'My Horse Ran Away from Me. Does He Hate Me?' Avoidant Behaviors in Horses and How to Understand and Address Them

If you’ve ever had a horse turn and walk away from you in the field when you’re trying to catch them, or turn away from you in the stall - you are so not alone. That moment can be confusing, annoying - at best it’s inconvenient and at worst it’s dangerous. But we’re going to walk through understanding this avoidant behavior today, give you some perspective on how to understand why your horse is doing it, and then an effective approach on how to address the behavior - and it doesn’t involve force or bribery - this is a proper fix with no shortcuts. 

My guest today is Chelsea Canedy. Chelsea is an event rider who specializes in groundwork and understanding horse behavior - she’s based in Ocala Florida and southern Maine.

Chelsea and I talk about identifying this behacvior when it’s still small and subtle, why it never really comes out of nowhere, how to become a detective about the problem, and then 2 strategies to address the behaviour - one specifically on catching the horse and another on breaking up negative associations your horse might have that is triggering this behavior. And before we start, we do want to underline that pain needs to always be a factor in figuring this behavior out - that can involve your vet, your bodyworker, your saddle fitter, and/or your farrier. 

To learn more about Chelsea, visit her Patreon page. 

This episode is sponsored by WeRideTogether.today. For information from today's episode on Role Plays, go here. 

Today's episode is also sponsored by Antu Creative. To learn more about Jade and her design services, go here,