Find Your Way With Horses

02/08/2026

Charlie made me stop and think today.

I watched him scratch his face with his hoof and found myself wondering...

What actually is an itch?

We all know what one feels like, but have you ever stopped to think about why we itch?

An itch isn't an injury.

It's a message.

Our nervous system is saying, "Something small might be irritating this part of your body... have a look."

It could be a fly.

A loose hair.

A bit of dust.

Sweat drying.

Healing skin.

Something tiny that most of the time we never even notice until our brain says, "Go and check that."

And what do we do?

We scratch it.

What's fascinating is that scratching doesn't just remove whatever is irritating us. It also sends different signals through our nervous system that temporarily drown out the itch, which is why it feels so satisfying.

Then I looked back at Charlie.

He wasn't just randomly rubbing his face.

He had an itch.

He noticed it.

He wanted it to stop.

So he used the only tool he had available—his hoof.

It struck me that, so often, we think about horses in terms of the big things.

Can they be ridden?

Are they lame?

Are they naughty?

Are they safe?

But horses experience all the tiny things that we do too.

The annoyance of a fly.

The relief of a scratch.

The warmth of the sun.

The coolness of a breeze.

The comfort of another horse gently scratching that impossible-to-reach spot on their withers.

They're not just reacting to the world around them.

They're experiencing it.

For me, that's what learning to read horses is really about.

Not just recognising the obvious signs of pain or happiness, but noticing the thousands of tiny moments that tell us what life feels like from the horse's point of view.

Sometimes understanding a horse doesn't begin with a training technique.

Sometimes...

It begins by watching a little pony scratch his face. ❤️

24/08/2023

Blown away, humbled and truly grateful by the response to this. Not just the donations but also the offers of help, the ideas, the sharing, the comments. It's a bit like when I first rode at Equestrian Camps South West, I wanted to know why you guys loved it so much, then I did ten in a row because they're so addictive and I got it. But seeing this? This is another deeper level of understanding and I can't thank you all enough 🙏❤️🙏

Hey Folks, after 9 years for Equestrian Camps South West and 20 years of the amazing C… Lorraine Barnfield needs your support for Please help save our camps!

14/08/2023

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

A few weeks ago I watched a few video clips of the 2022 European Dressage Championships with a feeling of discomfort. This morning I viewed a clip of a horse that was difficult to pick up its feet.

Yesterday I watched a training video by a well-known horsemanship trainer and felt very uncomfortable.

When I read some of the comments that accompanied each of those videos, I was struck by how much my assessment of the training and the performances differed from others. There I was feeling very uncomfortable about what I was watching, yet feeling like I was missing something because of how much rapturous support was being expressed in the comments section.

Then it struck me that what I was looking at and what other people were looking at were not the same elements of the same videos.

People saw the reach of the forelegs in the extended trot of one of the dressage horses and loved it. I saw foam erupting from the horse’s mouth like a volcano indicating tension and worry. I saw a neck with extreme curvature and heavy-handed use of the reins. It bothered me.

In the video of the horse that avoided having its feet picked up, people’s comments ranged from checking for ulcers to back soreness. Yet I saw a horse that was distracted and mentally disconnected from the handler and was wanting to be with its paddock buddies.

In the video showing the horsemanship trainer working a horse, there was a lot of praise for the responsiveness and lightness the horse showed when asked to perform lateral flexions. I saw a horse that was afraid of the reins.

At a horse expo a few years ago I watched the c**t starting competition. The official winner of the event was able to ride his horse over tarpaulins, open a gate, and cracked a stock whip while sitting on it. He got a huge applause. But for me, the unofficial winner of the event was a woman who didn’t even try to get her horse to do any of those things. It was not ready. In fact, she didn’t even ride her horse. But over the three days her horse became relaxed, connected with her, and was trying its heart out at everything it was asked. The way she worked with her sensitive mare was first prize in my book.

I want to be clear that I am not yelling at anybody. I want to be clear that I am not saying that my judgment and perception of what is right is where the discussion ends. But I am trying to point out that different people have different ideas of what they believe is good training. I want to point out that some people make their judgments based on what we can teach a horse to do. Other people are more interested in judging the quality of training on what we can teach a horse to feel.

When I see a horse working a cow or performing a half pass or walking into a trailer or grazing in a paddock, it is my inbuilt bias that automatically looks at the inside of a horse. When I see a horse that is crooked or lame or straight or sound, I immediately think, “What is going on inside that horse?” When I see a horse standing to be mounted or approaching a jump, my mind first considers its expression, the direction of its thoughts, and the tension in its body. I do these things long before I consider the quality or correctness of a horse’s movement or the obedience to the aids. I can’t help it. It’s my prejudice. And because it is such a strong prejudice in me that I sometimes find it hard to understand why other people don’t judge horses and training the same way. Why do some people get excited by a huge expressive canter while a horse is displaying deep emotional upset? It’s not that I think they are wrong. It’s just that I don’t get it. I guess this explains why I am not the trainer for everybody, as hard as I might try.

Photo: This is my mare, Six showing the sort of relaxation that is worth more to me than any blue ribbon.

31/03/2023

24/03/2023

Flora needed to be treated by Kate MAC Therapy Equine on Tuesday so I had to hose her off. I haven't done it for a month or two. She's a lovely mare and did her best to remember that the hose won't kill her x