Horse Care: Tips, Advice and Information To Keep Your Horse Healthy and Happy
The domestic horse has always occupied an important place in human life. At first, domesticated horses probably had two roles, the slower, “cold-blooded” forest horses as beasts of burden and the faster, “warm-blooded” plains horses as a means of travel. Today, horses are no longer used in battle, the tractor has largely taken over in agriculture, and the gasoline engine is the main means of transportation. Yet horses are still held in high esteem. People have bred them selectively to suit their needs or their concept of beauty. Several different types of horses and a large number of breeds are now recognized internationally.
Being in control of your horse
The relationship you build up with a horse must be based on respect, not on fear and pain. Until that relationship is established, you must convince the animal that you are in control. Once you show uncertainty, it will start to act up and test you. Your horse is probably bigger and certainly stronger than you. At over 1,000 lb (500 kg), the average riding horse is six times heavier than an average man, so you cannot dominate it with strength. The horse must do what you ask because it wants to, or expects to, not because it is afraid of you.
Communicating with each other
A horse cannot be expected to understand exactly what you want it to do the first time it is asked. It will, however, know when it has done something right if you show that you are pleased. Communication should be a two-way process. Try to understand what your horse is saying to you, too, by learning its body language. Horses are not really intelligent; most are not problem-solvers, but they learn quickly. They have no concept of morality, so they learn what humans consider to be bad behavior just as easily as good behavior — if they are allowed to. You must be particularly careful not to allow a horse to learn that it can get what it wants through undesirable behavior. For example, don’t let it learn that if it threatens to bite you, you will allow it to have its own way.
Considering the horse’s needs
When you agree to care for a horse, you take on the responsibility of providing it with everything it needs. To do this properly, you should understand how the horses live in the wild. You will then be better able to provide an environment for your horse that is as close to natural as possible. You must know a little about the horse’s structure and how its body systems work, learn to recognize signs of ill health, and know how to deal with injury or disease. You must also use equipment and tack so that it does not hurt the horse. If the horse is happy in its home and in its work, it will be more willing and able to do what you ask of it, and the two of you will enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship.
