Tri-Tronics^®, Inc.

P. O. Box 17660

Tucson, AZ  85731

support@tthorse.com

1-800-808-8423

ARTICLES & EDUCATION

Tips For Improving Your Horse's Environment

In a perfect world horses could all be turned out into hundreds of acres of pasture with many other horses to run in herds in complete harmony. This would solve all of the problems that are caused by confinement, lack of exercise, high-energy feed and lack of socialization. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that most people do not have access to such a scenario and if they did it would be impractical for the use of their particular horse. We realize that horses, like people, have jobs to do and that these jobs can sometimes force individuals to live in less than ideal situations. It is up to us to make sure that the horse's living conditions are as ideal as possible while still taking into considering their profession. By improving aspects of your horse's environment, you may be able to prevent him from starting a bad habit. You will at least be making his life more enjoyable and thereby ensuring that he is not only physically healthy, but mentally healthy and happy as well.

It is important to keep in mind that not all bad habits are the result of an inadequate environment. Some horses may naturally be more aggressive or dominant animals. Horses also learn many behaviors, good and bad, through watching and copying other horses. These horses may be their dam or any other horse that they have contact with. Horses also pick up many bad behaviors from their interactions with humans. They can be easily "trained" to perform a bad behavior if they receive a reward when they do it. Often an inexperienced human won't even realize they are in fact teaching the horse a bad habit until it is too late. These bad habits can range from rewarding a horse that is making noise with feed (to quiet him down) or not riding a horse when it pins its ears or tries to bite (because he is grouchy that day). Once a horse begins a bad behavior, they often continue it indefinitely, even if their environment and owner change. The ViceBreaker^® is an extremely effective safe way to permanently stop these unwanted and often dangerous behaviors.

To follow are some suggestions to help improve your horse's lifestyle. We always recommend inspecting your horse's living conditions and making improvements where possible. Keep in mind these are suggestions and not all will be practical for every horse in every situation.

Problem: Confinement.
Possible Solutions: Keep your horse outside as much as possible with free movement and free access to other horses. Ask yourself truthfully "Does my horse need to be in a stall?" If it is not absolutely necessary for your horse to be in a stall, consider alternative arrangements. Pasture is ideal if available. Large dry lots or paddocks are also good choices. In these situations, horses can run and buck and play whenever they have extra energy. If these alternatives are not available or if your horse must be stalled individually, then be creative at finding ways to give your horse more exercise time. If your show horse's coat cannot be bleached or burned by the sun, then turn them out in the evenings or indoors if available. Many stables charge a small fee for daily turn out into a pasture, paddock or arena. If this service is available…use it! If the stable does not have adequate staff to offer this service hire someone else or trade off performing this service with other horse owners. Consider this fact….we consider confinement in a small square stall where you are provided with all of your nutritional requirements, health care, protection from the elements, isolation from other humans and limited exercise …….jail. So even if you are providing your horse with extremely nice facilities that keep him physically perfect, you must consider his mental requirements and try to keep him mentally perfect too.

If your horse is a competitor and stalling is necessary, is it necessary all year? Many horse events are seasonal and if you must stall your horse during a season to maintain his performance level, then consider pasture or paddock board during the off season.

Problem: Unnatural Feeding Schedules:
Possible Solutions: Increase the number of hours your horse spends eating every day. This does not mean to give your horse a bale of third cutting alfalfa instead of his regular two flakes per feeding. If you examine your horses diet and ration and find that it is appropriate for the amount of work he does then keep it basically the same but add a not particularly nutritious, high fiber hay for him to chew on the remainder of the time. If you must ration your horse's feed and cannot give 24 hour a day access to high fiber hay, then feed his ration in such a way that the horse cannot gulp it down in one to two hours. If you feed it in a hay net or bag with small holes, the horse will have to work to get his feed and you can extend his feeding time for hours. If you have a horse on pasture that overeats and must be confined away from the pasture for periods every day for his own health…make sure he has access to a high fiber (even low quality is OK) hay to nibble on throughout the day. Don't lock him in a paddock, dry lot or stall with nothing to occupy his time.

Problem: Unnatural Types of Feed.
Possible Solutions: Have your veterinarian or a dietitian (not associated with any particular feed company) evaluate your horse's diet. Have them determine a ration that is suitable for your horse's age, breed and workload. Many horses are fed too much concentrated feed for the amount of work they do. It sounds nice to be feeding your pony (that is ridden once a week) the same grain as a horse competing for the Triple Crown but is it necessary? Couldn't it be contributing to behavior problems that are no fault of the horse?

Problem: Lack of Socialization.
Possible Solutions: If the horse must be stalled individually, make sure that they can see, hear, touch and smell other horses and other activities going on. Stall designs with low walls, open tops or bars will facilitate this. Some stalls makers have gone to the extreme of having only kicking boards between horses. Choose or build stalls that have bars, mesh or open fronts that horses can see through and where they can communicate with neighboring horses. Occasionally an owner will say my horse doesn't like to have neighbors. Horses are very social but that does not mean that they all like each other. Even when horses posture at each other and appear not to like each other….that is still socializing and often these horses will miss each other greatly when separated. Having a neighbor that they dislike is often better than no neighbor at all. Relating back to the "jail analogy", one of the worst punishments for criminals is solitary confinement.

Problem: Extremely nervous horses that don't eat well or a horse that can't eat because they are so preoccupied with what is going on around them. These horses may snatch a bite and then quickly head to a vantage point where they can see what is going on at all times.
Possible Solution: These horses often do well with a "partner". Another horse is ideal but this partner can be a goat, a pig… anything. These horses will be much more relaxed and will eat better if they are not alone.

Problem: Bored Horse.
Possible Solutions: Make sure your horse spends his days involved in different activities. These activities may include eating, bathing, turn out, training or "intense" work riding, trail or relaxed riding, grazing, grooming or any other activity. You don't like to be bored and neither does your horse. Toys are also a good option for some horses. Horses kept in groups in a pasture situation will usually take care of this themselves. If they are bored they find a buddy to run and play with. If they are lazy, they take a nap. If they are itchy they will groom each other.

Problem: Sudden Change in Routine. This can be the result of an owner going out of town, an injury that forces stall rest or a horse being retired from competition.
Possible Solutions: If your horse is used to a regular routine and you know that will change even temporarily, make arrangements for someone else to spend time with your horse. Many individuals offer horse-sitting or other horse related services. Have them come and groom your horse or take them out to graze. You must take into consideration that your horse will not understand why his routine has suddenly been changed and this will cause stress. This is not such an issue with horses that are pastured in a herd setting since they will occupy their days with other socializing activities. If a horse is to be retired from a strenuous "job", try to make the transition as gradual as possible. Begin by gradually adjusting the diet to one more appropriate to the decreased workload. At the same time gradually reduce or alter the workload to a lower level.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATION

Is your horse in pain? Many horses may develop bad habits if they are in pain. This pain may be an unnoticed lameness or a dental problem that is aggravated when they are ridden. These horses begin to resent working because it is painful and they may pick up bad habits as an expression of their unhappiness. It is always good to first have a veterinarian rule out any medical reasons for your horse's bad behavior.

Here are some general common sense tips.

• If your horse only kicks the stall at night, try installing a night-light.

• Make sure horses are not too crowded.

• Have separate feeding areas for each animal and make sure they are adequately spaced apart.

• Keep the same horses together as much as possible. If you are hauling a group of horses, load them with other horses they like. Similarly with turn out time. Keep groups together as much as possible.

• Keep stall clean and dry.

• Avoid conditions that are too hot or too cold.

• Make sure there is an appropriate windbreak if necessary.

• Make sure the horse has adequate shelter for all conditions.

Remember …anything that causes a horse stress can lead to them perform a bad habit. Since it so difficult to stop many bad habits, even when the original causes are corrected, it is important to prevent them whenever possible.

For the ingrained problem behaviors that do not respond to environmental improvement, the ViceBreaker^® is the key to a safe, happy, healthy horse. The ViceBreaker^® allows you to correct a horse's bad habit without them ever relating it to you. When used in combination with appropriate lifestyle changes the ViceBreaker^® is very successful in permanently stopping bad behaviors.