[RC] Horses/Outside Weather & HERD problems - Karla Watson
My horse would probably not be a stall weaver had
he been raised on pasture. I got him at age 8 after years of prior owners
keeping him in a stall too many hours out of the day. He was very bored and
upset being in a stall and will weave and rock for hours.
I finally moved him to pasture 24/7 (with
adequate shelter) and he has never been happier (or dirtier!). I do board which
gives me the option of finding alot of nice pasture. This year we are going to
be buying horse property (yeah!!) so I might not have large pasture
since we have a budget.
I have found that putting endurance horses in a
"herd" type environment is tricky. I am currently moving my 2 horses to their
own pasture cause I had such feeding problems with them living in a herd of 10.
Fighting over grain and hay makes it very hard for endurance horses to get
enough food from other horses that aren't fed so much. Segregating 10 horses
twice a day is almost impossible. My sweet gelding became very food aggressive
and was fighting with everyone to get his food. He lost that battle too many
times. As much as I hate moving my horses I am learning about this pasture herd
thing. Everyone says they are happier in a herd but it becomes very hard to feed
them right.
And for anyone who has boarded horses....boarding
sucks.....(can't wait to have my own place.)
