Looks can be deceiving

You often see Floxely passing by on social media and she is also depicted on the label of our dandelion tincture. She is a Friesian x Tinker mare who has been with me her entire life. A big, tough mare with an imposing presence and everyone who sees her in person finds her beautiful. And she is, she is fantastic, both in appearance and character. But she always gets labeled: calm, cool, easy, and relaxed. But looks can be deceiving! Floxely is an incredibly sensitive mare, a mare that you shouldn't handle with a heavy hand. A mare that you should ask things of instead of commanding. Where you are clear, but do everything from a place of feeling and with the right intention. Where you set boundaries, but also negotiate. She can be very feisty during riding, not mean, but awake and alert. But above all, a mare who doesn't show all her emotions! A true introvert and reserved.

Introverts are "more difficult"

People say that horses snorting through a barn aisle, panicking at the sight of a garden gnome, or sprinting away at the slightest disturbance are experiencing stress. And yes, these horses may indeed be experiencing stress. But could it be that the horses who don't show it physically may be experiencing even more stress? Could it be that the stress builds up inside and sometimes "suddenly" explodes because the owner didn't notice the earlier signals? Introverts are more difficult in that regard, you need to know them inside out to pick up on the tiniest signals. The slight edge of the eye, the accelerated heartbeat, the ear that moves slightly differently, a skin tremor. Or in Floxely's case, mud spots that explosively appear from one day to the next.

Mud spots due to stress?

Yes, Floxely gets mud spots due to stress. Stress produces waste substances and these substances need to leave the body, often exiting through the "weakest" spot, in Flox's case, her hind legs. And it doesn't always have to be mud spots, it can also be other physical problems that arise from internal stress. What I'm trying to convey is that you realize stress is not always visible, but it does much more harm in the body than you realize. It's not always about gastric ulcers, there can also be other physical discomforts. In Floxely's case, it affects her legs, spots can develop into bleeding wounds within a day. And thankfully I have a very good homeopath, so we can address both the waste substance issue and the stress issue directly, often soothing the spots within a few days. But it really breaks my heart when I see those spots because that's not what you want for your horse, especially when you have the conditions as optimal as possible. But with introverts, it's much harder to intervene in time or prevent the stress.

So keep introverts in check!

Every horse is different and every horse reacts differently. Not every calm horse is necessarily an introvert. But there are horses who do not physically express their emotions, and those are the horses you need to keep an extra eye on. Pay attention to the small signals and be there for your horse if you notice stress. Because if it builds up internally, with these horses it can happen that they actually explode, and then they are labeled as unpredictable, while in reality, many signals were missed. For all horses, it's important to have a stable herd, but especially for introverts. Because if there's unrest in the group, this has an additional effect on introverted horses. But you only realize this later and you only notice the consequences at a later time. Other horses run once and release the tension, it doesn't work like that with introverts. You really have to help these horses release the tension, even if you don't see the tension.