Hollyhall Farm

26/05/2026

Horse Aid?

🐴The Equine-Assisted Therapy (EAT) industry is continuing to gain interest with increasing clinical validation, and ongoing regulatory shifts within the field in Australia and internationally.

It is also being reflected more broadly, with The Department of Veterans’ Affairs recently publishing an article on how equine-assisted therapy programs are helping to support veteran wellbeing and trauma recovery.

📒As the field continues to evolve, so too does the importance of maintaining a high standard of knowledge and professionalism.

In practice, equine-assisted therapy is a highly specialised area of work that requires practitioners to thoughtfully integrate counselling competencies, equine behavioural understanding, relational attunement, nervous system awareness and more.

🧠This work often involves supporting a wide range of client presentations, including veterans, first responders, neurodiverse individuals, children and victim-survivors of domestic violence.

Equine Assisted Therapy Australia will continue to advocate for the need to have appropriate mental health qualifications, ongoing professional development, and safe and ethical frameworks when working with clients and horses in therapeutic settings.

👇If you are interested to learn more about our approach please comment below.

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs article is in the comments below.

06/02/2026

Very clever.

BREAKING NEWS: Local Horse Refuses to Load, Then Casually Walks Onto Float After Owner Cancels Entire Day

“Experts confirm horses can sense resignation from up to 3 paddocks away.”

A local horse has reportedly walked calmly onto a float moments after its owner officially cancelled all plans, following a prolonged loading standoff lasting just under an hour.

According to witnesses, the horse had previously refused to approach the float, citing reasons believed to include “the ramp angle,” “the vibes,” and “absolutely nothing.”

Multiple loading techniques were attempted, including patience, encouragement, bribery, repositioning the float, and standing quietly while pretending not to care.

The situation reportedly de-escalated only after the owner removed the bridle, walked away from the float, and announced, “It’s fine, we won’t go.”

At this point, the horse immediately walked onto the float without hesitation and stood quietly inside.

Equine behaviour experts say this outcome is consistent with long-documented horse instincts.
“Horses possess an extraordinary ability to detect emotional surrender,” one specialist explained. “The moment an owner truly gives up, the horse understands the lesson is complete.”

The owner later confirmed that no destination was reached and the horse was returned to the paddock, where it was observed standing calmly, having successfully reset expectations for future loading attempts.

No further comment was provided.

06/11/2025

Great fun, great kids and GREAT PONIES

16/10/2025

Hollyhall Farm this morning. The calm before the storm…..

13/10/2025

Hollyhall Farm horsewifely tip. Never go into a paddock without a piece of string. Stop those wardrobe malfunctions before they turn into a totally trashed rug.
These colourful, hard to lose bits of string are off gift bags that are past re-using.

13/10/2025

07/10/2025

Over the October long weekend Hollyhall Farm and EQWINE ESCAPES were very excited to host the first Australian Masterclass and clinic by the amazing Dr Janet Jones. Author of “Horse Brain, Human Brain”, Janet combines her neuroscience expertise with years of experience riding and training horses and riders to offer an extraordinary alternative to the traditional idea of the human/horse relationship. Her insights into equine vision, hearing, sense of smell, herd behaviour, instincts and emotions were fascinating. An incredible weekend for the 55 attendees.

23/09/2025

Here is Miss Crystal in June with undiagnosed Cushings. Then in August after a wondrous clipping job by Katie Beresford. Now it’s September and Crystal is putting on weight steadily on Hollyhall Farm grass. Can’t wait to see how she looks in a few weeks!