Let Horses Be Horses
So much of what we do to and for our horses is for our convienence, with little or no thought given to our horses real needs. It’s amazing to see what happens when we put our horses needs first!
Even though there are limitations to what we can do in a farm setting, with a little forethought and creativity we can make great strides towards giving our horses just what they need. For example, turnout time for horses can be greatly improved in several ways. Horses are herd animals who naturally live in a group with other horses. When we ignore our horses need to have social interaction with other horses, problems often develop. Have you ever seen a horse with neurotic behaviors, like pacing, head bobbing or weaving, cribbing or wood chewing? Well, many of these behaviors are created by ignoring the horses need for social interaction and keeping them locked up in a box stall for too many hours alone. Horses who are turned out with other horses from a young age don’t develop these behaviors. Horses need to see, touch and feel other horses. They need to develop a dominance heirarchy between themselves, even if it’s just two horses, and they need to develop friendships. The more hours of turnout the better. In your horses opinion, being turned out 24/7 with their herd in a pasture or even with with a big roll of hay to “graze ” on is an ideal life.
Please join us by sharing your thoughts on horse care…
definitely agree! i noticed horses who often have behavioural problems when they don’t have companions. great post! hope to read more posts from you.
I do agree with this. In my opinion it applies to stallions as well, many people separate stallions from other horses. It is understandable because of obvious reasons fights and so on… but stallions that are left 24/7 with their mares or even just one mare are way happier and easier to handle than those who only get to see other horses during breeding time.
Absolutly, stallions are probably some of the most mistreated equines. In a wild herd a stallion is an important part of that extended family group, in a farm setting they are often treated like monsters who need to be locked up, and then by locking them up it becomes a self-fullfilling prophecy.
I wouldn’t doubt this a bit. I knew one horse who got madder and meaner the less he was turned out. I knew another one who seemed to have his wires crossed, totally a timid creature with other horses and always bullied. But if you approached he’d stick his head out and lay his ears at you as if to say ‘got a carrot?’ but also ‘I don’t trust you’ at the same time. I always figured he was an ‘only horse’ growing up to be so socially mixed up.
There are exceptions of course: the horse with allergies to something local outside during some seasons. Or bad weather when there is no shelter or no way for the owner to feed and care for them. But even then a horse alone full time is a lonely creature and that affects how they interact with people too..
So true! Many of the ways we “indulge” our horses are really just for human convenience. The horse would probably rather be left alone and allowed to just be a horse!
It’s amazing how, when a horse is given what they need and is allowed to just be a horse, when we ask them to spend time with us they are so much more willing to do what we ask of them.