Most horses will spook once in a while, but for some, scary objects and places become a recurrent and frustrating issue. Like most other problems, it doesn't go away on its own, and it may even become worse if you ignore it. Anders Chortzen is a Danish bereiter with a passion for behavioural science and learning theory. In this video, he demonstrates and explains how to use those little spooks at home to prevent big spooks when you and your horse are out and about.

What does it mean when a horse headshakes side to side? What diagnostic tests are standard when a veterinarian examines a headshaker? Can headshaking be dangerous to riders, what treatments for headshaking have been scientifically tested and what were the results? Get the answers to these questions and many more in part 2 of EPONA.tv's big interview with Professor Daniel Mills.

How can a nose net help a headshaker with nerve damage from dental problems or abuse of the bit? Why are the researchers, who know the most about headshaking, moving away from theories of allergy causing the symptoms? What can the type of headshaking say about where the horse feels pain? And is headshaking ever just a bad habit? Daniel Mills, Professor of veterinary behavioural medicine at the University of Lincoln, England, is one of the world's foremost experts in equine headshaking. In this video, Professor Mills shows video of headshaking from his personal archives, and tells you all the latest about headshaking, that you never knew you had to know.

Sometimes horses rear even if there is nothing clinically wrong with them or perhaps they keep rearing after a physical issue has been resolved. This leads owners and trainers to speculate that rearing behaviour is a sign of disrespect or "naughtiness", but nothing could be further from the truth, explains equine behavioural scientist and expert horse trainer Dr. Andrew McLean. Horses that habitually rear are confused and frustrated - helping them to understand the riders aides once more - or perhaps for the first time - can fix the problem, whereas punishment is needless and can even be counterproductive.

In order for a horse to be truly naughty, it would need the mental faculties to imagine the consequences of its actions for others. Mischief can only exist if its perpetrator is aware that he or she "should" be acting in a different way. In other words, without morality and complex thought, there can be no naughtiness. Science has long searched for the capacity for abstract thought in horses, but so far has been unsuccessful. This is why leading equine behaviourist and international clinician Dr. Andrew McLean doesn't believe it is fair to accuse horses of intentionally misbehaving. If a horse has learned a acquired a behaviour through trial and error learning, how would the horse know that the behaviour is morally wrong? Instead of assuming that horses are at fault when they behave inappropriately, we should be looking for the causes of their behaviour to change their motivation, he believes.

Tail lashing and pinned back ears are signs that a horse is anything but comfortable. Yet, these behaviours are routinely ignored by riders who claim that signs of conflict are just part of their horse's unique personality. Dr. Janne Winther Christensen explains why conflict behaviour should never be ignored.