The Importance of Species Appropriate Feeding and Eating Behaviour of Horses

by L.D.
Foreword by Natalija Aleksandrova

Unlike the human’s digestive system, the horse's digestive system is designed by Nature to receive food in small portions almost constantly, day and night. By locking horses in stalls and making their feeding schedule similar to that of a humans — very few meals a day with long breaks in between — humans ruin the horse's organism, making the animal suffer from pain caused by the health disorders it develops as a consequence of the unnatural feeding schedule, such as gastric ulcers, colic, etc. In order for your horse to stay healthy and happy throughout its life, it should be provided species appropriate keeping conditions, which means conditions that are as close as possible to the natural way of life of the horse. This means all horses should be provided 24 hour access to grazing or/and hay, should be provided the possibility of unrestricted free movement 24 hours a day (the 'open stable' system) and be able to live together with equine companions. Now let’s take a scientific look into the importance of species appropriate feeding/eating behavior in horses.
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This article focuses on the importance of species appropriate feeding/eating behaviour of equines. However, as also mentioned in the five freedoms (Farm Animal Welfare Council, 2009), which are building the base of the animal rights and protection, other factors are crucial in order to guarantee the well being of the horse:

1. Freedom from Hunger and Thirst — by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour.
2. Freedom from Discomfort — by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area.
3. Freedom from Pain, Injury or Disease — by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment.
4. Freedom to Express Normal Behaviour — by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal's own kind.
5. Freedom from Fear and Distress — by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering.

Not only species appropriate feeding, but also being free to express species appropriate behaviour, such as herd-life, movement, mutual grooming and more, are of utmost importance and need to be fulfilled in order to guarantee the health and well being of the horses (and any other animal).

Scientifically speaking, equines are herbivore hind-gut fermentors. Having evolved to almost constantly eat little portions of long, rough fiber being low in energy. Observations and researches showed that horses being free to choose their feed stuff spend approximately 60% (~14 hours) of the day browsing and grazing (Gudmundsson and Dyrmundsson, 1994; McGreevy, 2004). Horses in a scarcer environment spend approximately 16–17 hours per day browsing and grazing, which may even exceed 19 hours in harsh seasons (McGreevy, 2004). However, the time spent eating strongly depends on several factors such as weather conditions, availability of feed stuff, gender, state of maturity and more. (Gudmundsson and Dyrmundsson, 1994).

Given the possibility to free range and express species appropriate eating behaviour the horse will consume approximatly 2–2,5% Dry Matter of their body weight within 24 hours, in the form of roughage. (National Research Council (U.S.), 1987; Kiley-Worthington, 1987; Dowler, et al., 2009; Wright, 1999).

Being able to free range and spend most of the day grazing results in approximately 57000 chewing movements (Cuddeford, 1999) on high fibre roughage (and about 40000 on roughage with an average fibre content, which in this research is the more likely number to work with) (Frape, 2004). Figures as such are often critically questioned as they are mainly derived from researches and observations from wild, feral or semi feral equines, however the genetic make up of ingestive related behaviour/instincts and physiology of the digestive tract have remained relatively unchanged over the last 6000 years of domestication and breeding (Koene and Gremmen, 2002; Dierendonck, 2006), which is then directly linked to the high occurrence of health and behaviour problems due to inappropriate nutrition.

The same eating behaviour performed by free ranging horses can be seen in domestic horses when given the possibility to execute this normal and instinctive behaviour (Kiley-Worthington, 1987). However, most domestic horses, nowadays, are only able to express limited normal eating behaviour due to human management. For example concentrates in the form of pellets, muesli or oats are fed in restricted meals with or without limited amounts of pre-cut hay or haylage. This change of feedstuff also manifests a change of eating behaviour in terms of eating time, chewing movements and, importantly, saliva production.

A horse being free to graze adequate mature pasture, 24/7, will consume an approximate Dry Matter intake of grass of 2 Kg per 100 Kg body weight per day (600 Kg horse). When being limited in grazing the horse will consume approximately 0,8 Kg DM of grass in one hour. The horse given limited hay at specific feed times will spend approximately 40 minutes per 1 Kg of hay, resulting in about 1,2 Kg Dry Matter intake per hour (Ellis, 2004). When given hay ad libitum it is most likely that the horse will spend longer eating the 1 ncentrates differs considerably; as the horse will only spend approximately 10 minutes eating 1 kg of concentrates (Ellis, 2004). This means that the horse has a high energy intake in a very short time. Which, firstly, the digestive system was not evolved for and secondly, the horse will spend much less time eating and chewing. This might result in a higher risk and occurrence of undesirable stereotypic behaviour and other health problems (Davidson and Harris, 2000) and might therefore influence the short and long term performance of the horse.

The horse's teeth have evolved for heavy wearing exposure and thus would need similar conditions in order to wear at normal rates (Baker and Easley, 1951). It has been observed that the change of the angle of the incisors, commonly in domestic horses is something which does not occur to such an extent in feral or wild horses. This means that abnormal wear takes place in many of the domestic horses. Such misalignments can have severe consequences on digestion and the whole equine body. As the tempro-mandibular joint becomes further misaligned it exerts a crucial role in altering the biomechanics of the whole body. Besides that, a change in the angle of the incisors means that the surface to surface contact of the molars is also put in an abnormal state forcing the horse to clinch its jaw in order to be able to chew feedstuff properly (LaFlure, 2001). Reasons for that abnormal wear are firstly, that the horse is fed with too little high fibre roughage. Secondly, it does not need to bite correctly anymore (reduced usage of the incisors), because the roughage is most likely precut. And, thirdly, the horse gets too much concentrated energy on which it needs to chew at least four time less than on hay (approximately 3000 chewing movements on 1 kg hay and 750 on 1 kg concentrates) (Frape, 1998).

As the production of salvia is linked to chewing (Alexander and Hickson, 1970) direct relations can and must be drawn. While eating a minimum of 14 hours a day and an amount of approximately 2–2.5% Dry Matter of the body weight, the horse produces approximately 4,5 litres of saliva per one Kilogram Dry Matter roughage, resulting in approximately 40–60 liters of saliva per day (Harris, 1999; McGreevy, 2004). Producing sufficient salvia is crucial for the buffering effect of stomach acidity. Saliva, with its high bicarbonate content, has an alkaline level and thus is able to balance the acid level in the stomach (Picavet, 2002). If insufficient saliva is produced at constant rates spread over the whole day, the buffering effects of the alkaline bicarbonate are diminished; the gastric acidity rises and risk of gastric ulceration increases considerably (Pagan, 1997). It has been observed that the occurrence of gastric ulceration happens most commonly in the upper region of the horse's stomach, as this part of the stomach does not contain a mucous membrane layer and neither produces alkaline bicarbonate as an acid neutralizer. The only protection that the upper region of the stomach has from gastric acid is the bicarbonate coming from sufficient saliva production and the natural buffering capacity of roughage (Pagan, 2008). Being exposed to a higher acidic level for more than three to four hours decreases tissue resistance dramatically, and the first signs of damage become visible after ten to twelve hours (Steward, 2003). Studies show that approximately 60% of performance horses and approximately 37% of leisure horses show gastric ulceration (Picavet, 2002). The highest occurrence of gastric ulceration is found in race horses. More than 90% of all race horses show gastric ulcerations to various degrees (Pagan, 2008). It has been indicated that horses would not voluntary starve themselves for more than four hours (Krazak, et al., 1991) as acid levels in the stomach increase by then; causing discomfort and initiating the desire to chew and graze, which effectively supplies buffering alkaline bicarbonate to the affected over acidic area.

Having evolved as a constant browser grazer also means that constant movement of the digestive tract is present and necessary to keep the micro environment healthy and active. The presence of beneficial bacteria prevents the spreading of other, potentially pathogenic bacteria (Pagan, 2008). If this constant peristaltic movement is not assured, the risk of colic (abdominal pain) increases considerably. In order to guarantee this peristaltic movement, the stabled horse being restricted in roughage intake will often be observed occupying itself with eating it's bedding, because it lacks fibre, saliva production as well as it needs to occupy it's time. Eating bedding is certainly beneficial for chewing, saliva production and time occupation and thus helpful in decreasing the risk of gastric ulceration, but straw bedding should not be the major source of roughage (it has almost no nutritional value and contains larger amounts of lignin, which is more difficult to digest.) However and importantly, excessive consumption of wheat straw bedding, has been implicated in the development of impaction colic (Thorne, et al., 2005; Cohen, et al., 1999).

Applying sub-optimal feeding regimes, not guaranteeing the natural requirements of almost constant eating, chewing, producing saliva and having a "full" digestive tract, does have severe consequences on physical and mental health. The development of gastric ulceration, colic, but also the development of abnormal behaviours, such as crib biting, (e.g. Kiley-Worthington, 1987; McGreevy, et al., 1995) might result and with that have a direct influence on the horses welfare, well-being and thus on the five freedoms (Waran, 2007).

English Edit Courtesy of Tamlyn Labuschagne Ennor 2012

Thermoregulation in horses in a cold time of year

Natalija Aleksandrova

In order for a mammal to survive, internal body temperature is kept within a very narrow range. If the temperature exceeds these limits either above or below, the chemical reactions on the cellular level function improperly. Or they stop functioning at all. Fluctuations outside of the normal temperature range result in health problems or death of the animal. Mature horses maintain their internal body temperature at a range around 38℃. Foals, rapidly growing youngsters, pregnant and lactating mares have a higher norm of their internal body temperature (Hines, 2004). Most horse owners are aware of the damage and crisis inherent with fever states. Few horse owners realize how well adapted horses are to deal with cold when certain aspects of their lifestyle are in place for them.

Over thousands of years, the wild horse has spread over the entire world. Whatever place in the world they live, the horse was exposed to constantly changing temperature — through a day/night rhythm or a seasonal rhythm. Yet even today wild and semi-wild horses, as well as domestic ones, provided with species appropriate living conditions, survive perfectly any conditions Nature exposes them to. Whether it is the north of Europe, or Australian deserts, the horse is exposed to all of Nature's changing elements — wind, sun, rain, snow, fluctuating temperature, etc. Never in nature seeking such excessive enclosed shelters as man-made stables and barns nor caves, never in nature seeking ways of covering themselves with fabric. The horse has naturally evolved ways of thriving.

Heat in the horse's body is continuously generated as a by-product of metabolism, and a healthy animal has significant internal sources of heat from the metabolic processes (Bicego at al., 2007). To control internal heat loss during the cold time of year, the horse is provided by Nature with complicated and extremely efficient anatomical, physiological and behavioral thermoregulatory mechanisms. In order that the mechanisms are used in the most efficient way, or at all, the horse requires conditions equaling species appropriate lifestyle environments.

On a genetic level, the domestic horse is the same as its wild counterpart: it has the same abilities and needs to survive. Basically, they do not need anything more from the human than only to provide keeping conditions that this species is supposed to have by dictate of Nature: freedom of movement 24 hours a day, free access to appropriate food 24 hours a day, herd life, proper hoof care, shelter which it can enter and leave freely. Under human care that respects the horse's natural needs, and provides it doesn't make this animal a subject for anthropomorphism through stabling, changing eating habits, blanketing, clipping, shoeing, etc., the domestic horse is able to properly use its amazing natural thermoregulatory abilities exactly the same way as the wild horse.

Let's take a deeper look into how the thermoregulatory mechanisms work in the horse, and how it can be interfered with and damaged through unnatural care and keeping practices.

Coat in an arabian breed horse on a very cold winter day, Central Europe.
The piloerection mechanism in use — the hair is raised to increase coat insulation.

Cooling down after playing. Icelandic breed horse, Central Europe.
Photo © K. Jarczewski

First what is important to remember, is that due to some thermoregulatory factors such as the skin and coat being very good insulators, which prevent heat loss, and the muscles producing heat through their movements, it is far easier for horses to warm up in cold weather than to cool down in hot weather, or to cool down after intensive exercising. Cooling down is more difficult for the horse. Horses are adapted to handle cold.The horse's skin is responsible both for protecting the interior of the body from outside temperature changes. As well as for not allowing heat loss in cold weather. Also it needs to be mentioned that the skin is responsible for dissipation of internal heat generated by muscle action to prevent the body from over-heating. The skins' thermoregulatory mechanisms consist of four major factors, skin, coat, arteries and sweat glands, three of which are responsible for keeping the horse warm in a cold weather:

1. The skin itself works as an insulating layer through its relative thickness.

2. The coat.
The coat insulation depends on the depth and thickness of the hair layer, the wind speed and the temperature and humidity gradients within the coat (Ousey et al., 1992).

The coat, in horses, changes twice a year through the mechanism called photoperiodism, adapting to different seasonal base temperatures. Sensors in the horse's skin react to the daytime light length changes. The horse is ready to grow their winter coat right after the summer solstice, when days start getting shorter. The horse is ready to change their winter coat to a summer one right after the winter solstice, when days start getting longer.

In addition to photoperiod, environmental temperature also affects hair growth. Colder climates produce thicker and longer coats in horses than warmer climates do, when comparing horses who have the same body score and are fed the same amount of food.

Also coat growth is affected by some other factors, for example, feeding and horse breed which will be explained later in this text.

Additionally to growing its coat, the horse can increase the insulation of the coat through the mechanism called piloerection — raising, lowering or turning in different directions the hair in the coat via hair erector muscles. This way the horse increases or decreases the thickness of the insulation layer and efficiently varies the amount of airflow to the skin surface. Piloerection increases coat depth 10% to 30% in mature horses (Young & Coote, 1973). The hair erector muscles must be exercised regularly in order to work properly, as with any other muscle in the body.

Hairs of the coat are covered with a greasy substance, which helps the horse not to get wet to the skin on rainy or snowy days. The coat has a water-repelling effect through the hair grease — water runs down the outer hair while the deeper coat remains dry. The longer the coat, the less chance water has to get to the skin. Through regular coat brushing the greasy substance gets removed, and the water-repelling effect gets impaired.Not advisable either is to clean off the layer of dirt that rolling in mud ensures a horse. The mud has protective effects to the body.

Needless to say that the popular practice of clipping the hair of a horse's coat eliminates, completely, the thermoregulatory factor of the coat.

3. Arteries in the skin.
Arteries through muscle actions, called vasoconstriction or vasodilation, can be narrowed or enlarged, regulating blood flow to the skin. Constricting prevents internal heat loss by reducing the amount of warm blood brought to the cooler body surface. Dilation allows for a larger amount of hot blood from over-heated interiors to reach the body surface and to be cooled. The cooled blood lowers internal body temperature when it's returned back to the interior of the body.

4. Sweat glands.
The horse uses sweat glands to cool down at a time when external or internal temperatures are too hot. When the outside temperature is too high for the air to cool the blood through the skin, the sweat glands secrete fluid. Evaporation of this fluid cools the skin surface and the blood in the surface arteries. In this way, bringing the cooled blood to the internal body, the temperature internally can be lowered even when it is hot outside. The horse stops secreting sweat as soon as the internal body temperature has reached it's norm. Then it must dry quickly, since otherwise cooling would continue and bring body temperature below normal limits. A sweaty horse turns its coat hairs in various directions in order to avoid under-cooling and given freedom usually seeks a windy spot to effectively fast and safely dry itself. Mentioning the sweat glands mechanism is important because sweat glands are also brought into function through muscle action.

While those are the skins' four major factors of thermoregulation mechanisms let's now look into other thermoregulatory mechanisms available to the horse.

Frost on the coat — heat escaped the body.

Water running down the long winter hair, the undercoat staying dry.

The amount of fat in the body is also an important factor of thermoregulation. Since, in addition to being the body's energy reserve, fat is three times more insulating than other tissues due to its low thermal conductivity and poor blood supply (Guyton, 1991; Davenport, 1992). Thus it is important for a horse to have a good layer of fat before winter. Wild horses and naturally kept domestic horses maintain the natural rhythm of weight change throughout the year with their weight growing up to 20% by the Autumn. Usually we can see that domestic horses with a thicker fat layer in their bodies grow a comparatively shorter winter coat than horses with less fat gain at Autumn, comparing the same breed and the same body score animals. Also fat gets distributed more evenly over the body surface in cold conditions instead of being concentrated in some particular areas as in hot conditions.

Kept in the same conditions, smaller horse breeds have a longer/thicker coat compared to larger breeds. Also we see a typically thicker coat in foals. This is connected to a great effect of allometry, the systematic change in body proportions with increasing body size, on heat balance within animal species. Changes within species occur as animals grow and develop but exist also between breeds of species (Reiss, 1991; Langlois, 1994). Generally, large body size is an advantage with respect to thermoregulation in the cold. Since, the ratio of heat-dissipating surface area to heat-producing/retaining body mass decreases with increasing body size (Phillips & Heath, 1995; Bligh, 1998). Therefore, large size horses have less relative surface area available for heat exchange, and thus importantly lose less heat in the cold than small size horses do. Small horses lose more body heat than large horses do. In addition to large body size, a spherical body shape reduces the surface area to body mass ratio (Langlois, 1994). To compensate for the bigger surface/mass ratio northern-type horses generally have evolved heavier rounder bodies with shorter limbs and extremities which are well protected by thick hair, mane and fetlock, therefore being more able to retain more body heat and cope with cold.

Increasing feed intake increases heat production in the horse's body. This is connected to the fact that the process of digesting long fibers produces heat as a by-product. It is important that every domestic horse has unrestricted access to hay 24 hours a day. In cold weather having a chance of increasing heat production through continuously consuming and digesting long fiber. Especially when some of the other thermoregulatory mechanisms aren't yet adjusted in suddenly changing weather conditions such as a rapid drop of temperature.

Such extra demand for feed is called climatic energy demand (MacCormak & Bruce, 1991). Horses have been observed to need about 0.2 to 2.5% more energy for maintenance per 1 degree Celsius drop in outside temperature below their lower critical temperature (Young Coote, 1973; McBride et al., 1985; Cymbaluk et al., 1989a; Cymbaluk, 1990). (Lower critical temperature is individual for every horse/group of horses at different times of year and depends on many other thermoregulatory and environmental factors.)

Importantly, smaller-sized horses have greater lower critical temperature values meaning their heat loss is relatively greater than for larger horses. Thus small-sized horses actually need proportionally more additional feed. To explain further, the greater that the lower critical temperature value is — the more heat loss the animal experiences. Small-sized horse breeds lose more heat than big-sized horse breeds in the same temperature conditions. The lower that the lower critical temperature value is, the greater the heat retention is that the animal experiences. Bigger-sized horse breeds stay warmer in cold weather.

Feral horses have been reported to reduce locomotor activity in winter compared to summer (Duncan, 1980; Berger et al., 1999; Arnold et al., 2006). Reduced activity in winter was an annual pattern related to decreased outside temperature and hence to a reduction in internal heat production and energy expenditure (Arnold et al., 2006). This adaptation mechanism of reducing activity helps wild horses to cope with the energetic challenge of winter. We can observe similar reduction of activity in winter in domestic horses kept naturally. Though the domestic horses aren't challenged with a necessity to search for food in winter to the same extent as their wild counterparts. This slowing down in their activity obviously has the same purpose as in the wild horses — the reduction of energy expenditure in the cold. Thus, it is a normal seasonal rhythm in the horse to be less exercised in winter due to this cold adaptational thermoregulation mechanism, therefore it is not advisable to forcefully exercise horses in winter.

Along with general reduction of activity in the cold, we have observed in horses, short sessions of restlessness and locomotor activity (movement) during sudden acute cold periods and adverse weather. Short term beneficial movement that is a useful bridge until other factors of their thermoregulatory system adjust to the new temperature conditions.

Sometimes we can observe horses standing or lying down very close to each other, this way they reduce heat loss via radiation. By such positional closeness to each other they reduce the body surface area exposed to the external environment (Bligh, 1998). At the same time animals, who for some reason, don't produce enough individual internal heat can use, as an extra source of beneficial heat, a paddock mate's body-heat radiation via positional closeness.

Also by changing body posture and orientation, horses can increase absorbed solar radiation to use as another additional source of heat. Often we can observe that horses prefer to sunbath under the direct sun instead of eating on short sunny winter days, and as soon as the sun sets they are back to eating.

Snow which we can sometimes see lying along horses backs during winter also plays the helpful role of providing an extra protective layer against internal heat loss.

On windy, rainy days, we can see horses standing with their tails to the wind and their heads low. This way they effectively keep their necks, heads, ears and eyes, underbelly and sheaths out of water and wind. Their tails serve to protect their rear ends — the shorter hairs on the dock fan out deflecting both snow and wind. Also on such days, horses can be seen standing in the lee shelter of walls, or using natural windbreaks such as trees or hills to protect themselves from the wind.

When allowed free choice, it's been observed that horses utilize enclosed spaces, such as shelters or forests, mostly to hide from summer heat and flies.

Under extreme circumstances, heat in the horse body can be generated by shivering. During shivering, heat is rapidly produced by breaking down ATP in the muscles (Langlois, 1994). Shivering is usually an acute response to sudden cold exposure, or sometimes it occurs during extended periods of exposure to cold in rainy weather. In healthy animals, shivering is replaced by normal internal heat production as they adapt to new weather conditions.

A different problem occurs with enclosed spaces when placing a hot sweaty horse into a stable. Due to a lack of air circulating in there, cooling already takes longer and a horse sweats for longer. The air surrounding the horse becomes saturated and drying also takes longer than normal, because the humid air cannot absorb any more moisture. As a result, the horse remains undercooled, again setting the stage for internal disorder: colic, diseases and infections by negatively affecting metabolism's safe temperature margins.

Blanketing moreover can set the thermoregulation in a horse to a complete mess. The animal tries to warm up parts of the body left exposed to the cold such as head, neck, belly and legs, in the process they become over-heated in those parts covered by the blanket. A horse cannot increase heat in selected area's of the body. The whole body cools or the whole body heats up. Sweating under a blanket is more of a problem metabolically to the horse than people realise.

Kept in stables or/and blanketed, horses lack stimuli (temperature fluctuations) triggering the activity of thermoregulatory mechanisms. They don't need to exercise hair erector muscles, nor to dilate or constrict arteries, nor to activate the sweat glands, nor to prepare or deplete healthy fat reserves. All muscles atrophy without exercising for a period of time. If an animal in this state is suddenly exposed to the cold, they will not be able to activate necessary thermoregulatory mechanisms. As a result the internal body temperature could drop too low, that would lead to disruptions in metabolic processes. This can affect, for example, the production and migration rate of white blood cells and antibodies, with partial disabling of them. The result is a stressed animal with a disease or infection hosting internal environment. The germ is nothing, the terrain is all (Louis Pasteur). Consequentially germs or viruses in the body get a perfect opportunity to over breed.

Besides the fact that the natural thermoregulatory mechanisms can only be fully utilized when a horse is kept in their species-appropriate living conditions, there is an anxiety and stress factor that horses inevitably experience when cut off from their basic needs and kept in ways unnatural for this species (stabling, separating from equine companions, forced exercising, lack of continuous fiber uptake, etc.). This stress also makes them less capable of coping with cold.

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References:

Arnold, W., Ruf, T., & Kuntz, R. (2006). Seasonal adjustment of energy budget in a large wild mammal, the Przewalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii). The Journal of Experimental Biology, 209, 4566–4573.
Autio, E. 2008. Loose Housing of Horses in a Cold Climate. Doctoral dissertation. University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland.
Bicego, K.C., Barros, R.C.H., & Branco, L.G.S. (2007). Physiology of temperature regulation: Comparative aspects. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A, 147, 616–639.
Berger, A., Scheibe, K-M., Eichhorn, K., Scheibe, A., & Streich, J. (1999). Diurnal and ultradian rhythms of behaviour in a mare group of Przewalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), measured through one year under semi-reserve conditions. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 64, 1–7. Press.
Bligh, J. (1998). Mammalian homeothermy: an integrative thesis. Journal of Thermal Biology, 23, 143–258.
Cymbaluk, N.F. (1990). Cold housing effects on growth and nutrient demand of young horses. Journal of Animal Science, 68, 3152–3162.
Cymbaluk, N.F., & Christison, G.I. (1989a). Effects of diet and climate on growing horses. Journal of Animal Science, 67, 48–59.
Davenport, J. (1992). Animal life at low temperature. London, UK: Chapman & Hall.
Duncan, P. (1980). Time-budget of Camargue horses II. Time-budgets of adult horses and weaned subadults. Behaviour, 72, 26–49. ogy, 163 (7), 602–607.
Guyton, A.C. (1991). Textbook of medical physiology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, USA: W.B. Saunders Company.
Hines, M.T. (2004). Changes in body temperature. In S.M. Reed and W.M. Bayly (Eds.). Equine internal medicine (pp. 148–155). St. Louis, USA: Elsevier.
Langlois, B. (1994). Inter-breed variation in the horse with regard to cold adaptation: a review. Livestock Production Science, 40, 1–7.
MacCormack, J.A.D., & Bruce, J.M. (1991). The horse in winter — shelter and feeding. Farm Building Progress, 105, 10–13.
McBride, G.E., Christopherson, R.J., & Sauer, W. (1985). Metabolic rate and plasma thyroid hormone concentrations of mature horses in response to changes in ambient temperature. Canadian Journal of Animal Science, 65, 375–382. 187–194.
Ousey, J.C., McArthur, A.J., Murgatroyd, P.R., Stewart, J.H., & Rossdale, P.D. (1992). Thermoregulation and total body insulation in the neonatal foal. Journal of Thermal Biology, 17 (1), 1–10.
Phillips, P.K., & Heath, J.E. (1995). Dependency of surface temperature regulation on body size in terrestrial mammals. Journal of Thermal Biology, 20 (3), 281–289.
Reiss, M.J. (1991). The allometry of growth and reproduction. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
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English Edit Courtesy of Tamlyn Labuschagne Ennor 2012

How to Safely Check Your Horse’s Mouth

By: Susan Rifkin

Demonstrated by Spencer La Flure, EqD Adv. Cert. Equine Dentist

Spencer La Flure demonstrates how to safely check your horse’s teeth and mouth, which you should do two or three times a year for most horses. Do NOT put your handinto your horse’s mouth. Not only is the crushing power of the horse’s jaw like a crocodile’s, but you can get serious cuts, and possibly life-threatening infections, from a sharp tooth. Do NOT pull the tongue out; this can damage the delicate hyoid bone. Spencer does NOT recommend that you feel along the horse’s cheeks to press even lightly against the molars. Hesays that although some people recommend doing this, he finds that it is not very informative, and it can be painful for the horse so you can easily get hurt. You can utilize these safermethods instead to identify if there are any problems. Any ONE of the following indicators ofdental problems is a good enough reason to call an equine dentist.

Figure 1

First, ask the horse’s permission. A vital prelude is to make sure he feels comfortable and safe. Then make sure he is standing square and on level ground. (Fig.1) The following steps can be done in any order, but La Flure recommends that you begin withchecking the “Front, Down, Up, Left, Right”. If any of these indicate a problem, you can stopyour exam, thus sparing your horse any additional discomfort. To check the FRONT, part your horse’s lips and look head-on at his incisors, the front teeth. The incisors on the left side should be the same size as the incisors on the right side. Theincisor table (occlusal/biting surface) should be flat and level. Too pronounced a curve willinhibit the normal side-to-side grinding movement of the lower jaw. A slant or a wave willinhibit the proper lateral movement of the jaw and will make it difficult for the horse to flexproperly while turning. Incisor malocclusion indicates he favors one side for chewing.Asymmetrical chewing is a much more negative and constant influence on his balance andflexibility than is good or bad training. (Fig. 2).

Figure 2

When the horse’s head is DOWN, as if grazing, a side view of the fronts of his incisors shouldshow the upper and lower incisors flush with each other. (Fig. 3)

Figure 3

To check UP, pick the horse’s head up with one hand under his chin. From the side view, hislower incisors should be able to slide backwards 3/8 inch to a half-inch as his head comes up. (Fig. 4)

Figure 4

To check LEFT and RIGHT examine the grinding motion of the molars by “camming”. Put onehand on the bottom of the lower jaw, and the other hand cupped over the horse’s nose. Gentlyslide the lower jaw to one side, and then the other. It should slide sideways about Ð inch to 3/8inch each way (about the width of a tooth), and beyond this point begin to separate as the jawscontinue to move sideways. The resulting vertical separation of the top and bottom incisorsindicates the slant of the molars as they engage. The horse should not resist this motion. Andyou should hear all the rear teeth making contact with a grinding sound, but not hear any teethbanging with a “clunk”. The sooner the grind begins, the better. If you only hear incisors slidinglike ice cubes it indicates they may be excessively long making it difficult for the rear teeth tocontact. (Fig. 5)

Figure 5

Gently check each TMJ, but stand with your face and body clear in case the horse jerks his headup. First feel for heat above the skin. Then touch each TMJ gently with about 4 ounces ofpressure. Feel if the horse has tight tendons and atrophied muscles. This may indicate hisincisors are too long. And the excessive pressure he needs to put on his TMJ to compensate and grind can be extremely painful. (Fig. 6)

Figure 6

Put your left hand on the right-side TMJ and your right hand on left-side bar. Slide the lowerjaw side to side. You should not feel any heat or clicking near the TMJ. Reverse hands (your right hand on the left-side TMJ and your left hand on the right bar) and repeat the sliding. Themotion of the two sides should feel the same. Listen by the horse’s nostrils as he chews. Youshould not hear the incisors sliding or striking, or hear the molars clunking. When only theincisors contact, the jaw feels like the front teeth slide like two ice cubes across each other. Note how the bars feel. Are there any bumps or tears from the bit? If you find a callous alongthe bar where a wolf tooth is due to erupt it is a sign that the bit is painfully rubbing the gumacross the unerupted tooth. Are there wrinkles or a bundled up gum in front of the first cheekteeth? These can harbor infections and are caused by poorly fitted bits and excessive pulling. Part your horse’s lips and look at his incisors from the side. Line up and compare the occlusalsurface plane with the bar on that side. (Fig. 7) These should be nearly parallel – no more than10 to 12 degrees difference. In a “parrot mouth”, for example, the incisor plane slantsdownward (in comparison to the bar) at the fore end, and inhibits the normal forward andbackward motion of the lower jaw. Therefore hooks can form more easily on the back molars ofthe lower jaw and the front molars of the upper jaw. An overbite, in contrast, is when the upper incisors are further forward than the lower incisors. A horse can have both a parrot mouth and an overbite.

Figure 7

Put your thumbs at the ends of the facial crest (cheekbones) one either side of the horse’s face. Your thumbs should be level, of equal distance from the end of the horse’s face. How well an asymmetry can be alleviated depends upon the horse’s history and the cause of the asymmetry. (Fig. 8)

Figure 8

Look at the horse’s ears and eyes when they are directed forward. Note if one is higher than the other. This may indicate asymmetry of the skull, eyes, and molars. Asymmetry can also cause spooking as perception of objects may be different in the field of view of each eye. (Fig. 9)

Figure 9

Check the temporalis muscles. These muscles originate by the poll, at the hole over the eye and attach to the lower jaw. They should be equally developed and lie flat and smooth. If the muscles show overdevelopment, it means the horse is doing too much upward and downward chewing, and not chewing properly side-to-side. (Fig. 10)

Figure 10

Check the masseter muscles at the cheeks for equal development and flat contour (no dips from atrophy or bumps of spasm, or scars). If the horse is chewing more with one side, one muscle will bulge compared to the other. Also look for areas of atrophy. These are most common near the TMJ, and their asymmetry is often telltale of a problem. (Fig. 11)

Figure 11

Check for unevenness in the skull. The sutures between bone plates should be flat and symmetrical. (Fig. 12)

Figure 12

On a young horse, feel for dental cysts on the underside of the lower jaw. Between the ages of 2-1/2 and 4-1/2 years old the horse sheds 24 deciduous (baby) teeth. Three to six months before the horse sheds a tooth, you can feel the new tooth growing from the cyst. The cyst should go away about 3-6 months after the baby tooth is shed. These occur in the upper jaw as well and can reduce airflow through the nasal passages. (Fig. 13)

Figure 13

Smell your horse’s mouth. It should smell fresh and clean. Bad breath can indicate tooth decay, gum disease, or infection. In the younger horse, 2 to 4 years old, it can indicate a retained “cap” or baby tooth.

For more information:
http://www.advancedwholehorsedentistry.com

About the author:

Susan Rifkin is a freelance writer. She appreciates how much complementary therapies have helped her human and animal family.

________________________________

Note by Academia Liberti:

We recommend this investigation on the horse without halter but free. This will allow you to feel the points on the head of the horse much better and also it will show you level of trust which your horse has towards you. But this investigation is to be recommenden in any case, since problems with teeth not only causes difficulties for the horse to chew and with this cause digesting problems, but also they have negative influence on whole body.

I was supposed to be a "horse trainer"

by Vilde Bjørnødegård Bakken for Academia Liberti

It is winter now, and with the snowflakes covering the ground and the nights’ getting longer, we are given time to think. In my case, memories keep showing up. Memories that remind me of all the things I have learned, especially from one horse. As some of you may already know, I grew up with a mother who some would call a NH-fanatic. She adores Monty Roberts and thinks that the only way to handle horses is by breaking their will and destroy their soul, until there’s just an empty shell left. A shadow of the wild spirits they used to be. When I was younger, mom and I handed several horses with “problems”. We were known in a big area as horse whisperers and the only ones who could make a horse “nice” again. It surprises me all the time that people claim it's the horses that have problems, when in fact the problem lies in them. Our reputation was the reason why I got the opportunity to know her; Destiny’s Hope.

It was winter 2008. She arrived at our farm screaming and fighting herself inside this tiny, dark trailer, and from that moment on I knew this horse was different from all the others who had been at our farm for “treatment”. The owners tried to tell us about their problems with the horse and I listened closely, always fascinated by which words people chose to express their thoughts. As other 13 years old girls, I was always looking for opportunities to say something and I asked the owner straight out; “What actually is your problem?”

The woman looked at me with these crazy eyes. Her nose was big and fat, just like a potato, and her skin was yellow. I thought she might be a smoker, then her bad breath convinced me. She had probably been smoking for a long time, and I was sure there had to be a reason. As she started to speak again, her dry lips told me that her daughter would show me. As the horse threw herself out of the trailer she was clearly showing that she was fighting for her last piece of wild soul. I could actually see it, and feel it, because my eyes started to open. When I first saw her, I thought she was going to break her leg if I just looked at it! Never before had I been so close to a horse we in Norwegian like to call ‘warmblood’. The horses I’ve had ridden before and the horses at home were heavy, strong, and had a lot of fur, they were ‘coldblood’. I just couldn’t understand how someone could wish to ride a horse like that, they look so fragile! Then I started to think about the differences between that type of horse and the type of horses I rode myself. Why would there be any difference? If one type of horse gets hurt from riding, wouldn’t the other one too? That was the first time she made me think.

The daughter was this typical teenager, trying to look like Barbie in every way. Her blond hair looked like a decorated frame around her make-up face. I thought she was a bit cute, that little child beneath her mask, but her actions made me react. Destiny clearly showed she was nervous. The halter was too small and her skin was squeezed. Mom stopped them at once and gave her one of our own halters. Now, even though she still was tripping at the human’s side, she did not seem as afraid or nervous anymore. They tied the rope to a tree and started to groom her. Mom talked to the mother, and I asked the daughter some questions while I noticed the horse didn’t want to stay still and tried to bite or kick the girl when she was at the typical place where she would rise up onto the horse’s back. The bit was thrown into her mouth, the saddle was placed on her back, and they locked her up in reins. It was a terrible view, and the horse now stood completely still.


I have always loved eyes. I think they tell us so much about the person inside, same with animals. And only in a few minutes, Destiny made my thoughts run for the second time. I looked into her eyes, but I met a wall. The look she gave me was filled with pain; her eyes were dark and weak, a blurry mess. I couldn’t understand this. To me it was only these dead eyes I saw in most horses, but there was something different, a knowing in those eyes of hers. In some way I felt how she was preparing to get rid of the rider, but I didn’t notice it before it happened. The daughter rose in the stir-ups and before she could even sit down, Destiny had already gotten rid of her by exploding - raring and bucking. The girl cried and went back to her car while the horse was running like she had the devil himself chasing her. I went to my mom and told her the only thing I could manage to say: “Mom, that horse is unique.” But mom was convinced she was just like everybody else, just a horse.

The same evening after the owners said goodbye and went back home, mom told me to get Destiny from the pasture. I grabbed the halter and went down to the horses. Søljar had just arrived himself, he was two and a half years old. Destiny was five. Floppa, Liliana, Ronsmai and two of the other horses we had for training were too busy getting to know Destiny, but Søljar left them all and met me at the top of the hill. His eyes have always been special, unlike anyone I’ve ever seen. Destiny came up to Søljar and I after the other horses got tired of her, and I had to force her head into the halter. She looked at me so curious, like she was trying to get to the child inside me, but I didn’t know and tried to fulfill my mother’s wishes the best I could. And as I’m writing this now, I think Destiny understood that I was not like everybody else, but still, I was acting no better as I was trying to force her to go with me. When I tried to get her to walk with me she refused and tried to bite me. Her ears were out of sight and those big white teeth of hers were the only thing I could see as she told me she did not want to come with me. I was shocked, and I stood there for a long time just looking at her trying to understand why. That was the third time she made me think. My previous horse, Bjarne (who's story will be told later), did the same as Destiny and he ended up at the slaughterhouse. By refusing to do what I commanded her to do, she woke up a fear and a curiosity I’d hidden for a long time. Mom screamed at me, told me to hurry up, and I was drug out of my own head. Destiny looked scared, so I walked a few steps towards her and my hand stroke her neck, attempting to relax her while I told her how unique I thought she was and that I was looking forward to get to know her better. I thought it was so strange because when I was going to bring her out of the pasture, I didn’t command her. I didn’t just expect her to follow me. I remember it all so well. She seemed so fragile that I actually just asked her, and she came with me, totally relaxed.

Mom waited for us by the coral and I remember how Destiny became more and more stressed the closer we got. At the end she was tripping sideways, trying to run away. Mom told me that I shouldn’t accept that kind of behavior and I had to correct her. She grabbed the rope from me and screamed at her while waving her hands in front of her head. I was told it was to get her attention. Destiny got even more afraid, and mom got angrier. I didn’t know it then, but now I’m sure mom didn’t have enough knowledge and she didn’t know how she should handle the situation. She brought the horse into the coral and started to chase her. The whip made a terrifying sound every time it hit Destiny, and for the first time I thought doing this ‘join-up’ was so wrong. Destiny kept on running in circles until she nearly could no longer breathe. Then my mom was satisfied, as the four-legged gave her the signs she thinks means 'submission'.

This was only the first day, but she was the first horse that made me think and analyze my own actions, so I could learn from it.
To be continued...

Trot races, a disturbing testimony?

Text and photographs, Nicolas Simonet, August 2011

On Sunday, July 31th, at the hippodrome of Vittel (Vosges, France) a trot race took place.
While wandering close to the stables, I was amazed to see a horse caught by two lines to a halter made with a motorcycle chain on the nose. I went back home to take my camera and when I came back, all the horrors of race’s world appeared in front of me...

One horse had in the mouth a bit with a chain and a leverage bit ; according to his owner, the chain is a security in case of break of the bit and the leverage bit avoid the horse to have the head down during the race.
The one who had a motorcycle chain on the nose wore next to the right lips a plastic disk incrusted now with diamonds, but with old rotten iron nails which were standing out of two or three millimeters. According to owners, horses running on the track clockwise use to turn too short so they often arrive too close to the barrier. While pulling on the left rein, the nailed disk sticks to horse’s mouth and he can't do anything but to go quickly to the left...









Some other horses had metallic chains on the nose or on the right rein, some kind of “sausage” of fifty to sixty centimeters long nail incrusted as well, but this time, of two to three centimeters long, which are used to push the horse to the left as well, while beating the rein on the right side of the neck.







There was even one with a plastic plate coming out of the mouth...



While looking to all this harness, I thought I changed of time and that I was back to middle ages.
I saw these horse coming back from each race and never before had I heard horses breathe so loudly and be so white from sweat on the body!









One character willing to put a blanket on the back of one horse who was coming back from the race because he had been eliminated had these words from the driver : "I’m not cold so this jerk is not ; he doesn’t need the blanket.”

How can we use animals in such conditions?

In which goal, except if it is for money, one’s still using such tools made for torture to gain some seconds? This is obviously not new and why no one feel concerned with these poor horses' life conditions? What is it during training then, that should be even worse?

Now that we know we can’t stay without taking action, horror and sufferings are much too big.


*Notification:
The author of the article belongs to Brigitte Bardot Foundation and he made a file and sent it to substiute of the republic prosecuter.

http://www.cheval-attitude.com/articles ... nge-175821

Treatise on Natural Asymmetry of horses and aberration in the understanding of its evolution and treatment or The unnatural straightening of the hors

by Maksida Vogt

Natural Asymmetry by definition, is a slanted propulsion of the hind legs of the horse, by which cause a lateral shift or offset in the front legs. There is assumption that the reason for this is the location of the foal in the womb.
Many different veterinarians have made big efforts to investigate this “phenomenon”. From the bio-mechanical point of view, natural asymmetry should mean one-sided shortening of the longissimus muscle on the hollow side of the back. Through this muscle shortening, the pelvis is pulled forward on the hollow side. Looking from the front or behind the horse will walk and run with a slanted angle to it's body. The muscles of the croup would also be asymmetrically built, so that the horse will push more on this side than it will carry.
There are some incredibly bizarre explanations for this, from trying to explain it from the deep anatomical point of view, to the comparison with a rally or race car in terms of statics and stability in the curve (which also comes from a Dr. vet by the way). The common result of all the investigations on this, are the recommendations and advice on how to “straighten” the horse in the best way. Of course one might wonder why we would never get such advice for dog or cat. They move the same way as the horse. So we come to the point where we have to ask the question, how and why this is happening. How can it be that even the most acknowledged doctors of veterinary medicine give such advice that is to change this creature in a bio-mechanical form? To force this creature with pain into an unnatural form?

To find the explanation we should look back to the old “masters” of the “riding skill”.
To the non dressage interested rider, this sentence should be known as:
“Ride your horse forward and set it up”.

This sentence mirrors the whole aberration in the attempt to understand a horses body and psyche. Steinbrecht makes it unmistakeably clear that he uses horses for riding and that “dressage has the purpose, through systematically organized gymnastic exercises, to enable the muscles of the horse to give the skeleton required direction which is necessary for the duty of riding”. Through this, Steinbrecht is able to see very clearly:
“In his natural state the horse can follow his natural affinity at the shoulder, and through this he gains no damage because he has no external weight to carry, he makes his movements according to his own will and he uses his hind legs according to his need to support forelegs, as they are unrestricted. But when under a rider he has to take on the riders weight, and he not only has to move in different gaits at the will of the rider, but he must also do this in a certain tempo and for as long as rider wishes, so he must be able to do this without damage to his legs, straight and in balance, under the principle that a correct balanced load is easier to carry than one which is out of balance”.

Looking back at that time, Steinbrecht may have deserved respect as a man who wanted to train horses for the use of riding with as little damage as possible caused to the horse. When measured today, with ethical principles, this can never be the case. His whole book illustrates how to handle the horse with the imposition of force, denying these creatures any free will, and using them as a tool for the human. And this is valid for all other “masters” of the “riding skill”. They all followed this principle, which has lead us to present days and the misery of how our horses are treated. Big praise has been spoken about Gueriniere because he defined shoulder-in, which made what easier exactly? Straighten the horse so that horse can optimally go through the corner, that horse can perform one round volte and which ever other artificial movement the rider desires? Does the horse need this? Certainly not.


I find it devastating that the lack of knowledge about the nature of the horse, his psyche, to the biomechanics of his body and even to basic anatomical facts still exists, and is even celebrated!

The only explanation I can find is that people have one priority over all and that is to use the horse. Before anything else, first comes the wish to (mis) use the horse, and then one tries to explain it from the position of health. But this leads down the wrong path because health must always come first, as with us, and so even with the horse. This is what we must concede about every living being, is not it?




It is obvious that the asymmetry in the highly-bred horses that have to endure life in an unnatural position (box, paddocks, small paddocks) is extremely pronounced. This is reflected in the whole body, it can be read in the whole body, from muscles to joints, bones, hooves and organs.
The horse is kept unnatural and used unnatural. This leads to congestion resulting from overexertion and sustained contraction of the muscles, they tense and harden. If this condition lasts too long, it leads to sprains, cramps, muscle fiber tears, etc. Hardened muscles and inflexible tendons do not give enough to provide the necessary possibility of movement to the joint(s).

When horse refuses to move it is gernarally an alarm sign and not insubordination.

With such horses there can be no correct bending, lateral flexion is always forced by the pain of the bit or trauma to the head of the horse. There can be no correct "straightening" because the nature of the horse does not allow it, unless you force the horse with pain into an unnatural straigteness.

The natural asymmetry which the horse could not balance himself because of unnatural keeping and use is also clearly seen in the hooves. They have grow differently, and in many cases one hoof is wide and flat and the other is narrower and steeper. This in turn leads to more tension and unbalance in the body and creates a vicious circle. This is followed by incorrect diagnoses, incorrect treatments and it's all at the expense of the horse. It's downright frightening to determine that the doctors of veterinary medicine, on a regular basis, give advice like the following:

- To exercize shoulder out and shoulder-in (meant to do this with the use of a bit, and this again means to force the horse in an unnatural position through pain).
- To lunge (meant to force the horse using cavassion or halter in unnatural movement)
- Rider should help to straighten the horse from it's back (which probably needs no comment, but again with bit, pain, force and on top of that the weight of the rider on it's back)
- Site gaits (again bit, pain, compulsion)






And then there are a variety of different therapies on how best to straighten the poor horse. Do we really want to straighten our horses by hook or by crook? Should we even be allowed to do this? What is natural asymmetry at all, does it have some justification or is it just a freak of nature?

In nature, everything has its place and reason.
Nature has not provided the horse to come into the world in box stalls, nor even in paddocks or small pastures. Nature has provided for the horse the expanse of the land, and when the mother mare gets up after giving birth, then she should be able to continue on with the moving herd and her foal should be able to do the same. In the foals first hours of life, their bodies are defined and formed. Their hooves are worn evenly and shaped, their bodies are flooded with oxygen and the lungs can fully develop, the abundance of natural movement can optimally develope the bodys symmetry, which of course can never be so unnatural as the horses who are born and kept in captivity. The horse should be able to and would like to look behind and all around him, he needs to see any threat and he may need to see an escape route, the minimal natural asymmetry, which is there and designed by nature, and can never be "straightened". Any attempt to do this, according to current methods, treatments and advice means to force the horse into an unnatural position (usually with the use of bit and/or other violent means of manipulation) and this means damage to the horse's body.

Shall we ride the horses, despite this asymmetry? That can not be healthy?

Exactly.
Rather, the rider must rethink when it comes to riding. It is urgently necessary to understand that no creature, no being is here to satisfy our selfish wishes. We must not harm another being in order to provide ourselves with good feelings. With horses this is especially obvious, the owners swear to love the animal, they buy blankets, pay fees for the keeping, employ different therapists, but all this can not smother the fact that the horse is kept primarily for one reason... to be used. Our own frustration and pain must be recognized, and it must be cured, so that man can feel what he does to the horse. And then, if and when you get something that is much more valuable, the true friendship of the horse, then perhaps the greatest moments of grace arise if the horse will allow, with his own free thought and will, that man gets to sit on his back ... for a moment, which will be worth more than a whole lifetime of enforced riding before it. I wish this experience to every rider.

When parents hurt our horses and our soul. Where our wounds are coming from?

by Vilde Bjørnødegård Bakken for Academia Liberti

The wind whispers to me how beautiful life is. These last few weeks have been challenging in many ways. One shock after the other. When I thought my presence was perfect, that nothing could change a thing, my fear and paranoia turned into life. I have realized that perfection is a lie, living while we hide from the truth. And I can't help myself for blaming my stupidness for these actions on my previously way of thinking, and what it has caused.

I look up to the sky, waiting for the first snowflakes to arrive. One day, when I got home from school, my mom had been riding Floppa, my black, little pony. At that moment, I couldn't understand anything and it felt like the ground beneath my feet was tearing apart, and a big hole was dragging me down together with all my visions and thoughts, telling me where I've done wrong. The worst thing wasn't the action of her riding, but how she explained to me how much Floppa appreciated the ride and that she was longing for it to happen, and has several times. This day was a nightmare, I was screaming, crying, hurting myself in so many ways, until I realized that whining this way would never help Floppa to heal again. I don't know who or what I should thank, Floppa is not broken. Not mental. But I wonder how much damage her back received, and how much of the pain and suffering will show through her thick fur. In some ways, it seemed like she was reminded of our previous life, and she never let me out of sight. She sticks close to me, never lets anyone touch her or even look at her before I tell her it's alright. She seeks me in a way I've never experienced before, I feel like we're getting closer to each other, and that makes me want to fight even harder for her to be free from the chains of pain and suffering.

It's December, and yet no snow. Where has the sky's correction fluid went? Another day, when I got home from school, the first thing I noticed when I got inside our house, was this bitter smell of polished leather. Ronsmais old saddle and bridle, with this horrifying two-piece snaffle bit, was hanging on the back of a chair. I lost my at breath, but this time my consciousness was with me and I stayed calm. What no one could see, was that under the still water, a storm was building and preparing to clean the Earths surface. The same evening I tried to wake Ronsmai up, but she was gone, trapped in her own sorrow. Floppa showed herself even closer to me when she, for the first time since this summer, laid down with her head in my lap. I felt lost, but the presence of the horses and how they bring the nature inside to ones inner self, made me grow stronger and I opened up so my soul could fly and bring me wisdom. My mom is not malicious, but when her little knowledge no longer tells her how to handle in a situation, her fear of falling deeper than her daughter makes her fight and act with violence.

This day is exactly one of those days which gives us the answer to the question "is life worth living?". Ronsmai looks at me. I think she's nervous, but I don't like to tell what a horse is feeling, because I can never know, only guess by former prejudice. And life is not guessing, life is living and experiencing. My hand buries itself into her black fur, and it's like I've never felt before. I open my mouth and taste the fresh air, it's like I've never tasted before. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. The cold shows me it's way from my nostrils to my lungs, and I can feel it, like I've never felt anything inside of me before. My ears get an invitation to listen to some of the birds singing, and I don't need to answer, I hear like I've never heard before. I listen to the sounds of the horses eating, and all the sounds together, the horses, the rushing creek, the waving trees and singing birds, they wake up my little child inside. Then I open my eyes. Everything seems so colorful, yet so tired, so dead. So enlightened, but yet so dark. I can see like I've never seen before, and I realize that Mother Earths contrast creates a balance. Life and death, light and dark, noise and silence, it's all a part of the circle of life!

She's making these funny noises again while she's throwing her head up into the air, calling to me. Lost in my own world I didn't notice the veterinarian knocking at our door. He came inside and I get a little shock. It wasn't our usual veterinarian, but besides his original Norwegian name, Ole, and his rough behavior, he seemed alright. I invited him in, and he was very careful with our dog Marco when he examined him. After we made sure everything was fine with the black and furry one, I showed him Floppas registration paper and we spoke a bit about horses in general before we went outside. Earlier this morning I let them out so they could eat and move as they wanted to without any boundaries, and when I walked towards them in the pasture and whistled to them, they came to meet me halfway. When I held the halter in front of Floppa, asking if it was alright to put it on, I tried to explain to Ole, the veterinarian, that she usually doesn't wear any type of equipment. Floppa showed us she didn't wanted to wear the halter, so I put it away, and after some calming words Ole came to chip her and take some hair examples. My little mob was a bit afraid when the needle with the chip penetrated her neck, but she stayed still and showed curiosity towards the stranger when we were done. She walked with us some meters, but then she stopped to eat and I told her how good it all went and that I would come out to her later. When we got inside again, Ole wrote and signed the papers and took off. Floppa was now going to be mine.

Ronsmai wished me welcome with her deep and burning eyes. I can't even imagine or claim to understand even a word of her story. Everything she's been through, every moment she has felt pain, every action which led by ignorance or even more violence, has promoted her suffering for humans own pleasure. How many times hasn't she been used as a toy, treated like she doesn't have feelings, a soul, and how many times hasn't she felt like giving up and letting death take her free will and spirit? A little light shows in her eyes, and I wonder how many beautiful moments of her life she has felt healthy, lucky and strong. If she has ever felt joy, and love. And a part of me wishes, and hopes, to be with her in some of those moments. But I also wish her to remember those moments of life without humans, when she felt pure freedom.

My hand felt like it belonged in her mane, and I look up at the beautiful sky and the tall, tall trees in the background. A black raven dances with the seductive wind, and from that moment on, I know deep inside that Søljar is with us. Floppa bites me carefully on my shoes, trying to make me move. I laugh, give her a hug and before we even know it we're running up the little hill. We dance together and live. My ears catch a thundering sound and just a moment later Ronsmai joins us. The old one takes me into the forest, while the little black one curiously explores natures mysteries. I admire how open and honest the horses are. How only one look from their lovely eyes reach my soul and set my heart on fire. We climb up the mountain, and the horses really seem to be more alive than ever before. They can read me, they can choose which page they want to read, but unlike the humans who have tried to read my book, the horses can see what's between the lines. The horses have a unique way of understanding and mirroring what they see in us. One day, I hope I will find my ability to understand things correctly, to show it for others and therefore make a change. At the top of the mountain, I breathe deeply and close my eyes. All the other senses enhance and I can feel how life truly shows me; it's worth living.