Hub Editorial: Thinking outside the box

Continuing on the theme of ‘well-being’ from the fabulous piece “Horses as teachers’ by Rosie Withey – live on The Horse Hub now,  I thought I would mention my ex-racehorse Ted.

Ted raced until he was 9 and is just a really lovely, kind horse – a real ‘people horse’. However, I have had to think ‘outside the box’ at times with him. One such scenario was what I thought was excess exuberance due to spring grass. When as most livery yards do, the horses were turned out at night for the summer and in during the day, he became a complete nightmare to ride. He saw dragons everywhere, became incredibly spooky and eventually, most definitely not a pleasure to ride.

I did all the usual things, adjusted feed, turned him out even more to see if that had any effect and, made sure nothing else was bothering him. Eventually at my wits’ end, I brought him back in at night. After a couple of days he became his usual lovely, rideable self. The truth is, he needs to go to bed at night and simply does not sleep when out in the field. This may well be due to having been ‘institutionalised’ for such a long time in his racing career. However, even with the security of his little herd and with his friends, he just was not happy to rest properly in the field.

This was a clear reminder to me to listen to what my horse was telling me as plainly as he could! So, also coming soon To The Horse Hub, we have a great piece by Rebecca Watson on ‘how horses sleep’. To learn all about this keep an eye on the website, it will be live soon.

Have a great weekend!

Your editor

Chris