Horses evolved to run. That’s why your horse has the legs of a runner. To survive, they needed to run fast, and this was the driving force of their evolution. Your modern horse walks on just one digit (toe), where her ancestors walked on as many as four toes. If …
There’s a lot that will affect how long a horse will live. With good care, many horses will live well past the age of 30. Some senior horses are even ridden or driven lightly to keep in good health. Considering that a horse’s skeleton takes 6-8 years to fully grow, …
Horses are prey animals that now live with one of their old nemeses: us. As recently as 10,000 years ago, humans were one of the predators that hunted and killed wild horses. Scientists are certain that humans actively hunted horses for food before domesticating them. And why wouldn’t they have? …
Light massage, when done regularly, works as a form of physical maintenance for your horse. It’s the best and cheapest way to prevent muscle damage, too. Calling your equine physiotherapist out for a session every now and again is great, but doesn’t qualify as regular maintenance. And having a professional …
Depending on what you and your horse need, there are several different kinds of livery options. Livery, or boarding as it’s also called, means that you don’t keep your horse at home but rent a field, stable and related services from someone else. Stabling your horse is one of the …
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 …
How can you tell if your horse is too fat or too skinny? A vet or nutritionist will give you a more accurate assessment, but for getting a general idea you’re really using a simple scale of too fat, too skinny and just right. Anything other than ‘just right’ is …
It’s important to know how much your horse weighs because both feed amounts and medication dosages are calculated based on the weight of your horse. The most accurate way to weigh your horse is to use a weighbridge or livestock scale (a big scale the horse walks onto). However, most …
A horse’s height is measured from the ground to the highest point of the withers (orange line in the image below) and is expressed in centimetres or as hands high or hh. The height of a horse isn’t a very absolute number because there are many factors that go into …
Anyone who has ever had their horse stolen can tell you that it takes time and money as well as emotional stress to deal with a crime like horse theft. The biggest mistake a horse owner can make is to think that their horse is “not interesting” to thieves, because …
Having an elderly horse is a wonderful experience and they make terrific companions. When they cannot be ridden any more they absolutely love “salad bar” walks in nature and good long rubbing sessions where they can be completely spoiled with some TLC. If you’ve got a whole herd, they’re wonderful …
What kind of problems do horse owners experience and how should they be addressed? Horses can come with problems and they can develop problems even after many years. Whether the problem is physical or psychological there is always a reason and it’s the job of a responsible horse owner to take the time to get to the root of the problem and not just treat the symptoms.
