Frankly Sound Equine

01/17/2025

All of this 💖

Everyone’s horsemanship journey looks different… but golly there are some incredible baselines we should all learn and carry, for the sake of our horse.

💖

My Horses Love Me.

I have four personal horses and I think each one is the best thing since sliced bread. The feeling is mutual.

This doesn’t mean that we always “get along”. Just like any relationship/partnership, we have good days and bad. Peaks and valleys. While every body has something adverse to work through or with, in general, our little herd is made up of happy and healthy horses who want to be with us.

I have put much thought into why this is. Why my horses come to meet me at the gate with ears pricked and eyes bright. Why they gather around me and follow me about. Why they softly nicker as I approach, noses stretched out for face scritches. Why they eagerly place their heads in their halters to participate in whatever the day lays out for us. Why they thrill in our under saddle work, why they have so, so much try.

I firmly believe that horses want to be Centaur as much as we do.

In spite of this profound belief system, the reality is that there is much that must come into play in order for my horses to be happy, healthy and willing partners. To the best of our human abilities, our horses have:

✨ Species Appropriate Environment.
They live in bands of their choosing and choose when to seek shelter, when to eat, when to drink, when to rest, when to play.

✨ Complete Circle of Influence.
They have individual nutritional programs, correctly fitted tack and access to an incredible health care team whose members are ultimately of their choosing.

✨ Freedom to Say No.
I understand why in some horsemanship circles this is a cardinal sin. For me, allowing my horses to say No has greatly impacted our partnerships for the better. However, when they say No, it does not mean that the conversation is over, it simply means that it’s my responsibility to be flexible and take steps until I find their Yes. What I have discovered after several years of working through this approach, my horses only say No when they do not understand the question or there is a physical reason why they do not wish to comply. Not one of them EVER has said No for the sake of saying No. “No” has never ever come from them because they’re lazy/stubborn/opinionated/hot/etc. In my opinion, these are human attributes that we project onto our horses to rationalize behaviour we do not understand.

✨ Clear and Consistent Boundaries.
I do not allow my horses to push, shove, step on, drag, kick, bite or rub on me. Just no. It’s rude. This is not how we treat each other. I will make strong contact with my horses when necessary and do not hesitate to enforce my boundaries around how my body is to be treated.

✨ Calm, Confident, Clear Handling.
I am extremely particular about how my horses are handled. So much so that it is rare for me to invite others to handle my horses and rarer still to invite anyone to ride them. When I am with my horse(s), I treat them as I would treat anyone who is precious to me. This is what Mindful Horsemanship is all about- being present and embodied in the moment, being tactful and considerate in our actions, bringing our heart centre to our work and being able to listen more than talk.

✨ Consent Both Ways.
While I am clear in how I wish to be treated by my horses, I aim to be equally receptive to how they wish to be treated by me. I avoid engaging in non-consensual touch, believing that grooming is a privilege and I am not entitled to any kind of physical affection from any of my horses, though they are mostly very cuddly. I do not bulldoze past their No’s, I pay attention to the details and act accordingly. I do not make them work for me when they are sore or unwell.

✨ Training Without Coercion or Bribery.
I am not against positive reinforcement training at all but it is not a method that resonates for me with my personal horses. None of them are hand fed. Ever. I used to use R+ for most training but stopped about 8 years ago as a bit of a mission to see if I could accomplish the same things without the food reward. I have, and more. I do not subscribe to the “Ask Tell Command” method of pressure and release. I used to get a lot done with this and was very successful as a competitor. As the relationship with my herd became the priority over winning ribbons, there is no longer a need to extract behaviours from them nor a need to always get my way. When this is what I want, I ride a bicycle.

I am wary to share this for fear of coming across as arrogant. However, my desire to bridge the gap between Horsemanship and Performance is too strong to let fear of what other’s might think get in my way. It may seem pretty woo, but honest to goodness my horses perform their hearts out for me. We do things in ways I never could have imagined and I believe in my bones that we can live in a world where horses and their humans are happy, healthy AND competitive at the upper levels.

~ Chiara 💕

01/11/2025

Happy Friday!!! 💖

Friendly reminder; no amount of taping is going to fix an unregulated nervous system and postural dysfunction!! ☺️

*Saying this as a lover of using tape for supports in the journey of postural rehabilitation 💕

01/09/2025

I am not an equine behaviorist. I am far less educated than many people I choose to surround myself with (on purpose 😉).

This does seem to be a ‘hot topic’ though - and with that comes a lot of beautiful insight, equally layered with misinformation. It’s especially scary when spoken in absolutes from unqualified individuals, rather than an, “it depends!” attitude.

But… I do have a depth of decades reading and listening to the horse. So, with that I feel confident enough to at least share my 𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. I also have been extremely intentional with practicing self-awareness over the last several years. With that, I personally think often about a specific shared human and horse experience I see occur all the time.

When I randomly do something nice for someone, whatever that may be, I absolutely do NOT expect anything in return… it’s actually the point of my gesture. I get so much joy from that; sharing a little reminder they’re thought of and loved.

I’ve never understood the concept of (and I see this happen often), someone doing something unprompted for someone, then holding that over them at some point in the future. As in, “well I did xyz for you…”. Presenting that gesture in an assuming way that they’re now owed something.

What an absolutely asinine, human thing to do. How sneaky, to come back and attach strings to unsolicited gestures.

I was taught at a very young age the Golden Rule. Do unto others, as you’d have them do unto you. I admit there are many, many times I have not followed that rule… 😅 but I have learned a lot from all those experiences that helped bring me back to my early exposure to the concept.

How does this apply to our horses… well… you probably have an idea. But from what I experience and what I overhear:

“I spend so much money on you, you can get out and do xyz with me when I show up.”
- As though our horses have any concept of monetary exchange and what that means, and frankly, 80% of the time we’ve got them in a non species appropriate environment with that money spent.

“I bought/bred you to jump, so you are going to jump; I’ll just get new training gear, you clearly have a behavior issue…”
- Believe it or not, our horses don’t actually owe us anything, nor did they ask to be purchased by you for this job, nor did they ask to do this job in the first place, even though a human bred them for it. Granted, I do think our horses land on the paths they’re on, often to share lessons…
- NOW, I am also not going to pretend our horses don’t enjoy having a job, especially depending on the breed and job type, but gosh, if we own horses as a hobby, it’s a lot more fun (necessary) to have them be an active participant by making sure we’ve set them up for the task we’re asking (also necessary). If you don’t know what that looks like, ask!
- In more rare instances; we have horses who are actually working a job with us. Gosh it’s pretty similar to us… IF I am a well-balanced human, doing the things consistently I know I need for my mental and physical well-being, I don’t actually need to love my job to be happy to be there. IF I’m fulfilled in my life and I don’t work with a bunch of as****es 🤷‍♀️, I’m happy to show up to work and actively participate. So, if you can’t provide a species appropriate environment/lifestyle/partnership… work may suck for them!

“I only have 1 hour, you need to step out and show up for work!”
- Well… golly. 😮‍💨

Here’s the biggest thing I feel around all of this… What does it look like to meet ourselves and horses where we’re both at… each day. Each session. Each interaction. None of this is scripted, and does require our effort, honesty and integrity.

I am not pretending to have always embodied the latter. Having been on BOTH sides of this spectrum; feeling entitlement with my horses and their role in my life, to understanding I’m owed nothing from them… I actually owe them, by choosing to share this lifetime with them, a life that allows them to live in balance.

I really appreciate what my dear friend Chiara, Un-Natural Horsemanship said one day this summer… to paraphrase; we just need to show up authentically… if we’re having a bad day that’s fine, but if we can show up to our horses owning that, they really extend a lot grace. But, accountability is needed, you best drop any agenda and flow with no expectations.

That goes for our horses too… meeting them where they’re at. A really good way to practice this, is practicing being a good listener to the humans in your life. It allows us the ability to slow down and look for responses, rather than reactions.

I have ADHD and it’s really easy for me to want to jump into a conversation and relate what someone is saying to my personal experiences…I think that’s okay… but I’ve worked a lot on actively listening while talking to someone, especially when it’s regarding a passion of theirs; asking them questions about themselves and what they’re saying… allowing them to dive a bit deeper into what they’re speaking on. (This also is a helpful tool for us neurodivergent folks that struggle with small talk… 😉)

Point being… This translates really well into inviting our horses to be active participants in the conversations we have. It’s honoring all the nuanced moments in time that allow us to grow as horsemen. And if that’s not always our goal… you may consider finding another hobby that doesn’t involve another living being.

Holistichorsecollective.com

01/06/2025

This is so incredibly true and well written 👏💖

Getting to the root of a pain problem -

As our understanding of pain related behaviour improves, there are many situations where horses might present with a "nothingy something" of an issue but there is no clear indicator of where that problem might be arising from.

The interesting (challenging) thing with this is that, if there is no overt lameness or "if I poke here it really hurts", then oftentimes there is no clear start line for your diagnostic journey.

This can be very frustrating because you can find yourself running around in circles not knowing where to start, with conflicting advice from the professionals around you - some of whom might tell you unhelpful things like "just ride through it" or "it's just bad behaviour"

And this is where I have found traditional diagnostics really need to up their game because from a welfare perspective we need to be intervening with pain before a horse is hopping lame or ditching their rider.

And this in turn will encourage people to pay attention to the smaller behaviours rather than waiting for lameness or waiting to be ditched!

What I have learned is that sometimes you have to pick a place to start and work from there.

This means you may be searching for a little while and you might be ruling out more areas through diagnostics than ruling in areas, but that in and of itself is useful information.

Here is what my career has taught me so far:

- If you think there is a problem, there probably is. Find yourself a team of professionals that will support you.

Sometimes a professional might tell you there isn't a problem because they don't have the skillset to see it or find it, another opinion can often be a good thing - though do keep in mind that too many chefs spoil the broth.

There is many a time where I will say "there is a problem - I can't tell you what, though my observation/palpation skills tell me xyz and I will support you in finding out what it is".

- Sometimes there is so much peripheral noise that you need to strip out a lot of variables and then reassess. This includes improving your horse's management to meet their ethological needs and reducing the workload to see where a problem stops being a problem. These all take time.

I have also found that horses can present as painful because their human is expecting way, way, way too much from them given their physical and emotional health. Getting comfortable doing less and going slower is a solid way of rounding off with a happier, healthier horse that you can actually do more with in the long run.

- I'm a "let's deal with the elephant in the room" kind of gal:

If your horse has poor foot balance, deal with that and then go from there. This could include radiographs to monitor changes in hoof angle and this might mean seeking advice from other hoof care providers to support you and your current hoof care provider in improving things.

Likewise, if your horse's back looks like a saggy hammock, or they have weird lumps/spinal protrusions, deal with that. You could get radiographs to tell you the orientation of the spinous processes. Then rebuild your horse's spinal angle and see where that gets you.

- The problem will continue to be a problem until you have actually resolved it! If your horse has diagnosed hoof balance issues, which you are working on resolving, but the balance is still poor, then it will still be an issue!! This means you have to adjust your expectations of your horse accordingly!

- If you are requesting relatively non-invasive diagnostics, e.g. radiographing/ultrasounding your horse's limbs or back, and you are prepared to pay actual hard earned money for this service even though it might show you absolutely nothing of any value (although to me, ruling out an area is of enormous value), please don't let a professional convince you not to UNLESS they have a reasonable counter plan for another diagnostic (NB a bone scan, to the tune of thousands of £££ is not a suitable counterplan in my opinion)

"I suggested to my vet that we xray my horse's back but they palpated it and said that his reactions were normal so there is no reason to xray"

"Okay well what did they suggest instead?"

"They didn't"

"Great, so you have a horse that presents with pain under saddle and yet we are still no further forward with determining the cause"

- Equally, diagnostics and expertise do come with a price tag, this means that in order to find out what is going on with your horse, you do need to spend money. I know this gets tricky when your horse is presenting with a nothingy something and you have a limited budget to deal with it because you really want to spend that money wisely, but turning up to your vet and saying "I have 55p and three buttons to spend, please tell me what's wrong with my horse", is really unfair on your vet and also your horse.

"I had his hocks medicated but it didn't change anything"

"Did you do any diagnostics?"

"No, we just medicated"

"So what you're saying is you did something painful, that isn't without its risks, despite having not done any due diligence, which means you've spent money you don't have on something that wasn't the problem?"

- It is not as simple as medicating and riding into the sunset.

Why did your horse get the diagnosis they got?

What have you done to improve their management/lifestyle/way of going so you can reduce the instances of this happening again? For biomechanic induced issues, you need to solve the problem by altering their biomechanics; medicating is a way of reducing the pain/inflammation to buy you a window of time to do this in.

-

The relationship between pain and behaviour are very complicated. I really wish it was as simple as "nerve block here" to get results. There is so much more I could add and the nuances are vast.

There will of course be outliers to this - people who tried all of the above and are still without answers, or those who walked to hell and back to get them - and for those people I understand that this post might be very triggering, I am sorry about that. I hope you can see here that this is a good starting place for many people and I welcome your experience in the comments if you feel it has the power to help someone.

The final thing I will say is this -

Your horse does not need to perform in any way, shape or form in order to be deserving of your love, care and dedication to them. And if you feel they do, then perhaps you should consider getting a bicycle instead ❤️

12/17/2024

There was a beautiful, thought provoking post by my dear friend and mentor recently, that asked questions around anthropomorphism and what that looks like around our equine partners.

It was one of the most beautiful, fascinating comment threads I’ve read in a long time.

I was eager to read certain comments, considering my own thoughts and experiences. Of which included, my sister . An incredible, grounding disposition, of which reminds one, that all of us carry our own reality.

In that light; I share, what I feel is beauty, from my latest reality.

Playing pones… training… bodywork… friends… fun…. It’s all the same in my reality.

And the conversations are deep… my favorite ❤️

📸

12/09/2024

Why I say, “playing with ponies” when I speak about training/working horses.

There’s a specificity, intentionality & intricacy included…. But always with an air of lightness and joy. Even through the tough conversations we have (which are actually my favorite times now).

This is something I’ve worked very hard on throughout this year. Becoming self aware enough to come back to my deepest ‘why’; especially on days I’m pulled outside of my window of tolerance.

And that ‘why’ is; I love the horse - my inner child is SO happy to just 𝑏𝑒 here. I love being with them and communicating with them through the storytelling I learned so, so long ago. The gratitude I feel to be with them is so pure, I’m just honored to keep learning from them. 💕

We all started here from that love our inner child embodied - come back to that with us. Join us below ❤️

Holistichorsecollective.com

12/04/2024

Equine rehabilitation is a labor of love—often involving long days, hard work, and emotional highs and lows. At HeartSong, we currently have six rehabilitation cases, making life incredibly busy but also incredibly fulfilling. Each day, I am left inspired by the horses I work with. I love being challenged daily, learning and growing as a practitioner with every horse, collaborating with other professionals, and empowering guardians on their journey. This experience has opened my eyes to so many aspects of equine wellness and inspired the creation of a collective space for those passionate about holistic care.

The Holistic Horse Collective offers a comprehensive and integrated approach to equine wellness. Through individualized support and guidance, we empower equestrians in all aspects of horse wellness —bodywork, nutrition, herbs, homeopathy, training, biomechanics, hoof care, and more.

✨ Join us! ✨
Become a member and take control of your horse's wellness:

- Educational Content: Access a growing library with monthly updates on biomechanics, nutrition, bodywork, hoof care, and holistic care

- Quarterly Live Sessions with industry leaders

- Ongoing Professional Support in our private support page

- Community Connection with like-minded equestrians

- Exclusive Discounts on products, bodywork, training, and more

https://www.holistichorsecollective.com

12/03/2024

I love nothing more than helping horses come back to their original blueprint.

Functional, appropriate training and lifestyle shifts.

This doesn’t need to be a daunting task… we are often only the turn of the dial away.

12/01/2024

🌟 NEW OFFERING 🌟

Welcome world - to the Holistic Horse Collective!

This is a space that was created organically, and brought to fruition from our greatest teachers, our horses…

We asked, they spoke and we listened.

What did the horse world need that we could offer? Well…a place that brings all the puzzle pieces together.

The Holistic Horse Collective is a multi-faceted space, blending multiple tools from our tool belts.

A space to help provide a whole horse approach to being the most accountable, empowered and honoring guardian we can be for our horses.

A space where collaboration is SO valued. We will always share and refer to our incredible network of equine professionals, until you’ve found who or what you feel aligned with most.

So, what do we offer?

Membership: A low cost, monthly subscription. Including a private member account and corresponding private Facebook group. Offered to all horse guardians of any scale, interested in continuing education on holistic, whole horse health. This is a space of deep empowerment and advocacy for navigating the equine world. You'll feel supported from a like-minded community through difficult situations, to feeling empowered to be your horse's best advocate. You will also get: monthly education in different forms, participate in quarterly calls with industry leaders, and discounted services from both of us and select partners.

Mentorship: A 6 month program, designed to meet you and your horse where you’re at, and guide you through a new wellness lifestyle addressing all aspects of care. This includes: a tailored nutrition plan, involving custom herbal blends throughout; trauma informed energy clearing; BTMM Pillars and functional movement therapy; multiple bodywork modalities included, along with teaching techniques to practice on your own; buildable and unique homework and exercises with continuous support and guidance along the way. If you’re looking to build confidence for you and your horse, whether it’s during or following up on a health crisis or injury, or just wanting to build a more holistic approach to your horsemanship and guardianship - this mentorship is here to help you accomplish and reach your goals!
(Yes - an Online version of this is coming soon… stay tuned)

To join The Holistic Horse Collective Online Membership head over to: holistichorsecollective.com

welcome to the holistic horse collective Transform Your Equine Partnership Mentorship, Empowerment, and Advocacy for Every Horse Guardian.Holistic Wellness Education for Any Skill Level. Unleash Your Potential with Our Membership Step Into Your Power Today! our offerings to you membership $17/monthB...

11/06/2024

There aren’t many words I’ve found yet, to share the beauty and awe that I feel from this past weekend.

But; I’m still reverberating with the magic and empowerment I embodied.

And that’s what all of this is about…

I’m so grateful to my most favorite humans; especially and 🤍🧚✨

I’m excited for the beautiful adventures that are coming; so, so very soon 🥹🪷

10/25/2024

Our horses deserve their mental health to be prioritized the exact same way we do. 

And that’s a huge narrative change for the equine industry. 

But… It’s happening. By some of the most beautiful humans in the world. 

And a crucial part in doing so; we’re required to have integrity with our word and be the best advocate for our horses. 

By honoring their healing journey and not cherry picking the outcomes that only benefit us.  

Coming November 2024 with ; a new offering embodying exactly that ✨🤍

10/08/2024

The most profound results and experiences; for both horse and human - us included 🤍😉

We’ll be heading down South on the 20th this month, and have a few horses in the Longmont/Boulder area that can get added to our books! 📝

Lots of fun collaborative offerings brewing as well 🥳

Stay tuned for details!! 👏

09/08/2024

I read an enormous amount of posts in groups, where a horse is displaying some sort of chronic or severe condition, and the first question asked is, “Is my horse okay to be ridden like this?”

Maybe it’s a beautiful thing, for me to be in such a wonderful circle of the horse world, where the concern for the well being of the horse so greatly outweighs their ability to be of service to us. It creates such a polarity in approach though, that these questions I read stand out so strongly.

Maybe there’s still a great need for education on what a non-ridden equine partner can look like, and how utterly beautiful the relationship can be. ✨

Maybe we need to keep shifting the narrative; almost always our horses come into our lives with lessons that run much deeper than their ability to carry us.

Having a long break from riding my own horse, I’ve been able to view all of this with a new perspective. The utter gratitude I feel for approaching a place where we’ll get to ride soon, is so grand. What a privilege. And it comes with reverence for all the necessary steps taken to get there.

09/04/2024

I am not here to fix, change, manipulate, or distort.

I am merely here to ask the right questions for facilitating a journey where the horse can come back home, to their original blueprint.

Woven in that is love, authenticity, and a little bit of magic. 🌹✨