What’s the first horse keeping practice that benefits the overall health of the horse?
Imagine that you’ve just walked out to your barn or you’ve arrived at your boarding facility excited to spend time with your horse. She whinnies for you and as you approach her stall she tries so hard to stick her cute nose through the bars to greet you.
As you pull her out of the stall, she steps out somewhat stiff as she usually does. You don’t think anything of it because you’re use to this and you may even think it’s normal.
As equine caregivers, we often wonder if what we’re doing for our horses is really in their best interest.
Could it be possible that your horse keeping is inferior and your horse is really trying to tell you something? What your horse is probably trying to tell you is that you’re breaking the first rule of natural horse care.
Continue Reading…
When you think of a domesticated horse, how do you picture it? What does its surroundings look like?
The average person may picture a healthy horse in a comfortable stall sticking her head out the door to say hi. The barn she lives in is immaculate and doesn’t even smell like horses live there.
Or…
You may picture horses grazing on lush green pastures where they look happy, fat and perfectly content.
Traditional boarding situations that include keeping horses in stalls, small paddocks or grazing on lush green pastures, is very different than natural boarding.
What does “healthy as a horse” really mean? If you want a healthy horse who do you believe?
Just imagine yourself in a situation, like Scrooge, in the movie A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. No… I don’t mean imagine being “like Scrooge”, in the beginning he was not very kind, but imagine you have the ability to see the past, present and future when it comes to horse health… and so your journey begins.
A little while ago, we wrote an article called Protecting The Wild Horse – A Symbol Of Our American Heritage. Whether you read that article or have simply tuned in to recent newscasts, you’ve probably heard about the plight of the American Mustang and the roundups that are being done by the Bureau Of Land Management (BLM) in the name of “saving these poor, starving, dehydrated creatures”.
Reality, however, proves time and time again that the overwhelming majority of these horses are healthy and strong on the range, and it’s only AFTER they are run ragged by low flying helicopters and herded into small pens where they are often held for years, that they become sick and dehydrated and sometimes die.
In part one of this series on learning to trim your own horse, I covered in detail practical guidelines to consider before fully making a commitment to such an endeavor. For those diehards who would like to make the leap and learn how to trim using the wild horse as their model, you’re in the right place.
However, if you haven’t read my last article, I would highly recommend you read it first.
Many of us have experienced waking up in the middle of the night thinking about our horse’s soundness. Are we doing the right thing? Is there a better way? You think about all you’ve learned from reading information on natural hoof care and about learning the wild horse trim as well as watching some great videos & DVDs. You may have even attended a natural hoof care clinic.
For many years I toyed with the idea of creating an online presence that I could use to educate and inspire horse enthusiasts… not just any horse enthusiast, but those individuals who have a deep connection with their equine partners.
These individuals are very special. They have a passion for horses like no other. They don’t put their goals before their principles and no matter what it takes, they don’t do anything to lose rapport with their equine companions.
These special individuals keep in mind, and respect the fact that, they share this world with other creatures.
What exactly is integrity? According to Wikipedia, one way to tell if someone has integrity is to see if “they behave according to the values, beliefs and principles they claim to hold.”
It’s short and sweet, but it’s not simple. That’s a tall order.
If you’re like most people in today’s economy, you’re trying to find ways to save money without compromising the health or safety of you, your family and your animal companions.
Sometimes it seems that costing less and being good for you are mutually exclusive, but today we have great news! Pulling your horse’s metal shoes is not only a good way to save money, but it can also be good for her health and safety as well.
The title seems harsh, we know. And we apologize up front in case the following video offends. We’re simply trying to get the attention of horse enthusiasts who, we know, generally have nothing but the best intentions.
Since these two common mistakes endanger not only the lives of our beloved horses, but our lives as well, this subject is not to be taken lightly.
