Lower Weare Horse Retirement Grass & Track Livery

16/04/2024

“Follow the leader leader” 🎤😂

14/04/2024

“There were three in the bed and Mimi said… “🎤😂 They have two barns and three stables to use but no let’s all cram into one stable ….and it’s not 🌧️🤷‍♀️😂

13/04/2024

Must be Spring ..ponies get a couple of hours on the grass tracks 😊

11/04/2024

Let horses be horses.

They like to get muddy and roll in the dirt.

They like to run around and play with their friends, sometimes resulting in the occasional scratch or abrasion.

They value socialization with other horses far beyond what any human can provide them, whether we want to admit to that or not.

They are well equipped to live outside and wired to cover a lot of ground each day. They get bored being cooped up without enrichment for most of their lives.

They don’t care about aesthetics like people do. They don’t care if they have a fuzzy winter coat or if they aren’t sparkling clean year round.

They don’t care if they’re not wearing a name brand saddle pad with matching brushing boots.

They don’t care how much money you spend on specialized supplements for them if they’re still going without near constant access to forage even with all of that added nutrition.

They don’t care if they have their own personal masseuse if it means they’re deprived of social interaction and space to move.

They care about having their most basic needs met.

It really doesn’t matter how many fancy and expensive add ons you offer to your horse if at their core they’re missing their basic needs.

It doesn’t matter how much money is spent on them if that money isn’t contributing to fulfilment of their basic needs.

Friends.

Freedom.

Forage. (And water, of course)

It is really that simple.

Provide these 3 crucial needs, then add on whatever else your heart desires, but let’s quit pretending care is sufficient when it doesn’t cover these basics, just because there’s a substantial amount of money put into it.

If money guaranteed basic met needs of horses, there wouldn’t be so many high value horses living lives where they’re utterly deprived of core needs.

Let your horse be a horse.

Horses are outdoor herd animals.

No matter how much our industry tries to convince you of otherwise, they absolutely suffer when kept in isolation, small and unenriching spaces and without constant access to forage.

They aren’t dolls for us to dress up and do with as we please.

They’re living beings with species specific needs that it is our duty to meet if we choose to get one.

LET 👏 HORSES 👏 BE 👏 HORSES 👏

“The 3Fs” (Friends, Freedom, Forage) concept originally coined by Canadian Equine Behaviourist Lauren Fraser https://www.equinebehaviorist.ca

24/03/2024

Our Spring intake for new friends is now full . Our next intake subject to availability will be Spring 2025 , thankyou to all those that enquired 😊

24/03/2024

Old but young at heart , naughty little boys 😂

15/03/2024

It was sunny 20mins ago ..not that these guys seem to care 😂

03/03/2024

03/03/2024

It’s a rugs off pamper day 😂

26/02/2024

Back out on the green stuff 😋

22/02/2024

Gosh this rain is relentless , our tracks are holding up well , we try and allow as much field time as we can for those that are safe to have grass when we can 😊

12/02/2024

27/01/2024

Teatime by sunset 🥰

24/12/2023

Merry Christmas , hope you all have a wonderful festive season xx

01/12/2023

Let’s go a wandering ..

17/08/2023

Happy happy happy 😊hay is ready to be baled 👏👏

16/08/2023

So pleased to see one of our rehabs back out having a chance at a new life 🥰👏👏

Milan In May - first ODE 🌟

Last week Milan was entered into his first ever One Day Event at Port Elliot horse trials with staff member, ! This was a very challenging first event due to being in the middle of a storm but he rode through it very well considering. His first ever dressage test got a score of 32 followed by a couple faults in his show jumping and cross country (the awful weather being major factors for this!). We are very excited to see him progress in the world of eventing with his first BE90 this weekend at Launceston horse trials - watch this space! 🫶

Milan is wearing his saddle pad 💚 Dengie Horse Feeds keeps our horses looking and feeling great 🏇🌱

23/07/2023

Your horse does not love his stable. Sorry.

A few weeks ago I shared this post and it went viral. It reached 1572985 people.

Due to this reach, unsurprisingly I saw alot of comments along these lines

"My horse loves his stable"
"He waits at the gate to come in"
"You don't know my horse, he hated living out"
"My horse would be dead if i didn't stable him"

For some of you, stabling is likely your only option. I understand how hard it is when you are on a livery with certain rules and management practices, and I also understand if you are doing it for welfare reasons. No horse should be stood in knee high mud, or subjected to lush grass when they are lami prone and a stable is a good way of preventing this.

However. Have you ever thought there might be a better way?

For me, shutting my horse in a stable without free choice is just not something I am ever willing to consider again.

This started when I was lucky enough to have my horses at home for the first time, around 2012.

I remember one night I decided to go out and see my horses in their comfy beds at around 10.30/11pm. I strolled over in my pajamas, opened the barn gate and was shocked to be greeted by neighs and empty haynets.

I didn't turn out till 6-7am the next day... That meant another 7-8 hours of standing in a square with nothing to eat. Horses only sleep for a few hours a day, so the time they spend in a stable is mostly stood still, staring at four walls.

Yes we can improve this by adding enrichment, slow feeder haynets, multiple haynets spread around the stall, a window to touch the horse next door etc, but is this really all enough?

No, its not.

There is no other large companion animal we subject to this kind of imprisonment too. Yes some of you might crate our dogs overnight, but dogs need even more sleep than us and sleep through the night. They aren't designed to move miles a day or eat constantly.

It's no wonder we have horses exhibiting so many stress behaviors in a stable. Weaving, cribbing, box walking or losing their minds completely and thrashing around. Arguably one of the worst coping mechanisms is shutting down, which is exactly what my horse used to do. He would stand, facing the back wall completely still and silent. Giving off the impression that he was fine, when he was far from it.

The humanizing part of me LOVED my horses in stables. They were clean, they had their comfy beds, and when I first brought them in they seemed happy to be there. Munching on their hay and standing quietly while I brushed them and changed rugs. They even waited at the gate to come in.

Ever thought why your horse waits at the gate?
Ever thought its because their field is lacking something? Or because they are very easy to get into a routine? Or because they are positively reinforced by food when they do come in?

Try putting the things your stable offers outside... Make sure there is ample forage, friends (other horses!!), shelter and give them their feeds outside. Leave the stable door open and give them the choice WHEN to be in, and how long for.

Often horses wait at the gate as there paddock lacks these things. They know they will get a feed and hay in their stable, but this does not mean they want shutting in there for hours on end. Horses don't think into the future, so they don't think 'if i come into that stable now it means I'll be in there for hours, better not'.

My mission is to educate people so they learn that stables are not enough and there is a better way. We are depriving these animals from how they are designed to live. Constantly moving and foraging and being with other horses.

Anthropomorphism is so dangerous. This means the apply human values onto an animal, and its exactly what people where doing in most of the comments on that post.

I don't want to hear your excuses for why your horse loves his stable or how its your only option, I want to challenge you to ask yourself why you feel the need to defend yourself? And challenge you to consider another way.

As I state in my book:

"For all the horses that suffer from being confined to stables, without adequate forage, freedom or friends"

Shameless plug: buy my best selling book and learn how to make your horse an enriching environment that fullfills them both mentally and physically. TURNOUT INTO A BIG FIELD IS NOT THE ANSWER.

Horse Track Systems: A 'How To' Guide to a Healthier Horse in Body and Mind https://amzn.eu/d/13hSSMr

Follow my page to keep learning. Your horse will thank you 🙏

Artist of drawing (shared with permission)
https://instagram.com/trailtrotterdesign?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

18/07/2023

Love is the air for these two new friends 🥰

21/06/2023

“Hello new friend “ 😊

07/06/2023

Amazing to see Milan out competing 👏👏🥰

22/05/2023

Lovely to see Fern our newest pony gang member is getting some back scratches from Sparky the oldest member 🥰

03/05/2023

Apparently it’s too warm to be outside 🙄😂

29/04/2023

This weeks exercise done 😂