How can I keep my horse happy and healthy?

Each of us may have a slightly different understanding of the term 'wellbeing'.  To me, it is not simply the absence of disease.  I believe that wellbeing encompasses all layers of our being: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.  The details of how this looks and feels may differ for each individual, but for me, it is about being able to truly enjoy each day to the full, being comfortable with who you are and feeling confident and able to deal with anything Life brings.

Our modern world has come to believe that disease is a 'mistake' of some kind, and that it is to be feared and avoided wherever possible.  In contrast, I believe that dis-ease has a purpose.  It comes from the body's response to something that isn't working and, if we explore the nature of the disease, it can lead us to identifying a trigger and thus dealing with the issue and making any necessary changes in order to return to the natural state of balance.  In addition, this greater awareness can help us to maintain a good level of health and reduce or avoid dis-ease in the future.

The same is true for horses.  Given the correct conditions they can generally recover from an injury or slight illness by themselves, however they can benefit from a helping hand, particularly if they seem to be taking a long time to heal, or they are struggling to recover fully.  Exploring the issues that they experience, whether they be health, behaviour or stress related, can help us to identify any triggers in their current environment, and to make changes. 

Horses have only been domesticated relatively recently and so, in biological terms, they are indistinguishable from their wild cousins.  However the lifestyle in which we keep our horses is often very different from how they would live in the wild.  This puts stress on the horse's system which in turn can compromise their ability to maintain wellbeing.  Horses are prey animals who have evolved to survive by being able to quickly detect danger and then to run away from it, therefore being in a small enclosed stable is actually stressful for them.  They are herd animals who need the company and security of other horses around them.  Being alone is an unnatural and unpleasant experience for a horse.

Diet too, is very important in keeping a horse healthy, just as it is with us.  Unfortunately many of the commercial feeds, and even pasture grasses and hay, have a high sugar content and are full of chemicals (such as pesticides and mould inhibitors).  These all have an impact on the horse's metabolism and health.  In fact horses are foragers rather than grazers.  Their digestive system is designed to eat little and often.  They don't have a gall bladder and their stomachs take up a relatively small percentage of their digestive tract.

Unfortunately metabolic disorders are becoming more and more common among our horses.  As with us, these can often be linked to stress, diet and lifestyle.  If you look at the habitat of wild horses you will see that the vegetation where they live is of very low nutritional value.  This means that they need to travel considerable distances each day, nibbling at what they can find.  Their gut has evolved to extract as much goodness as it can from this tough, fibrous vegetation, using a bacterial fermentation process. 

Unfortunately our horses are often fed discrete meals with only a haynet to keep them going in between.  For a horse kept in a stable this means that he is often left for hours without anything to eat.  His 'gut-fill level' will drop, and if this persists for more than a couple of hours his body will go into stress, and enter 'starvation' mode (a bit like us if we go on a 'crash diet').  He will begin to secrete glucagon to release glucose from the stores in his liver.  (In severe cases this will lead to a break down of muscle tissue.)  The stress also causes increased levels of cortisol which in turn cause insulin levels to rise.  This actually results in the body laying down fatty deposits as soon as it can, in order to store reserves for possible future episodes of hunger.  These fat deposits also promote the formation of an enzyme which causes the body to ignore insulin thus contributing to insulin resistance, which leads to conditions such as sweet itch, seedy toe, hoof abscesses, laminitis and equine PPID.  The enzyme also results in the body secreting more cortisol and so the cycle continues.

Unfortunately our natural response, when we see a horse with these fatty deposits, is to give them less food, however this only perpetuates the problem as it puts the horse's system under further stress.  In addition the fatty deposits secrete inflammatory substances known as cytokines which damage the area of the hypothalamus responsible for recognising leptin, a hormone which helps to inhibit hunger.  This means that the horse never feels full and so is always looking for something to eat.  Another vicious cycle.  The answer is therefore to provide a diet which is lower in nutrients, rather than just giving less food.

For horses who are turned out, they are often put into fields that contain grass more suited to fattening sheep or feeding cows in order to produce rich milk.  It is also these fields that are generally used for making hay.  Horses would benefit from a return to the ancient meadows where the plants are more varied and have a lower sugar content; for example timothy, fescues or orchard grass, rather than rye.

Horses also need to keep on the move.  This is so important as it helps to support healthy circulation.  When barefoot, the hoof acts almost like another heart, helping to pump blood back up the leg.  Horses don't have any muscles in the lower part of their legs (movement here being effected by tendons and ligaments) however the action of the frog coming into contact with the ground and the hoof wall naturally flexing with the impact of each step, forces the blood round the extensive capillary system and back up the leg.  Standing in a stable for hours, or even in a field where there is no need to walk to find the next mouthful of food, does nothing to aid the horse's circulation.  Imagine how your legs would feel if you were standing on your feet all day, only taking  a few small steps every now and then ... 

 Jaime Jackson, having studied wild mustang herds in America, has proposed a system that he calls Paddock Paradise as an answer to these needs of our domestic horses.  (For further information I recommend reading his book Paddock Paradise: A Guide to Natural Horse Boarding.)  He advocates creating a track around the edge of your field and including a variety of surface materials and other natural features.  This encourages movement, helps to strengthen the feet and provides mental stimulation.  He recommends feeding ad lib hay made from low nutrient grasses.  You can also include other plants for horses to forage from, such as hedgerows and herbs.  Another benefit is that being outdoors allows horses to synthesise Vitamin D (they require sunlight to do this, just as we do) which will boost their natural immune system.

All cells have an inner 'blueprint' of how they are supposed to behave.  If the skin is torn or a bone gets broken, the body knows how to repair the damaged cells, returning the injured area to its original state. When the body is stressed however, it goes into 'flight or fright' mode and is unable to give its energy to restoration and repair.   Instead it produces hormones such as adrenalin and cortisol preparing it for attack or escape, distracting it from maintaining the healthy blueprint.   To support optimum wellbeing it is important to bring the body and emotions into as relaxed a state as possible.

Dr Sid Gustafson, the equine behaviour educator at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada states that:

"Horses require a sense of comfort and security for physical and mental restoration (and maintenance). An adequate social grazing environment, or appropriate facsimile thereof, often provides the most comfort to the most horses. Horses provided with adequate socialization throughout their upbringing are most responsive to these strategies. For horses, comfort and security come from friendship, forage, and, most-critically, a near-constant casual locomotion."

            A Veterinarian's Take   (my emphasis)

 http://sidgustafson.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/how-horses-heal.html#.VwDFko-cG1u           

In addition there are many complementary therapies which can help to support this healing (or maintenance).  I personally use energy healing, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT or 'tapping'), nutrition and a bit of kinesiology to help optimise wellbeing for both you and your horse.  (Keeping yourself healthy and in good physical shape will benefit not only you, but also your horse, particularly if you ride.) 

Energy healing helps to redirect the body's energies back to recreating its state of wellbeing.  It enables the body to fully relax and raises its energetic vibration, allowing healing to take place on many levels: physical, spiritual, emotional and mental.  This makes it very powerful and yet it has no negative side effects.  Animals are particularly receptive to this sort of therapy as they are generally very open and accepting without the conditioned concerns that we humans often experience.

Other options that you might like to explore are:

• Zoopharmacognosy (self-selection)
• Homeopathy
• TTouch
• Massage
• Accupuncture
• Bach Flower Remedies
• The Trust Technique