Chris Pearce - Equine Dental Clinic
Some people come to understand horses through study. Others through time spent quietly alongside them. Chris was nominated for his calm, patient approach with nervous horses, something that feels less like a technique and more like a deep, intuitive understanding, one that began years ago far from home.
Before veterinary school, Chris took a year out and travelled to Australia to work on a cattle station. There, each person was given a horse, one they would break in and live alongside for the year. It was not just about riding. It was everything. Sleeping nearby, eating together, moving through each day side by side, and over time something shifted. The horse began to trust him, not gradually, but completely.
During a branding, the horse became distressed in his absence, so much so that Chris had to be flown in to be there. He did not do anything extraordinary. He simply spoke to him, and the horse settled. It was perhaps the first time he truly understood just how deeply horses feel, and how closely they read the world around them, a moment that stayed with him and went on to shape everything that followed.
As an equine vet and dental specialist, Chris sees horses at their most vulnerable, often in pain, often misunderstood, and with that comes a quiet responsibility. What is sometimes labelled as difficult behaviour is more often a horse trying to communicate discomfort. Horses, he believes, sense far more than we realise, our mood, our intention, even the things we have not said out loud. Which means the way we show up matters.
Spending time with Chris, what becomes clear is that his work is not just about treatment. It is about listening, taking the time, building trust, and understanding the individual in front of him. He speaks about the importance of simply being with horses, of making the effort to show up early, to stay a little longer, to create space for a relationship to grow.
Because in the end, that is where everything starts. Not in control. Not in force. But in connection.
If you’d like to follow Chris' journey and the work he does, you can find him here:
Website: www.equinedentalclinic.co.uk
Twitter: equinevetdental
Facebook: facebook.com/TheEquineDentalClinic
