03/02/2025
March 1 is national horse protection day, which is all about awareness of horse abuse, and protecting vulnerable, at risk horses.
Here at Cheval Assistants and Leaders International, we take the welfare of our horses very seriously. In recognition of , I would like to speak on that, and share our philosophies and policies that put the welfare of our horses first.
Our horses live in a species appropriate environment.
Horses evolved on grasslands over millions of years. Movement and grazing are integral to their health. Our horses are turned out as much as possible (typically 24 hours a day) and fed with slow feeders, keeping them busier for longer and making sure they always have access to food.
At our new, dedicated facility we will be making all of the different turnout areas as enriching as possible. Mentally and physically stimulating environments will help our horses to grow up stronger and healthier, build their confidence, and increase their problem-solving abilities.
We feed our horses in line with the most up-to-date recommendations from equine nutritionists. We ensure that their diets are appropriate for their life stage. Since Miniatures are extremely prone to metabolic disorders, we manage them proactively to do our best to prevent these issues.
We abstain from practices that are known to jeopardize horse welfare, even if they are industry standard.
Our breeding stallion lives out with friends. We will not forcefully wean foals at three or six months because an arbitrary amount of time has passed.
We train our horses with scientifically validated, effective, welfare forward techniques.
We study Skinnerism and train our horses with the positive reinforcement quadrant of operant conditioning, utilizing the LIMA principle.
LIMA stands for least intrusive, minimally aversive. This means that we strive to avoid aversives in training and day-to-day handling. This means you will never see us do things such as hit our horses, whip them, teach them how to tie by tying them to a post and letting them struggle until they give up, or intentionally scaring them with something they are afraid of.
Because we train with positive reinforcement, our horses are confident, taught to think for themselves, problem solve, and love the work they do. When it is time to work, they greet us with pricked ears and sparkling eyes. We would only do something in a more aversive manner if it was an emergency or necessary, such as a type of medical procedure that has not been trained with positive reinforcement yet, but needs to be done.
We are proactive about our horses health.
All horses receive routine veterinary care, including vaccinations and dentals. If we ever have a concern with one of them, we contact our veterinarians to bring them on board immediately. We do things such as targeted exercises, massages, and chiropractor visits to both prevent problems and address existing ones.
Horses receive hook trims every 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the time of year and rate of growth.
We take breeding very seriously.
We run genetic testing on our horses to prevent heritable diseases. We test for dwarfism and frame, and won’t breed colors that are linked to health issues, such as silver and gray.
We won’t breed our mares until they are fully grown, and it is safest for them to carry a pregnancy. We won’t breed them until they have been examined by a veterinarian to make sure it is safe for her to carry a pregnancy. If carrying another pregnancy would be high risk or the mare quite simply seems to hate being a mom, we won’t breed her again.
Any horse that comes through our program or that we breed is our responsibility for the rest of its life. We will always do our due diligence to place horses in good homes, and we will always take them back if circumstances change.
We listen to our horses.
We understand that behavior is communication, and always strive to listen to what our horses are telling us. We want to address the root causes of issues, not just put a Band-Aid on them. Each horse has their own personality and preferences. We work with the horse in front of us, and don’t try to fit them all into the same mold.
Our horses know that they are allowed to express themselves and communicate. Dialogue goes both ways, and horses who are not afraid of punishment are typically much more communicative, and communicate in much more subtle, safer ways. This open dialogue means that we are far more likely to know if something is wrong with a horse, catch small problems before they become big ones, and makes it far less likely that we will ever put a horse in a situation that they are not ready for.
Horses give people so much, and it is our duty as their caretakers to make sure that we repay their generosity with the highest welfare standards that we are able to.
There are some people who think horses should not be service animals because of welfare concerns. There are countless examples of horse abuse and poor welfare out there, and we believe very strongly that we are not one of them. I hope that, having read this post, you would agree with that statement.
If anyone ever has a question or concern about how we handle our horses, we are always happy to have that discussion. We will not tolerate harassment, but will always engage with people asking questions in good faith.
Pictured here are Mona and Cali, the whole reason this organization was started.
Image description: Mona and Cali, standing on a grassy lawn on a clear winters day, share a moment of affection. Mona, a petite Arabic woman wearing a gray long sleeve shirt, blue jeans, and a black head scarf, leans down towards Cali, a bay miniature pony with a very fuzzy winter coat who wears a black guide harness. Cali has her head tilted up towards Mona, the two of them touching noses. In the background, there is a white house, a tree with bare branches, and the sky is clear and blue.
Remote and In Person training that facilitates growth and connection between horse and human through Positive Reinforcement
