✨ Longevity is built quietly - unfortunately so is damage. Every rushed session, every ignored stiffness, every “just get through it” ride adds up. We don’t take years off a horse in one dramatic moment. We do it through repetition, imbalance, poor preparation, and uneducated decisions. It’s the daily choices, in no particular order: ✔️ balanced work on both sides ✔️ good (and suitable) nutrition ✔️ living conditions ✔️ social life ✔️ hoof care (barefoot or shod) ✔️ dental care ✔️ a worm care program ✔️ disease control & prevention (vaccinations etc.) ✔️ proper recovery (from intense exercise or injury or sickness) ✔️ understanding how their body functions ✔️ never ending education If we truly love them, the goal isn’t short-term performance, it's putting years into their bodies and not taking them away - for the long term. 👉 2 x questions: What would you need to Get Good at understanding better, to protect your horse’s body? What else would you add to the list? Zoë 🐴✨🫶

Thought this was useful to share... I bet you all have your own to share too👌🏻🐴🤠⭐️ Effective homemade horse grooming relies on utilizing household items and natural ingredients to achieve a show-ready shine and deep clean. Key techniques include using baby oil, cider vinegar, and specific tools like rubber gloves or rags to lift dirt and add shine. 🐴Here are the best homemade tips for horse grooming: 1. The "Hot Cloth" Technique This is a professional secret for removing deep-seated grime and creating a high-gloss finish, especially for winter or clipped coats. - Recipe: Mix hot water with a dash of baby oil, a splash of apple cider vinegar, and/or a few drops of Dettol. - Method: Dip a soft towel, flannel, or microfiber cloth into the hot mixture, wring it out until just damp, and scrub the horse's coat in circular motions. - Tip: Follow up with a dry, clean towel to polish and remove excess moisture.  2. Homemade Shine and Cleaners - Baby Oil & Water: Mix a small amount of baby oil with water in a spray bottle to use as a, cheap coat-shining spray. - Baby Wipes: Use baby wipes for quick, easy cleaning of the face, eyes, nostrils, and dock area. - Apple Cider Vinegar: A mix of apple cider vinegar and water is excellent for removing sweat stains, particularly on grey or light-coloured horses. - Talcum Powder: Apply talcum powder to white legs and feathers to speed up drying and enhance whiteness.  3. DIY Detangler and Coat Shine - Household Conditioners: Use silicone-based conditioners or hair serum from your own stash to work through tough, tangled tails, saving time and preventing hair breakage. - Oil Buffing: Apply a small amount of coconut oil or baby oil to a cloth and rub it into the coat for intense, natural shine. - No-Rinse Shampoo: Create a "no-rinse" solution by mixing a small amount of gentle, whitening shampoo with water in a bucket for targeted cleaning.  4. Smart Tool Alternatives - Oven Gloves/Rubber Gloves: Wear rubber gloves (like dish gloves or gardening gloves) to massage the coat, remove loose hair, and get a better grip than traditional brushes. - Human Hairbrush: A high-quality human hairbrush is excellent for gently detangling tails without breaking the hair. - Shedding Blade Alternative: Use a clean hacksaw blade (with care) to efficiently remove mud and winter hair. - Tea Towels: Use clean, folded tea towels to apply pressure to muscle areas, which adds shine while massaging the muscles. 

✨Knowing when to stop/quit asking is a skill in its own right. The moment your horse truly understands, even if it’s small - is often the best place to end. One clear try, acknowledged well, builds more confidence than pushing for five more repetitions. Stopping at the right time protects motivation. It tells the horse, “That was it. You found it.” Progress doesn’t only come from doing more. It comes from recognising when enough has landed. It does not mean you cannot go and work/play/train with something else - it means you give that particular subject time to sink in. 👉 Question: Where might you Get Good at ending a session sooner - instead of squeezing for more? Zoë 🐴✨🫶

✨ Progress isn’t linear and that’s normal. When something feels like it’s slipping or getting harder, it doesn’t automatically mean you’ve failed. Often, it means your horse is integrating, processing, or adjusting to a new layer of understanding. Or perhaps you’ve now revealed the horse you truly need to teach because the version before was either shut down or too busy to really notice. Growth can look messy before it looks solid. And this is often the moment people lose patience or give up. When in reality, it is simply part of the process. Staying steady in those moments is part of what it means to Get Good by not abandoning the idea when it wobbles. 👉 Question: Where did things feel worse before they got better? Zoë 🐴✨🫶

Some of the best advice I can give you is this: ➡️ Teach relaxation when they’re already relaxed... ...don’t wait for tension to teach relaxation. Like really! Teach it when your horse is already calm. When they’re standing quietly. When they’re breathing softly. When nothing dramatic is happening. That is the moment to reinforce: • Softness in the body • Lowered head and neck • A sigh • A blink • A release through the ribcage • A longer exhale Because here’s the truth people forget far too often - we cannot prevent tension! Tension is how horses survived for over 2 million years. Their sensitivity is not a fla, it’s the very reason they are still here. Spooks will happen. Startles will happen. Adrenaline will happen. However, what we can influence is how quickly they return. When you layer relaxation into the calm moments, you build a reference point. You are teaching their nervous system: This is safe. This is normal. This is where we come back to. So later, after a spook, a noise, a sudden movement, their response time shortens. Instead of staying in fight, flight, or fright…they may check in sooner. And just like us, horses are miserable when they live in prolonged stress. If we become the mediator of calm, the anchor after adrenaline, the consistent place of safety, our bond grows tenfold. Relaxation is not the absence of tension. It is the skill of returning from it. And that skill can be practiced every single day. 👉 Questions? Pop them in the comments my friends. Zoë 🐴✨🫶