As a Clinical Equine Behaviourist and a groundwork/ riding coach I spend a lot of time acting as advocate for the horse,  interpreting what the horse’s behaviour, body language and expression tell us about how the horse is feeling and helping owners to use this information to reduce stress and promote positive emotional states.

I’m very passionate about better education for all who interact with horses in terms of behaviour and welfare. It doesn’t matter how much we know about training or good management practice or what we ‘ought’ to do to have happy horses, if we aren’t good at recognising how individual horses are actually feeling then we may well miss the point: every horse is an individual, with different genetics, different experiences. We can have generic ideas about what is good or bad for the species, but it’s really only through reading the individual that we can make the best choices for that particular horse.

I have been teaching about body language, expression and behaviour and what it can tell us about how the horse feels for years and was delighted to be given the opportunity on Wednesday 28th February to present a webinar on Recognising Equine Emotions and Signs of Stress and their role in Equine Assisted Services for HETI Federation, The Federation of Horses in Education and Therapy International.

I also attended the North of Ireland Veterinary Association Equine Welfare Symposium the previous week, which was a wonderful opportunity to focus on the welfare issues faced by Equines in the North of Ireland. Great to see so many people there to listen and discuss how we can move things forward here.

I’ve decided to put together a course on ‘Reading the Horse’ to provide a little more in depth information and understanding for those that would like to better educate their eye when it comes to understanding what their horses are trying to tell them.

This course will be of interest to anyone who interacts in any way with horses, whether on a personal or professional level.

Those that signed up for HETI webinar can use their discount codes (provided on the webinar and mailed out to all who signed up by HETI) to get a 75%discount.

Discount of 75% also available to BHS APC’s. Code is APC1. Please note if you use this code and you are not a registered APC then your access will be removed.

Discount codes only valid until 17th March 2024

Course info:

Sign up available now!

https://helenspence.podia.com/reading-the-horse

Spence Horse Sense
Reading the Horse
Cost: £60
90-day access. Course starts Apr 8th 2024

We will look at what facial expression, posture and behaviour can tell us about how the horse is feeling. Each Monday I will release a new video lesson, followed on Wednesday by a video exercise for you to have a go at, with the answers released on Thursday. Questions can be emailed in by Thursday evening for a recorded Q&A session released on Sunday. Course lasts 4 weeks with access to all lessons for 90 days from the start date.