Friendship Horses

26/10/2025

***Please be aware that I may not be open for business tomorrow (Monday 27th October).
After the storms ⛈️ this afternoon there’s a number of trees🪾and branches scattered all over the property. I’ll check in the morning to see what else may be around as there’s also quite a few large branches just hanging. 🥺
I will decide tomorrow morning if it is safe enough to work with the horses or if I’ll be spending the next day or so cleaning up. 🤔

Below is a video 🎥 from a quick inspectionthis evening.

23/10/2025

We're walking 100km this October to help fund support services for Australian's living with mental illness.

22/10/2025

Today only Safety Mate will be doubling all donations 💲💲 made so if you are wanting to help a great cause hit that link ⬇️ 👇

To date I’ve completed 89km of 100km walk for the one foot forward challenge organised by the Black Dog institute to raise awareness for mental health.

1 in 5 Aussies experience a mental illness each year and this is my way of helping and reminding those who have or do suffer that you are not alone. ❤️ Together we are stronger.

Together, we can help create better mental health for all.

20/10/2025

Together, we can help create better mental health for all.

11/10/2025

🧠💥 POLYVAGAL THEORY (aka “Why you snapped at your partner, cried in Tesco, and then needed a nap… all in the same hour.”)

Let’s make it simple. Like, ponies-in-a-field simple. 🐴

Because your nervous system? She’s dramatic. She has moods. And she doesn’t always let your brain know what she’s doing.

So let’s meet the three ponies of Polyvagal Theory:

🖤 Fight-or-Flight Pony – jumpy, twitchy, ready to bolt because someone looked at them funny. Will probably scream if you drop a spoon.
(Yes, this is why you couldn't reply to that text. Or got irrationally angry at the slow WiFi.)

🤍 Safe and Social Pony – this pony is vibing. Makes eye contact. Can handle a chat. Will help you carry your emotional bags AND make you a cuppa.
(This is the version of you that’s brushing your horse, laughing with a mate, and actually responding to emails.)

🤎 Shutdown Pony – she’s DONE. Over it. Can’t even. Has entered energy-saving mode like an old laptop.
(Not lazy. Not rude. Just nervous system: unplugged.)

💡Polyvagal Theory says:
You’re not broken.
You’re not overreacting.
Your body is just trying to protect you — sometimes in ways that feel ridiculous (but make total sense underneath).

11/10/2025

07/10/2025

Support Our Walk for Mental Health Research

Today was a tough one in the heat but the kms kept adding up 🚶🏻‍♀️👣👣👣👣

Help us raise more $’s for the Black Dog Institute and Support Our Walk for Mental Health Research by making a donation. Every $ counts 😊

We're walking 100km this October to help fund support services for Australian's living with mental illness.

01/10/2025

Hi everyone

Sadly, 1 in 5 people experience a mental illness each year.

This month, I'm walking 100km in One Foot Forward to help Australians impacted by mental illness and su***de.

My goal is to raise funds for Black Dog Institute to put ground-breaking new mental health treatment, education, and digital services into the hands of the people who need them most.

Please sponsor me and support my 100km challenge:

https://www.onefootforward.org.au/fundraisers/MichelleBinstead

Together, we can create better mental health for all Australians.

Thank you.

Michelle

Together, we can help create better mental health for all.

24/09/2025

14/09/2025

🐴✨ “I’m Fine.”
Your horse: Are you though? 👀

Here’s the thing. You can rock up to the yard smiling, holding your coffee, pretending life’s totally under control — but your horse already clocked your cortisol before you got your boots on.

Why?

Because horses don’t just read the vibe —
They sniff it.

🔬 Thanks to their superpowered noses and a fancy bit of kit called the vomeronasal organ, horses are wired to detect hormonal changes like stress, adrenaline, and the distinct scent of emotional chaos wafting off you like perfume.

That whole “2000% more sensitive” stat?
It’s a metaphor, not a GCSE maths answer.
But what we can say is:
👉 Horses = Sensory ninjas.
👉 Humans = Emotional squirrels pretending we’re chill.

They don’t care about your “I’m fine” voice.
They respond to what your body’s actually saying — even if you haven’t caught up with it yet.

And they do it without judgement.
No awkward questions. No “have you tried yoga?”
Just honest, grounded presence.

Which is why trauma-informed work with horses isn’t some woo-woo miracle —
It’s literally a biological recalibration with a four-legged truth detector.

They don’t buy your act.
They love you anyway.
And that, my friends, is why they’re the real co-regulators of this emotional rodeo.

🐴💥

05/09/2025

😊 Owning horses is a big responsibility and a lot of hard work. Regular hoof care is part of that. My herd of 7 🐎 all have theirs hooves cleaned out and checked for bruising, cracks etc at least once a day. They also have regular scheduled visits from our farrier Tracey Whitney from Horse Happy Hooves. 🧲

I know how my back feels after bending over while cleaning out the hooves (thats 28 between them), so I try to have my horses as prepared as possible and ready for Tracey before she arrives.

🐴 I will have the horses in the yards, in the shade and have their hooves cleaned out prior to her arrival. I will try to make sure they are all calm and relaxed ready to stand still while being trimmed. All will be haltered and have a lead rope on in case of an emergency or if for some reason they need to be settled or corrected. All my horses have been educated (or if new, in the process of education) to be willing to pick up and hold each leg up patiently while being trimmed.

If I see that one of the horses may be a bit moody (one of the mares in season), or possibly look a bit off or uncomfortable, I will tell Tracey before she starts working with that particular horse. This way she is aware of it and understands and knows if more time or patience may be required.

I do all this for a number of reasons:
🐴 I don’t like to waste anyone else’s time so I like to be prepared early.
🐴 Farriers do back-breaking dangerous work, so the more prepared and educated my horses are, the safer and easier it is for Tracey.
🐴 Providing shade and shelter is more comfortable for all concerned.
🐴 Battles between horse and human are avoided.
🐴 Educated horses = well mannered horses = SAFETY

Now I’m not saying I have a herd of 7 perfect unicorns 🦄 … I wish 🥰, they are however like us humans and sometimes just feel unsociable, but they will still do their best. All I’m saying is we should all do our best for our horses and those that need to work with them - farriers, vets, equine dentists, chiropractor or someone other than ourselves. Making each interaction safe is making each interaction enjoyable 🥰