Creating a close partnership with their horse has always been a dream of many riders but not every horse owner is able to develop that special relationship with their horse. Why is this when a trusting relationship is the foundation of performance and the key to your and your horses’ well-being? I have seen riders who have had their horses groomed and saddled and ready to ride for the competition. The rider only shows the horse and after the competition the horse is brought back to the stable boy who cares for it. It surely makes life a lot easier when someone else cares for the horse and you only ride it. You will never develop a close relationship with a horse this way. Today it’s common for people to stable their horses. This may deprive the horse owner without their knowing it the chance to build a close relationship with their horse. Boarders may only see their horses once or twice a week. It would be very difficult to build a close relationship with a horse like that.
I spend every moment I can with my horses. I’m fortunate in that I run my spa and skin care business from my own home and can glance out the window at my horses in the pasture. I spend more time with my horses than I do with most of my human friends! I raised and trained the four horses I have now from the time they were a few months old. When the time came to show them in the local shows, I had no idea how they would behave in a strange setting with new noises, people and other horses. To my surprise my horses did so well that the locals could not believe that it was their first time in the ring. Some even asked me what my formula was that my horses seemed to be so relaxed and trusting while exposed to a new environment, one even taking first place. At this point in my adventures with my horses, I was not an experienced trainer. It was simply the bond I had developed with my horses. Having watched other competitors that day blaming or even shouting at their horses for not performing well I realized it was not the training alone that matters but what’s even more important is the love and respect that you develop with your horse.
Most horses are not complicated to care for, but they do enjoy a lot of personal attention which can be quite time consuming but is necessary in developing a close relationship. Grooming your horse can be a good way to spend more time together. It is in spending quality time together that you get a good feel for your horse, and your horse develops trust in you. Keeping your eyes and heart open toward your horse, you slowly learn the signs of how your horse is feeling, and it gives you the chance to detect any problems, or any cuts or bruises the horse might have, early on.
Horses are creatures of habit. They like to have a set schedule for their feeding and other practices and it is by keeping a daily set routine with your horse that you will build a close bond. My horses wait for me by the gate every day when it gets close to feeding time and when I approach them, I hear them whinny to me. This makes me happy when I see them patiently waiting for me. It tells me that I have done good work raising them. In turn they sense my happiness and they bond closely with me and respond to me. In the last eighteen years with my horses I have never drifted away from my daily routine that I have established with them.
To understand and form a bond with your horse or horses, you must learn to speak their language. Speaking a horse’s language is simply about getting on the same wavelength, being true friends, and having your hearts in the same place. Then people and horses can talk about all sorts of things. Horses read your emotions and on a given day often know where you are coming from before you do. It’s much easier to instill good habits in a horse than to correct bad ones later. Horses have great memories and never forget an experience. I once had a horse at my farm that had accumulated a lot of bad habits from other owners before he arrived and it took many years for us to sort through all of them. It was only through my determination and love for this horse that we eventually formed a close and unbreakable bond that lasted for a lifetime. Make sure to build your relationship on trust, dependability, love, and respect and your time together will be a lot safer and more enjoyable.
Success in dressage depends ultimately on your horse’s health. Before training and riding a horse, you must care for the horse by meeting its basic needs such as proper nutrition, brushing, worming treatment, hoof care, vaccination, stable management, and spending leisure time with them. I live in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA, a part of the country where the winters can be very long and often very cold. It is not unusual that during the winter, I am not able to work or train with my horses for a few months. During this time my focus intensifies even more on my horses’ nutritional needs to make sure I keep them healthy and happy during the cold winter months.
The main source of nutrition for horses is hay. Part of keeping horses happy and healthy is finding the best local hay, wherever you live. It is very important to know the hay you are feeding and purchasing for your horse. There are many types of hay—alfalfa, timothy, clover and just plain grass hay. In order to determine the nutritional content in hay you can take a sample and get it analyzed by a nutritional or forage lab, or just learn by experience. The quality of the hay is foremost. Old or moldy hay can cause a lot of health issues in both young and old horses. Never feed dusty, wet or moldy hay to your horse. The consequences for your horse might be breathing problems, coughs and an illness known as heaves. Heaves can then develop into a noninfectious airway condition and is the result of an allergic reaction to inhaled particles most often found in moldy and dusty hay. Inspect your hay closely and don’t hesitate to make the seller take back dusty or moldy hay. I spend a lot of time and sometimes go through a lot trouble, and money, finding my horses the best local hay.
Hay loses some of its nutrition during long storage. The vitamin content can decrease in hay as the season changes. It is important to add some vitamins, fresh fruit such as apples and carrots full of vitamin C and minerals to your horse’s diet. In the warm weather, horses spend about fifteen hours a day grazing and eating green pasture grass. The most important vitamins, found in fresh green grass and fresh hay, are fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Most horse grain feeds include enough vitamins but sometimes it is important to add extra vitamins to a horse’s diet, especially if the horse is in high demand and performing strenuous exercises. Salt in their grain or for them to lick stimulates the intake of fresh water, and adds magnesium, zinc and many other nutrients to a horse’s diet to help sustain health in both a colder or hotter climate. I add extra vitamins to my horse’s diet during the cold winter months, and feed them the best hay.
It takes a lot of juggling finding a balance in your horse’s nutrition. Grains are the other half of basic nutrition—but never overdo it. My Arabians eat smaller amounts of grain than do my Hanoverians, and I take care about that. Remember that every horse’s need for feed and nutrition is different, and consider the horse’s age, size, breed, activity, and so on. I would not feed my Arabian horses that are 15.1 hands tall the same amount of grain and hay that I feed my Hanoverian horses that are 17 and 18 hands tall. Every horse is different and therefore every horse’s needs must be carefully studied and considered. This is why you need to spend time with them. Horses cannot intake and digest large amounts of food at once as their small stomach only has the capacity of holding a few gallons of forage. They eat steadily but slowly. So feed less but more often.
Fat is important for digestion, a deficiency of it causing weight loss and decreased physical activity. However too much fat in a horse’s diet causes obesity, increased risk of colic and laminitis, which can also be fatal to a horse. Horses don’t have a gallbladder which makes it more difficult for them to break down or digest a high fat diet. A healthy diet in horses should ordinarily not include more than 12% of fat. Keanu, my Arabian horse, developed a limp in his right foreleg that alarmed me. After a check over, I noticed that his neck had become “cresty,” or enlarged. I realized this was due to too much fat and sugars in his diet. Without meaning to, I had been increasing his grain, vitamin and sugar (from treats and carrots) intake. After I corrected his diet by feeding less grain, treats and vitamins (which can have fat in them) he is almost back to normal. If I had not made the changes, he could have developed other health issues including laminitis. Avoid too many treats, even too many carrots which have a lot of sugar.
As with people, water is the most important nutrient for horses. Always have fresh water available for them to drink whenever they want. My big horse Sebastian likes to dip his hay in his water as he eats it, much as you might dip a donut in your coffee. As I mentioned, I live in a very cold climate where we have five or six months of winter. In winter the problem is keeping their water from freezing so I have heated buckets for them which keep the water at an appropriate temperature.
Besides caring for your horse, spending leisure time together helps build your horse’s good attitude and can be one of the most rewarding ways to develop a relationship with your horse. There are no special skills needed just to sit or walk a horse. Your horse or horses will love it when you hang out with them. Just quietly observing your horse while in the stall or grazing in the pasture can help you better understand its habits and behaviors. You don’t always have to be riding your horse. Special time spent together just passing the time pleasantly will strengthen the bond between horse and rider.
