How To Keep Your Horses Happy and Healthy

Keeping your horse happy is one of the most vital components of horse care. Horses are surprisingly gregarious and lively creatures that may quickly become sad or lonely with the wrong care. Despite their inability to communicate verbally, horses may successfully transmit their emotions to indicate how they are doing. Therefore, you must know how to keep your horses happy and healthy.

Keep Them Active

Horses must follow a strict diet because what they eat and how much they weigh are two of the most important aspects affecting their health. Like humans, horses can develop several issues from being obese, such as diabetes or muscular-skeletal issues.

Any horse will overindulge if you don't restrict its food intake, leaving it lethargic and unhappy. Managing a horse's eating habits is a full-time task, as any horse lover knows, but keeping your horse healthy is necessary.

Take a Rest Day

Like humans, horses deserve a day off throughout the week to relax and recover. Having one full day off every week will keep them fresh and prevent you from overworking them. One significant positive of letting them rest is that it allows them to take a break from any wear and tear on their muscles. Prioritizing these rest opportunities for your horse is just as crucial as providing them with ample exercise, and enough rest will undoubtedly make your horse extremely cheerful.

Introduce Them To Other Animals

Because horses are herd animals, they love socializing. If your horse lives in isolation and has little interaction with other animals, it may quickly become sad and unwell. Aside from the psychological consequences of sadness and despair, a horse may pace up and down the fence line, seeking, gazing, or waiting for another horse to keep them company. This sort of behavior may cause them to be underweight. 

Horses like social interaction. Thus, cheer them up by changing the environment on hikes or surrounding them with new people frequently. Schedule play dates with a buddy who owns a horse. It may seem strange, but your horse will appreciate socializing with another horse and having some companionship.

Provide Entertainment

It might be challenging to spend adequate time with your horse on certain days. If you know your day will be hectic, try using the radio to provide some comfort. The radio sounds, conversations, and music assist in keeping your horse happy by giving them the impression that they are not alone.

Horses are often bored; therefore, it is imperative to give them some excitement. Another option to entertain them involves using toys. Playing with toys may be an excellent method to help your horse enjoy their time outside. There are several horse toys available that are meant to improve their balance, attention, and curiosity.

Establish a Routine

Horses appreciate when there is consistency and order in their lives. Horses feel in control when they follow a pattern. One of the greatest methods to keep your horses happy and healthy is establishing a routine. Each horse is different, so what works for one may not work for another. But once they are set in their ways, their minds will be at ease. When you doubt what you can do for your equine, ponder what would make you happy and apply that line of thinking to your horses.