The way thousands of people have learned is instilled in their teaching of others, bad habits become the normal thing and nobody questions methods or have ideas for alternative horsecare.

The more natural the hooves are kept the happier the horse. In today's world sometimes it can be difficult to achieve this but I think it is definitely worthy of attention.

Have you ever had the back hairs near your neck pulled out?? It's very painful and can be sore for quite a while afterwards.

It's a very unnatural place to put a horse and then we wonder why they get vices.

Most of us don't realise that the UK is covered with re-sown grass fields which are very different from the old type meadows..

You usually find no matter what you do 'artificially' has to be done over and over again in the vain attempt that one day your horse will 'get it' and everything will be fine.

This is the new millenium, we should be moving on from these old fashioned ideas about how a horse should be trained, how many plaits he has, what the rider is wearing.

I just want people to open their eyes and try to eliminate the basic nastiness in a lot of the horsey world...

Everytime I went by this pony in its field it seemed lonely and when I rode my cob by the field it positively galloped across to say hello. Afraid of its own kind? Nonsense!

Is your mind spinning when you just look at them, do you know what's good for your horse, what will be right for him???

Looking at a local show recently I wondered if any of the young riders knew why they had flash nosebands on their ponies or why they all wore the same hacking jacket. I bet most of them had the nosebands on because they came with the bridle when they bought it and the jacket was a must for certain competitions or you just weren't allowed to enter or win.

This website hopes to help you question how you care, train and ride your horse and hopes to help you find a more natural way forward together. Judges and trainers have very important roles in the modelling of young adults starting out in the horse world. I hope they start to have louder voices against cruelty and stop being reticent in speaking up against people in large organisations who make the rules about how to train, what to wear, how long a mane should be and how one should pull a mane etc. We want you to speak up about anything you think is questionable within the horse industry, on the local show level to the top competitions.

Let's make our horses lives better, brighter and happier. It's up to us.

In the paddock

DISCLAIMER
The writers on this site are horse owners who like many others are trying to find better ways of handling, riding and generally caring for their horses. Everything written about here is our own personal views and for others to think about and try if they want, we are not saying ours is the only way, or better than any others. We at Horsecare believe that we must all do what it takes to keep our horses healthy, happy and contented, we just hope this site will make it easier for natural thinking people to find answers to questions.
The links on this site are purely for others to look at, we do not endorse any products or sites, those here are ones the writers have found to be beneficial to themselves in their own research. Each reader has to make their own mind up and the writers on this site do not claim any benefits to other peoples horses.
The reading on this site also is the writers own choice of books they have read themselves and found to be good reading material. We do not claim that these are the only books everyone should read, just informative ones that we have personally read and found beneficial.

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Wild Equus

Is free-roaming, 15-20 miles per day
Has a herd life
Has a vast nutritional variety allowing him to eat what he needs when he needs it and in the amount he needs
Seeks out certain minerals when the body needs supplimentation to the diet
Eats and drinks in a natural, head-lowered position
exposes his feet to water each day as he drinks from rivers, streams, or lakes
Experiences gradual temperature changes, naturally out in the open
Does not wear blankets, hoods, or wraps
Has bare hooves with direct ground contact
Sleeps on the ground
Moves over a varied, often rugged terrain
Average lifespan is 30-40 years
It has been so for millennia.

Domestic Equus

Is often stalled or paddock bound with little movement
Is often confined in solitude
Is fed highly concentrated rations at infrequent intervls each day, may go hours with nothing in his stomach
Is habitually fed fortified rations and supplements in varied amounts that the body may not need
Eats and drinks from buckets and feeders with head in an unnaturally high position
Has little or no daily opportunity to wet his feet, has oil/grease preparations applied to his feet instead
Wears blankets, hoods, and wraps
Experiences sudden temperature changes moving from barn to paddock, or when blankets removed
Has shod hooves with little to no direct ground contact
Sleeps on soft bedding
Moves on prepared often very soft terrain
Average lifespan 15-20 years
It has been so for less than 1000 years.

Re-think the way you relate to your horse.

Whether you are a professional rider doing equestrian pursuits such as cross-country, 3 day eventing, show jumping, driving, endurance, Le Trec, steeple chase, or dressage or, you are a complete novice with a new horse or pony and simply enjoy trekking, hacking and playing, this site is intended to help you bring out the best in your horse using tried and tested ways that have proved successful. Simple myths like pulling on the reins to brake can completely screw up the relationship between you and your horse. Why? If it doesn't brake on command (by pulling), the next logical step is to get a harsher bit. The horse responds to this by tossing or shaking its head, and perhaps being even more disobedient. This disturbs the horse, breaks down your relationship with it, you lose control and your horse becomes a "problem" horse, spoiling your entire experience. This website addresses this and many other common and not so common problems which usually arise as a result of our own lack of understanding, impatience or inadequate training. In truth, there is no such thing as a "problem" horse. It is the human handling the horse that creates the problem and it is the human that needs to adjust his or her technique in order to gain respect and trust and so bring out the best in the horse or pony, thus achieving critical responses exactly when you need them without the use of harsh commands or equipment.

HORSECARE is a site for naturally kept horses. It tries to help others to get their horses into a natural way of life and therefore into a more free and peaceful future.

Wild Equus

Domestic Equus