Essy's Wishes : Back to Basics

Some days you can't beat a good old fashioned Party Political Broadcast! Today it's my turn...

This weekend I moved my small herd of horses. It's not a decision I take lightly. In fact its a tough call given how stressful it can be for horses. Any lifestyle and relocation change can be thwart with potential minefields and sometimes....

"the Devil you know" can be better than the devil you don't!

That being said, I made the decision for all the right reasons and so we moved.

Arriving to 'healthy presents' for the horses, a welcome card for me, horse beds to die for, the freshest looking water and more hay than I've ever seen..... the Pièce de résistance waited outside - huge paddocks with post and rail fences, with rounded corners and naturally growing Plantain.

None of which is the point of this blog. The point is that just like politicians can be accused of lacking creativity sounding like an old record banging on about 'the basics' to win votes, I find myself guilty of the same.

What I loved about keeping my horses DIY apart from it being all my responsibility, was the belief that it didn't need to be complicated. Keeping horses can be simple and easy - rarely cheap, but when we get it right, it can be low maintenance.

Giving horses dry, clean beds, daily fresh water and ad lib hay means we are going a long way towards maximising their health. Add to this plenty of fresh air, turn out (24 x7 ideally) and their physical system and emotional well being are given movement and stimulation. When it comes to prevention being better than cure this is the golden formula:

Fresh air + Fresh Water + Forage + Freedom to move + Friendship

= A horse chosen lifestyle!

To go back to basics has reared its charming head today in three small ways:-

1. Do horses need feeds?

If I strip it down then my herd only needs food for two honest reasons: Firstly so that I can administer some James Hart Tonics and their probiotic powder daily, and secondly, when they have weight loss issues, but if health causes are ruled out then the cause of weight loss is often man made.

Bottom line: if they have enough forage (grass and hay)

why would they need man made food?

2. Stable or Paddock; Stable or Paddock?

Most of us crave a natural lifestyle for our horses where they can live out, 24 x 7 (age and condition dependent during the winter months). So, why then when we have a massive paddock do we still bring them in at all? They aren't going to school or work like we did or have to!

Why not leave them out, check them over of course,

attend to feet, etc but leave them out?

3. To groom or not to groom?

Ever noticed how good horses coats can look when left to nature? Allowed to roll in dust, sand, have the sun on their backs (not through fly sheets) and have the rain massage their skin all help nature do it's thing and keep a horses skin oils in natural balance.

Grooming the way horses do with each other for mutual gain makes sense,

I'm not sure other motives are as justified

There are no guaranteed answers. Each horse is individual.

As carers, we can offer our horses different levels of what they are born for, due to many different reasons. If however, moving yards gives us an opportunity to re-assess how we keep our horses, and re-examine the basics, then the stress of moving and the uncertainty may just be well worth it.