
Horses are wild animals by
nature. This is why it’s important to employ natural horse care methods as
well. If you own a horse for leisure or for sport, surely you would want the best for your pet. In fact, this is something that is very understandable, whether or not you are into horses yourself. But how exactly do this?
Lucky for you, there are so many sources on natural horse care that are at your disposal. You can go to your local library and get hold of these sources. Or you can turn to the reliable Internet and conduct a search on natural horse care that can be very beneficial for both your horse and yourself. You will definitely find a lot of websites that contain detailed information on the basics of horse care.
You must understand that no matter how domesticated or tamed an animal can be, it is still a wild animal in its inherent nature. Wild horses have adapted very well to their domesticated environment. However, studies show that if you recreate the natural environment of the horse, you are actually helping in the promotion of its welfare and health. If you would take a look at the environment of a wild horse versus that of a domesticated horse, there would definitely be one distinguishing difference between the two of then: space.
Wild horses have more space to roam about than domesticated horses. In fact, great distances are covered by wild horses on any normal day. Domesticated horses, however, are kept within paddocks that are small. Just a few strides forward or backward, and the horse hits the end of the stall almost immediately. You may not perceive this as incarceration, but you cannot discount the possibility that a horse can perceive this as such. This is because it is indeed incarceration, to some extent. And this can have a very significant effect on the horse’s health, both physically and psychologically.
In small stalls or paddocks, there is a very strong tendency that the horse would become bored. There may even be times when extreme boredom would set in. Because of such boredom and tedium, horses just may develop bad habits in the long run. These include crib biting and wind sucking. You must understand that horses are very active creatures that have a very curious nature. Thus, by keeping them cooped up a small paddock or stall, this actually becomes some sort of a hindrance for the horse’s usual curious nature.
If you would take a look at the body structure and musculature of both the wild horse and the domesticated horse, you would see that the wild horse has a larger built than the domesticated horse. A lot of people attribute this to the fact that wild horses do not really carry riders day in and day out, whereas domesticated horses do. This is not true at all. The bodies of wild horses are more muscular simply because they get so much exercise with the wide space available to them. Domesticated horses, on the other hand, do not get that much exercise in a day. Just the usual walk around the track will suffice for domesticated horses. This is why there is much difference right there. What’s more, when cooped in small paddocks, domesticated horses do not really get that much time and space to graze. This is then compensated by the feeds you give to your horse. Still, the amount of calories is the only focus here for the feeds fall short in other aspects. Horses are wild animals in nature so they do need time to graze as well.
So, what is the underlying concept here? Domesticated horses should be given more space, just like what they would have in their natural environment. This way, with natural horse care, your horse’s well-being and health is properly dealt with, and it can become well-rounded in all the right places.