Understanding your horse's motivation is really everything, when it comes to training and daily handling. Read through the more colorful version here, and then click the PDF below it for a downloadable, printable version ..read more

They're not just the little hairs that your horse (adorably) always gets food stuck in - whiskers actually serve a very important purpose. It's common to want to trim them so they look a little neater, but if we consider the needs of the horse, we should forego the scissors or clippers. Want to know why? Vibrissae around the eyes and muzzle help horses gauge their distance from objects, and some evidence shows that they might actually be used to test electric fences They are extremely sensitive and help provide tactile information in the horse's environment This is similar to the function of ..read more

Have you ever wondered how training really works in the mind of the horse? In the behavioral world we talk about a lot of terms like positive reinforcement, positive punishment, negative reinforcement and negative punishment. But we won't go too into the weeds with those: the two main methods of training that most folks are familiar with are negative reinforcement and positive reinforcement - respectively, the application and then the release of pressure, and the use of incentives to motivate a horse's behavior. Negative reinforcement is traditional horsemanship: for example, you urge the hors ..read more

Inevitably if you scroll through popular social media groups for horse people, you see a pattern of questions involving horses who fall down asleep suddenly in their stalls, and their owners are worried that they are narcoleptic. But what appears to be narcolepsy is most often a case of sleep deprivation. And yes, that does exist! Just like us, horses have natural sleep cycles and require REM sleep. But in order for them to get REM sleep, they have to be able to lie down on their sides - which means they need both the actual physical space to do so, and the conditions in which to do so comfort ..read more

Anthropomorphism, defined, is "the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object". So OK, why should we care about it? It's super easy to accidentally anthropomorphize our horses. After all, we love them like pets or even children sometimes. They are incredibly sensitive animals and by forming emotional bonds with them, we feel like we can read into their emotions (and that they can read into ours). And to a degree, that is true. But we make a mistake if we forget that horses are horses, with brains different from ours. Just because we feel bonded to them does no ..read more

You just finished giving your horse a bath. She finally is clean of whatever mystery gunk was stuck in her mane, she smells good, and dang is she going to look shiny when's she's finally dry. You lead her out to the field, fingers crossed, take off the halter, and.... DOWN she goes. You watch in horror as your beautifully bathed white mare plunks herself into the first patch of dirt she can find and goes to town, rolling back and forth until she looks (at best) like a dun - or worse if it's really muddy, as dark as a bay. *Face/palm* Chances are, you know this scenario all too well. I always ..read more

An Approach Grounded in Equine Behavior I am so excited to introduce Eleni Ingalls of Sunshine Equine Dentistry, located here in Florida. I first discovered her work when I was looking for no-sedation dentistry for my mare Gracie, and though at first I was a little skeptical that a no-sedation hand float would work on my skittish and temperamental horse, I was really pleased by the results. Not just the technical results of my horse's teeth being filed, but the experience for the horse -- it was way less stressful for everyone involved! Now I sing Eleni's praises to anyone who will listen, an ..read more

I'll never forget the image of my first pony frothing with sweat, eyes wild, frantically pacing up and down the fence line. As a young teenager inexperienced with horse ownership, I thought at the time that he was simply spooked by something in the nearby woods. Looking back, I now know that it was because he had been placed in a secluded field without a companion, and without any visual contact with other animals or people. My parents didn't know much more than me about horses at the time, but luckily they somehow eventually came to the conclusion that we needed to get my pony a companion. W ..read more

Have you ever wondered how well your horse recognizes you? Meaning, beyond the faint scent of carrot bits in your pocket that alerts them to your presence in the field? I have, too. And we're not alone: this very topic has been the fodder for many research studies by equine scientists. Previous research has shown that horses identify other horses by smell, hearing and visual details, and that they can also identify specific humans in similar ways. But excitingly, a newer study done in 2020 has gone even further to demonstrate that horses can differentiate between photographs of a familiar hum ..read more

You just finished giving your horse a bath. She finally is clean of whatever mystery gunk was stuck in her mane, she smells good, and dang is she going to look shiny when's she's finally dry. You lead her out to the field, fingers crossed, take off the halter, and.... DOWN she goes. You watch in horror as your beautifully bathed white mare plunks herself into the first patch of dirt she can find and goes to town, rolling back and forth until she looks (at best) like a dun - or worse if it's really muddy, as dark as a bay. *Face/palm* Chances are, you know this scenario all too well. I always ..read more