Tradition, in many respects, is a wonderful thing and I personally think it is great that we still ride in jackets and stocks despite the new and fancier options that we could potentially have adopted. I’m such a stickler for tradition that I still wear my stock under my XC colours in the cross-country phase and have an older style jacket for showjumping (to the despair of my friends who tease me about it frequently!). That said, the training system we use, while it still includes many of the traditional ideas, is completely new age, science based and built on some principles that we were unaware of generations ago.
 
I guess what I’m eluding to is that tradition is great, but there is a fine line between loving tradition and being backward. When it comes to working with animals it is always important to be forever looking forward and always questioning.
 
As Stephen Budainsky says: “Science is beginning to allow the horse to tell its own story. And indeed I would argue that at this late date in the shared history of man and horse it is only the objective tools of science that can sort out what millenniums of tradition, love, and wishful thinking have sometimes muddles.”
 
Science is no magic elixir, but I feel that after 6000 years of much wishful thinking and distorting myth, science holds a source of truth that we need if we are to approach the horse with a clear mind.
 
Humans were riding horses at least 500 years before the wheel was invented, so it is no surprise that our histories are so entwined that it is sometimes very hard to believe that the horse is a completely different animal to us. He sees, hears, processes and thinks in completely different ways. He is not just a slightly backward person dressed up in a horse costume – despite what we sometimes want to believe.
 
Let’s have a look at a few traditions that might have slipped through the cracks and, if we look at them objectively, we might realise that we could do away with some of them while being just as well off and make the world a slightly nicer place for the horse.

It’s a sight we see at many a horse event – hot, sweaty horses standing in line waiting for their turn at the wash bays. Debatably, it’s a great time for your horse to have a pick of grass and you a chat to your friend or debrief your round with a loved one, but what is happening on the inside of your horse?
 
While he may appear to be enjoying a pick of grass as he waits his turn for a wash, on the inside his temperature is rising and every degree counts. If a horse’s body temperature rises just 3 to 4 degrees from normal, the temperatures within working muscles may be as high as 43 degrees celcius. At this temperature the proteins in the muscle begin to cook and break down. Doesn’t sound ideal does it?
 
Animal and exercise physiologist, Professor Michael Lindinger explains: “It only takes 17 minutes of moderate intensity exercise in hot, humid weather to raise a horse’s temperature to dangerous levels. That’s three to 10 times faster than in humans.”
 
Horses are more susceptible to heat stress for several reasons. Most obviously, they are larger and have a higher percentage of active muscle than humans do during exercise. Muscles produce a lot of heat when they are being used.

​I wouldn’t exactly call it a ‘herd’, but running my high level event horses together was initially a pretty big leap of faith. Luckily, the benefits have proven to be well worth the white knuckles and hair-greying of the initial meeting!
 
We didn’t just chuck them all out together of course, but it is still nerve-racking when keeping horses separately has become so naturalized over the years - despite it being so much more natural for them to live together.
 
Horses are extremely tactile creatures. They are always together, playing, bumping each other, quietly driving each other around the paddock and gaining confidence from each other. I just love watching the dynamics of my small herd of performance horses as they move around the paddock.

It’s a question every responsible horse owner asks themselves frequently – am I doing it right? We know that we keep our horses in situations that are at odds with their evolution. They are designed to graze, live in herds, move large distances each day and they certainly didn’t evolve to have relationships with two legged animals. So – how do we try to overcome the deficits?

We’ve got to keep them in ways that mirror their evolution as closely as possible. Close to other horses, with space to move and plenty of access to roughage. Sounds easy, right? Not.
 
So let’s look at feeding for a minute. Horses are designed to consume large amount of roughage over a long period of time. We can get technical about percentages, timeframes and vitamin and mineral balancing but when it comes to horses it is best to keep it fairly simple.
 
Horses need access to hay, chaff or pasture almost 24/7. They need a lot less protein, carbs, sugar and fancy foods than you would expect – despite the fact that it is fun making up yummy looking feeds for your equine partner!
 
Find a feed that is low in starch, high in fibre, and preferably not grain based. If it’s a muesli it is probably coated with molasses = high sugar, not ideal for the waistline, nor the equine digestive system.
 
Slow them down in as many ways possible – see our Slow Feeders the Easy Way for a simple way to make slow feeding hay easy.

It has long been proven that horses should have access to roughage for as many hours each day as possible, but does this mean we should spend a fortune giving them all an unlimited supply of hay so that they never run out? Not necessarily. Eating too much, becoming over-weight and eating too quickly are not ideal for the horse either. Enter the slow feeder hay-net – a great way to drip feed your horse’s rations. However, we all know that feeling of frustration when you have to fill hay-nets late at night or early in the morning. The resulting hay splinters and tangled hay-nets. Luckily for you, we’ve come up with a design that solves all of life’s problems (well, when it comes to feeding hay to your horse!) and you can find out how to make one here. But first, let’s remind ourselves why it’s worth all the hassle of slow feeding.
 
Slowing your horse’s rate of eating has a number of positive effects…

1. It encourages the horse to chew eat mouthful for longer which produces more saliva, a great way to buffer the acid in the stomach, aid digestion and keep the gut working as it is designed to.
2. It means that the ration will last for much longer than when fed in a bucket, on the floor, or in an easy access hay-net or hay-bag. We’ve found it takes the horse around 3 to 4 times as long to eat from the slow feeder and up to 5 or 6 times as long in some cases. This not only means the horse’s stomach is full and working as it should for longer, it also reduces boredom and associated issues for yarded or stabled horses.
3. It helps to save mess and wastage. None of us want to spend hours raking trampled, wet or manured-on hay from our yards – not to mention watching the hard-earned money we have spent on hay for our horses be put on the muck-heap when it has been prematurely soiled. The slow feeder reduces the amount of hay trampled in to the ground and if they don’t eat it all up in one meal, they’re sure to finish it up later on.​

What does all this mean?