Forageplus

17/04/2026

When I read the research and realised what bits really meant to horses I could never go back.

Now I watch how different Gatsby is in his body, soft, relaxed, powerful, with a still mouth and quiet tail, ears pricked forward in soft concentration, I know I did the right thing.

For years I didn’t know and that’s OK because you don’t know what you don’t know until you know you didn’t know it.

Now I’ll never go back - how about you?

16/04/2026

This is how WE must push the change, people like US coming together and realising we are not alone. I am so grateful to QiEquine who travelled all that way to be part of it. I have only been on my own for 5 years …. 15 years ….. bravo to you 👏👏 I truly believe this wasn’t just a meeting, it’s the beginning of a movement and the horse world will change because of all of us. Roll on the next one on 20th May 💓thank you so much for coming.

13/04/2026

There’s a lot of it about 🤷‍♀️

Understanding why the horse world clings to tradition even when the science is becoming increasingly pervasive requires looking at the human brain as much as the horse.

Even the most objective of us is subject to cognitive bias which can act like a set of blinders, causing us to favor information that fits the narrative we already know. When a trainer has been taught through generations that a specific type of training is the only way to get results, their brain naturally filters out any data that suggests otherwise. It is a protective mechanism that keeps our worldview intact, even when that worldview is becoming outdated.

This leads directly into cognitive dissonance, which is that uncomfortable feeling we get when our actions don’t match new information. For a veteran trainer, looking at the effectiveness of positive reinforcement can be genuinely painful.

Accepting the science often means acknowledging that decades of previous work might have been unnecessarily stressful for the horses. That is a massive emotional pill to swallow. It is often much easier to dismiss current research as a passing trend or something that only works for “tricks” than to sit with the discomfort of realizing there is a kinder, more efficient way.

There are very real external pressures at play, specifically regarding money and ego. In the equestrian industry, your reputation is your livelihood. If a professional has spent twenty years branding himself as an expert in a specific discipline, admitting he needs to go back to square one to learn behavioral science feels like a financial and social risk.

There is a fear that clients might lose confidence or that his authority will be challenged. The ego wants to protect the status of being the expert, and being a student again requires a level of vulnerability that many aren't yet ready to embrace.

Ultimately, the shift toward evidence-based training isn't about throwing away everything we know; it is about having the open-mindedness to refine our tools. Being an excellent trainer means being true student of the horse which means putting the horses first, which requires the humility to let go of old habits when better information arrives.

When we trade our ego for curiosity, we stop being stuck in the way things have always been done and start moving toward a partnership based on how horses actually learn. It takes a lot of courage to change your compass mid-stream, but the horses are always worth the effort. And so is the journey for ourselves as this transformation is surely not just about the horses.

13/04/2026

🔥 Something different is happening in the horse world… and people are starting to notice.

This programme for Wednesday’s launch evening was shaped directly from the responses of 150 horse owners, who signed up with real questions, real challenges, and real curiosity about doing things differently.

If you’re not there on Wednesday you’re missing a conversation that’s opening the door to a completely new way of working with horses, one built on clarity, trust, calm horse behaviour and true communication.

✨ But this is just the beginning.

🗓️ A new date will be open soon, for May, for both in person and virtual attendance.

If you’ve been curious about going bit-free, or exploring positive reinforcement in a practical, grounded way, this is your invitation.

To stay informed about future events which are FREE but have limited availability, follow our social channels.

12/04/2026

😢 What do you think?

I don’t usually do controversial posts, but I’ve had a fairly bad day symptom wise and I feel cranky 🤣

Yesterday a horse at Aintree was whipped past the finish line to win a race after having suffered a catastrophic injury. The horse lost its life after the race. Today that same jockey went on to win the grand national and all the rewards that come with that. How can that be right?

People are so quick to judge people in other counties with working animals, yet we do this here to our own horses… for what? Sport? Money? Fun?

Don’t come at me with the usual “they love to race” because they don’t. We take advantage of the flight mode of herd animal who will run in fear with their kind. I’ve seen them forced into the starting boxes, and anyone who has spent time learning properly about equine body language knows that those horses are stressed. Unfortunately a lot people still mistake stress as excitement in horses. As for “you can’t force a horse to do something it doesn’t want to do”, don’t be ridiculous. That’s literally what humans have been doing to horses since they domesticated them.

Perhaps a weirder argument is that “horses can get injured in their own field”. Well of course they can 🤷‍♀️ Are you saying that, as grown adults, we don’t understand the concept of risk and chances? Say I have a herd of thoroughbreds in the field. If I take one out racing for the day the risk of injury is significantly higher for the one going racing than the ones left at home. Therefore, I would be putting that horse at risk by doing that and knowingly so. Let’s put it another way - I could break my leg walking down a mountain, but the risk would be significantly higher if I were to decide to unicycle down the mountain instead. So would I say “well I could break my leg walking down so may as well unicycle down”…? No. Because what sort of daft justification would that be.

They are ridden far too young, many don’t make the grade, and I meet broken ex racers in my day job (physically, mentally or both).

It’s too big an industry to fight, but let’s hope their social license one day runs out. As humans we can do better, and we should do better.

Pictured is Wolly, ex racer I had the pleasure of working with in his final years.

11/04/2026

⭐️ MORE INFO 👉 Grass sugar isn’t constant; this matters more than most people realise when horses are prone to laminitis.

It’s not just what they eat… it’s when that grass was growing and under what conditions.

🌱 Early morning isn’t always safe.
In spring (April - May), sugar levels can still be too high, even in the early morning.

☀️ Sunlight drives sugar production in the leaf.
Levels rise through the day, peaking in the afternoon.

❄️ Frost doesn’t increase sugar, it traps it.
When temperatures drop, the plant can’t move sugar into the roots. This gets worse over several cold, sunny days, as sugar builds up more and more in the leaf. So you might get away with grazing on the first morning after a frost but on the second or third morning it’s dangerous.

⚠️ Here’s why the sugar content matters:
Fluctuations in simple sugars cause insulin spikes. Repeated spikes raise horse baseline insulin. A high baseline insulin level is strongly linked to laminitis. This is why thinking about the sugar level in each mouthful of food and keeping it below 10%, combined with starch, works to stop those spikes and lower baseline insulin.

WHAT IS YOUR SOLUTION?

🌾 Hay is different. It’s cut when mature, so sugar levels are typically lower and ….. very stable. From our testing, over 80% of hay samples have low simple sugars and starch, which are suitable to feed without soaking (when the overall diet is balanced correctly).

👉 For more sensitive horses, a short soak (1–2 hours) may be helpful but you should try to test the hay to see, as soaking leaches valuable water soluble nutrients from the hay, as well as the sugar.

⭐️ Understanding how grass sugar changes is one of the most powerful tools you have to protect your horse’s health.

If you’re unsure whether your horse’s diet is safe, find a way to reduce or cut out grass in April and May (UK based). This could help save you heart break …. and a hole in your bank balance.

At Forageplus we are experts in managing laminitis prone horses, and our forage focused approach means we hold the data and the knowledge to support you managing for … NO laminitis

Contact our team through the link in the comments below if you want more information.

10/04/2026

⭐️ Comment 👍 or 👎 or even share your own 😬

09/04/2026

What do you think? Does shovelling food create a massive headache when horses take control 🤷‍♀️💕🤷‍♀️

08/04/2026

Every year 🤯 Is it a vacuum cleaner… a brush… or something better? 😅

Hairy saddle pads are a nightmare 🙃

Drop your best tips! HELP 🤯🙈🤯🙈

07/04/2026

🔥 This is targeted, functional horse movement.

By rocking back on the platform, your horse is:
Engaging the deep core stabilisers
Lifting through the thoracic sling
Mobilising the spine
Improving hind limb strength and weight distribution

These are the exact foundations needed for soundness, performance, and longevity.

But here’s the important part… how you teach it matters just as much as the exercise itself.

Using positive reinforcement allows the horse to:
💥Actively seek the movement
💥 Stay relaxed through the back (no bracing = real core engagement)
💥 Experiment and refine posture without pressure
💥 Build strength without tension or force

When a horse chooses to shift weight back, you’ll often see a softer topline, a lifted back, and genuine abdominal engagement not just a pressure led, mechanical response.

Watch it again. Watch the back and the core.

Want exercises that actually improve your horse’s body (not just behaviour)?

👉 Follow for more and learn the power of your horse actively seeking movement
and build strength without tension or force.

06/04/2026

Sign up if you want the up to date, low down on laminitis management. There is no better organisation in the world to make sure your horse never has laminitis or recovers from this dreadful symptom.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for all four upcoming webinars in ECIR's new Webinar Series: https://www.ecirhorse.org/webinars.php

Announcing a new opportunity for live face-to-face learning from the ECIR Group, featuring Eleanor M. Kellon, VMD and ECIR President Kathleen M. Gustafson, PhD.

Our new webinar series will begin on April 23, 2026, with the topic HOW DOES INSULIN CAUSE LAMINITIS?

It is widely accepted that insulin resistance can cause laminitis. Research has shown that it is high insulin levels that have this effect, even in normal horses experimentally infused with insulin. The question remaining is how does insulin do this?

Additional webinar topics will include:
-NSC or HC – Why does it Matter?
-PPID and the Seasonal Rise
-Winter Laminitis

ECIR Group Inc. thanks our Diamond Benefactors for supporting this project.

DIAMOND
Custom Equine Nutrition, LLC (Vermont Blend)
Equine Balanced Support
California Trace
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Soft Ride Equine Comfort Boots
Hay Chix