Narelle + horses

12/09/2026

The world working equitation championships are on at the moment in Spain. If you do a search you'll find heaps of livestreams and videos. This is Giberto Filipe and Morante from Portugal, the current leaders

07/09/2026

Yesterday I was talking about a horses eyelids blink rates. Did you know this is a thing?

A horse's blink rate reflects its emotional state, stress levels, and level of attention and is useful information when you are watching a horses body language.

A relaxed, healthy horse typically blinks about 8 to 19 times per minute (with some baseline studies noting around 5 to 10 or 8 to 9 full blinks during calm periods).

Decreased Blink Rate (Low Blink Rate) of around 2 to 5 blinks per minute can indicate acute stress, vigilance or being in a freeze state. Stress induced drops in blinking can be accompanied by an increase in eyelid twitches from 2 per minute up to 6 or more.

An increased blink rate can indicate that they are processing a mental load, processing a challenging mental task or releasing stress. It can also indicate decompression when followed by licking and chewing or yawning.

Link to study in comments

05/09/2026

For anyone who wants to have a say about cracker night laws being loosened (more fireworks, more times to be set off) there is a community consultation open now until the 7th

Have your say on community consultations, influence government decisions and provide feedback on Government projects, initiatives and services

05/09/2026

“The great thing about breath is that it has a direct impact on our nervous systems. It can wake you up on a sleepy, early day; it can help you fall asleep; and it can help bring focus when you need it. Some people can do this easily. For other people, when they’re still, their brains and nervous systems tend to go crazy."

“The great thing about breath is that it has a direct impact on our nervous systems. It can wake you up on a sleepy, early day; it can help you fall asleep; and it can help bring focus when you need it. Some people can do this easily. For other people, when they’re still, their brains and nervous systems tend to go crazy."
~ Biz Magarity, Boyd Martin's longtime yoga instructor

Bright and early on the final day of Boyd and Silva Martin’s 2026 Windurra Camp, Practical Horseman got the chance to participate in the camp’s yoga class with Biz, while Boyd demonstrated along with periodic assistance from the Martin family’s dog Sugar.

In Part 2 of this two-part series, we highlight a few of the movements that Biz coached participants—and this amateur yogi—through to improve our flexibility, body awareness and focus in the saddle.

Click on the link in the Comments below for poses and flows to help you ride better!

📸 Incanto Sports

20/08/2026

Related to co-regulation! You can be the leader that your horse needs in very real ways 🫶🏻

🐴 Can company make stressful situations easier for horses?

Horses are highly social animals, but can having a familiar horse or human nearby actually change how they respond to something potentially frightening?

At the ISES 2026 Conference, Debora Cinganelli and colleagues investigated social facilitation in horses approaching a novel stressor.

Twenty seven horses were divided into three groups. Horses encountered a colourful inflatable object with moving ribbons either alone, with a familiar human, or with a known horse that had previously been familiarised with the object.

Researchers assessed behaviour, distance from the object, facial expressions, heart rate and salivary cortisol to build a broader picture of each horse's response.

Horses facing the stressor alone showed the greatest physiological stress response. Their heart rates were significantly higher than those of horses accompanied by either a human or another horse. Cortisol also significantly increased after the test in horses facing the object alone, while neither accompanied group showed a significant increase.

Behaviour reflected these differences too. Horses tested alone were found furthest from the object more frequently and showed more lip pressing than horses with company.

Interestingly, horses accompanied by a familiar human and those accompanied by another horse did not significantly differ in heart rate or cortisol response. This suggests that, in this situation, a familiar person may also provide meaningful social support.

The findings have potential applications beyond novel object tests, including veterinary procedures, transport, training and introducing horses to unfamiliar environments.

The key message? Social support matters. When faced with something potentially stressful, having either a familiar human or equine companion present may help reduce a horse's acute stress response and provide a simple way to support welfare.

20/08/2026

I was talking about comfort and learning zones on the weekend. Here is a lovely representation of that

18/08/2026

For anyone who watched it here's the horse and riders view

12/08/2026

Why the yellow triangle?

Lymph is a colourless fluid, derived from the blood, that helps your horse fight infection. It has no pump of its own — it relies on muscle movement to circulate around the body, regulating, redistributing and adjusting fluid balance as it goes.

That's part of why the yellow triangle (below) is the most common site for intramuscular injections — medicine given here is filtered into the bloodstream via the lymph.