Dr Shelley Appleton Calm Willing Confident Horses

14/06/2026

Are There Breed Tendencies... Or Are We Asking the Wrong Question?🧐

If you asked me whether there are breed tendencies in horses, I would say yes.

There are certainly tendencies you see in some breeds, and even within particular bloodlines. Spend enough time around horses and you start to notice patterns.

However, I think many of the things people blame on breed are often much more complicated than that.

What a horse has endured, experienced, learned, and been conditioned for often has a far greater influence on its behaviour than its breed alone. Age, handling, training history, physical soundness, what it has learned and the skill of the person working with the horse all play a role.

I suppose it is the old nature versus nurture debate.

Take Thoroughbreds, for example.

When a Thoroughbred comes off the track, it arrives with a lot of baggage. It has been trained professionally to do a very specific job and to do it extremely well. It has lived within a predictable routine and often comes with varying degrees of physical wear and tear.

Then someone buys that horse, saddles it up, takes it to a busy Pony Club rally and spends the day wondering why they ended up with a "crazy Thoroughbred".

The horse is not crazy.

The crazy part is expecting a horse trained for racing to be mentally, physically and emotionally prepared for an entirely different job without first teaching it how to do that job.

Strip away the racing baggage. Spend time educating the horse for its new role. Build its fitness appropriately. Address any soundness issues. Help it understand the expectations of its new life.

Then you get to meet the Thoroughbred.

Let's look at another breed that seems to turn people inside out here in Australia: Friesians and Friesian crossbreds.

These horses sit surprisingly high on my problem horse list, but not because they are problematic horses.

In fact, they are often incredibly generous horses.

The challenge is that they do not necessarily communicate concern in the same way a Thoroughbred does.

When a Thoroughbred becomes worried, it usually lets you know loud and clear. It gets busy. It gets reactive. It wants to move. Most people can see it.

Many Friesians do the opposite.

They slow down. They become quieter. More still.

People often interpret that as stubbornness, laziness, or resistance. They miss the early warning signs that the horse is becoming overwhelmed.

When that concern continues to build unnoticed, the horse may eventually bite, strike, kick, buck, or bolt seemingly "out of nowhere".🫣

But it wasn't out of nowhere.

The horse had been communicating all along. The human simply didn't recognise the language.

Like Thoroughbreds, when you understand how these horses think and communicate, they can be extraordinary partners.

Before labelling a horse because of its breed, I think it is worth taking a closer look at the whole picture. What has this horse experienced? What has it learned? Does it actually understand the job we are asking it to do? Is it physically comfortable and capable of performing that role?

I also think we need to be willing to examine the human side of the equation. Over the years, I have found that many of the labels horses acquire have MORE to do with the skill, knowledge, expectations, and decisions of the people around them as they do with the horse itself.

That doesn't mean breed isn't important. In fact, there is one lesson about breed that I have come to respect more and more as my experience has grown, and that is the idea of horses for courses. The further I have gone in my own journey, the more I have realised that form and function matter. While good training can help a horse develop new skills and confidence, it cannot change what that horse is physically designed to do. When a horse is well suited to its role, everything tends to become easier. The work is less stressful, the training is clearer, and the horse experiences less chance of injury.

So yes, breed tendencies exist. But before we blame a breed for a problem, it is worth asking whether we are seeing the horse itself, or simply the result of its experiences, education, physical condition, and suitability for the task at hand.

I welcome everyone's thoughts❤

Collectable Advice 233/365. Please hit SHARE or SAVE. No copying and pasting, thank you.🙏

IMAGE: Isabelle Chandler - Mighty thoroughbreds being horses ❤

13/06/2026

Seeing the Depth of the Horse: Why Pattern Recognition Is Not Enough🤨

Humans are brilliant at recognising patterns.

In fact, we're so good at recognising patterns that we occasionally recognise them where they don't exist.

We see faces in clouds.

We see messages in coincidences.

We hear the same song twice in a day and briefly ponder if the universe is trying to send us a message.

And when it comes to horses, we are particularly talented at spotting a single thing and deciding we've solved the mystery.

The horse hesitated.

Aha!

It's saying no.

The horse swished its tail.

Clearly traumatised.

The horse looked away.

Connection has been lost.

The horse stood still.

Connection has been found.

The horse blinked.

The ancestors are speaking.

The problem isn't that these observations are completely wrong. The problem is that we often stop there.

Because once we've found a pattern we like, we tend to cling to it with the confidence usually reserved for people arguing on the internet.

The longer I work with horses, the less interested I become in finding the answer and the more interested I become in understanding the layers.

A horse may hesitate because it is uncertain.

Or because it is uncomfortable.

Or because it doesn't understand.

Or because its feet hurt.

Or because the person attached to the lead rope is sending signals with all the clarity of a malfunctioning GPS.

Life gets messy when multiple things are true at the same time.

A horse can be confused and uncomfortable.

It can be willing and worried.

It can trust you and still think your idea of stepping into that puddle is questionable.

Reality rarely presents itself in neat little categories.

Yet humans adore categories.

We want behaviour to mean one thing.

We want a tail swish to mean one thing.

We want a refusal to mean one thing.

We want certainty.

The horse, meanwhile, continues being a horse and stubbornly refuses to cooperate with our desire for simple explanations.

Which brings me to the question I now find most useful:

"What is this horse revealing about itself, here in this situation...and how can I help them?"

Not what story can I tell about this behaviour.

Not which ideology does this behaviour support.

Not which social media tribe gets to claim victory.

Simply: what is this horse revealing...and can I help?

Because behaviour is not the horse.

Behaviour is merely one small window through which we get to know the horse.

My plea is a simple one.

Look beyond the behaviour.

Look beyond the fashionable explanations.

Look beyond the rabbit holes.

See the depth of the horse.

See the layers.

Because when we stop chasing certainty and start paying attention to what is actually in front of us, something remarkable happens.

We stop seeing the horse as a puzzle to solve.

And perhaps we finally begin to see what the horse has been trying to show us all along.

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12/06/2026

Horses Don't Measure Sacrifice 😒

One of the hardest things about horse ownership is accepting that your horse doesn't know how much you care.

They don't know how many hours you work to afford them.

They don't know how much money you've spent trying to help them.

They don't know about the holidays you've skipped, the sacrifices you've made, the sleepless nights you've spent worrying, or the countless hours you've devoted to researching, learning, and trying to do the very best by them.

And that's hard.😕

Because those sacrifices are real.

Most horse owners don't simply own horses. They build their lives around them.

So when a horse is anxious, difficult, reactive, unwilling, or struggling despite all that effort, it's easy to find yourself thinking:

*"Surely they should know I'm trying."*

But horses don't measure sacrifice.

They don't evaluate effort.

They don't judge intention.

They respond to how they feel.

As herd dynamic expert Kerry Thomas says:

> "A horse wants harmony with their environment and contentment with their peers."

So when a horse isn't coping, the question isn't whether they know how much you care.

The question is whether they feel secure in their environment (that includes both their internal and external environments) and content in their relationships, including the one they have with you.

My friend and collaborator Isabelle Chandler and I often talk about another confronting idea.

We don't spend much time wondering whether horses love us.

The truth is, we don't know what love means to a horse.

What we do know is that horses can learn to trust us.

And trust leaves evidence.

You see it in a horse that approaches willingly. A horse that tries when things are difficult. A horse that looks to you when they're uncertain. A horse that finds confidence and security in your presence.

To us - that is the best. ❤

They may never know how much you've sacrificed for them.

But they can learn to trust you.

And perhaps that's enough.

Because the meaning we find in horses was never really about being loved back in the way humans love. It comes from sharing our lives with them. From learning, growing, caring, trying, and becoming better because they are in our world.

Horses connect us to something bigger than ourselves. To nature. To the seasons. To the earth beneath our feet. To responsibility, humility, and wonder.

For me, horses make me feel alive.

And if, through all our efforts, we can help a horse feel safe enough to trust us, then perhaps that is one of the most meaningful relationships we can hope to build.

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11/06/2026

"What Exercise Should I Have Done?"🤨

A rider recently asked for advice after taking her horse Toby to an equestrian centre.

There were horses jumping, horses heading out to cross-country, horses returning from rides, and plenty of activity everywhere. Toby's attention seemed to be on everything except his rider.

To her credit, she abandoned her original plan of trotting and cantering, slowed things down, and focused on simple exercises that encouraged Toby to bring his attention back. Eventually he settled, softened, and became much more focused.

Afterwards she asked:

*"Should I have done different exercises? Should I have pushed him into trot sooner?"*

I think this is a great example of how understanding the horse helps us make better decisions.

Before deciding what to do, we need to understand what is happening.

You see, Toby wasn't standing there thinking:
"I'd like to be a difficult little jerk today. Perhaps I'll ignore my rider, throw in a few dramatic head tosses and really test the relationship."😆

Horses are naturally programmed to pay attention to changes in their environment. Taking a horse somewhere new floods their sensory system with unfamiliar sights, sounds, smells, movement, horses, and people. Their brain immediately starts trying to answer one important question:

*"Am I safe?"*

As a result, they often become more vigilant, more reactive, and less responsive to us.

This is not because they are naughty, stubborn, or disrespectful.

It is because they are horses.

On top of that, horses are influenced by the arousal and emotion of other horses around them. A busy equestrian centre is often full of excited, anxious, energetic horses. Many horses find this stimulating, especially if they have limited experience travelling away from home.

So what do we want?

We want a horse that is focused on us, follows our guidance, and is calm, willing, and confident.

The important thing to understand is that these qualities must be nurtured.

Part of that happens over months and years through training and exposure. Part of it happens in every individual interaction.

If your horse needs constant reminders, clucking, clicking, or nagging to pay attention during ordinary work at home, then you are already having to turn up the volume just to get their attention. That becomes much harder when there are genuine distractions in the environment.

This is why preparation matters.

Take horses out regularly. Give them opportunities to experience new environments. Sometimes go somewhere with no agenda other than eating a hay bag; or do a little groundwork, and learn that they are okay.

For off-the-track horses, this is especially important. Many learn to associate travelling with racing and adrenaline. Taking them out to do very little can help break that association.

When you arrive somewhere new, avoid getting into a fight with the horse.

Your goal is to become important to be clear and effective, without it turning into chaos and conflict.

Often the most valuable tool you have is time.

Many horses simply need time to process the environment and work out that they are safe. Some do this standing quietly and observing. Others do it through movement and simple groundwork.

The key is to stay patient, keep things simple, and focus on basic handling rather than complicated exercises.

Lead.

Stop.

Back up.

Yield.

Keep your communication clear, consistent and effective.

Don't nag, start smothering them with pats and lots of words - this can just flood their sensory system even further. Focus on being grounded. The horse needs you to be their anchor.

Most importantly, don't take their behaviour personally.

A horse that is overwhelmed by a new environment is not giving you a hard time.

They are having a hard time.

Looking back at Toby's session, I think his rider made a good decision. She recognised that he was struggling to process the environment and adjusted her expectations accordingly.

Could she have trotted sooner?

Maybe.

But the better question is not whether she chose the perfect exercise. That kind of insight can be gathered by experimenting with your strategies and observing the outcome.

The better question is whether she understood what was happening in the horse and responded strategically.

In my opinion, she did.

And that is good horsemanship.

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10/06/2026

The Broken Leg Test
(...And Why We Can Misunderstand Horse Behaviour)
[Yes, its long - but reading this might change what you can see]

One of the most fascinating things I observe in the horse world is how often people separate behaviour from the body.

A horse develops separation anxiety. A horse becomes difficult to load. A horse starts rushing under saddle, becomes reactive, struggles to leave the property, or suddenly becomes emotional and difficult to handle. Almost immediately, the conversation turns to behaviour.

How do we stop it?

How do we train through it?

How do we fix it?

Yet what often gets overlooked is a much simpler question: what might be making this horse struggle to cope in the first place?

What I find particularly interesting is that most people would immediately understand this relationship in themselves. If your knees hurt, you've had a terrible night's sleep, you've got a migraine, and someone asks you to perform a difficult task, your emotional resilience drops. You become less patient, less confident, more reactive, more argumentative and more likely to avoid the task to do it.

Most people understand this intuitively.

Yet somehow when the horse is footsore, arthritic, weak, unbalanced, exhausted, stressed, or struggling to cope with its environment, that relationship often disappears from our thinking.

The behaviour becomes separated from the body.

I don't think this is really a horse problem.

I think it's a human cognition problem - let me explain.

1️⃣ We See Behaviour, Not Capacity

Behaviour is obvious. Capacity is not.

We can see a horse refusing to load, calling out, rushing, bucking, spooking, or becoming emotional. What we often cannot see are the subtle factors that may be reducing the horse's ability to cope, such as sole soreness, arthritis, muscular fatigue, weakness, poor balance, or chronic discomfort.

Humans naturally focus on what they can see. The behaviour becomes the problem, while the factors contributing to the behaviour remain hidden.

2️⃣ We Turn Behaviour Into Character

Instead of asking, "Why might this horse be struggling?" we often ask, "Why is this horse doing this?"

That subtle shift changes everything.

The horse becomes stubborn, naughty, disrespectful, emotional, insecure, or lacking confidence.

We stop investigating the horse's circumstances and start assigning personality traits.

The conversation shifts from capacity to character.

3️⃣ We Think Pain Must Be Obvious

Many people unconsciously assume that if a horse isn't obviously lame, it must be fine.

Unfortunately, biology doesn't work that way.

A horse doesn't need to be severely lame before physical discomfort starts influencing behaviour. Small deficits matter. A horse can be slightly sore, slightly fatigued, slightly unstable, or slightly uncomfortable, and the cumulative effect can dramatically reduce its ability to cope.

4️⃣ We Separate Emotion From Physiology

Fear, frustration, anxiety, and avoidance are not just psychological experiences. They are influenced by the state of the body.

When a horse feels physically vulnerable, its nervous system becomes more cautious. The horse becomes more sensitive to risk.

From an evolutionary perspective, that makes perfect sense.

A vulnerable animal should be more cautious.

5️⃣ We Focus on Behavioural Solutions

To be clear, many behavioural problems are training problems.

The horse may not understand what is being asked. It may lack confidence, motivation, or clear guidance. Good training matters and often resolves these issues.

The problem arises when good training ISN'T working.

The horse understands.

The horse has previously coped.

The rider is being fair and effective.

Yet the behaviour is changing or deteriorating.

Those are the situations that should make us curious.

6️⃣We Prefer Simple Explanations

Humans like certainty.

"He has separation anxiety."

"She lacks confidence."

"He's emotional."

The reality is often more complicated. Behaviour may reflect the combined effects of physical discomfort, stress, fitness, sleep, environment, social pressures, and previous experiences.

Simple labels feel satisfying.

Unfortunately, they often stop us investigating further.

7️⃣We Like Explanations That Protect Our Plans ‼️⚠️

This is perhaps the most uncomfortable reason of all.

If I acknowledge that my horse is uncomfortable, I may need to change my plans. I may need to stop riding, spend money, postpone goals, or rethink my approach.

**Human beings are remarkably good at accepting explanations that allow us to continue doing what we wanted to do anyway.**

Not because we are cruel.

Because we are human.

ENTER THE - BROKEN LEG TEST 💡

A simple way to challenge our assumptions is to apply what I call the Broken Leg Test.

Imagine your horse had a broken leg. Would you expect them to happily leave their paddock mates, calmly load onto a float, enjoy a long trail ride, work in deep sand, perform circles under saddle, or stand quietly while being saddled?

Or would you expect them to become reluctant, emotional, reactive, or unwilling?

The point is not that every behavioural problem is caused by pain.

**The point is that horses do not need a broken leg before physical vulnerability starts influencing behaviour.**

When a horse's behaviour changes unexpectedly, or when good training that should be helping isn't working, ask yourself:⬇️

**Could something be reducing this horse's capacity to cope?**

👉From Character to Capacity

Many people who fall into this trap care deeply about their horses.

The problem is rarely a lack of compassion.

The problem is that humans are naturally poor systems thinkers.

Behaviour is the visible output. The horse's feet, joints, muscles, fitness, sleep, environment, and stress load are often hidden parts of the system.

Yet behaviour is often the most logical thing the horse could do given the state of that system.

Perhaps the question isn't:

*"Why don't people recognise that pain affects behaviour?"*

Perhaps the better question is:

*"Why do people find it so difficult to see behaviour as evidence of the horse's current capacity rather than evidence of the horse's character?"*

That shift takes us from judging the horse to investigating the horse.

And I believe that may be one of the most important welfare skills a horse owner can develop.

Collectable Advice 229/365. Please SHARE or SAVE. No Copy or Pasting.🙏

If you find this human side of horsemanship fascinating, it's because it is and understanding can a big impact.
If you'd like to learn more, see the comments below.👇

09/06/2026

The Things We Learn to Notice😳

Not long ago I had a fascinating conversation with a participant at one of my clinics, and it was so thought-provoking that it deserves to be shared.

She noted that many highly skilled horsemen and horsewomen seem to have experienced hardship, trauma, instability, or significant adversity. She pointed to Buck Brannaman as an example and the childhood he described in his book *The Faraway Horses*.

She then explained that her own childhood had been very different.

Growing up in a stable and predictable environment, she realised that she had learned to rely heavily on words to understand how people were feeling and what they might be thinking. Words mattered. Meaning was conveyed through language. Nuance existed in tone, timing, and expression, but language was still the primary vehicle.

This is quite different from the experience of someone growing up in a difficult environment, where words are not always the most reliable source of information.

"I'm fine" might mean the exact opposite.

A slammed cupboard door, a change in breathing, the speed of footsteps down a hallway, a particular look on someone's face, or a subtle shift in posture may become more important than what is actually being said.

People who grow up in these environments often become highly attuned to behaviour. This is because paying attention to behaviour helps them make sense of the world and, in some cases, helps them survive it.

What struck me was how this was a great example of how our experiences teach us what information matters.

The horse, of course, operates almost entirely in that behavioural world.

A horse doesn't tell you he's worried.

He shows you.

A horse doesn't explain that he's uncomfortable.

He shows you.

A horse doesn't announce that he's becoming overwhelmed.

He shows you.

The language is movement, posture, tension, rhythm, breathing, attention, orientation, arousal, and behaviour.

So it makes sense that people who spent years learning to read humans through behaviour rather than words might arrive in the horse world with a skill set that transfers surprisingly well.

But what fascinated me most was her reflection on the opposite experience.

She realised that when she first entered the horse world, she was almost blind to that language.

Not because she lacked intelligence or empathy.

But because her life had taught her to look somewhere else for information.

Her framework was simple:

*"If I want to know what someone thinks or feels, I listen to what they say."*

That was perfectly adaptive for the world in which she grew up.

Then she met horses.

And suddenly words were no longer enough.

She was required to construct an entirely new way of seeing.

She had to learn to pay attention to tension, posture, breathing, attention, movement, and arousal. She had to learn to gather information from what the horse was doing rather than what the horse was saying.

And that, to me, is what makes horsemanship so fascinating.

People often think they are learning about horses.

In many ways, they are discovering how they themselves perceive reality.

Two people can look at the same horse and see completely different things. Not because the horse changed, but because their experiences have taught them to attend to different information.

One person notices the ears.

Another notices the feet.

Another notices the facial expression.

Another notices the breathing.

Another notices none of those things and instead focuses on the story they are constructing about what the horse might be feeling.😬

The horse becomes a mirror reflecting not just our skills, but our assumptions.

Observation is never purely observation.

We like to imagine we are objectively "seeing" the horse. In reality, we are filtering the horse through years of experiences, beliefs, values, habits, and expectations.

The horse is standing there doing horse things.

Our brain is busy constructing meaning.

Sometimes accurately.

Sometimes not.

What I loved most about this participant's reflection was that she wasn't using it as an excuse.

She wasn't saying, "I can't read horses because of my upbringing."

She was saying, "I now understand why this was harder for me, what I needed to learn, and what a difference that learning has made to my life with horses."

That's a very different conversation.

And perhaps a much more useful one than the romantic notion that great horse people are somehow forged only through suffering.

Maybe hardship can create certain observational skills.

But so can deliberate practice, curiosity, and reflection.

So can the willingness to realise that the way you've always made sense of the world might not be the only way.

In fact, that might be one of the most important lessons horses teach us.

Not how to understand horses.

But how to notice the invisible assumptions through which we understand everything else.

Collectable Advice 228/365. Please SHARE or SAVE. No copy and pasting.❤

Idea Credit to: Fiona for the fabulation reflection, I hope I have done it justice ❤

💡If you find this topic super interesting you may really enjoy my Human Side of Horsemanship. See comments

Photo Credit to

09/06/2026

ATTENTION CANBERRA FOLLOWERS‼📣

Dr Shelley Appleton Clinic

Saturday 4 July | Sherony Park, Sutton NSW | 9:00am - 4:00pm

I'm excited to be establishing a regular clinic location in the Canberra region at Sherony Park, Sutton NSW.

I spend much of the year travelling interstate delivering clinics throughout Australia and have been fortunate to build wonderful communities of horse owners who continue learning and supporting one another long after the clinic ends. As Canberra is close to my home base, I look forward to creating a similar opportunity closer to home and visiting the area regularly throughout the year.

These one-day clinics follow the same practical approach that underpins all of my training and coaching. Whether your goal is to build better foundations on the ground, develop confidence under saddle, overcome challenges, or progress towards more advanced skills, the clinic is designed to help you make meaningful progress with your horse.

The day is open to participants of my programs, members of the Calm Willing Confident Horse Society, previous clinic attendees, and anyone curious about my approach to horses and developing people's capabilities as riders, trainers and decision-makers.
Whether you would like to continue your learning journey, experience my teaching for the first time, or simply spend a day immersed in practical horsemanship, I'd love to have you join us.
Bookings are now open.

For more information see my website:

Canberra Horse Owners - I am looking forward to establishing a regular horse community in Canberra that I can visit throughout the year, with clinics based at Sherony Park. I spend a great deal of my year travelling interstate delivering clinics around Australia and would like to establish a commu

08/06/2026

What Horses Teach Us About Self-Respect🥺

Have you ever felt like you're the one who is always adjusting?

You work around other people's schedules. You wait while they finish what they're doing. You let them talk over the top of you because you don't want to be rude. You change your plans because you don't want to inconvenience anyone. You apologise when someone bumps into you. You don't want to make a fuss, cause conflict, or be difficult.

Then one day you find yourself wondering why nobody seems to notice you. Why people don't wait for you. Why they don't listen. Why they don't seem to value your time the way you value theirs.😣

It's a painful feeling.

Not feeling seen.

Not feeling heard.

Not feeling significant.

The funny thing is that many of us walk straight into the paddock and continue the pattern with our horses.😖

The horse lifts its head while we're putting on the halter, so we awkwardly chase it around. The horse walks away from the mounting block, so we scramble aboard before the opportunity disappears. The horse drifts while we're cleaning its feet, so we shuffle after it. The horse rushes through the gate, so we rush too.

Without realising it, we allow the horse to set the schedule.

The horse decides when things start, when they stop, where they happen, and how quickly they happen. We react, adapt, accommodate, and it always feels like a bit of a argument to do what you need them to do.

One of the biggest changes I see in people who learn to become more effective with horses is that they stop surrendering responsibility for timing.

They slow down.

They organise themselves.

They put the lead rope in the correct hand. They arrange their reins before asking the horse to move. They stop at the mounting block and deal with the horse walking off instead of treating it like an inconvenience. They finish one thing before moving on to the next.

Most importantly, they stop allowing every movement of the horse to capture their attention and dictate their behaviour.

And something interesting begins to happen.

The horse starts waiting.

The horse starts paying attention.

The horse begins looking to them for information instead of making all the decisions itself based on what has got their attention in the neighbours paddock next door....

Not because the person has become more dominant.

Because they have become more significant.

I think this is one of the most important lessons horses teach us.

Many people spend years trying to get others to notice them, respect them, validate them, or take them seriously. Yet they move through the world constantly accommodating, adjusting, reacting, and surrendering their place in time.

Horses expose this pattern with brutal honesty.❤️‍🩹

They show us how often we rush, follow, accommodate, and react. They show us how easily our attention gets pulled away from what we're trying to do.

And they offer us a different possibility.

To become organised.

To become deliberate.

To hold our ground.

To stop rushing, reacting, and to behave as though our time, attention, and actions have value.🥰

Because perhaps self-respect isn't something you find.

Perhaps it's something you practise.

One deliberate action at a time.

One organised moment at a time.

It's about finally stopping the habit of chasing everything that moves.❤

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