25/04/2026
I love watching the ponies up on the coast path. They are so sure footed across the ground- having to move across different terrains, picking their way through and over rocky trails and outcrops, and climbing up and down the steep cliff edges. Their grazing is how nature intended- foraging on coarse grasses and shrubs. They are constantly on the move, never standing in one place for longer than a minute while grazing before moving on to the next patch. They always look remarkably well (albeit with tangly manes and scruffy tails!) truly thriving off the land 🌿
It does then beg the question of how under exposed our domesticated horses are to their natural habitat and behaviours 🤔 For many horses, their grazing consists of lush green pastures, with little to no ability to forage, browse, and with limited space. We must also think of how our horses eat- for a lot of them they are either grazing off the floor, or eating from a tied hay net. The ponies on the coast are forever changing their posture when grazing- going from picking at ground level, to up high in hedge rows, down low on top of rocks.
And then there’s the landscape of their turnout. Many of us aren’t blessed to have access to rolling hills, changing terrains and that ‘natural habitat’ we all want to create for our horses- certainly not in a turn out capacity. A lot of our turn out looks like square flat land pasture, all on one surface, nothing for our horses to pick their way through or over, so very little proprioceptive stimulation. I would put money on those hill ponies very rarely going lame- their musculoskeletal systems are strong and developed for the purpose of moving across the land how they were intended, no matter the ground conditions. Is the reason our domestic horses so often pick up injury down to their limitations in their day to day life? Are ridden issues down to their lack of proprioceptive awareness due to lack of truly natural terrain and environment?
There are many ways we can incorporate some ‘wild’ into our horses day to day lives, which is vital for their mental wellbeing and physical health and capacity ❤️🦄
Release•Restore•Reward
