Tip of the week

The importance of letting horses roll in some good dirt or sand is something that is often overlooked in horse care. I was speaking with a person about this recently and they were saying how good it was for the horses’ muscle skeleton; I had not thought of it from that perspective. I was always focused on how good it was for their skin, especially in bug season a heavy coating of dust in their hide really helps with bug bites and exfoliation.
Something else I feel is very important is for horses to spend part of their day with another horse so that they can groom one another and play. Horses need to gallop every day, this is as important as feed and water, even if it is for a few seconds at play . This is fundamental in the psychological well being of the horses as well as the physical exercise they get from the interaction. Horses are by nature a herd animal, even in a stabled environment it so important to have a horse in a large paddock with at least one other horse for a companion. Most behavioral problems and vices stem from the horses being locked in a stall by themselves too many hours a day. I have lived this long enough to know that this true. I am very blessed to have observed horses in a free range environment. I observed and soaked in the interaction of horses, not only among themselves but with deer and elk as well. At my place the elk and horses graze together and bed down in the same draw together. They share the same salt tubs and watering holes. I have yet been successful in gathering the elk and running them in the corral, I have come close to roping one on a couple of occasions, but then considered before I threw my rope; what will I do with a 800 lb mad cow elk on the end of a sixty foot rope.
Thanks for riding with me, see you soon.