Soring is the unethical and illegal1 practice of deliberately inflicting pain to exaggerate the leg motion of horses to gain an unfair advantage in the show ring. The chest-high stride achieved by soring is known in the industry as the “big lick”. What does it mean to sore a horse? Read more…
Nose twitches (also called a “grin” or a “touch”) are used to restrain horses for short periods of time and facilitate potentially invasive procedures e.g. joint injections with additional safety. Is it cruel to use a twitch on a horse? The vets concluded that twitching a horse for a short Read more…
Feed ‘cool’ feeds Using forages like pasture, hay, and chaff to provide the majority of the energy in your horse’s diet will help to keep your horse calm and responsive. What can you give a stressed horse? Give him some control With his hay, instead of putting all of his Read more…
It’s always best to start at the very beginning with the “whoa” and “walk” commands. A first session might go like this: Say “walk”. Cue the horse by tugging gently on the leap rope and walking forward yourself. What do you say to get a horse to go? Some verbal Read more…
Dressage is called the “highest expression of horse training,” and involves the rider and their horse performing a routine. Essentially, it’s a horse dancing with a human riding on its back. Amazing. What do you call horses dancing? Dressage: How to make a horse dance. What is equestrian dancing? Equestrian Read more…
horses buck wildly. While many rodeo association rules restrict the use of shock devices and other cruel techniques, at some rodeos handlers use small electric prods that shock the animals so they buck harder, or so that the calves run terrified out of chutes. Does it hurt the horse in Read more…
They aren’t as good at scent recognition as a dog, but they are able to identify predators and other horses by their smell. The horse’s long head means that it has quite a large nasal cavity. Their flexible nostrils flare as they breathe in a scent they are interested in. Read more…
Horses are thought to have about 300 million olfactory receptors, which is considerably higher than humans (five or six million olfactory receptors). How sensitive is a horses nose? The horse’s range of smell is more acute than that of humans but less sensitive than that of dogs. Horses use their Read more…
A horse that is not in good health is also prone to displaying signs of bucking. This is because they may experience pain in their body, which can lead to them feeling frustrated and kicking their back legs. Do horses like to buck? Horses buck when energetic and playful, mad, Read more…
The bucking horse is usually a mare, but occasionally, a gelding (a castrated male horse) is used. Bucking horses usually travel in close quarters and are housed in a herd setting, geldings are generally less disruptive and more prone to get along with one another. Is a bronc A male Read more…