Primal Equine Services

25/06/2025

When your client gives you the feels 🥰
This 👇🏼 means everything to me 💗
Knowing that this horse feels better 💗
Knowing that his owner feels it too 💗

25/06/2025

My horse gets looked at strangely when she COMMUNICATES with me, she does this because she knows I will LISTEN ❤️
This never used to be me, I was so self absorbed with my own pain that I didn’t give my horses freedom to share their own thoughts or feelings 💔
Horses can be triggers to our pain and it’s often easier to train that pain to be quiet and obedient…
However if we open up to our horses and allow them to open up to us…
Our horses can also be amazing therapists too 💗

There is no such a thing as "bombproof horses", if we want these horses to remain...just horses, that is to say naturally reactive prey animals who instinctively tend to remain always alert, with this being a fundamental trait of their species specific needs in order to survive.
Consequently, horses being truly horses will always notice and be careful about any new stimuli or potential threat to their animal mind: yes, they can surely learn to calmly investigate it instead of simply reacting, but they will always remain alert and they just won't tolerate what is simply too much for the mind and instincts of a prey animal.
So, horses not reacting at all instead to anything, no matter what and no matter how, are simply completely shut off because of the learned helplessness: by the use of forceful training methods like Flooding, they simply learned to have no escape at all from whatever they may have to endure, they learned to have no way to avoid it and so they finally end by passively accepting anything without reacting.
But not because they aren't scared or bothered by it anymore, but just because they know to have absolutely no choice...
Well, surely not something to be ever proud of, reducing horses to become just some sort of programmed robots without any autonomy and real life left in them 💔

Picture credit: Fed Up Fred

24/06/2025

WHOOPS 😅
Navicular who? Arthritis what? 😜
Very happy that he is feeling much better ❤️

24/06/2025

⚖️No hoof balance. No horse balance.⚖️

“Naturally balanced hoofcare is TURNING her LIFE AROUND one trim at a time and I wish YOU ALL can HEAR how very much it can change your life too 🤗💗”

For those who don’t know Amira it’s difficult to explain our last 4.5 years together…

Rescued 5 years ago I met 17 year old Amira on a visit to my local rescue centre..

The horse that couldn’t be caught sparked my interest and I knew that she came in my life for a reason..

Wanting zero human contact at first, we started with R+ which worked very well at a surface level and she excelled at liberty, she particularly liked agility and brain games..

But she was still very reactive when in close proximity to humans and their hands..

She had her teeth checked, and an osteopath monthly for a year.. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Next one by one we incorporated some trust techniques, masterson method and CAT H all extremely useful tools and worked on many levels..

Still the reactivity continued, and that HIGH head carriage and those TIGHT shoulders..

Trimming her hooves hadn’t been an option as she was very sharp and guarded about her hooves..

On the face of it her hooves certainly didn’t look too ‘bad’ and why stress her with sedation for the sake of aesthetics 🤷🏼‍♀️

Then February 2024 I decided that I needed to rule out pain so she was sedated scanned and X-rayed..

Some arthritis in her spine in her trigger points but feet looked alright for a horse that’s never had hoof care 🤷🏼‍♀️

While she was sedated I got her front hooves trimmed, hinds were still a no no under sedation…

Sometimes they just need to know that human contact can help and since last February we’ve worked together to keep her fronts regularly trimmed…

It took 6 months more to gain trust with her hinds but it’s been almost a year of regular trimming 💪🏼

Her hooves haven’t changed too dramatically but there have been noticeable angle changes in the hoof, leg, shoulder and neck and that my friends means EVERYTHING and makes A HUGE DIFFERENCE 🤩

What I’m witnessing now is a relationship with my horse that I never thought possible ❤️

💖A new calm but more more playful energy

💖More strength in her hinds

💖More lift

💖More top line in the areas where pain was previously

💖More engagement with me, with or without treats

💖Just MORE 😍

Naturally balanced hoofcare is turning her life around one trim at a time and I wish you all knew how very much it can change your life too 💗

23/06/2025

“I don’t want my horse to be in pain” 😣 ~ I’ve heard this from a couple of owners recently when I ask them why they put shoes on their horses. Here’s the thing…

Barefoot and Balanced means only more soundness. Truth.

I’m talking about true wHolistic soundness.

The type of ‘🤩’ feeling soundness.

Metal deforms the natural hoof. Truth.

Deformed hooves need to relax and unwind, this transition process can look different depending on how ‘tense and tight’ the hooves and body have become.

For transition periods there are boots, certainly not always needed but a useful tool.
Remember that the goal is to transition your horse ‘barefoot’ 😉

Why transition at all? Here are some bonuses:

❤️ More sure footedness
❤️ Less tripping
❤️ More stamina
❤️ More top line
❤️ Building underdeveloped muscles
❤️ More energy but in a calm grounded way
❤️ More willingness to work
❤️ Healthier Backs
❤️ Smoother transitions
❤️ More cadence and suspension
❤️ Longer careers and lives
❤️ Better quality rest periods
❤️ Better lymph drainage
❤️ Better blood flow to all organs
❤️ Healthier joints
❤️ Slow Halt or Prevent the progression of arthritis, navicular, and other pathologies
❤️ Fewer vet bills

Make today the day you started on your path to balance and healthfulness 💗

Picture credit Dakota Grown photos 💕

22/06/2025

Pause… this is her time ❤️

21/06/2025

Mother Nature is ALWAYS playing tug of war with us...
She is always RECENTERING every cell of our horse back to nature, Back to BALANCE...
All we have to do is LET GO of the rope and TRUST ❤️🩷🧡💛💚💙🩵💜
AND..
If you need more INSPIRATION then check out the work of GTL Gawsworth Track Livery, tissues to hand 🥲, they have fully surrendered to Mother Nature, breathing life and soundness back where possible ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

21/06/2025

An unexpected and beautiful review ❤️

Another owner standing up for their horse, and mule, making changes and seeing results 💕

🤷🏼‍♀️ How can I make you see how much difference can be made in a couple of trims…

This lad isn’t young and was diagnosed with navicular years ago, yet still we were able to turn back the hands of time for him.
Looking and feeling much more comfortable now ❤️

Thank you 💕

20/06/2025

🤔 How much does your horse trust your judgement?

➡️Do you make demands when your horse ‘isn’t concentrating’?
➡️Do you try to pull your horse towards scary objects?
➡️Do you hold your horse and bring the scary object to him?
➡️Do you get impatient “why doesn’t he just trust me?”

Imagine your child is scared to swim for the first time.. 🏊‍♀️

🥺You would know his unruly behaviour is fear.
🥺You wouldn’t just throw him in the pool.
🥺You wouldn’t take it personally.
🥺You wouldn’t get angry with him.

❤️You would see that he is fearful.
❤️You would see that he needs reassurance.
❤️You would be quietly confident.
❤️You would know that today may not be the day.
❤️You would explain the situation with love and understanding.

🐴 Horses want to feel in a safe space with safe company too 💕

19/06/2025

Welcome back Shirley 👏🏼 she has been away in Istanbul getting a chemical peel so she had to keep covered up from the ☀️ 😝 😂

A little laugh for this week… and also an important thing for me 💕

Always check in to how you feel before handling a horse 🐴

🪞 Horses mirror our innermost feelings and beliefs about ourselves.

Horses are great therapists, but it takes self reflection on our part ❤️

19/06/2025

Horses require interaction with Horses.

When horses are denied regular contact with other horses, they can experience increased stress, which may manifest as restlessness, stereotypic behaviours (such as weaving or cribbing), and even health issues like digestive or musculoskeletal problems.

Social isolation has also been linked to heightened anxiety, learning difficulties, and a greater risk of injury, as horses deprived of companionship are more likely to become despondent or withdrawn.

Humans can offer comfort and support to horses during periods of social isolation, but cannot fully substitute for the social bonds horses form with other horses.

A recent (2025) study by Janczarek and colleagues examined this issue by measuring heart rate, heart rate variability, and behavioural responses in 12 horses during brief isolation periods.

The researchers found that even with attentive human support, horses still show physiological and behavioural signs of stress when isolated from other horses. Mares, in particular, remained stressed regardless of the type of human interaction.

Janczarek, I., Gazda, I., Barłowska, J., Kurnik, J., & Łuszczyński, J. (2025). Social Isolation of Horses vs. Support Provided by a Human. Animals