Environmental Enrichment 8

The natural environment for horses is the open plain. They can roam up to 40km per day in search of food and water. Every day they move over varied terrain, rocky areas, hills, waterways. They live within a herd of other horses and have regular interactions with the other members. Social structure and friendships within a herd are extremely important. When horses want to lay down to sleep, others stand guard over them so they can relax and sleep safely. Horses are forever on the lookout for predators and the safety provided by a herd can never be replaced by a human. Our history with horses started with them being food, first we ate them. Then we discovered they could pull things for us and carry us on their backs. The use of horses enabled humans to expand their geographical horizons, go to war and embark on large scale agriculture. As the number of humans grew, we started living in cities, and horses were put in stables as there was no longer room for more natural environments. Somehow, we retained this idea even after it was no longer appropriate. In our contemporary world we have cars, tractors, etc. In most instances horses are now relegated to the position of leisure. They are kept for pleasure riding and competition. To have happy, thriving horses we need to try and provide an environment that resembles a natural horse environment as much as possible. As an absolute baseline they need pasture to eat, water, room to roam and run, a herd (or at least 1 other horse), varied terrain and adequate shelter to seek refuge under during storms and hot summers. These seem simple things, but there are quite a lot of horses in the domestic environment who don’t have these. If it is not possible to provide any of these basics due to your circumstances, perhaps a compromise of some sort could be found? Or maybe get creative and see how interesting and amazing you can make your horses environment, have fun with it. All animals in our care have fundamental needs for their species. As their custodians we have an obligation to provide for these needs. By ensuring we provide an environment suitable for each species we not only improve their health and happiness, but also the amount of work we need to do for their care is reduced, a win for everyone.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR –

Suzy Maloney B. Eq. Sc.

has a degree in Equine Science, has been instructing riding students for 15 years and runs her own business Happy Horses Bitless. Suzy discovered bitless bridles 10 years ago and has now made the promotion of their use her passion. She teaches students exclusively in bitless bridles, gives bitless clinics, writes articles, gives talks on bitless riding and sells bitless bridles through her web page. Suzy believes we can communicate with horses using gentleness, intuition and an open mind. Her lessons are a combination of classical riding, natural horsemanship and the understanding of equine behaviour. Suzy Maloney B.Eq.Sc. HAPPY HORSES BITLESS

Phone: 0401 249 263 Email: suzy@happyhorsesbitless.com www.happyhorsesbitless.com

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