Over the millennia, they have evolved from cloven-footed forest dwellers to single toed plains grazers. Their long-legged pendulum motion gives them the ability to cover vast distances quickly and with ease. To compliment this, they have developed the skeletal system and grazing action to enable them to eat a variety of grasses and drink from streams. They have an extremely advanced observation system that makes them perceptive to minute changers in their surrounding environment. They can cover great distances under cover of the safety of a finely developed social system and have ranged across most of the world quite comfortably in their natural state, showing an extreme ability to adapt to almost any environment; from the vast sandy, scorched deserts of the Middle-East to the freezing climes of Northern Europe.
They have lived, survived, evolved and thrived on this planet longer than any other prey animal, many hundreds of times longer than mankind has existed. Proof surely of the effectiveness of the species and it’s ability to adapt.
Many of today’s modern breeds have been artificially modified to suit the needs of humans, to the point where some have become dependant on human intervention. Many have been taken out of their natural herd environment and been impeded in their ability to roam and fend for themselves. We expect them to willingly succumb to our wishes and override the instincts that have kept them alive for tens of thousands of generations. We feed them highly refined foods that do not encourage them to use their jaws in the manner in which they evolved, so that their teeth wear unevenly giving them all manner of physical problems that inevitably lead to behavioural issues. Many of them no longer have the need to forage for food hence not getting the amount of movement and exercise they are designed for, and consequently are over fed on too rich foods and under exercised, once again to the detriment of their mental, emotional and physical well-being. They are kept confined in small spaces, many stabled in dark isolation that robs them of vital vitamins and minerals needed for good health. They often go without the daily interaction and socialising that is all important to these family oriented herd animals, to whom the significance of hierarchy is a part of their overall health and welfare.
Yet despite all that, given half a chance many horses would still survive in the wild. Let’s face it, thousands of generations of wild and natural instincts compared to a few hundred years of domestication could soon be undone.
Horses in the wild developed strong legs and feet as they often lived on hard and rocky ground. They can grow or shed a full coat of hair in a matter of days. In a sudden cold snap they will roll themselves a nice thick coat of mud to keep them warm and roll again when it warms up to remove it. A good Alpha horse will move the herd every so often to keep them active, on their toes and warm and will know instinctively where the safe spots are and where to head in case of a sudden storm or danger.
They learn good social skills at a very early age so that they can live happily and safely together and not be constantly injuring themselves or each other. All those who did not display these skills and abilities would not have survived and consequently not bred and passed on the unwanted traits.
Horses that are kept as naturally as possible, that is; have access to all manner of terrain – hilly, flat, undulated, creeks, trees etc; have access to a variety of grasses and get fed and watered on the ground, enabling them to pick up a bit of dirt which supplies minerals and a means of wearing the teeth evenly; have daily interaction with other horses in order to feel the sense of security and belonging so needed for the mental and emotional condition of a herd animal; are not rugged - enabling them to moderate their body temperature and vitamin intake from sunlight as needed; are unshod - making their hooves tougher and less prone to fracture - tend to be more easily maintained and have fewer requirements mentally, emotionally and physically than those kept artificially. Horses kept in a more natural state have a propensity to be more hardy, have a more healthy immune system, suffer less injury and mental and emotional stress (consequently causing behaviour deemed vices) than those kept in conditions more suited to predators.
What are the real needs of a horse? As people with a vested interest in our horses health and well-being, how much of what we do is for our benefit and how much is for our horse?
Not everyone has the ideal situation for keeping a horse naturally and in that case we must just do the best we can. Consider this however; the more naturally you keep your horse, the fewer problems and difficulties with health, behaviour and performance your will encounter. Your horse may just do better than ever and last you many more happy and useful years than he may have otherwise.
Read More Road To Horsemanship articles.
- By Meredith Ransley, Quantum Savvy.