06/06/2026
This lovely mare had just finished some reps of R+ training for holding up her feet. Here we are allowing her to process/upload what she just learned. First the horse has to be able to drop into their para-sympathetic nervous system, which is where we often see a bit of a lick and chew. But if we call it good at that sign and move on, we miss out on this important next step. Here the hippocampus, a structure in the brain responsible for memory processing, replays the recent events like a super fast movie reel, essentially uploading the information to the memory bank. If we don’t allow time for this, or if our horse is too stressed to activate this process, they will have a much harder time remembering what they learned.
PS: This mare was struggling to even stand still for a few seconds in the barn only a few months ago, so to see her find this level of depth and stillness in a spot that previously caused anxiety is extra special! I’m so proud of the hard work she and her human have put in! 🧡
