Better Care for Our Pleasure/Pasture Horses

Since the introduction of motorized vehicles, the usefulness of horses for work and transportation has virtually come to an end. The role of horses became a recreational pastime for entertainment - mostly for children and young adults. In recent years, mature adults have taken up their long simmering passion for horses. As their children grew up, they found themselves in good health, with an abundance of time, and financially secure. All of which are minimum requirements for horse ownership. The only ingredient missing is knowledge and skill.

While horses are still considered livestock by some, many horse owners will tell you they consider their horse to be a member of the family - a pet no less loved than the family cat or dog. As with all our pets, horse owners want the best care for their horses. This has led to a push for more research with regard to equine digestion, dentistry, and hoof care.

What the surge in research is finding is that we are doing more harm than good by what are often considered "standard" care practices. Overfeeding and shoeing horses being two of the more serious assaults on our horses' health.

Horses are foraging animals that were designed to move 20-30 miles per day on rough terrain, foraging for small amounts of food throughout the day.

It is no wonder that digestive upset (colic) and chronic hoof problems (laminitis/founder), are two of the most common reasons horses die an early, often excruciating, death. I also believe serious behavioural issues are associated with overfed and under utilized horses.

There is a huge difference in feed requirements for a horse who is not ridden often versus a horse used for competitive purposes. No different than the person with a desk job versus a professional athlete. Athletes can consume copious amounts of carbohydrates without ill effects to their health because they utilize the energy. Someone with a desk job could not expect to eat the same type of food or quantity without ill effects to their health.

Pasture horses standing in grass up to their bellies are literally eating themselves to death. We can significantly minimize that risk by using a grazing muzzle to restrict their intake and reduce or stop all together, supplementing their diet with rich feeds (i.e. alfalfa and molasses based feeds). If you click on the title of this blog, the link takes you to SafeGrass.org. This web-site is devoted to educating horse owners about the dangers of overfeeding our horses.

We need to learn how to keep them healthy and happy!

Tovie and the "Boys"