It’s important to have a great trainer to learn the fundamentals of good horsemanship and riding, and also a good support team (farrier, veterinarian, et cetera) for a horse’s physical wellness. But what about a horse’s emotional wellness or spiritual connection?

Horses are great feelers. As sentient beings, they have emotions like we do, and feel love, joy, gratitude, and connection with each other and with us. They can also feel anger, frustration, fear, and sadness based on current life circumstances or past traumatic events.

As prey animals, we know they easily move between sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) states.

Clearing Stuck Emotions

As a trained animal communicator, I find it’s very helpful to be a part of a horse parent’s support team when it comes to enhancing their horse’s emotional fitness. We often focus on just the physical nature of the horse, and yet there is a great mind-body connection that also needs to be addressed.

I’ve found in many sessions that behavioral issues are linked to emotions that need to be acknowledged and released. I’m grateful for my training in various emotional clearing techniques that greatly benefit horses (and humans, too!) when they are used in communication and healing sessions.

Horses can have stuck emotions such as “lack of control” or “frustration,” and can be more governed by fear and past traumas rather than feeling grounded and connected to current reality.

When I first adopted my horse, she was guarded and had stuck emotions around abandonment that I helped her to clear, and then our bond grew through trust.

All animals, like humans, can also have heart walls. This is something Bradley Nelson, D.C., discovered in his Emotion Code work. These can prevent horses from receiving and experiencing the good that is here for them now. Sometimes horses also need to release emotions they still have from old barns and owners where they used to live and weren’t happy, so I’ve helped them release the past and start with a clean slate.

In addition, horses are often seen as incredible spiritual beings because they spend a lot of time in a meditative state and can be very still and loving. Many people feel safe crying around them and feel that they evoke awe and wonder.

A Voice and a Choice

These spiritual components are another part of good animal communication, and we can delve into what our horses truly want to be doing in their lives and with their humans. Some want to be great athletes and enjoy physical exercise and competition with their humans; some want to be teachers and healers in equine-assisted therapy or coaching; and others would prefer to be companions without specific work.

We can learn their unique preferences and purposes when we learn to speak with them. It helps them to feel understood, honored, and content when they are allowed to have a voice and a choice.

Many times, horses want to know our expectations for them in our riding relationships. They want to know if and when they will be moved or transported, and if a herd member will be coming or leaving.

They want to express their thoughts about the other members of their support team, such as their vet, farrier, trainer and rider. They also want us to know what bothers them and how they are feeling. All of that information can help their emotional fitness once we are able to understand them better and meet their needs.

What many horses love to communicate is their heart’s desires for their life (their “purpose work”) and how they want to help their humans. They want their humans to know how much they are loved and often want to share how they see their humans. They can have great guidance for how their humans can heal and improve all their relationships.

When animals can get messages across, it makes both their lives and ours easier. They can ask for what they need and want for themselves and for us as well. We don’t need to guess or become frustrated; we can learn how to be helpful to them.

Time after time, I have witnessed a horse’s relationship with his human grow stronger immediately after a session because he finally feels like he was able to fully express himself.

Try It Yourself

In addition to hiring a great animal communicator to be a part of your support team for your horse, you can also learn how to become one yourself. Whether you want to become a professional or you just want to use the skills personally, there are many benefits to animal communication.

At the core, it comes down to a horse feeling seen, heard, valued, and appreciated. Here are some of my top tips and tools to begin horse communication.

1. Permission: Ask your horse if you have permission to chat. I’ve found they always want to talk, as long as it’s a good time and they are in a restful state and not in the middle of playing with friends or taking a lesson, et cetera.

2. Space: Create a specific time and place where it’s quiet and you can bring a journal and really focus on listening and practicing.

3. Intention: Set an intention to connect from your heart space to theirs. You can even put one hand on your heart and the other on your horse’s heart and breathe for a minute. Feel how much you love your horse, then set an intention to receive information from him. Start with simple questions, such as, “How are you feeling today?” and “What are you enjoying today?”

4. Surrender: Let go of attachment to an outcome by staying curious and having fun. Keep it light, simple, and flowing. Assume you already know this skill and can do it! Stay open to how you might receive information, as we are all a bit different with our intuitive skills.

For instance, I am more clairaudient, so I hear what the horses say. If you feel and sense a lot, you may be more clairsentient, and if you see pictures or images, then you may be more clairvoyant.

5. Receive: Keep your body posture open and stay in your heart space. Breathe. Don’t overthink. Smile if you find yourself in your head. Go back to how much you love your horse. And allow your imagination to lead. Just write down whatever comes forward.

6. Gratitude: Thank yourself for trying and being willing to experiment. Thank your horse and share why this practice matters to you. Set another time with your horse for consistency and to improve over time.

How to Clear and Ground

In addition to communication, healing work is also important to offer horses. Equines are often at their safest, for themselves and others, when they feel grounded to their space and land. They feel their best when they are in their own energy signature and not carrying stuck energy.

Clearing: One of my favorite ways to help a horse is to clear his energy field by gently clapping around his body. First test the clap to make sure he doesn’t startle, then move around his body with the intention that stuck energy will leave. Watch to see how your horse likes this and if he is receiving (for example yawning, blinking, nodding, getting sleepy). I have a video demonstrating this on my YouTube channel.

Grounding: You can also put your hands around a horse’s hoof by the coronary band and gently press and imagine your horse connecting more fully to the ground below. Ask for healthy Earth energy to come up into your horse as well. Do this on each of the four hooves. This is great to add to a hoof picking routine or to do before you ride.

Enjoy these new experiences with him and you’ll grow your human-horse-heart connection. Your horse will thank you!

This article about using animal communication for a deeper connection with your horse appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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Reason for Respect

Trainer Mike Brashear states that you’re training your horse every time you’re near him. While your horse may not be aggressive or mean, stepping into your space when he isn’t invited can lead to accidents.

Imagine walking into your horse’s pen to put hay in a slow feeder. Would your horse stand at a distance and only approach once you finish loading the feeder, or would he move forward into your space and steal a mouthful of hay as an appetizer?

If your horse is the type who would come to you and grab a snack, you may be in need of Brashear’s training tips so that your horse doesn’t accidentally munch your fingers, bump into you and cause a fall, or put you in a vulnerable position if multiple horses are in the feeding area.

“When you walk in the pen any other time, you want your horse to come to you,” he says. “Your horse learns that if he comes to you, he gets pets and gets loved on. So when you enter with hay, that’s what he’s going to do as well, unless you teach him something different. You may look at grabbing hay as disrespect, but the horse looks at it as, ‘This is what is allowed.’”

Ideally, Brashear says he wants his horses to wait. He works to put “wait” on his horses wherever and whenever possible so that they tune into his cues.

At feeding time, he wants horses to stand at a 3- to 6-foot distance and wait for him to set down and move away from the hay or grain. Brashear uses the following steps to teach a horse when he can come into your space (to get the food) and when he should respectfully keep his distance.

Teaching “Wait”

Make sure your horse has had his usual meal so that you aren’t training a hungry horse. Also make sure you have time to work with your horse without being rushed. Brashear suggests making this the groundwork that you do before you ride.

Outfit your horse with a rope halter and a 12-foot training lead attached to the halter with a knot. For now, leave the food in the barn. You’ll teach the cues without temptation present first. Only after your horse is doing well and obeying your request to stand and wait should you attempt it at feeding time.

“It’s always better to start with a connection with your horse so you have some control and can send him back out,” says Brashear.

1. Start by facing your horse and stand about 3 feet in front of him. Mimic the distance you’d like to be from your horse when you feed him in his stall or paddock.

2. If your horse moves into your space, shake the lead rope to encourage him to step or rock back. If he doesn’t move, shake harder. Make sure to keep your feet in the same place. You don’t want to chase the horse away or act aggressively. Instead, you’re just teaching him to respond to the rope correction and stay in place as you asked.

“I don’t want to walk to my horse or act mean,” says Brashear. “I want to teach him to wait. When the horse steps back, all my energy stops, and I stop moving the rope. That change of energy is the release.”

You may add a verbal cue of “get back” to remind your horse to stand still in a calm way. If your horse will stand still and not move into your space, back up and see if he will come into your space. Your moving back will invite the horse forward.

If you step forward, he should move accordingly, too. If you stop again, make sure that he will stand still. Practice this again. When you want your horse to move closer to you, step back (while still facing your horse) and take slack out of your lead rope.

As you work without feed present, think about how this same skill will work at feeding time. Think, “You can’t come up to this feeder until I’m back out of the stall door. If I turn my back and walk away, you can come up, but you can’t come up on me on your own accord.”

Add Feed

Next, set up the same scenario (standing in front of your horse and expecting him to stand respectfully), but have a pan of grain at your feet.   

Brashear says that now it’s time to ask your horse to move in and out of your space on command while the food is present. First, ask your horse to stand 3 to 6 feet away from you and the feed. Allow him to wait for about 30 seconds.

Ask your horse to come into your space by slumping your shoulders and stepping back. This change will invite your horse to move forward to get a bite from the feed pan.

“Horses will usually take one bite of grain, then lift up their heads to swallow,” he says. “Once your horse has taken a bite, ask him to step back and leave the feed again. Step forward and stand tall. Ask him to stand and wait until invited in again.”

Practice this over and over.

“Every bite of grain that my horse gets is dependent on me asking him to come into me,” says Brashear.

If your horse is responding well to your cues, practice again with a web halter. You want to know if your body language alone is enough to tell your horse to back up. With a “lighter” halter, you can tell if your horse is listening to your cues but still have some connection to him.

Finally, it’s time to test your horse without a halter. Work where you would feed your horse, but when he isn’t waiting for a meal. Take the halter off altogether and try the same setup.

If your horse stands and waits, notice if he’s looking for your cues.

“If he looks like he’s wondering if he should move to the food or not, he’s watching you,” says Brashear. “Make him wait and stand for about 30 seconds. Then, step back and away and allow him to get the food. Your rocking back draws him to you and allows him to get to the grain.”

Keep in mind that you may have to move back to previous training steps if your horse isn’t listening without the halter. Ask him to move away again when he picks his head up. Step forward and increase the energy in your body, then move your hands up and away just like you would have while holding the lead.

If he doesn’t respond, increase your energy until you get a change—without yelling or appearing angry. If your horse won’t move away or listen, go back and work with the rope halter and lead.

At Feeding Time

After you have practiced sending your horse away from the grain during a practice session, it’s time to do the same work at feeding time. Make sure that you have time and aren’t in a rush.

When you walk into the pen, carry the hay to the feeder and make sure that you’re aware of your horse’s position. If your horse comes up to you and you’re focused on filling up the feeder, put the hay down and focus on the horse just as you did in the last “no-halter” training session. Put your arms up and calmly tell your horse “get back.”

When you remind your horse of the training you did with the halter, he should learn that you expect the same behavior any time you are near him—including at feeding time.

This article about improving a horse’s behavior at feeding time appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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Like dating, finding the right horse can be an extensive search to find The One. The quest will most likely involve endless scrolling and comparing online listings to find your potential match. If you’re looking into adopting a horse, you just might find some extra information in that profile to make the hunt a little easier.

For example, your search to adopt a Steady Eddy could lead you to a listing for a horse named ARH Banana for Breakfast. While the palomino pinto gelding may have a silly sounding name for a senior gentleman, according to his online profile, he’s steady as they come, up to date on his vetting, an experienced trail horse, and a been-there, done-that kind of guy.

Checking Off the Boxes

How do you know? Anyone wanting further evidence can see he checks off a lot of boxes in the solid equine citizen department through the Basic Behaviors Profile (BBP) posted with his listing on myrighthorse.org.

Thanks to this handy tool, potential adopters of this seasoned steed know that he has demonstrated that he can be approached in turnout, calmly haltered and led through a gate, allows his feet to be picked up, stands calmly tied and to be brushed, fly sprayed and blanketed, and various other behaviors on the 14-point checklist of common groundwork skills.

While it’s just one part of the information on a horse’s resume, and there will be more questions, conversations, and hopefully a meet-and-greet to assess a match, the BBP has proven helpful to streamline the evaluation process on both sides.

“The Basic Behaviors Profile has helped create a standardized evaluation process for adopters,” says Cailin Caldwell, ASPCA Right Horse Program Director. “When they visit myrighthorse.org, they can quickly see the skills each horse has and which ones they still need to work on, helping them better find their right horse. Many adopters appreciate the information and transparency the tool lends to the adoption experience.

“On the other side, the Basic Behaviors Profile helps adoption organizations more efficiently identify training opportunities and then leverage that information to make happy, adoptive matches for their horses. Many of our partners now use the tool regularly when bringing a new horse into their facility, which has made the training and evaluation process smoother for both their staff and adopters.”

Origins of the Basic Behaviors Profile

The BBP was created, designed and field-tested by a team of equine experts and behaviorists to help improve the adoption process for the ASPCA Right Horse Program. Since its introduction in 2018, it has been used by ASPCA Right Horse partner organizations and is available free online for anyone to use, including equine adoption organizations, trainers, and individual horse owners.

Knowing what a horse knows is useful information. No matter what type of horse you’re looking for, ground-handling skills are essential for all horses, and the BBP provides a standardized way to assess how a horse responds to these requests.

“The Basic Behaviors profile is a series of 14 tasks that are ideal for any equine to be able to complete throughout their life,” explains Kylie Solís-McGarity, equine behavior and training specialist at the ASPCA Equine Transition and Adoption Center (ETAC) in El Reno, Okla. “They’re things that are going to be able to support [the horse’s] health in the long term and his ability to be seen by a vet and farrier. In an adoption space, it’s a way for us to be able to look at his skillset and assess the training state on all of our equines.”

A Good Starting Point

The BBP isn’t a training method, nor does it promote any specific training technique. Instead, it’s an evaluation tool that helps assess ground manners and handling. For trainers, it serves as a useful starting point to form a training plan.

“A lot of horses come in with what I call ‘swiss cheese’ training,” says Solís-McGarity. “They know some things and they’ve got some holes in other places. This is a really great way to know where they need additional support in their training.”

Solís-McGarity holds a bachelor’s degree in equine science as well as a master’s in animal behavior and welfare from Colorado State University. She applies those skills at ETAC, where services reach over 100 horses annually; of those, about half will go through some sort of behavior or training work before rehoming.

By no means do these skills need to be completed before a horse can be adopted. Instead, Solís-McGarity notes that it’s a useful way to communicate clearly with an adopter and pass on information about a horse’s skills and knowledge.

The BBP is one of the first steps for horses coming into ETAC.

“We do this before a medical exam because we’re going to be looking at things like, can they be haltered?” she says. “Can they be led, can they stand tied, can they pick up their feet, are they able to receive oral medications? What are their reactions to these very common and low-type stressors? Once we do the behavioral profile, we can much more easily inform our vet as to expectations with medical handling as well.”

Solís-McGarity is very specific about not doing any training while she is doing the profile.

“It’s not a time to train a horse, but to take in information on whether he knows it or not and what his reactions are,” she says. “And then if he can’t complete a task, we just move on and will focus training efforts during a different time.”

Tracking Basic Behaviors Profile Score During Training

Once a horse starts full-time training, Solís-McGarity likes to complete the profile every two weeks to track his progress, and again when the horse is adopted, right before he leaves.

The BBP offers a numerical score of completed items on the list. It’s not pass/fail; items are simply noted as complete or incomplete. Solís-McGarity explains that a low BBP score isn’t a reflection of a horse’s trainability. Instead, it’s a helpful way to get the conversation started, gather more information, and get to know the horse.

“It’s a great way to start getting to know the challenges, good and bad, of each horse, because no horse is going to be perfect,” says Solís-McGarity. “Since it’s a complete/incomplete, the range of reasons why it’s incomplete could be very minimal, or it could be something that’s going to require a lot of work in the future.”

For example, if someone is looking for a great trail horse, the fact that he’s fussy about deworming may not be a big deal, while a skill like tying well is of higher importance.

Useful for Any Horse Owner

The BBP is also useful to try at home with your own horse for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it creates a safety net.

“More than anything, all of us want our horses to have a secure and safe future,” says Solís-McGarity. “And if there ever comes a point where you have to rehome your horse, if you have gone through some of these skills and given the horse a really good foundation so he knows how to be a good citizen, it really helps him find wonderful, loving homes in the future.”

It’s also good to keep skills current to avoid getting into a tough spot, such as trailer loading for a vet emergency or evacuation during a natural disaster.

Especially with young horses, or if you have a lot of horses and it’s hard to get to them all, Solis-McGarity recommends adding the BBP to expand your tool kit outside of the normal “go out to the barn and ride” routine.

Reducing Time to Adoption

At ETAC, the proof is in the numbers, with a reduced length of stay—the time a horse spends at the facility from intake to adoption.

“It has significantly reduced length of stay for us because we have a goal of getting it completed, and we get tons of information on a horse from doing the profile right off the bat,” says Solís-McGarity. “And the more info we have, the more we can pass to adopters, and the faster we can get them into their right homes.”

It worked for Banana for Breakfast, who was quickly adopted.

The BBP is available at aspcarighthorse.org/basic-behaviors-profile. To browse listings of adoptable horses, including many with the Basic Behaviors Profile, visit myrighthorse.org, the ASPCA’s online adoption platform for equines.

This article about the Basic Behaviors Profile appeared in the September 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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As herd animals who are also prey animals, horses instinctively feel safer in a group setting with room to flee from danger.

Of course, many domestic horses don’t live in such an environment.

Some are turned out on pasture or even a dirt lot with other horses, but many spend most of their time alone in a stall or corral. These arrangements may be a necessary part of life, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s not natural for the horse.

Even though horses can adapt, many common management practices can unintentionally ramp up their stress level. Ongoing stress can end up causing health problems, which are often seen in the form of gastric disturbances, including colic and stomach ulcers.

Are you making your horse’s life stressful without realizing it? Take an honest look at your daily routine while considering these common causes of stress. Then take a look at how you can make changes for the better.

1. Inconsistency

“If you watch horses in a field, they have a routine,” says Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D., an equine nutritionist who works with Kentucky Equine Research. “They often graze in certain parts of the pasture at certain times of day, and rest at certain times. When we become their provider, it’s helpful to them if we put them on a routine because then they know what to expect.”

She notes that without a routine, horses may develop stereotypies, such as cribbing, stall walking, and pawing.

“Horses are creatures of habit and do a lot better with a schedule, [where] you’re feeding and turning out at the same time every day,” says Sam Crosby, DVM, an equine veterinarian since 1994 who maintains his own practice, Crosby Veterinary Services, in Arcadia, Okla.

Crosby often finds that when he examines a horse that is losing body condition and weight, or has gastric ulcers, that horse has not been on a consistent routine.

2. Confinement

Confinement is an ongoing stress that constantly triggers the nervous system. When your horse lives in a stall or in a small corral, regular exercise and/or daily turnout is vital. Making sure other horses are visible also reduces stress.

Whether your horse is stalled or in a dirt lot, hay should be available most of the day and night. Use of a small-hole hay net or slow feeder makes it last longer, so the stomach doesn’t have a long period without forage.

Ideally, a horse should eat at least 1.5 to 2 percent of his body weight in forage daily.

3. Herd Dynamics

If you’re fortunate to have your horse in a pasture setting, keep him in a compatible group. In boarding situations where horses come and go, this can be challenging.

“Horses have a natural pecking order and have to establish that, but if one horse is a bully, you have to separate them,” says Crosby.

Once you have an established group that gets along well, it’s best not to change it.

Changing herd dynamics, such as moving from one pasture to another and being with different horses can be enough to trigger ulcer development.

Feeding in a group setting is also asking for trouble. It puts horses lower in the pecking order at risk of not getting their share of feed or even getting injured. The safest option is always to separate horses at feeding time and then turn them back out together. If this is not possible, spacing hay piles or grain feeders quite far apart with one more pile/feeder than horses is the next best option.

4. Lengthy Periods Between Meals

“The gut pays the price for stress,” says Crosby. “When the GI system reacts to stress, it lowers the immune system and puts the horse more at risk of contracting respiratory disease and other illnesses.”

One of the biggest stresses to the GI tract is going without forage for hours at a time.

“If your feed routine is first thing in morning and then early afternoon, you’ve got 8 hours between the first feedings, but 16 hours until the next one,” says Crandell. “The longer the stomach is empty, the more acidic it becomes and the more likely the horse is to develop ulcers.”

Because horses are hind gut fermenters, their GI system functions best when fed small amounts of forage throughout the day.

Crandell points out that in the 1500s to late 1800s, when horses were used for work and transportation, it was unheard of to feed less than four to six times a day. Horses were routinely given breaks to graze or eat hay.

Space out feedings evenly so you aren’t feeding large amounts of grain at once or going long periods with no forage intake. This may mean feeding three to four times a day instead of twice.

5. Changing Hay and Feed

Buying whatever hay or feed is on sale and frequently making changes is stressful on the horse’s digestive system.

“Abrupt changes in feed can cause serious changes in the gut,” says Crandell. “If the gut is healthy, the immune system functions optimally; 70 percent of the immune system is in the gut. It’s all about the balance of the microbiome.”

Beneficial bacteria create a mucous layer in the small and large intestine, offering protection from digestive juices and large molecules.

“The beneficial bacteria maintain this mucous lining, but if you disrupt the good bacteria, the mucous layer breaks down, and this is what allows pathogenic bacteria to get through the gut lining and into the blood stream,” she adds.

Changing feed abruptly imbalances the microbial population and can result in damage to this protective mucous lining, making the horse more susceptible to gastric upset and leaky gut.

Always allow a week to make feed changes by adding one-quarter of the new feed or hay to three-quarters of the old. Then gradually add more of the new while tapering out the old. This allows the gut microbes to gradually adjust to the new source.

6. Travel

Transporting horses is common, but travel is a high source of stress, so take practical steps to reduce its impact.

Keep hay in front of horses during travel so they don’t have long periods with an empty stomach.

Don’t tie so short that horses can’t drop their heads at all.

When traveling longer than five or six hours, plan for stops of at least 15 to 20 minutes to encourage horses to drink and urinate, as many won’t do so while the trailer is in motion. On longer trips, schedule overnight stops, or at the very least unload long enough that horses can walk, stretch their legs, and lower their heads, which is important for clearing the airways.

Both Crosby and Crandell recommend supplementing with probiotics for overall gastric health, particularly during travel and competition.

To help prevent ulcers, it’s also beneficial to use a proven medication, such as UlcerGard, two days before, during, and right after travel.

7. Weather Extremes

Living in tornado alley, Crosby has treated many horses after being injured in tornadoes. He’s found that extreme weather can do more than cause physical injury.

“When a horse has been through a big event like a tornado, it has a lasting effect on the psyche,” says Crosby. “These horses will generally be spookier afterward and have problems coping. It’s a common happening and is like PTSD in humans.”

Although major weather events are totally out of your control, be aware that they can cause significant stress in horses.

If you live in an area with extreme weather, such as tornadoes or hurricanes, have plans in place so your horse is in the safest possible situation. This may mean evacuating ahead of a storm or turning out in a large field instead of keeping the horse inside a barn.

8. Barn Atmosphere

The atmosphere in and around the barn either contributes to stress or reduces it. This includes feed, exercise, and training routines, how horses are handled, human personalities, and even the noise level.

“Your barn should be calm; if it’s not peaceful, the horses will feel it,” says Crosby, who often treats horses whose stress and anxiety is directly related to their daily environment, routine, and how they’re handled.

Do everything you can to promote a stress-free barn atmosphere. On occasion, this may mean moving to a different boarding facility, but if it makes your horse’s life less stressful, it’s worth it.

This article about causes of stress in horses appeared in the August 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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Cribbing is considered a vice, as it can be destructive to property, wear down the horse’s incisors, develop undesirable under-neck muscles, and reduce the value of your horse.

Cribbing is often mitigated by collars, sprays, electric fence wires, and sometimes by reducing stomach acid. Collars may need to be so tight to work that they potentially cause damage to the skin, nerves and airflow.

Reducing stomach acid may temporarily decrease cribbing, but it may also be contrary to the needs of some horses.

Common causes of cribbing are understood to be boredom, stress, anxiety, diet and habit. Below we’ll bring to light another cause, and a remedy for it.

Three Cribbers, Two Solutions

Over a couple of decades, I have had three cribbers—all off-track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs). The first two horses completely stopped cribbing with diet and lifestyle changes that effectively removed the physical, mental, and emotional discomforts that caused their anxiety and addressed boredom. (Those specific changes are highlighted later in this article.)

A third cribber presented a greater challenge. The diet and lifestyle changes that worked for the others were not quite enough to address his issues of discomfort. I noticed that certain foods and treats caused immediate cribbing, so I eliminated some of the triggers. Basically, any treats (apples, carrots, cookies, et cetera), complete feeds, and ration balancers all caused immediate cribbing.

Wrong Answers

I begrudgingly put a collar on him. The collar worked initially—until it didn’t. I tightened it. It worked a little longer and then it didn’t. I tightened it once more with the same result.

When swelling under the horse’s jaw began, I removed the collar and let him crib at will. Electric fence was used in places to avoid him self-soothing in those locations.

It was clear this horse was cribbing to seek comfort. The question was, why?

I tried reducing his stomach acid by using Omeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor (PPI). It reduced the cribbing to some degree, but is not a good long-term solution for physiological and financial reasons.

Light Bulb Moment

One day, my sister was talking about her heartburn and how her throat was on fire and that sucking air in helped cool it, if only for a moment.

I immediately thought, “My horse has GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) and is trying to alleviate a burning in his throat.”

Heartburn, or GERD, is the result of stomach acid ascending into the esophagus, resulting in pain or a burning feeling. Heartburn usually occurs after eating. If your horse always cribs during and/or after eating, this may be his problem, too.

Stomach acid gets up into the esophagus because the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) does not close properly. The common cause of this malfunction is low stomach acid. Therefore PPIs like Omeprazole or antacids like Tums and even baking soda being given to lower stomach acid may contribute to cribbing or windsucking. Long-term use of stomach acid suppressors may make it more challenging to recover proper function of the LES.

While some publications found online will indicate PPIs as appropriate for the treatment of GERD, other online articles and videos implicate low stomach acid in reflux. The latter anecdotally proved true in my barn.

The Solution

My horse’s cribbing has been reduced by well over 90 percent by addressing the discomfort he was experiencing with GERD, along with the diet and lifestyle changes that resulted in stopping the other two other horses’ cribbing.

The GERD discomfort was mitigated by adding three dietary ingredients mixed into his feed to coat his throat and esophagus. Those ingredients (listed below) were all organic; however, non-organic might work as well. Initially, this was done twice per day, and eventually added to just one feeding per day.

NOTE: Competitive riders should check with their sport’s governing bodies to ensure all things ingested by their horse are permitted, or if a period of withdrawal is needed for any single ingredient.

These are the dietary and lifestyle changes that helped conquer cribbing in my barn.

Dietary Changes for Cribbing

First, I provided three kinds of quality hay, as horses eat more with variety. Each horse always has access to hay and/or grass. Hay kept on hand usually consists of one first cutting and two second-cutting grass hays.

Next, I cut sugars and other unwanted ingredients proven to trigger cribbing from the horses’ diets. Thus far, I have only found one feed (Cavalor Strucomix Senior) that doesn’t induce cribbing, and unfortunately it’s cost prohibitive. So, I am still mixing my own feed daily. Of course, trial and error of individual ingredients for cribbing reactions followed by formulating and mixing feeds to ensure a diet complete in all nutrients is time consuming and not feasible for most people.

Finally, I began adding 1 teaspoon each of licorice root powder, marshmallow root powder, and slippery elm bark powder mixed into feed. (This step is likely only effective for some horses that crib during and/or directly after feeding.)

Lifestyle Changes for Cribbing

As mentioned before, lifestyle changes alone were enough to stop cribbing in two of the three horses. Here are the changes I made to their management:

1. Ensure as much freedom and movement as possible. All are afforded freedom to walk out of their stalls at any time and into paddocks as weather permits. The only time they choose to stay inside is during bug season.

2. Maximize turnout with at least one well-suited pasture mate. Having horses across the fence during turnout will not suffice for some horses.

Not every horse owner will be able to implement all the changes outlined here due to their facilities or other constraints. Not every horse will need them all. And still others may have an unknown discomfort that needs to be addressed.

If your cribber is most active during and/or after eating, that may be a clue of discomfort caused by GERD. Addressing physical, mental, and emotional discomfort and boredom may eliminate cribbing or at least greatly reduce it.

This article about cribbing appeared in the June 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Solutions for Cribbing appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

These emerging approaches—also sometimes called “emotional horsemanship”—seek to prioritize horses’ emotional worlds in our relationships with them and make space for plenty of equine agency. And the people who engage in and share them range from dressage trainers and saddle fitters to equine-assisted learning facilitators and bodyworkers.

If that sounds broad, it’s because it is. Through the lens of what I will refer to as trauma-informed horsemanship, horses and humans process emotions similarly, and this includes manifestations of stress in the body.

In turn, all of this emotional and physical baggage affects health and behaviors of both horses and humans in our relationships. By opening new channels of communication and seeking to truly listen to ourselves and our horses, these approaches have the potential to give equestrians new insights into why their horse might be uncomfortable or acting out.

The Feedback Circle

Colorado-based dressage trainer Nahshon Cook describes the human-horse emotional relationship as a feedback circle or an energy loop.

People often carry unresolved emotions as tension or even injury in their own bodies. This, in turn, affects how they move on the ground or in the saddle. Perhaps your hips are tight and your horse is unable to move his back freely. Over time, this can lead to both emotional stress and mechanical injury for the horse.

A horse “acting out” in response may trigger fear and more tension in the rider.

“Horses balance their behaviors—often unwanted behaviors—on stuck emotions in our bodies,” says Cook. “They are protecting themselves from trauma in the life of that person.”

Similarly, equines often carry their own history of emotional and physical trauma. And because horses are flight animals, they tend to internalize any resulting distress, regardless of the source.

Distress Due to Trauma

Claire Aitken, a South Carolina-based saddle fitter and equine massage therapist, sees this every day in her work, and must adjust accordingly for truly beneficial results.

“From a therapeutic perspective [before working on a horse], it’s important to take all of their history into account because these traumas that so many of them have, they hold in their body,” says Aitken.

This stoicism, combined with horses’ general tendency toward generosity with and forgiveness of the humans in their lives, makes it easy to miss early signs of discomfort. When we fail (even unintentionally) to respect their subtle attempts to communicate distress, such as opting out of work, for example, you may be driving your equine partner to escalate to behavioral issues that will be heard.

To interrupt this cycle and rebuild it as one with space for recovery, we must learn to listen better to what the horse wants and needs.

Acting with Aggression

When Kim Hallin, the founder of equine facilitated learning company Unbridled, LLC brought her horse Tempo into the world, it was with the intention of having a sport partner.

But the spunky filly was about to challenge everything she thought she knew. From birth, Tempo was not interested in passively following someone else’s path for her. And after a major injury early in life, the stress of recovery led her to develop severe aggression toward humans.

“Horses are flight animals, and [Tempo’s] flight was taken away,” says Hallin.

She explains that Tempo’s injury required frequent, often invasive, treatments and drastic reductions in her physical freedom. It didn’t take long for the young mare to connect humans with a loss of autonomy.

And although Hallin was trying to help Tempo heal, “[I was] the one opening that stall door every day but [not] letting her out. She came to associate humans with a loss of control over her body.”

Even after Tempo regained access to turnout with the herd, she retained her aggression toward humans, charging the fence whenever someone approached. And despite Hallin’s natural horsemanship skills, the situation did not improve. They made progress during training sessions, but interactions outside of those controlled environments triggered her aggression.

“[Training] wasn’t healing our relationship,” says Hallin.

When Hallin recognized Tempo’s behavior as resulting from trauma rooted in unmet emotional and instinctual needs, she was able to ask the horse what she needed and take steps to give her more choices. That is when she started to see real change.

From Shutting Down to Autonomy

Indeed, the fundamental take-home lesson for all of us, regardless of discipline, is probably the importance of autonomy, or providing the opportunity for our equines to consent.

Cook has earned a reputation as someone who works wonders with a horse whose body has shut down—a horse that may not have many options left. The first time he met the 21-year-old horse we’ll refer to as Zeus, the horse reared and struck at him as soon as he stepped into the arena.

When the horse stopped fighting and stood still for a moment, Cook was struck by his physical condition. Zeus’ medical history includes polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM) and completely degenerated suspensory ligaments, among other problems. His pasterns were parallel to the ground, and he was unable to flex to the left due to a large knot at the base of his neck.

Despite this, Zeus had likely spent a long time stoically performing dressage movements for his human before his will and his body finally sent up a vehement protest.

“That was his expectation of what a trainer in the arena was,” says Cook. “He had to protect himself. He did not feel safe in his lessons, so he’d started to turn his body off.” That was what had led his humans to Cook.

It took a year before Zeus was ready for a lesson. But when he eventually opted in, he easily executed a Spanish walk, and happily offered piaffe, both movements that unlocked tension in his back.

“In that moment, he guided me to movement that felt good in his compromised body,” says Cook.

Trauma-Informed Horsemanship Requires Listening for Consent

Trauma-informed horsemanship teaches us that consent is essential, even if we aren’t asking horses for such active engagement or performance.

Hallin sees a need for better consent practices in the world of equine therapy. It is too easy for a horse to shut down in those settings, and that will have negative consequences for horse and human alike.

“Are we re-traumatizing people when we’re having them participate in or observe nonconsensual therapy sessions with the horses?” she ponders.

Aitken is also careful to begin every therapeutic or saddle-fitting assessment by focusing on connection.

“Oftentimes, if there’s a horse that hasn’t been listened to in a while, just being there and listening to what he’s saying is a huge deal,” she says.

The variety of techniques available to modern bodyworkers allows Aitken to adapt to the horse’s wants and needs, whether that is simply synchronized breathing or energy work or physical manipulation of some sort.

Key Takeaway: Finding a Path Forward

As essential as consent is, it’s often just the beginning.

Trauma-informed horsemanship doesn’t stop with just horse or human. Professionals like Cook, Aitken, and Hallin have embraced the approach more as a philosophy than a methodology, using it to shape a holistic lens that considers the whole emotion-body cycle and makes space for healing in horses and their people.

“You don’t have to do anything but honor what [the horses] tell you,” says Cook.

But first, we have to get better at listening.

This article about trauma-informed horsemanship appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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Equine Vocalization 1: Whinny

whin•ny; /(h)win/

a loud, high-pitched neigh.

What it is: The vocalization of a whinny is a horse’s social call. In the wild, the whinny is how horses find one another. Each horse has a unique whinny that you (and other horses) can tell apart.

What it Means: This call means, “Where are my friends?” Or, “Who is willing to be my friend?” The horse is lonely and looking for a herd he knows or any horse that is willing to be a herd with him.

How to Respond: He’s feeling insecure, so don’t punish him. It’s common for horse handlers to feel embarrassed or frustrated when their horses are whinnying constantly. Resist your frustration and calmly ask the horse to work. Here’s how:

1. In the moment that your horse is whinnying, put him to work and engage him in an activity, so he has something to focus on. Keep his mind engaged in a positive and effective way. Don’t be harsh or rushed, but provide direction.

2. Ask your horse to turn right, turn left, back up. Provide kind and constant direction until he focuses his attention on you. Once he relaxes, allow him to rest. If he whinnies again, repeat.

3. If you can get your horse to feel the same sense of comfort he feels with the herd, then he won’t feel alone anymore. As you build your relationship over time, the horse will feel safe and no longer need to whinny when he is with you.

Vocalization 2: Nicker

nick•er; /nikr/
a soft, low, breathy whinny.

What it is: The soft purring sound your horse makes implies “Come to me.” It can also mean “Look at me” when a stallion is showing off to a mare.

What it Means: It’s most purposeful between a mare and foal; if the foal wanders off, the mare will nicker to the youngster to call him back. It’s also the sound you hear each day at feeding time which translates to “Come bring me the food.”

How to Respond: When a horse in a wild herd orders around another horse and takes away food, he is the dominant horse. If your horse nickers at you to ask for individual treats, he may think he’s dominant, and that can impact all aspects of your relationship. Here’s what to do:

1. Don’t let the nicker be a signal that you should go give your horse extra food or a treat.

2. If the nicker only happens when you’re feeding all the horses at a regular feeding time, that’s acceptable.

3. Don’t feed a horse in the moment that he is showing aggressive behavior. Wait for him to calm down and only feed when he is calm—even if it’s just for a moment.

Vocalization 3: Snort

snort; /snrt/

an explosive sound made by the sudden forcing of breath through the nose.

What it is: A horse’s snort is an alarm. If a horse does it and holds his head high, he has detected a threat.

What it Means:  When extremely alarmed, the horse may add a rattling sound to the snort, or he may just blow as a milder warning. The snort may also be used during play; when he wants to practice his flight response, he’ll often snort first, and then run. You may hear your horse snort on a trail ride if he detects a strange scent. Here, in the Rocky Mountains, the horses will often snort when we approach elk on the trail.

How to Respond: If you hear a horse snort, stop and make an assessment. It could be one of two things:

1. Look where the snorting horse is looking. There may be something in the distance that is a legitimate threat, or it could be that the horse is fearful of something benign.

2. The horse could be snorting at you if you’re doing new groundwork or establishing boundaries with a previously unhandled horse. The horse needs to have some deference for the handler (and he will come to trust you in time). However, remember that a snorting horse is feeling threatened and may be willing to act out.

(Editor’s Note: This abrupt type of alarm snort is different from the relaxed snorting that is associated with horses in a contented state. Read more about the meaning of horse snorts here.)

Equine Vocalization 4: Squeal

squeal; skwl

a long, high-pitched cry or noise.

What it is: Most often heard from mares, but any horse may squeal. When horses squeal, it is usually a warning of horse-on-horse violence.

What it Means: A mare will squeal to repel the advances of a stallion, but it may also indicate two horses meeting for the first time. They will sniff one another, then one will squeal as a threat of aggression. Often one horse will back down after a squeal, but if they both remain engaged, a strike or kick can come next. If a person is in the middle of horses as they become aggressive, it can be very dangerous.

How to Respond:

1. Make sure to get any people away from horses that are squealing.

2. If horses are loose in a field and getting used to one another and you hear squealing, you don’t have to break it up, but it’s a good idea to supervise.

3. Evaluate the situation, use your best judgment, and make sure that all horses and people are safe.

Key Takeaways

In this article, you’ve learned about horse sounds and vocalizations, including the whinny, nicker, snort, and squeal, as well as what each sound is, what it means, and how to respond.

This article about equine vocalizations originally appeared in the July 2017 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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Spooking isn’t fun for either horse or human. We’ve all experienced this scenario: You’re enjoying a nice, relaxing ride when your horse suddenly startles due to a perceived threat.

Whether your horse is green or experienced, mostly brave or consistently timid, read on to find out how to cut through the tension and get back to enjoying your partnership with your horse.

Becoming a Trustworthy Leader

The first thing to understand is why your horse is spooking. This is a natural reaction because horses are first and foremost prey animals, accustomed to protecting themselves by taking flight. A horse that ignores a snapping twig or other signs of danger nearby could easily end up a predator’s meal.

The best way to improve your horse’s reaction to scary objects, experiences, or sounds is to become a leader that your horse can have faith in. A good herd leader is consistent in their reactions and demeanor and does not endanger the herd.

As a human, being consistent can be hard. We often come to the barn with many worries that our horses know nothing about, such as difficult relationships, work problems, bills to pay, bad traffic, et cetera. We must put all of this aside and be like our horses: present in the moment.

When your horse is anxious, excitable, or anything undesirable, you need to approach him patiently and objectively. This can be more difficult than it sounds!

For your horse to trust you, you must never act out of frustration or try to rush him through his analysis process. It’s also important that you never put your horse in a situation that you know may overwhelm him. For example, riding on a big group trail ride when he hasn’t even been out with just one buddy, entering a full division at a horse show when he’s never schooled off property, or asking him to take a long trailer ride to a new place when he hasn’t regularly loaded and taken short trips.

Encourage Curiosity

The only way for your horse to become braver is for him to understand the world around him a little better. Encourage your horse’s natural curiosity by directing him toward the object or situation that caused him to spook.

Your horse will then show you his flight distance—how close he is willing to get to an object before he feels that he must turn and run. Your job is to stop your horse calmly just as he arrives at his flight distance, which is easily identified by the amount of tension in his body. This acknowledges that you’re aware there is something scary nearby, but also asks him to think and analyze rather than giving in to his instinct to run.

Once the tension leaves his body, ask him to move toward the object until he tenses up again. In this way, the flight distance shortens, until you are right in front of the source of fear.

From there, encourage him to reach out and touch the object, if possible. Touching shows the horse that the object has no intention of harming him and gives him a more complete picture of the object, as delicately touching with the nose often turns to investigating with more smelling, nose rubbing, and eventually biting.

If the scary thing is more situational (such as people in bleachers), ask your horse to stay close until he drops his head, licks and chews, and/or peacefully turns his attention elsewhere.

If your horse remains on high alert in a situation or is reluctant to investigate an object, it may help him greatly if you dismount and engage in the process with him. This shows that you, as the herd leader, have examined the threat and deemed it safe. This also allows him to gain some of the information he needs to feel safe as he watches you touch, slowly move, sit on, or be next to the object.

In any scenario, acceptance and calm interaction with the source of the original fear should be rewarded with praise.

This approach will work no matter what is causing your horse to spook. By being consistently allowed to explore and build confidence, your horse will begin to learn that the correct response to something unfamiliar is to investigate.

Once he builds a catalogue of positive experiences and situations in which you were his herd leader, your credibility grows as does his trust in you. There’s no better feeling!

Trail Walking

I often hear about owners who want to take their horse trail riding but are worried about riding their horse into a large, unknown area that is different from what he encounters on a day-to-day basis.

I encourage these owners to find a horse-friendly park and go trail walking/hiking with their horse. I suggest an extra-long lead rope or longeline to allow for your horse’s flight distance if he is surprised by something during the walk.

While you’re safely on the ground, you and your horse can experience all types of sights and sounds, including road traffic, bicycles, wooded areas and the creatures that come with it. This will give you the opportunity to gauge how your horse responds to a new environment, and a whole lot of chances for your horse to practice his new investigative techniques!

This article about helping a spooky horse gain confidence appeared in the August 2023 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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Food Rewards Fears: The Pushy Horse

Many horse people have concerns about using food as a reward and believe their horse may become pushy, or aggressive about the treats. To explain why horses become pushy about treats, applied animal behaviorist Emily Weiss, Ph.D., always goes back to the “why” behind equines and all organisms doing what they do.

“They do it because it feels good,” she says, which means that if a horse is pushy, they must have been getting a treat at least every once and a while.

The horse thinks, ‘If the behavior results in the thing that feels good, I push, and occasionally I get a treat,’ then that behavior will persist.

Typically, it’s a case of user error; horse handlers just give in, or they’re not paying attention and inadvertently reward pushiness. While some horses are more persistent than others, every horse is susceptible to this inadvertent training, says Weiss.

“Food needs to be delivered very purposefully and never should be delivered when it is the horse pushing or touching you to receive a treat,” says Weiss.

Positive Reinforcement Pitfalls

If you’re looking to incorporate positive reinforcement in general interactions with your horse, which could include being on his back, Weiss recommends finding a sound you can make on your own as the bridge or marker, without relying on a clicker or other device.

“Holding a clicker, you can fumble a lot and you can end up missing [the moment],” says Weiss. “Timing is so important with any kind of training, and with positive reinforcement you’re capturing the behavior as it happens,” she shares.

Another pitfall can be using food as a lure, such as getting your horse from a pasture, where many people bring out a bucket of grain and shaking it to get their horse to come. This often results in the horse grabbing a mouthful and dashing off when you try to get the lead rope over his neck.

“It becomes a trick, and nobody likes to be tricked,” says Weiss. “The difference between going out with a bucket and getting that lead rope on really quick and a true positive reinforcement training where I’m teaching the horse to come to me, is that he is learning the contingency of ‘I get a halter on or rope around my neck and I get something good.’

“If the horse stood still as I approached, I’m going to whistle and give him a treat, and then I’m going to walk away,” she continues. “And very quickly that horse is going to just want to be with me. This isn’t that I’m tricking him to come be with me. He’s learning: ‘I approach her, I get a food reward. I approach her, she puts the lead rope over me, I get a food reward. I approach her, she put the lead rope over me, puts the halter on me, I get a food reward.’

“Ultimately, it will take less time to teach the horse to come on cue, rather than tricking him with the bucket,” says Weiss. “Because over time, tricking is not going to work, and it may be eroding the trust between you and your horse. And I guarantee you if there’s an emergency and you’ve got to grab him fast, it’s going to go much faster if he’s trained to reliably come on cue, as opposed to hoping a shake of the bucket will break through the stress of the situation.”

Next time you are finding yourself frustrated because your horse just won’t stop X or do Y, pause and observe what is happening before and after the behavior so that you can set him up for success by understanding what feels good (or less bad) to him.

The post Unlock the Secret to Equine Behavior appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Dictated by Experience

Personality is a hard-wired part of your horse’s psyche. It’s a composite of genetic traits and inherent characteristics, along with that special something that makes every horse unique.

The problem with personality-typing a horse based on his actions (or inactions) is that behavior is contingent on experience. That means you’re observing how your horse responds to life versus who he is on a fundamental level.

For instance, let’s say your horse behaves aggressively around other horses. He’s labeled as having a dominant/aggressive personality. We need to look deeper to discover the true motivation behind the aggressive behavior, such as having poor social skills, feeling overwhelmed in large groups, or being bullied earlier in life.

People-pleasing, submissiveness, stubbornness, and excitability are other ways we may describe equine personalities, when in fact they are actually adaptive coping skills. While they are natural responses to stress, especially long-term distress, they are not a healthy state of being.

Appeasement behavior is often misinterpreted as people-pleasing because the horse avoids unpleasant consequences by trying really hard to do what is expected of him. Submissiveness isn’t a personality type, but horses can learn to behave submissively.

When a horse doesn’t stand up for himself, it can be simply because he lacks the motivation to do so. Imagine a horse with a carrot letting another horse take it because avoiding conflict is more appealing to him than the carrot. Another form of submissive behavior occurs when taking a stand leads to a disagreeable conclusion.

Just as often misunderstood, a horse classified as a “stubborn” personality may be reluctant to comply because of emotional distress and/or physical pain. Hoof pain, poor saddle fit, and confusing cues are enough to make any horse want to shut down and refuse to move.

You need to look beyond personality to identify the forces at work that are truly responsible for your horse’s actions. You also need to accept that you will never know with any certainty why your horse behaves the way he does. You would need to be able to read your horse’s mind to know that—a skill most of us don’t possess.

Keep a lid on speculation, too. The odds are you’ll be wrong, and acting on false assumptions can lead to detrimental consequences for you and your horse.

Questions to Ask to Determine Causes of Behavior

The closest you can get to understanding the source of your horse’s behavior is by doing your best to answer these three questions. (Results are subject to interpretation and fall under the category of somewhat educated guess.)

1. What purpose does the behavior serve?

Purpose is at the heart of everything your horse does. The question is, how does avoiding the trailer, refusing to stand at the mounting block, pawing the ground at feeding time, or kicking at the farrier get your horse what he wants or needs?

2. What is triggering the horse’s behavior?

Triggers, also known as antecedents, set behavior in motion. They are environmental (sights, sounds), internal or external physical sensations (back pain, hoof imbalance, girth sores), or connections your horse has made with previous experiences (associations).

Emotions also function as triggers, primary motivators, and responses to environmental and/or physical stimuli. An emotional trigger might be excitement about approaching food that results in pawing.

Emotionally charged memories are powerful, too. For instance, your horse can recall pain from a previous experience as he’s being asked to approach the mounting block. The closer he gets, the more anxious he feels.

His self-preservation instincts take over, and he stops in his tracks—a sensible behavioral response (and not at all personality driven) to the situation.

3. What is the consequence of the horse’s behavior?

Consequence is how your horse feels about the outcome of a behavior. Discover that, and you have a predictive tool for how he may behave in the future, especially under similar circumstances.

For instance, if the consequence of pawing is that your horse gets his bucket, he’s more likely to paw again at the next mealtime. On the other hand, if asking him to lift his left foot has an unpleasant outcome, causing pain in his right foot, it would be no surprise if future requests were met with a no.

When you understand your horse’s motivations, you are better equipped to help him feel safe, joyful and let his true personality shine through.

This article about horse behavior appeared in the March 2023 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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