28/01/2026
๐ฆ๐น๐ผ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ
This one's a bit of a Carol-Ramble, but it's been on my mind ever since a recent email landed. A client, just four weeks into a KPU reset, feeling disheartened that things werenโt shifting fast enough.
Theyโd hoped for a quick turnaround and were keen to be out competing again, even though the horse is young, lacking topline, and still finding his feet. Iโll admit, I enjoyed replying to that one - and the client thankfully took my gentle nudge to rethink things on board.
At the same time, equine welfare feels more in focus than ever. Bitless, barefoot, treeless, track living over stabling. Conversations around rollkur, spurs, pressure. Just this week, a former show judge spoke about how routinely spurs are being used - increasingly on children, which Iโll be honest, does not sit well with me.
But overall, compassion seens to be the buzzword right now.
And yet, when it comes to helping an uncomfortable, stressed, or unhealthy horse, itโs still so common to see people craving a quick fix. That email really made me pause - not with judgement, but with recognition. I think many of us have felt that pressure or impatience at some stage, often without realising it.
I never imagined EquiNatural would become what it is today. But over time, weโve found that part of our work is supporting the owner/rider every bit as much as the horse. My Functional Medicine studies over the last 2-decades have taken me far beyond diet - into genetics, trauma, neurobiology, nervous system regulation, and the emotional layers behind what the horse world so often calls โbehaviourโ.
(Confession: Iโve never liked that word. So often โbehaviourโ is simply a reaction - but in some circles, anything less than tidy gets boxed and labelled.)
A part of our role now is helping people slow down and really see the horse in front of them - clearly, compassionately, and without the pressure of unrealistic timelines. Especially when weโre digging into the how-and-why behind symptoms and reactions - not to judge, but to support meaningful change.
Because hereโs the real world: when we rush a fix, our own timeline can accidentally slip ahead of the horseโs nervous system.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ'๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ
We all see the highlight reels - the glow-ups, the slow-mo manes waving in the breeze, the big wins - but never the messy middle. We donโt see the small, almost invisible moments where a nervous system learns itโs safe again. Those moments rarely look dramatic - they often look likeโฆ well, nothing much at all.
We also donโt see a brain shifting out of survival mode into focus mode. Instead, we hear more โitโs not workingโ at the two- or four-week stage - even when, from everything theyโre telling us, the horse is changing. They see โslowโ or โsetbackโ, whereas from what they also say has us seeing a work in process, slow improvement, and a nervous system learning itโs finally safe enough to try again.
Stabilising and truly turning a corner takes time - especially in complex cases like KPU. Thereโs rarely a one-size-fits-all answer, and certainly no pill-for-every-ill. The nervous system doesnโt care about deadlines or dreams - but it does care about safety, trust, stability and space.
Progress isnโt always a straight line. It zigzags, two steps forward, one back, a pause, another step forward. And then, eventually - a long, soft, unforced exhale. This is exactly how getting better works.
I've learned over the years how important it is to slow down, watch closely, and allow compassion to set the pace. Not our motives, not our plans - but the wellbeing of the horse standing right in front of us.
Carol Moreton
Founder, EquiNatural
ยฉ EquiNatural 2026
