16/11/2025
Daily routines and steps towards consent-based care
➡️Cooperative care or consent based care is the ideal of working with a horse where they understand, trust and consent to their basic daily care.
Of course there will always be some situations where something is unfamiliar or uncomfortable to the horse and the handler will need to take a leadership role.
But if everyday activities like grooming and tacking up can be done with calmness and consent, then you have the trust and goodwill deposited in the bank ready for when you need to make a withdrawal.
🏡The context: Xena lives in a communal herd setup with no individual stables, so when I arrive at the yard our usual routine is for me to prepare her feed and my grooming kit, any tack etc, and bring them into our roped off hard standing area that we use for feeding and grooming. Then I need to take a headcollar and find her on the track, and lead her up to the feeding area.
Sounds simple but there are many factors involved that can make it tricky: where the other horses are standing, how the stones of the path feel under her feet, whether she is in the middle of eating from a haynet, the weather, time of day….
And having only moved into the herd 3 months ago, up til now I think a lot of Xena’s attention has been taken up with working out the other horses and where she fits into the herd; there are some horses that she can pass by closely on the track and others she needs to give a wider berth or they will be offended by her invading their space.
Meaning that even though a feed is on offer, many times in the last few months she has not actively wanted to go up to the hardstanding with me and would prefer to stay put.
We have had various conversations around this and sometimes if I am just feeding her and not planning to do ‘training’, I will take her no for an answer and leave her be.
Other times, for example if the trimmer is waiting to do her feet, then she needs to come.
But allowing the horse their ability to clearly say no and have that respected is actually a big step towards the goal of cooperative care and consent-based training.
✨Xena is now settling and becoming more cooperative with me and today was a lovely step forward as when she saw me come into the yard, she actually worked her way up the track and waited for me outside the feeding area! Only the second time she has done this since we moved yards.
This meant that without putting on a headcollar I was able to simply open the gate and let her in.
I was then able to feed, groom and pick out and treat her feet, all at liberty without a head collar or lead rope❤️
And we attracted a little audience of other horses observing us!
Big step from small steps 👍
