horse welfare.

Sadly, there also seems to be a significant buy in from riders, trainers, judges, vets and stewards, spearheaded by the various organizations that have abandoned their duty of care to the horses that they claim to "love".

When people get used to seeing these horses in pain and discomfort, showing abnormal gaits and having their voices shut down by kicks, spurs, tight nosebands, flashes and a whole host of other dominance based methods, they think it is normal - not only that, but will defend it.

Hopefully there are still enough people out there trying to find a better way, one that looks more like the horses featured in the top row of the graphic below!

We will fight to lead people in this direction and hope to inspire a better future where conversations around horse welfare can be more about the horses and less about the people.

Visit us at www.equitopiacenter.com and join the revolution!

08/06/2024

08/06/2024

So cool! ❤️

Organic engineering of the fore limb! Magic

All of the muscles attached to their lower limb tendons, to see how they operate head to my Patreon page.

https://www.patreon.com/Becks_nairn

08/05/2024

Can we just make it a requirement that the, let's just say the top 5, Dressage riders at the Olympics have to untack their horses and do their test ba****ck and in a halter and then see who wins?? I'm game for that!!!

Kudos to Olympian Justina Vanagaite and Nabob! 😍🐴

And she competes him at Grand Prix in no spurs! Wouldn't it be cool if that were the norm too!?

5020 likes, 31 comments. “Last ride before Olympics 🤩🤩🤩”

08/05/2024

When you find a better looking dressage horse than most of the ones you see on TV... in the TSC clearance aisle!

Can we find whoever designed this and offer them a job as an FEI judge??

😆😆