From the moment I welcomed my own horse into my life, my beautiful Ivan, he was four and I was nine, I also came into possession of a great deal of tack, which had come with Ivans itinerary. We looked everything over and soon realised, or rather my father did, that quite a lot of it was very dried out and starting to crack. The saddle had also not seen a bar of soap or a jar of leather feed for a very long time. And the fit was appalling for Ivan, you could look straight thro

ADVOCATING FOR HORSES AND OTHER ANIMALS I recently had a disturbing yet, very common conversation, with a horseowner who was left as traumatised as her horse when a visitingprofessional lost his temper with her horse. The horse is nowemotionally damaged and future foot handling and care will be all themore difficult as a direct result of this one incident. THE OLD WAYS Sadly, this form of abuse is still prevalent as the horse industry remainssteeped in the use of dominance, f

The microbe-gut-brain axis and fibromyalgia/myofascial pain Part 1 By Carol Hughes of Equibiome ABSTRACT Genomic sequencing and translational metabolomics have allowed us to gain deeper and more meaningful insight into the pathogenesis of metabolic-related syndromes of horses. The data included in this article has been gathered from a population of over 2,000 competition horses, and racehorses with freely grazing horses as controls. The aim is to have a greater and more preci

A Preliminary Investigation of Preferred Affiliative Interactions within and between Select Bonded Pairs of Horses: A First Look at Equine “Love Languages” Kieson E and Sams J Abstract: ​ Recent research in equine pro-social behavior has shifted from agonistic and aggressive behaviors to a greater emphasis on affiliative interactions. With increased prioritization of physiological and psychological welfare in horses, studies have begun to focus not only on understanding stres

Emotion Recognition in HorsesWith Convolutional NeuralNetworks Luis A. Corujo , Emily Kieson, Timo Schloesser and Peter A. Gloor Abstract: Creating intelligent systems capable of recognizing emotions is a difficult task, especially when looking at emotions in animals. This paper describes the process of designing a “proof of concept” system to recognize emotions in horses. This system is formed by two elements, a detector and a model. The detector is a fast region-based convo

Howell, T.J.; Nieforth, L.; Thomas-Pino, C.; Samet, L.; Agbonika, S.; Cuevas-Pavincich, F.; Fry, N.E.; Hill, K.; Jegatheesan, B.; Kakinuma, M.; et al Defining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs Abstract:   The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. The same term may be used to describe different roles, or two terms may mean the same thing. This confusion is evident among researchers

Horse-Human Communication: The Roles of Language and Communication in the Context of Horse-Human Interactions Kieson E and Sams J Abstract: Horses have played an important role in human history and the techniques and strategies with which we interact with them is based on concepts of operant conditioning with emphasis on negative and positive reinforcement. The human-horse interactions in training are primarily based on the desires and goals of the human with the recognition

At Horsewell Equine Support our aim is to raise awareness for the different types of stress related behaviours your horse may be displaying in its daily life, and the changes you can make or professionals you may enlist, to help your horse overcome these behaviours.   Cause and Effect of Stress Induced Behaviours Horses can experience different types of stressful stimuli, either internal or external, to which they will, to a higher or lesser degree, adapt their behaviour in

The horse world is lagging behind in the humane treatment of animals. If you prodded a cat with a fork, or smacked it with a belt, you’d rightly be in big trouble.  It would be deemed extremely cruel – abhorrent treatment of an animal and there would be a justified onslaught if it was made public.  Similarly, the use of prong collars on dogs is now (thankfully and finally) banned in the UK.  Yet spurs, whips, chifneys, various bits which resemble medieval instruments of tortu

Trust is hard earnt and easily lost ​ A brief review on the consequences of our actions in relation to the operant quadrants. (Our choices in shaping future behaviour) Negative reinforcement R-, Negative punishment P-, Positive punishment P+ and Positive reinforcement R+ - how do they affect equines? Have you ever sat back and thought that you just handled a situation in the wrong way? The realisation that you just messed up. Regretting the words you chose or the actions you

Emotions are behaviours and behaviours are emotion driven. In order to get positive outcomes, we want to influence the emotional state of the horse. Associations are made by experiences so therefore trying to guild horses with good experiences will start to produce the behaviours we would like repeating. ​ In my capacity as a behaviour consultant , I speak to horses owners from all across the globe, who always have issues with horses because of bad experiences. These bad expe

PART 2 - MINERALS Minerals are chemical elements and are divided into two categories. The first are the macro elements , which are needed in larger quantities. They include phosphorus, calcium (these two elements are utilised correctly when in perfect balance as they work together with vitamin D to aid absorption.)  Also included are sodium chloride, sulphur, potassium and magnesium. Required in smaller quantities are the trace elements and these include: selenium, iodin, co

PART 1 - VITAMINS Vitamins, or so-called, micro nutrients, are of vital importance on all levels of health and wellbeing, both physically and mentally, for our horses. For without the right levels and balance of these nutrients our horses can suffer serious physical, metabolic, fertility and mental health problems once they are out of balance. Some vitamins are synthesised by bacteria in the horses small or large intestine or in the liver. Most compound feeds have been fortif

CONSIDERING THE WELFARE IMPLICATIONS OF OUR PERCEPTIONS What Actually IS Intelligence? ‘Intelligent’, ‘smart’, ‘clever’, ‘stupid’, ‘dense’ ‘slow’. Some of the many labels which are used when referring to the cognitive ability of equines (and other animals).  If we ask ourselves to define ‘intelligence’ though, it can be quite difficult (have a think!).  In human terms, and in school and university settings, it is often measured by the famous I.Q. tests which on the whole conc

Like so many, I am celebrating as the lifting of the Covid lockdown rules. They have allowed me to be back out on the road helping horses owners with their troubled horses at home, in my role as horse behaviour expert. ​ Over the last 3 weeks I have travelled as far as the north of Durham to help a separation anxiety ex racehorse learn how to handle life and train his owner in techniques to keep improvement happening.  I’ve been out to 4 places in and around York and North Yo

The feeding guideline poster below has been designed exclusively for IEP by Full Member, Geertje French. ​ Geertje is an Equine Nutritionist and Behaviour Consultant covering Oxfordshire and Berkshire ​ Please note that the poster contains general advice, however, as each equine has their own individual needs, it is always advised that you consult an independant Equine Nutritionist. ​   horsewellconsultant@outlook.com  07582704830 FEEDING GUIDELINES

2 SCENTS ON EQUINE OLFACTION “But there’s nothing there boy” you say to your horse as his head shoots up and he looks off into the distance at goodness knows what – nothing you can see, that’s for sure! Perhaps if he could speak your language he’d say “are you crazy?! Can’t you smell that??”  Olfaction is of great importance to equines, and one of the senses that they rely heavily on.  This, along with the other four sensory modalities, forms a rich part of the horse’s sensor

By Geertje French© 2022, of Horsewell Consulting *Throughout this article when I refer to ‘horse’ or ‘equine’ this includes ponies and donkeys. At Horsewell Equine Support we are only too aware that the very idea that we one day have to face the unimaginable prospect of our horse dying, is something we would rather not contemplate. And although it is a subject we would like to avoid at all cost, we may find ourselves having to deal with this deeply emotional situation when we