🐴🌿CONNECTION: IT STARTS WITH THE LIFE YOUR HORSE LIVES 🐴🌿

Clydesdale Horse Relaxing With his Human

I’m in my late 50s now, and I’ve spent much of my life studying horses, living with them, working with them, and observing their behaviour. 🐴 I’ve also run our rescue centre for 20 years and worked with thousands of different horses in that time, and even after all those years, I am still completely fascinated by them. ❤️

Their strength, endurance and physical adaptations are extraordinary, but more than anything, it’s their spirit that gets me. 🐎❤️ I’ve known horses who have come through some truly dreadful situations and yet have still found it within themselves to recover, forgive and eventually trust again. ❤️‍🩹I remember, in my early days with horses, buying into all that hype from trainers that connection was something we earned through exercises, methods and the way we worked with horses. It didn't take me long to realise that most of that is far less important. What matters most is how your horse feels when they’re with you. ❤️

But just as importantly, what happens during the other 23 hours of the day when you’re not there is what really matters for the horse. 🌿🐴

Are they living a life that actually works for them as a horse? Do they have other horses around them, freedom to move, plenty of forage, somewhere comfortable to rest and opportunities to play, roll, groom and form friendships? 🐴🐴🌱 Or are they spending large parts of their day confined or alone, feeling worried, frustrated or lonely?

For me, helping a horse feel safe starts with their environment. 🌿❤️

Over the years we’ve had some incredibly troubled horses arrive at the rescue centre. Some have been so frightened and defensive that they've been aggressive towards people and even other horses. 💔

One of the greatest joys of my life has been watching those horses gradually change their opinion of the world. ❤️🐴

And although I’m the one who gets to witness it, much of that transformation really isn’t about me. My job is to provide the right environment, the right herd and the right conditions, then give the horse time. 🌿🐎

Over time, the anger starts to dull. The defensiveness begins to soften. They start to realise nobody is going to hurt them, that food will keep arriving, and that the horses around them aren’t a threat. Slowly, they begin to connect, become curious and come out of their shell. ❤️Then you start to see the horse underneath all that fear. That's when the magic starts to happen, and the horse is finally ready to make the connection with the people around them. ✨🐴❤️

I’ve watched the other horses play an enormous part in that process. They become the newcomer’s support network. They offer companionship, reassurance and confidence in a language another horse understands far better than we ever could. 🐴🐴❤️

That’s why my heart sinks a little when somebody says, “Oh no, I could never put my horses in together or with others.” 💔

I understand the worry. Nobody wants their horse hurt. Yes, there can be some disagreement in the beginning. Horses may move each other around,chase or push the newcomer off food while they work out their relationships.But the setup matters enormously. 🌿

I’ve introduced hundreds of horses into herds over the years and, with the right space and sensible introductions, I’ve never had a dangerous outcomeor any injury from doing it. 🐎

If I’m bringing one new horse into a herd of six, for example, I might put out ten hay nets all stuffed to the max, so nobody ever runs out of food, all well spaced apart. 🌾 Horses do push each other off hay nets, especially in the beginning, but if the new horse gets moved off one, there are another three available. That reduces resource guarding enormously.

I also make sure there are no small spaces where a horse can become trapped, no tight corners or bottlenecks, and no important resources that everybody has to compete over. Bucket feeds are fed separately in makeshift pens so each horse can eat without having to defend their food. 🪣🐴

Sometimes I’ll introduce the new horse to one of the quieter members of the herd first, let them spend some time together and form a little bond, then introduce them both back into the main herd. That way the new horse already has a buddy. 🐴❤️🐴

There are many ways of putting horses together, and these are just a couple of examples. Every horse and every herd is different, but if you possibly can,I would highly encourage you to give your horse the opportunity to live as part of a herd. 🐎🐎🌿The same thinking applies to the way we are around them.

I want my horses to feel that I’ve got their back. ❤️ That they can concentrate on being horses while I deal with the human stuff. That still means having clear boundaries, because horses are large animals living in our world and we need to keep everybody safe. But those boundaries can be fair, consistent and easy for the horse to understand.

The horse in the photo is Reuben, my 17.2hh Clydesdale. 🐴❤️ When he came to me, he had some very good reasons not to trust people. His tail had been cut off through the bone purely for appearance, and his previous experiences had left him angry, frightened and anxious. 💔

Reuben didn’t need me to be tougher than him or to find the right exercise to fix him. He needed a life in which he could feel safe, surrounded by other horses, with room to move and behave like a horse. My part was to be someone he could rely upon. ❤️Today he loves people, and despite his mass, he is adored by everyone who meets him. Through being calm, affectionate and an absolute joy to be around, because of the life I have provided for him, with the herd he lives with that he now calls family. 🐴🐴❤️

I think we can make connection with horses sound far more complicated than it needs to be.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is look at the whole life our horse is living and ask ourselves one very simple question: ❤️

What can I change or provide that will help my horse feel safer? 🐴🌿

Tracy @ Natural horse NZ