Nancy Crowe - All Creatures

This morning I worked with Tuff, left, and Queso along with their goat, chicken, cat and other companions at Lopin’ Along at the Farm Sanctuary. This sanctuary has had several losses recently. There’s no getting around the pain of that, but there is power in holding space and standing together. That’s what we did today.

The Fourth is coming and the booms have already begun. Here's how to make it easier on the animals in your life.

Managing noise: Lesson from a German shepherd As the July 4 fireworks intensified, Iona the German shepherd trotted from one window to another — an elevated version of what her mom calls (and I paraphrase) guard dog stuff. By the time night fe…

“Hey. I’m here, too.” Kat, a Gypsy/Percheron cross, peeked into neighbor Samson’s stall this morning.

I’ve found this to be true.

A horse who walks away from you is not always rejecting you.

Sometimes they are checking whether you will follow the old pattern:
pressure,
insistence,
capture.

Many horses have learned that humans often respond to distance by closing it.
By advancing.
Correcting.
Convincing.
Escalating.

So when a horse leaves, it is not always defiance.

Sometimes it is a question.

“What will you do with my honesty?”

Will you allow the conversation to stay honest?
Or will the moment their answer becomes inconvenient, the pressure begin?

I think this is where so many relationships quietly change.

Because there is a moment horses seem to recognize something rare:
the moment they realize they are still safe even after expressing discomfort, uncertainty, or preference.

The moment they realize:
“Oh…
you heard me.”

Not just physically.
Emotionally.

You heard the hesitation in their body.
The uncertainty in their eyes.
The tension in their nervous system.
The quiet request underneath the movement away.

And instead of overpowering the communication, you listened.

I think humans often underestimate how profound that can feel to another being.

Especially to one who has spent much of their life learning that resistance leads to more pressure.

That is why some of the deepest trust I have ever witnessed did not begin with a horse moving toward someone.

It began with a horse discovering they were allowed to move away without punishment.

Because sometimes what looks like “disconnection” is actually the first fragile attempt at honesty.

And sometimes the greatest transformation is not teaching the horse to stay.

Sometimes it is teaching them they no longer need to flee to feel heard.

Not obedience.
Not submission.

Relief.

Here’s a new study on what horses value.

In a new study, researchers sought to investigate whether domestic horses prioritise the emotional quality of interaction with humans over the immediate benefit of obtaining a larger amount of food.

Drawing on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and more recent ethological and affective neuroscience perspectives, the authors asked whether, in real decision making, horses might sometimes treat social bonding with humans as at least as important as, or even more important than, maximising food intake.

This question is relevant because horses are highly social animals and their welfare is strongly influenced by both social environment and relationships.

To address this, the study tested 15 domestic horses that had already passed a screening phase demonstrating a reliable ability to discriminate and consistently choose the larger of two food quantities.

In the main experiment, each horse repeatedly chose between two unfamiliar human demonstrators: a “friendly” person who showed positive engagement, maintained eye contact and displayed an inviting attitude while offering a smaller food reward, and an “unfriendly” person who avoided eye contact, appeared bored and emotionally detached, but offered twice as much food.

The procedure was carefully controlled in a familiar paddock, with standardised distances, timing and repeated trials to ensure that choices reflected stable preferences rather than random variation or learning during the test.

The researchers also examined motor and sensory lateralisation as potential indicators of emotional processing, recording which forelimb the horses used to initiate movement towards a plate and which eye they used more often to look at each demonstrator.

While no strong population-level motor bias emerged, horses spent more time looking at the unfriendly demonstrator with the left eye and at the friendly demonstrator with the right eye, suggesting differential hemispheric involvement when processing negative versus socially rewarding cues.

Across test trials, horses chose the friendly human significantly more often than chance, and this preference remained stable, indicating that many horses were willing to “sacrifice” the larger food amount in favour of a more positive social interaction.

Taken together, these findings suggest that, for domestic horses, socially rewarding contact with humans can outweigh a seemingly optimal feeding choice, at least under moderate motivation and controlled conditions.

This has important implications for how human–horse relationships are understood and managed, emphasising that the emotional style and engagement of handlers may be as crucial for equine welfare as the quantity of material rewards provided.

Turco, R., Malavasi, R., & Miletto Petrazzini, M. E. (2026). Challenging horses’ hierarchy of needs: Less food from a friendly human is preferred. Animal Behaviour.

The licking, chewing, yawning, and napping I see horses do during and after a Let Animals Lead® session show deep relaxation. Stress relief is cited here as a way to help prevent gastric ulcers in horses. If your horse is struggling with ulcers or you're trying to get ahead of it, check out my website for more information on this gentle stress relief modality.

HOW AND WHY DO HORSES GET ULCERS?

Equine gastric ulcers can affect any horse of any age. Up to 90% of racehorses and 60% of show horses, as well as non-performance horses and even foals are affected by equine gastric ulcers. Gastric ulcers result from the erosion of the stomach lining due to a prolonged exposure to the normal acid present in the stomach.

Unlike ulcers in humans, bacteria do not appear to cause equine gastric ulcers. Instead, this condition is often a man-made disease. Stall confinement alone can lead to the development of ulcers. A horse’s feeding schedule and high-grain diets can also contribute to the development of ulcers.

Stress, both environmental and physical, can increase the likelihood of ulcers, as can hauling, training, and mixing groups of horses. Strenuous exercise can decrease the emptying of the stomach as well as the blood flow, thus further contributing to the problem.

The treatment and prevention of gastric ulcers is directed at removing these predisposing factors, therefore decreasing acid production within the horse’s stomach. Prevention of ulcers is the key in helping your horse, as neutralizing the production of stomach acid is nature’s best antacid.

Please note that the only way to definitively diagnose ulcers is through a gastroscopy. An equine veterinarian should always be consulted in any case of suspected gastric ulcers to determine the best course of action and treatment for the individual horse.

Today I got acquainted with Noel, a quarter horse-fox trotter cross. We shared a chat and a Let Animals Lead® meditation. She is up for new challenges.

Horses are natural empaths, but Lakota is even more aware than most of what's happening deep within a person's being. He and I have had talks about being present without taking on someone else's struggles. We work on that together.

Did you know horses can feel our emotions and even detect our heartbeat from several feet away? 💙 Their ability to read our energy, breathing, and body language is pretty incredible.

Lakota always seems to know when someone needs a quiet moment, a little reassurance, or simply a reason to smile. There’s something special about standing beside a horse that makes the rest of the world get a little quieter for a while. 🐴

This Mental Health Awareness Month, remember you are never alone.

Tuff was one of the horses on duty at last night’s Boots & Bourbon fundraiser. Today brought a chance to relax.