Dr. Peters on BHP Podcast

In our third episode, we welcome Dr. Steve Peters, a retired neuropsychologist and co-author of Evidence-Based Horsemanship, for some great insights into how learning brain science can improve our horse work. Maddy Butcher consulted Peters for the first chapter of her book, Horse Head: Brain […]

Horse Head Coming Soon!

Next week, we’ll debut an exciting new website for horse owners and riders. Horse Head will provide features on equine brain science and how it relates to our horsemanship and horse-human interactions. The new site is a collaboration between Dr. Steve Peters, a clinical neuropsychologist […]

Horses flourish when humans get the science

If you’ve ever sought a second medical opinion or gotten more than one estimate for a home repair, you know that each vested party has a different take on things. Working with horses, every trainer has a distinctive manner of looking at the horse, of […]

Understanding “Deep Practice”

In The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle discusses the merits of soccer hotbeds in Brazil and training methods of famous pianists. So, what does all that have to do with horsemanship? Everything. As Coyle explains, it all comes down to one microscopic detail, shared by horses […]

Healthy Horse Weekend in NC

This week, we hear from frequent guest columnist Emily Thomas Luciano. Together with her father, Jim Thomas, Luciano is coordinating the Healthy Horse Seminar, March 3-5, in PittsboSiler City, North Carolina. Click here to check it out. She writes: Where else can you learn the […]

Confidence in Evidence-Based Horsemanship Terms

How to build self-confidence in a horse? It’s a concept to be discussed at next month’s Evidence-Based Horsemanship Seminar, led by Martin Black and Dr. Steve Peters. Peters said giving horses repeated exposure to novel experiences is a great way to down-regulate their fear component […]

The Case for Cowboys

Not everyone thinks cowboys are the pillars of good horsemanship. In some quarters, they have a historical reputation of neglectful, even abusive handling and care. But as an observer of several years, I can testify to the contrary. Indeed, on average, I’ve seen better care […]

Straight Dope on Dopamine

Working with neuropsychologist Dr. Steve Peters, I’ve become more familiar with how brain chemicals represent themselves physically and behaviorally. These chemicals are present in horse brains, human brains, and are often referred to as neurotransmitters or neurochemicals. The expression of the neurochemical, dopamine, is one […]

Fire and fast-moving horses

During one of the most devastating wild fire seasons on record, one of BestHorsePractices’ preferred horsemen, Martin Black, was immediately impacted by the country’s largest fire to date. Imagine a fire consuming a third of the state of Rhode Island. Or the entire city of […]

He knew Nature is Best

Tom Smith knew what happened off the track was crucial to victories on the track. Diet and horse keeping practices were key to the champion he developed out of the fussy, difficult Seabiscuit. Read about Seabiscuit: An American Legend and other favorite horse books. Nervous […]