Stepping With You Equine Behavior and Training

19/06/2025

https://youtu.be/yOy8An41g4Y?si=SQHlbx9PPGwTXkaH

This uplifting, independently-funded film focuses on Dr. Jay Komarek’s work with Dizzy, an abused horse at the Prasad Foundation Horse Rescue in Oregon. When...

28/05/2025

There’s a difference between a horse that responds because it has to… and one that responds because it wants to.

When a horse begins to offer a transition, a stretch, a moment of softness without being pushed or corrected into it, that’s true progress. It means they’re understanding, they’re engaged, and most importantly, they feel safe enough to participate.

This is where training transforms into communication. It’s not about perfection, it’s about willingness. That little offer, freely given, says: “I trust you. I’m with you.”

That’s the moment every rider should aim for, not control, but connection. 💫

28/05/2025

09/05/2025

Hey everyone. I have been super sick with a bad chest cold this week. I'm sorry if you haven't herd from me about evaluations and scheduling more appointments. You should hear from me next week when I'm feeling better. I will be a little backed up with training but will try my best to accommodate everyone.

Happy early mothers day to all the human and horsey moms out there❣️

06/05/2025

Ruby is a 6 y/o Draft cross. Her owner rescued her from a kill pen a couple months ago. She had to be sedated and put into stocks to get her feet done during Quarantine.
This picture was the day after my evaluation and working on picking up her feet. She was able to be trimmed without sedation or stocks and stayed calm❣️

03/05/2025

Diana is a 4 year old TB mare. This picture was at the end of my evaluation with her. She is learning how to relax and be patient on a loose lead. It's super important to know when to end and not go overboard in a training session.
Super sweet and pretty girl!

29/04/2025

Jimmy enjoying his Sure Foot pads after his sheath cleaning. He was also adjusting himself. When he flexed himself (on his own) there were several poping noises.

29/04/2025

Max getting to know what sheath cleaning smells like! Lol

22/01/2025

Behaviour is a symptom 🐴

We often see people asking for help with training through a behavioural issue, they’ll describe perhaps being a bit crabby under saddle or being difficult to mount. Usually someone in the comments will suggest a pain issue and the response is “but he isn’t showing any symptoms of pain”. Behaviour is a symptom, of something, even if it isn’t necessarily pain.

I think we are so used to seeing horses showing discomfort and stress that we don’t notice it as unusual, that’s just how horses are to us. We perhaps think that pain behaviours must be really loud, obvious lameness, biting, kicking, throwing people off etc.

When I go to any big livery yard there are inevitably a number of horses showing fairly extreme stress behaviours which is just accepted as normal, eyes are rolled, they are shouted at and “put in their place”. If this is what we’re exposed to all the time, its no wonder we feel confused when someone suggests our horse isn’t okay.

The other difficult thing to navigate is the number of professionals going out to see these horses who are also telling people the behaviour is normal and nothing to worry about. I suppose they are victim to the same conditioning, if all you see throughout your training are stressed, uncomfortable horses, then that seems normal to you. Education on behavioural science and how horses bodies should, or could, look without seeing them through the lens of the current industry standards is severely lacking.

There is such a disconnect that we cannot see our ways of keeping, training and riding horses are usually the main contributing factors to our horse’s physical and behavioural issues. But if we can break away from our conditioning and start to look at our horses through a different lens we can really change things for the better for them, and for us.

I want to give a couple of real world examples of seemingly subtle behaviour that people have been told to train through and what was actually going on.

🐴 Horse was bracing their neck up and shifting back as the rider mounted, was “fine” once you were on. Saddle had become too tight and was pinching.

🐴 Horse started snatching/striking out with front legs when trying to trim hooves. Horse was diagnosed with SI issues and was struggling to shift their weight behind and balance on 3 legs.

🐴 Horse started being difficult to load. Horse was diagnosed with kissing spine and hock arthritis that was potentially making travelling extremely uncomfortable for them.

🐴 Horse was pulling faces and threatening to kick people who came into their stable while they were eating. Horse was diagnosed with stomach ulcers. (I have a whole post coming on food anxiety).

How many of these scenarios have you seen that have been “trained” through using pressure and making the horse move their feet until they give in and comply? All behaviour is information, we just need to look a little deeper and question why rather than ignoring it or looking for a quick fix.

Do you have any stories of unusual behaviour which resolved when you discovered the underlying issue? 🐴

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