It is common knowledge that a horse must achieve optimal physical fitness in order to deliver a peak performance, but what kind of impact does psychological condition have on equine performance? In a competition environment, equine athletes in any discipline may show symptoms of stress, but to what degree does the expression of that stress affect the quality of a jumping round, dressage test, reining pattern, etc.?

A common problem that many horse owners have is dealing with a horse that doesn’t want to be caught. This is particularly frustrating when the horse will allow itself to be caught some days, but not others, or will come for the barn manager but not for his owner. The reason a horse does or doesn’t want to be caught is basically about the relationship between the owner and the horse.

By Lindsay Grice - Cribbing is a stereotypy, similar to obsessive compulsive behaviour in humans. A stereotypy is a repetitive behaviour that serves no practical purpose but makes your horse feel better by releasing brain chemicals. Research shows that, while initially begun in response to stress (physiological or environmental), cribbing often continues as an everyday habit, even without the stressful trigger.