I Can’t Touch My Horse’s Ears

Q: “I have a former racehorse who is very unhappy about having his ears touched around the base especially, which makes it quite hard to bridle him. For example, to arrange his forelock and mane around his headpiece, and also to get rid of sweat from the area. Can you please give me some advice … Read more

My Ex Racehorse Won’t Settle Down

Q: We were given a thoroughbred former racehorse who is quiet and gentle on the ground, to lead and work on a lunge. But he is a horror to ride – gets extremely wound up and scuttles around sideways, throws his head around, gets into a foaming sweat… all this just trying to walk him … Read more

My Horse has a ‘Cold Back’. What Can I Do?

Question from a reader: “I’m about to lease a horse, who the owners say is ‘cold-backed’. Apparently he dips or humps his back when first under saddle, sometimes bucks, and is better when you lunge him for a bit before mounting. Is this a physical (medical) thing, or a training/behavioural issue? Any suggestions?” Sue, via … Read more

Let Horses Be Horses

  Q:Would you, given large enough paddocks with safe fencing, run a group of eight horses as a single herd, or split into two or three (or more) smaller groups? If you split them, would you split by age/gender or have a mixture? Tara, via email Hi Tara, From your question, I can tell you … Read more