Basic Instinct Equine

14/08/2026

A field is never JUST a field of grass..or even just one type of grass!
From wildflowers to mosses to herbs to legumes 😍🌱❤️🐴

09/08/2026

09/08/2026

Pasture resembling a desert lately!? 🫣
Here are some horse friendly plants you can offer your horse this summer for diversity 🐴❤️🌱
Follow us on TikTok for more plants and forage safe for horses

07/08/2026

🐴 Something has been quietly growing… 🌱

If you’ve followed Basic Instincts Equine over the years, you may have noticed that although we haven’t posted very often, we never really disappeared.

Since 2017, we’ve been quietly trying to answer a question that we think every horse owner has asked at some point…

“Is this plant safe for my horse?”

That one question took us on a journey we never expected…

Over the last six years we’ve spent countless hours researching plants, learning about grazing, pasture management and the environments our horses live in.

It also took us all over the UK, visiting free-living horse populations — from Exmoor and Dartmoor to the Welsh Mountains and Fell ponies — to better understand the plants, landscapes and environments horses have evolved to live in, and what they might still have to teach us today.

What started as curiosity slowly became something much bigger!

And now… it’s finally time to let a few people in on the secret. 🌿

We’re inviting around 20 horse owners to become our very first Foundation Builders and help shape what we’ve been building.

We’re not going to give too much away just yet…

But if you’re someone who loves learning about horses, enjoys exploring with them, wonders what’s growing in your fields, or simply wants to be involved in creating something from the very beginning…

We’d love to hear from you! leave a 🌿 in the comments or send us a message and please feel free to share with any other horsey friends who may be interested.

We’ll then send you a little more about what we’ve been building and how you can be part of it.

We’d love you to join us as we begin the next chapter of this journey. 🌿❤️🐴 ゚

06/08/2026

🐴 Something has been quietly growing… 🌱

If you’ve followed Basic Instincts Equine over the years, you may have noticed that although we haven’t posted very often, we never really disappeared.

Since 2017, we’ve been quietly trying to answer a question that we think every horse owner has asked at some point…

“Is this plant safe for my horse?”

That one question took us on a journey we never expected…

Over the last six years we’ve spent countless hours researching plants, learning about grazing, pasture management and the environments our horses live in.

It also took us all over the UK, visiting free-living horse populations — from Exmoor and Dartmoor to the Welsh Mountains and Fell ponies — to better understand the plants, landscapes and environments horses have evolved to live in, and what they might still have to teach us today.

What started as curiosity slowly became something much bigger!

And now… it’s finally time to let a few people in on the secret. 🌿

We’re inviting around 20 horse owners to become our very first Foundation Builders and help shape what we’ve been building.

We’re not going to give too much away just yet…

But if you’re someone who loves learning about horses, enjoys exploring with them, wonders what’s growing in your fields, or simply wants to be involved in creating something from the very beginning…

We’d love to hear from you! leave a 🌿 in the comments or send us a message and please feel free to share with any other horsey friends who may be interested.

We’ll then send you a little more about what we’ve been building and how you can be part of it.

We’d love you to join us as we begin the next chapter of this journey. 🌿❤️🐴

22/07/2026

Beautiful retired Highland ponies on Rùm. The line of ponies from this island are known for having the silver gene. This gene lightens black pigment in ponies causing black manes to go blonde. This ponies on the outside are silver mouse duns (mouse dun is also known as black dun), second from the left is a silver yellow dun (yellow dun is also known as bay dun), and the second from the right is a silver black pony. Highland ponies are equally at home high up on a hill, or down by the seashore. This breed was developed in the highlands and islands of Scotland as a crofters pony and are also well known as a deer stalking pony (see my other posts). They are valued for their strength, kindness and easy keeping. Highland ponies are categorised as “At Risk” by Rare Breeds Survival Trust 🐴🌄

21/07/2026

Some parts of America’s story are still living, breathing, and running free.

📣 Follow Roundup Updates: www.americanwildhorse.org/news-and-stories/wild-horse-and-burro-roundup-reports

Across the American West, wild horses continue to roam public lands that have shaped generations of history, culture, and identity.

This family band is more than a moment on the range. It is a reminder that America’s heritage is not only found in monuments and historic sites, but in the living landscapes and wildlife we choose to protect.

Wild horses remain one of the most enduring symbols of freedom in the American West, and we are their stewards.

Protecting wild horses is how we keep the spirit of the West alive. (Photo By: Steve Paige) 🌾🐴

Follow the latest roundup updates and learn how you can help protect them through the link above.

21/07/2026

Faroese Horse 🧡🐴

The Faroese horse is one of the rarest horse breeds in the world with fewer than 100 individuals. Like with rare breeds, the arrival of mechanisation impacted them as they were essentially replaced by machines like tractors.

Historically the native Faroese horse a multipurpose work horse, transporting materials like peat, manure, and seaweed etc. They even did the milk round in the cities. They were also the only means of transport up and over the steep hills before there were tunnels, machines, and roads. They are thought to have been brought to the islands by Norse settlers. Some of these Norse settlers travelled via the British Isles on their way to Iceland (with the Faroe Islands being between Britain and Iceland). This is why the British Atlantic breeds like the Eriskay pony and the Shetland pony are closely related and physically similar to the Faroese horse and Icelandic horse 🇫🇴🐴

Faroese horses cannot currently be exported due passporting issues - but this is hopefully about to change which will boost the breed immeasurably if they can be bred and kept abroad. They currently struggle in the Faroe Islands due to lack of resources and grazing (many people want to use the grazing for their livestock and livelihood). There was also an exciting project which saw Faroese embryos exported in Icelandic mares to Denmark and Faroese foals were born outside of the Faroe Islands for the first time in many years

Last year also saw a first - every living stallion of the breed had his semen frozen which preserves their genetics for the future

Faroese Horse | Felagið Føroysk Ross