We all want the best for our pets. We either rescued them from bad conditions, took them off a friend's hands, or found them through a local or far away breeder. How ever we obtained our companions we want to make the best home for them. In this post, we will highlight the most common ways to create a happy pet environment for horses. Poor living conditions can result in bad behavior, unclean surroundings, and even health complications. This post is the third in a series of 4 posts in which we will highlight the most common tips for enriching the lives of your animals. The following and final post in this series will highlight happy environments for birds.
The Essentials
Horses are happiest in a natural environment where they are free to graze, roam, and socialize. The following are a list of basic essentials for any horse:
- Pasture free from hazards such as holes, rusty farm machinery and loose wire fences.
- Safe fencing such as pipe,wooden, plastic, or vinyl rails, or mesh wire fencing.
- Grass for grazing or equivalent amount of good quality hay.
- Unlimited supply of fresh clean water
- Shelter from wet or wintry weather and shade in summer.
- A dry clean area to lie down.
- Companionship, either with another horse, donkey, mule or pony or another animal such as a sheep or goat.
*Food - A slow feeder or grazing hay nets attempts to replicate the natural grazing of a horse, and may be beneficial. A controlled amount is still needed, especially if more than one horse is in a paddock.*
Cleanliness
- Fly control - Flies are a carrier of transmissible diseases. Keep feces cleaned up once daily. Utilize fly masks as needed.
- Hooves - Pick/clean out hooves 2-3 times a week. There should not be any rocks or debri present. This is especially important during monsoon season.
- Grooming - Brush their coat once a week and before and after riding.
"Manure management is a BIG issue in basic horse care. If you just leave the manure lying around or pile it up, your neighbors are going to complain big time. Horse manure isn't particularly stinky (like dog manure is) because they eat mostly hay, but it attracts flies. So ask yourself how you are going to get rid of all of the manure that your 1,000 lb animals are leaving behind. You can take it to the dump, have a farmer remove it (hog farmers have good used for manure), or find a tree nursery who would be interested in it. It makes fabulous fertilizer!"
Enrichment
- Fighting boredom - Bad habits are easily formed due to boredom. Habits such as weaving, cribbing, wind sucking. These are also habits horses can pick up from each other. There are ways to keep horses mentally stimulated. Provide them with enrichment items such as a jolly ball, road cones, or non breakable mirror.
- Exercise - Horses should be exercised at least 1-2 times a week
- Space - A horse is a large grazing animal, and needs a lot of space to move around. If you keep your horse in a stall or small paddock most of the time, you'll find that you have trouble riding him or training him.
“Horses change lives. They give out young people confidence and self-esteem. They provide peace and tranquility to troubled souls, they give us hope.”
― Toni Robinson
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