Facebook Overwhelm

Facebook Overwhelm

Have you felt it?

Your quest for learning gets hijacked by passionate and conflicting posts and comments.

Is licking and chewing good or bad?

Is your gelding dropping good or bad?

Is clicker training ethical or coercive?

Is pressure and release ethical or coercive?

Are track systems the ideal setup or just a recipe for muddy disaster?

Is Equicentral the answer? Or stalling? Should your horse never get grass? Or always have access?

Is barefoot the answer? Or boots? Or composites? Or metal?

Do we trim the heels? Or never the heels? Or the toes? Or never the toes?

You strive to train and keep your horses ethically but no matter what you choose you’re still not ethical enough to sit with us

I’ve felt it. I know my clients feel it, because I help talk them out of panic spirals over Facebook posts all. the. time.

The answer to every single one of these issues is *context*

None of this is black and white. Take any absolutes with a grain of salt.

Learn to read your horses body language. Learn to recognize healthy movement and common compensation patterns. Train with compassion and give your horse a voice and a choice.

Do your best. Be open to shifting your perspective when the evidence is there.

But remember that your variables and my variables are going to be different. Behavior and training is always a study of one.

Look at the horse in front of you and use him to decide if you feel good about what you’re doing. The fact that you’re even asking these questions means you’re probably on the right track.