What is Missing in Your Horse’s Diet?
Based on a recent horse owner survey, researchers report the most common mistakes made when creating equine diets. Oversupplying calories tops the list.
Managing the Wild Horses of Shackelford Banks
Managing the wild horses of Shackelford Banks in North Carolina is a challenge. Knowing when to step in and take action, and when to leave nature to take its course can be difficult.
Can Horses Discriminate Human Body Odors Between Fear and Joy?
Animals are widely believed to sense human emotions through smell. The communication of emotions is essential for social interactions, but very few studies have clearly shown that animals can sense human emotions through smell. This research project experimented to see if horses sense human emotions through smell.
Study Aims to Identify how Horses Show Happiness with Humans
An investigation into how racehorses express positive emotions during interaction with humans should help people understand more about equine feelings – and potentially improve welfare and performance.
Saddle-Mapping Tech Offers Relief from Horse Back Pain
The current practice for fitting saddles to horses is done on standing animals, but that doesn’t account for how the saddle will change position as the horse moves. A new method for scanning moving horses has enabled researchers to produce an enhanced saddle-map that can reduce back pain for horses.
Science Provides the Evidence to Make Eventing Safer
Four evidence-based recommendations have the potential to reduce the risk of injuries and fatalities in Eventing’s cross-country phase. Researchers recommendations centre around a re-evaluation of qualification criteria, the use of risk profiling, a disqualification limit on dressage scores, and a complete review of course and fence design.
What is Horsepower, and How Much Does a Horse Have?
This article explores the origins of horsepower as a unit of measurement and how it applies to both machines and living creatures. Often used in discussions about cars, engines, and other machinery, horsepower has its roots in the world of horses. But just how much power does a horse actually have?
Why Do Horses Sleep Standing Up?
Horses sleep while standing to balance their need for sleep against the ever-looming threat of predators. This interesting article explains how they manage to do that!
Does Increased Poll Flexion Mean Greater Equine Welfare Risk?
A new study has shown that the degree of poll flexion in a ridden horse can affect his welfare. Horses are obligate nasal breathers, meaning they cannot swap to breathing through their mouths when their oxygen needs increase, as humans do. Because of this, horses have limitations on how much air they can take in, which…
Why Do We Say Horses Are Camped Out/Under or Parked?
What does it mean when we say a horse is camped out or parked and why do we use those terms?