Amanda Lennox. The Horse's Choice Saddle Fitting

06/09/2026

So very true.
Imagine if we went to war and the army came looking for suitable horses like they did all those years ago. We would be doomed…

‘Iberian horse wanted, must have huge, flowing mane and forelock.’

I saw this advert yesterday and it made me think. First of all, as a reforming long mane enthusiast, this requires me to air my own dirty laundry; I do really understand the appeal. It’s a hard pill to swallow that in our desire for a horse to fulfil our romantic notions, we may have created a real stinker of a problem.

It’s clear we’re in trouble as an industry. As someone who comes into contact with a lot of horses, the biggest challenge most of them - and therefore us - face, are long term soundness issues. Whether that’s leg lameness or body lameness. Metabolic issues or digestive problems. We are awash with unwell horses. When people tell me I’ve been unlucky with mine, the truth is often they’re just not yet aware how crocked their own horse is.

There are challenges outside our immediate control. Chemicals on the land and in the air, in their food and grazing, are without doubt having an impact on the health of horses. You can do what you can regarding your current horses, but you’re going to have to look very hard to see how your new horse may have grown up at an environmental level.

And, but…What would the horse industry look like if the absolute main thing we prioritised was long term soundness?

If, when you went looking for a horse, you (the person with the ultimate power) insisted you wanted to see parents who are still sound and strong many years into healthy and happy ridden lives. If soundness and good health was the main thing you wanted to pay for, what might that do?

Because, right now we prioritise all the wrong things. Flashy movement. That’s a big one, and while it looks so fancy, it breaks many horses down. Horses are not meant to move like spiders.

Impressive size (I don’t know how many times I need to say it, but pretty much no-one needs these huge horses). The equine skeleton and associated structures are just not evolved to handle the immense height we’re breeding into horses. The breakdown rate of these big guys is really sad to see.

Colour. Now this is a hard one for me to admit to, as I love a colourful horse. But when the colour of the horse becomes more important than the soundness of the horse, we end up in a world of pain. When breeders are obsessed with colour because WE are obsessed with it, issues such as strong conformation, strength and soundness can easily fall by the way side.

I have asked a few of my esteemed colleagues why we’re seeing such a mess with all these broken young horses, and someone suggested this. Only a couple of decades ago the stallion available to you would have to be one in your local vicinity. Importing semen from around the world was not an option. Importing real life stallions from other countries was absolutely not a thing. You chose the proven stallion from down the road who was still sound and healthy and going strong. The one who had proven his viability as a working horse, not as a future possibility. Or a good looking horse standing in the box.

And, we better understood how very important the mare was. She wasn’t just a vessel that didn’t matter, the physically broken, unhappy, behaviourally compromised horse that is retired at 6 and put into foal. The mare is vital and needs to be actively chosen for soundness and longevity, not used because she needs a job; due to being unrideable. I mean, it’s not rocket science - and yet it’s incredibly common.

I am sharing this after years of seeing so many people and horses struggle when soundness and health have not been made the priority. As someone who loves a good looking horse, I know how very hard it is to not write ‘Must have flowing mane and big forelock’ at the top of my spec. But honestly, we’re doing to horses what we’ve done to dogs. The further we move away from functionality and focus instead on fashion, the more health problems we’re running in to.

I only wish I was a small adult, because if I was, I’d choose a pony.

Photo shows a herd of Lipizzan mares, living on hundreds of hectares of mountainside, chosen for strength and soundness. No one above 16hh…

31/08/2026

🫶🏼

31/08/2026

100% this 👇

Bit of a vent today after hearing yet another horrible story from a friend of mine who practices in another area of the country. There are so many stories I wish I could share from my own experiences but I cannot do so and remain professional, so I’ll share this one from someone else to give you some insight into what its like trying to advocate for horses in this industry.

My friend was called out to a horse who was showing worrying signs of aggression on the ground, they were told the usual “she’s had all the checks”, upon assessing the horse they explained the horse was showing clear signs of pain, showed the client how they could find further resources to learn and spent a long time with them explaining the behaviour in depth. The horse threatened to kick when she was touched anywhere behind her withers and was biting when being led. My friend explained that it wasn’t ethical to train this horse and referred them onto the vet urgently.

3 days later the horse appeared on another professional’s social media being chased around with a flag and slammed in the face with the lead rope clip if they even thought about pinning their ears, talking about how they had fixed the horse’s horrible dominant behaviour and that the horse “trusted” them as a leader now. They pulled the horse to a stop and approached to feed them a treat, to prove the training is kind of course, the horse backs away unsure if they are about to be punished again. The horse was of course still grimacing in pain, but they had learned any communication of their pain resulted in punishment, so they were now obedient so we can just call them fixed and use them how we wish.

This isn’t about having different opinions over training methods or losing business. Those of us who choose this path are generally extremely empathetic people. This is not just a job to us that we can easily switch off from when we drive away from your yard. I worry about your horses, I think about your horses when I’m not with you. I research and analyse and seek further opinion to help you and your horse in my own time, because I genuinely care about their welfare.

I feel like there’s a perception that we just go out and feed horses treats and have a lovely time, that advice is followed and all of the horses get the help they need. Sometimes it is like that, most often it is not. Many horses I meet are not in a good way physically or mentally, and those things can be really hard to hear, it is not fun to have those conversations. The industry has such a long way to go even with meeting horse’s basic needs and there is so much pushback for people to deal with, its really tough out there.

I have really limited what I see on social media because I cannot stand watching this treatment of horses dressed up as good for them. Unfortunately simply by existing in places where people are handling horses it seems unavoidable to witness abuse that I can realistically do nothing useful about. Just last week I pulled into a yard car park to witness someone repeatedly punching a worried young horse for not wanting to go near the mounting block.

There are clients I have been out to who have clearly painful, compromised horses who I refer to the vet with support, only to see those same horses turn up with another trainer trying to “fix” them, using their stressed behaviour for social media engagement. For them to eventually give up after a few weeks/months when the horse just won’t improve and actually then take the horse to the vet. They are then praised as extremely ethical and so good at listening to horses for stopping and vet referring. Despite the fact we just tried to train and ride a blatantly sore, under muscled, compromised horse for several weeks until they screamed.

I used to torture myself wondering if I could have just worded things differently or found the right thing to say to that particular client I could’ve convinced them and prevented that horse suffering further. I realise now there is nothing I can say if people aren’t ready to hear it.

It is also so difficult to navigate with other professionals, often a vet/bodyworker referral isn’t enough, it has to be the right vet/bodyworker. So many professionals in the industry are also indoctrinated into this behavioural psuedoscience instead of seeing behaviour as the communication it is. It seems we are also used to seeing compromised, under muscled horses as the norm. I cannot imagine taking my dog to the vet, explaining that they are showing signs of pain and having the vet say “well have you considered he is just taking the p**s out of you?” instead of actually trying to investigate and help my dog. Yet I have seen this happen repeatedly in the horse industry. This is why I am so fussy about the professionals I work with and why I recommend the specific professionals I do to my clients. I need to know that professional will take my client and their horse seriously and not be dismissive. I am always hoping to add to that group of professionals so its not so difficult to advocate for our horses to get the help they need.

I have had to start screening people and saying no to some prospective clients to protect my mental health. I used to go out to anyone who wanted me, but it was becoming soul-destroying. I try really hard to make sure my social media and website present what I do well so the right people find me, but even that is difficult as everyone is marketing as ethical now, despite their actions showing otherwise, so we all get lumped in together. I understand that this is really hard, I understand the human draw to take the easiest route out when everyone around you is pressuring you to do so, but we owe it to our horses to do so. We’re all they’ve got.

There are so very few of us actually walking the walk, we are still swimming against a heavy tide, that’s why it all feels so difficult. But there are more and more of us, things are changing, not quickly enough for the horses but we can only try our best.

I thought I would share this as I know many of us feel the same, it is exhausting and perhaps this gives some insight into why I have disappeared off socials recently. 🐴

31/08/2026

It’s great to see green but it’s not plain sailing!

30/08/2026

Who knew?! I didn’t…
Buying one tonight 😆

23/08/2026

22/08/2026

Who’s got a moody mare?!

‘Moody’ Mares?

When ‘hormonal’ behaviours interfere with everyday handling and riding.

Natural day length is the primary determining factor when it comes to cycling hence mares are fertile and receptive to breeding during spring, summer and early autumn.

What is normal for a mare in heat?

It is normal for mares to be noticeably ‘hormonal’ for several days coming up to the peak oestrogen phase of their cycle – squealing at other horses, urinating, ‘winking’ and generally not being as sociable.

NOT normal is for these behaviours to escalate to ‘next level’- 'cranky', ‘moody’ and not always pleasant to be around.
Squealing accompanied by striking/front footing/lashing out at other horses (a good reason never to let horses sniff noses while you are leading or riding them and especially make sure they CANNOT do it over a wire fence!).

These are the ‘behaviours’ that put people off owning mares at all and which really do interfere with everyday handling and riding.

Back around 2005 our property was riddled with clover. At that time we were blissfully unaware.

All spring, every spring ALL seven mares were ‘very hormonal’ – prolonged ‘raging seasons’ with associated objectionable behaviours. To the point we had three of the mare’s ovaries scanned for cysts at the nearest vet hospital. They all came up clear.

But since changing properties and management which eliminated clovers and lucerne/alfalfa from their diet we cannot believe the difference in these same mares.

We have hardly ever observed them coming into season in the last 18 years. They do but it is barely noticeable and never an issue. They are all in their 20’s now.

The geldings used to also be affected and would ‘behave like stallions’, hounding the mares relentlessly and even mounting them - to the point we had to keep them separate.

What is it that causes mares, and sometimes geldings, to become uncharacteristically ‘hormonal’?

The major culprits are phyto-estrogens which are plant derived ‘hormonally active compounds’ which can disrupt normal cycling of mares and can interfere with conception.

In the forage world, the plants highest in phytoestrogens are red clover, subterranean clover and alfalfa.

Whether any individual will be affected or not depends on the quantities consumed.

If your horse is grazing a paddock with clover plus is being fed chaff and hay that contain lucerne/alfalfa or clover, then the cumulative effect can be enough to cause problems.

If your mare is prone to being overtly hormonal then take steps NOW to eliminate these legumes from her diet. In our experience it takes several cycles to completely return to normal.

Obviously by far the best strategy is to remove the cause – eliminate clovers and lucerne from the diet.

For a feeding strategy to avoid issues cropping up in your horses, please contact us via the Enquiry Form. Here is the link: https://www.wixforms.com/f/7424581212632515616

Photo Cathy Dee Photographer