Your horse is a herd animal and he needs the companionship of other herd animals. Without a herd – even a small one – your horse can’t help but feel stress as his physiology isn’t registering any herd members around. When your horse is stressed due to the lack of …
Especially the non-horsey people like to ask me this one question: What’s so special about horses? People who themselves ride or have horses, rarely ever ask me this because they’re in it for the same reasons I am. But because this has been a pretty frequently asked question over the …
When you’re not just buying a horse for your children, but a family horse that can be used by the older kids or adults as well, you’re going to be looking at a smaller size horse or a sturdy pony. Ideally, you’re looking for a horse with an even temperament …
Kids who take riding lessons will very quickly begin to dream of a horse or pony of their own. If this is something that you can and want to commit to, you should make sure that you know the best way to buy a horse for your kids. Generally, when …
The flehmen response is a behaviour in which your horse curls back her upper lip exposing its front teeth, inhales with the nostrils usually closed, and then tyically holds this position for several seconds. The nostrils of your horse flare to draw more scents into the long, cavernous nasal passages that are …
When you disturb your horse’s sense of smell, like overwhelming it with a very strong scent, her social interactions are radically altered. As prey animals, horses need to be able to detect even the slightest scent of danger on the wind to stay safe. Horses are also quick to note …
Horses have evolved teeth to eat rough, varied forage that wears down the teeth. However, many domestic horses today eat a diet which is low in abrasive minerals and materials and so their teeth don’t wear down as they would in the wild. Just because our horses are now living …
If you’ve got a skinny horse that isn’t maintaining a healthy weight or isn’t putting it on as he should be, there can be several issues causing the weight loss. If your horse is on a good diet and eating everything given to him, but still losing weight, you need …
Horses are highly social creatures and communicate with each other quite a bit. If you watch closely you can observe this constant interplay of communication, energy and body language passing between horses and rippling through a herd. Horses use a wide range of expressions, gesticulations and movements to communicate in …
As a flight animal, your horse’s body will inherently strive to hide any signs of pain for as long as possible. A little pain doesn’t usually result in big changes and it can be really difficult to spot. It’s important that you know your horse well and can spot the …
Flat racing, is a physically demanding sport and even with the best training, many racehorses end up with career-ending injuries. While some horses end up with injuries serious enough to require euthanasia or full pasture retirement, many horses can be retrained – with a lot of time and treatment – …
People are more interested in the elaborate hats worn by the spectators to the race track than what happens to racehorses once they’re not in the spotlight anymore. The racing industry is big business, valued at $115 billion globally. The Equine Fertility Unit conducted research into the industry and found …
