Promoting positive equine wellbeing and behaviour through diet

We welcomed back equine behaviourist Rosa Verwijs to talk to us about how good feeding practices can promote positive behaviour in our horses. 

Rosa explains why forage must be the main part of every horse’s diet, and why certain behaviours may appear if a horse does not get an adequate amount. Rosa also touches on how we can best manage our horses to ensure they have as much chewing time as possible. She discussed how this can be balanced when we have horses requiring restricted nutritional intake or in situations where horses may spend more time inside than out. Rosa was joined by fellow equine behaviourist Justine Harrison to answer questions from the live audience about horse behaviour and how feeding practices can impact their wellbeing and mental health. 

Resources 

Slide 2 – The Horse’s Manifesto: What do we want?? Friends, Forage and Freedom! Part 1 of 3, Lauren Fraser, 2012 – https://iaabc.org/horse/the-horses-manifesto-what-do-we-want-friends-forage-and-freedom-part-1-of-3

Writtle University College Higher Education Equine courses – https://writtle.ac.uk/UG-Equine

International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants – https://iaabc.org/

International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants Foundation – https://iaabcfoundation.org/

Animal Behaviour and Training Council – https://abtc.org.uk/

Understand Horses – https://www.understandhorses.com/

IAABC Hierarchy of Procedures for Humane and Effective Practice – https://iaabc.org/about/lima/hierarchy/

World Horse Welfare – Weight: is your horse the right weight? – https://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/advice/management/right-weight

Tamzin Furtado’s ‘When the Grass is Greener’ equine weight management guide – https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/equine/documents/Equine,Weight,Management.pdf