Let’s try to understand why a horse can look soft, responsive, obedient… while fighting an invisible internal battle you were never taught to recognise.
We were all raised to believe horses live in neat emotional categories.
Calm OR anxious.
Connected OR shut down.
Soft OR defensive.
Flight OR freeze.
But real nervous systems don’t operate in tidy boxes. A horse can be in two contradictory states at once – because their survival pathways blend, overlap, and activate simultaneously depending on history, environment, fascia, energy, and perceived safety.
This is the hidden layer beneath so many “mystery behaviours” in the horse world. And once you see it, you cannot unsee it.
Before we go further – a quick clarification (for the science-minded)
Polyvagal Theory was developed through human research.
Applying it to horses is an emerging neuroscience field.
So when we use terms like:
• dorsal
• sympathetic
• shutdown
• freeze
• mixed states
we’re drawing on established mammalian biology and clinically observed
equine patterns, not claiming horses have identical systems to humans.
To clarify terms:
• Shutdown / collapse = parasympathetic-dominant conservation mode
• Freeze = immobilisation with sympathetic charge held inside
• Mixed states = when more than one survival response fires at once
This model simply helps us make sense of patterns we see daily in horses – patterns traditional training has never been able to explain.
1. Shutdown + Sympathetic Activation
(When stillness and mobilisation compete inside the same horse)
This is the horse who:
• yields softly while the tail twitches
• moves forward but the eyes lose presence
• stands quietly but the breath disappears
• responds willingly but tension leaks through the body
Shutdown pulls the horse inward. Sympathetic activation pushes energy outward.
When both activate:
Movement happens… without real engagement.
Softness appears… but it’s shaped by inhibition, not safety.
Performance occurs… but presence disappears.
Tail swishing can indicate sympathetic leakage through suppression – though of course it can also signal flies, digestive discomfort, or habit. Context is everything.
2. Collapse + Fight
(The “moody” horse who is not moody at all)
One moment they look flat. The next moment they react sharply.
It’s not inconsistency. It’s conflict. Collapse reduces agency.
Fight tries to protect anyway.
The human parallel is the exhausted person who holds everything in… then suddenly snaps – not because they’re angry at the person in front of them, but because their system overflowed.
This pattern is common in horses who:
• were punished for expressing discomfort
• lived with chronic stress
• had pain ignored
• were over-controlled
• lacked secure early attachment
The horse isn’t difficult. The horse is overwhelmed.
3. Freeze + Flight
(When movement and immobilisation fire simultaneously)
This looks like:
• stepping away then stopping abruptly
• shying then locking up
• hesitant transitions
• wanting to move but unable to follow through
Flight says move. Freeze says don’t move. The body receives two opposing instructions:
“Create distance.”
“But staying still is safer.”
Movement becomes fractured and inconsistent. This is not defiance, stubbornness, or confusion. It is the nervous system trying to survive.
These states create behaviour that seems “inconsistent”. Because the survival pathways are in conflict.
When two opposing systems activate, you see:
• softness + irritation
• compliance + tension
• stillness + agitation
• responsiveness + reactivity
• affection + avoidance
It’s not random and it’s not attitude. It is physiology trying to protect the horse from perceived threat.
These patterns become physically wired in the fascia:
Fascia adapts to stress, posture, and emotional load.
Over time, mixed states create:
• bracing through the ribs
• locked backs
• tight polls
• protective pelvis patterns
• shallow breathing
• tail-base rigidity
To be clear: these patterns involve fascia, muscle, and the nervous system working as one. In living tissue, they are inseparable.
A horse cannot “just relax” out of patterns they once needed to survive.
Let’s discuss the Somatic–Energetic Layer
(The felt-sense communication sensitive horsepeople recognise instantly)
Some patterns we observe don’t yet sit neatly within research terminology.
But they are:
• consistent
• repeatable
• observable across individuals and herds
A push–pull in connection.
A flickering presence.
A horse who wants to approach but cannot stay.
Attention that splits under pressure.
You can call this energy. You can call it somatic communication.
You can call it attunement. Whatever the name, it is part of the horse’s lived experience.
Important nuance *
Not every contradictory behaviour is nervous-system conflict.
Also consider:
• ulcers
• dental pain
• saddle fit
• vision issues
• musculoskeletal pain
• hindgut discomfort
• diet high in sugar/starch
• lack of movement
• social deprivation
• breed temperament (an Arabian ≠ a Clydesdale)
It’s important to rule out medical issues, review management, and assess training history before interpreting behaviour primarily through a nervous-system lens.
And for severe cases, veterinary behaviourists – and medication when appropriate – can be incredibly supportive. This is not about excusing dangerous behaviour. It’s about understanding its source so safety can be restored.
So, how will you know the horse is improving?
You begin to see:
• tail calming during movement
• smoother transitions
• deepening breath
• softening eyes
• tension releasing faster
• a horse who chooses connection more often
• reduced startle intensity
This is not a “quick fix”. You are unwinding patterns shaped over months or years. True change happens over weeks and months, not days.
And yes – your nervous system matters
Horses co-regulate. Your breath, tone, pace, posture, and internal state shape theirs. Sometimes the first step in helping the horse is helping the human.
So what does this all mean?
Your horse isn’t unpredictable.
Or difficult. Or moody. Or disrespectful.
Your horse is living inside a survival system that hasn’t yet found clarity. Once you begin to see the internal conflict, you can begin to untangle it – slowly, gently, with patience and deep understanding.
This is the foundation of nervous-system-aware horsemanship.
This post gave you the WHY – the framework, the science, the somatic patterns.
The HOW is not a fixed formula. It’s an evolving body of work we are actively exploring with our own herd and with clients’ horses, including things like:
• supporting horses to safely move through stress cycles
• experimenting with ways to soften bracing patterns in the body
• finding options for horses stuck between freeze and flight
• rebuilding a sense of choice and agency, one tiny moment at a time
• creating environments that feel safer and more predictable
• working on our own regulation so we are easier to co-regulate with
We don’t pretend to have all the answers. What we do have is a growing toolbox, a lot of lived experience, and a commitment to staying curious, ethical, and horse-led.
Inside our Subscription Group, we share more of this unfolding work: real cases, principles we’re testing, practical starting points, and what seems to be helping – and sometimes what doesn’t.
It’s not a shortcut or a guarantee. It’s a space to go deeper together.
And if you need support with your specific horse, Nicola and I offer 1:1 consultations where we can look at your individual situation and offer ideas, reflections, and next steps tailored to you and your horse.
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