Beyond the Basics: Creating Truly Enriched Environments for Horses

The concept of "Friends, Forage and Freedom" has become the cornerstone of modern equine welfare discussions, and rightly so. These three fundamental needs represent the minimum requirements for horse wellbeing, yet as the Five Doma...

It's been a month of learning for both me and the herd. Since I brought them back to the forest, they've been reluctant to stray far from their barn. The forest is dense in places, especially at the moment, and Pixie, in particular, has found it difficult to adapt.

I tried gradually stretching her ...

I recently attended the Beyond Welfarism Summit in Barcelona. We were tasked with the idea of creating a white paper that supported physical actions to positively influence the welfare of horses worldwide. One of the questions we were asked to consider was ‘What would the future of the equestrian wo...

Last week I went for a walk with a friend of mine. We've both been inside a lot so far this year, her tackling assignments for new qualifications and me completing case studies for a behaviour journal. We both found that we were becoming increasingly lacking in energy, motivation, and enjoyment and ...

The topic of equine welfare has become increasingly important in recent years, and as horse lovers and caretakers, we must ensure our horses are thriving in every way. Let’s dive into three key aspects that can help us boost our horses’ welfare and happiness

Physical Health

First off, we often thi...

To train or not to train, that is the question!

It’s often our initial reaction when faced with a behavioural challenge from our horses, to find the training ‘solution’. However, as a behaviourist, I find that around 90% of the behavioural issues clients bring to me can be resolved with little to n...

A question from one of our members this week was "How can we promote a positive affective state in horses without food. I thought this was a fantastic question and something that underpins the work we do here at Horse Play Highlands. 

Positive affectivity (PA) is a characteristic that describes how...

I was recently asked the question "What is Natural Horsemanship?" It's a great question and to be honest I think that it's starting to have two different meaning in the horse world. Meaning 1 refers to the Natural Horsemanship way of training, the use of  pressure and release techniques along with '...