Natural Horse Care is about giving your horse the best life in a domestic environment.
It’s much more than ensuring your horse keeping covers the Five Freedoms: Freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, pain, injury, or disease, Freedom from fear and distress, and freedom to express normal behavior.
My 50 years of natural horse-keeping have helped me choose what I think are the kindest and healthiest methods and products for their care.
The following posts will help you care for your horse in a more natural way, along with the topics listed in the drop-down menu above.
Hybrid Horse Keeping – Equicentral and Tracks combined - There are many ways to achieve what you want and just as many opinions on what is best when it comes to keeping your horses! With so many variables and as each individual situation is different, it’s good to keep an open mind about horse-keeping models. So let’s look at how a combination of two …Hybrid Horse Keeping – Equicentral and Tracks combined Read More »
Insight To Equus by Tomas Teskey - A Holistic Veterinary perspective on health and healing. The equine world would be a better place if this 250-page color-filled hardbound book was on every horse owner’s bookshelf. Insight to Equus is just that – looking in detail at what a horse really is: part of a herd, constantly grazing on low-value grasses, herbs, and …
Aiming for self-trimming horse hooves - By Cynthia Cooper What is a self-trimming horse? They aren’t trained to use farrier tools on themselves that’s for sure! A self-trimming horse is a barefoot horse that wears their hooves naturally, without the intervention of tools to maintain soundness and good hoof function. All wild horses are self-trimming with their hooves varying according to …
Which mineral supplement is best for my horse? - Rather than offering a smorgasbord of nutrients in tiny amounts per serve (the ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ approach), Balanced Equine mineral mixes target what is most likely too low in the diet. Balanced Equine use premium mineral sources backed by research, and in quantities that make a difference. All the mixes contain significant amounts …
The Art and Science of Feeding Horses with Carol Layton - Feeding horses is both an art and science so Carol Layton of Balanced Equine explains how common mineral deficiencies can be solved with Balanced Equine Minerals available in our store here. In this video presentation, Carol looks at two common horse nutrition problems: Faded or sunbleached coats, and dry cracked hooves.
Seedy Toe – the quick fix and long term solution - Seedy toe (also called white line disease) used to be the one on-going issue all my horses had many years ago. That was before I refined their diet and introduced a balanced custom mineral mix which changed everything. In the process of healing their hooves, I discovered there is a quick fix to kick-start the healing, but …Seedy Toe – the quick fix and long term solution Read More »
How to Avoid Laminitis - The two most dangerous times for laminitis are in the spring and autumn, depending on where you live. Cooler climates and high altitudes can increase the potential for laminitis as the day and night temperatures fluctuate, along with the amount of sunlight and daylight hours. For example, if you live in the southern states of Australia, northern …
How to use slow feed hay nets for horses - Have you ever wondered if there’s a better way to use slow-feed hay nets? There are so many options, choices, and methods to consider that will keep your nets from being torn, lost, rolled under a fence, drowned in the mud, or buried in the sand! Different ways of using slow-feed hay nets Personally, I …Restricting Forage is Incredibly Stressful - By Juliet M. Getty, Ph.D. Choose a different method to help your horse lose weight Stress = Obesity. That’s right. Stress is keeping your horse fat. And the main source of stress for most horses? Restricting forage. The very thing most people do to try to help their horse lose weight actually causes the same …
Horse Behaviour Linked to Poor Nutrition - By Cynthia Cooper. Natural nutrition must be our first priority for keeping a horse healthy, both physically and mentally. Many health issues can be attributed to poor nutrition and that includes behavioural problems. Back in the days when I was instructing full time, I used to think ‘training’ could solve almost all issues. Then I realised …
THE HEALING POWER OF HONEY on Severe Wounds - by Cynthia Cooper I’m always looking for natural alternatives when it comes to treating horses and I believe they can work well in conjunction with modern medicine. A while ago now, I had a yearling filly (Ruby) badly injured from wire cuts. She had severed the flexor (front) tendons on her off fore and near …Why I Use Chemical Wormers – Encysted Strongyles - By Cynthia Cooper I would love to be able to worm my horses more naturally, and years ago I tried it that way, but their health was suffering due to the following issues: Property too small for the number of horses (15 on less than 40 acres). Not enough help/time to pick up poo regularly and …
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Why Do I need to Know About Grass? - Grass is one of those things we take for granted if we have it, and wish we had it if we don’t, especially in times of drought. If we have a paddock full of lush grass we think our horses are lucky. But did you know grass can be just as harmful for your horse …
Drought Strategies To Help Your Horses - Drought is hard on you, your horse and your pocket so knowing how to make life more comfortable during such a depressing time helps a lot. The three main issues to be addressed are: 1. Feed, 2. Water and 3. Pasture/Property Management. Feed is obviously the biggest issue and as it becomes scarce whether on the …
Summer Horse Keeping Tips - Before you go away on holidays (and hopefully arrange for someone to look after your horses), here are some things to consider for your horse’s comfort and well being during the hotter months. Access to shade and fresh water at all times: These are basic necessesities no horse should be deprived of but sadly many …
Horse Rug Heating Facts - by Dave MacDonald When you put your hand under a rug on a horse standing still it should NEVER feel toasty warm. This is a misconception. It should feel more on the coolish side. The temperature you are used to feeling under the blanket is too hot for a healthy horse. Why? Because a horse’s …
Responsible Rugging Tips - I generally don’t recommend rugging a horse. However, there are times when due to lack of shelter or many days of constant rain and wind, you may choose to provide cover for your horse. Here are some tips to help keep your horse safe and comfortable if you need to use a rug. Select the …
Should I rug/blanket my horse or not? - by Cynthia Cooper Rugging or blanketing horses is usually something that makes US feel a lot better, especially when its cold, wet and we see our horse shivering. Keep in mind that horses have survived for millions of years without the need for man-made rugs to protect them from the weather. They have the wonderful …