You know those 20 plus hours a day when your horse is at his/her livery yard, waiting for you to show up?

Do you know what he/she is doing?

• Searching for something to nibble?
• Hanging her/his head over a stable door?
• Grooming an equine friend? Having a play?
• Sleeping? With another horse watching over?
• Standing at the gate, waiting for something to happen?

And most importantly, even those hours you ARE there with them:

Is your horse feeling safe?

• Is he/she with other horses? Familiar horses? Horses that come and go?
• Can she/he see into the distance? Or is there another stable just in front?
• Any pain? Imbalance? Discomfort? Anxiety?

All these things, and more, add up together and have a huge impact on your horses’ emotional, mental and physical wellbeing.

It is important that our horse’s environment is meeting these REAL needs (referred to in Behaviour Jargon as Non-Negotiable-Needs)…. specially those 20plus hours a day you are not with him.

I look into these needs, and how they are met, as a FIRST PORT OF CALL whenever somebody approaches me asking for help with an “XYZ Behaviour” that they rather their horse didn’t have. And it is the single most repeated question I ask myself every day about my horses, especially since I found out what the needs really are (which wasn’t so long ago, considering how long I have been taking care of horses!): What is my horse doing right now?

Just in case you are new to this game, let me share with you what our horses really REALLY want from life:

The 4 Non-Negotiable Needs:

1. To Feel Safe: main purpose of life is to survive and protect the gene pool for species survival.
2. To Be fed appropriately (since they can’t go out and choose for themselves anymore)
3. To be able to take care of their bodies as they see fit(groom, thermoregulation, elimination)
4. SLEEEEEP! It sounds so basic, but there are so many horses out there that have “sleep debts”…and you know what that does to us!

My mantra is…. It might be a little more “inconvenient”, but it really makes a difference to my horse!

They are worth it.

Lots of love for now. Hope to be chatting to you soon!

In the meantime, please give your horse a hug from me!

The Southern Grey Mare

If you would like to know more about these needs and how/what you could do in your horse’s environment to help meet them Join us as we STAND UP FOR YOUR HORSE and access over 100 years of combined experience for just 7 euros a month? It might sound unbelievable, but it’s absolutely possible.