Learning From Wild Horses – Pt 3

The third guest post in a 3 part series put together by Eleanor D. Van Natta over at Sage By Nature. If you haven’t already be sure to read Parts 1 & 2 and you can check out more of her writing on her horse blog.

Part 3 – Nutrition & Balance

Finally, a few words on nutrition – which is a whole article in itself and there are lots of resources out there. We are learning a lot about sugar, grain, omega fats, and differences in hay and grass.

The most important thing to consider here is to keep the diet as natural and basic as possible, feed as frequently as possible, provide access to some grazing, and only supplement minerals and vitamins as necessary.

Natural horse care is not rocket science, its becoming more mainstream, and it can be practiced fairly easily to the benefit of your horse with just some willingness, dedication, and critical thinking.

Doing Right By Your Animal

Do your due diligence here. If you close your mind and become fully entrenched in either side – conventional or alternative – you run the risk of pulling the trigger on your gun of ignorance and harming your horse. Being too extreme to the right or left of anything can cause problems, so start off by trying to balance yourself somewhere close to the middle.

I de-worm my horse with a chemical de-wormer because I know the damage, ugliness, and reality of intestinal parasites, and I do not think that there is currently a better way for my horse that is on a small pasture which has had multiple horses on it over the decades.

I do have fecal analyses done occasionally, prior to de-worming, and if worms are present (they usually are), I give my horse a dose of chemicals. Maybe the wild horse in its travels could graze on areas of land relatively free of parasites, and not infested over time with parasite eggs, but my horse cannot. So again, as with most things, balance is the key.

A Level of Comfort

Horses know that. The other day I was out to visit my horse and saw her lying down asleep in her small pasture near the same two geldings that in my mind boss her around too much and nip her occasionally.

Yet the reason that she could peacefully sleep and get her much needed REM sleep (horses only get this while lying down) is that she felt safe and secure. Granted it was just a herd of three, but to her that was enough. And that to me is worth a shaggy coat, a tangled mane, and a little rain rot.

About Eleanor

Eleanor Van Natta is a wife, a mother of two little girls, and a caretaker to one dog, one cat, and one horse. She has a Zoology degree from the University of CA, Davis, and prior to becoming a stay at home mom she had a career in environmental and pharmaceutical sales. You can find more of her writing on her website: Sage By Nature.

Image Credits:
Sage grazing – Sage By Nature
Deworming Horse – Equisearch
Horse buddies – cobalt123