Equine Agency and Cooperative Care: The Science of Choice in Horse Training

What is equine agency? Equine agency is the capacity for a horse to engage in voluntary, goal-directed behaviour that allows them to influence their environment and social interactions. In modern horse training, agency is t...

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 '...