Why is enrichment important for horses? Do horses even need enrichment like toys, puzzles, and variety?
Enrichment for your horse is a lot more than colorful toys or treats. It’s a way boost your equine’s physical and mental health. Here’s why your horse needs an enriched lifestyle.
Enrichment is Really Good for Your Horse!
Enrichment provides stimulation, keeps your horse from being bored, and helps with bad habits. Some types of horse enrichment can even improve physical health by encouraging movement and play. And horses with enriched routines are curious, bold, and happier with variety and change.
Enrichment is anything that encourages natural behaviors. For your horse, that means the basics like a lot of turnout, grazing, and a natural herd structure. And when things aren’t very natural – like stall time – toys and enrichment items help give your horse an outlet for their mental and physical energy.
Enrichment for horses can be part of your stable design. And if you board, there are lots of DIY or store-bought toys and supplies you can make or buy. But do horses NEED enrichment? How is it more than just a fun extra?
Horses Need Enrichment Because They Were Wild Once
Every horse is descended from wild equines. And domestication has been great in lots of ways.
Most of today’s horses have food, comfort and safety from the elements, and protection from predators. They get vet care and vaccines to prevent disease. If something goes wrong, we can give medicine, pain control, or even humane euthanasia.
None of those were guaranteed or even on the table for your horse’s ancestors. But were there any trade-offs?
Your horse’s body and mind are still adapted for life on the grassland. Think about the way horses look and act. Their bodies still need a really specific diet and near-constant intake of forage. Their skeleton and muscles are still made for lots of movement, sometimes at speed. And your horse still has a non-negotiable need for companionship.
But the stable and pasture are very different from the wild. They create a different lifestyle for horses, and sometimes don’t offer the same opportunities to express behavior, even with all their other perks. It’s up to us to fill in the gaps with equine enrichment.
Horses Need Enrichment Because of Today’s Lifestyle
Barns and stables can be really lovely. But all are smaller in area than the open grasslands of the wild. This means different patterns of movement and less exercise for horses.
When horses are stalled, they can’t exercise either their bodies or their minds. If you’ve ever looked at a horse in a stall and felt that they look bored, you’re probably right. It’s an issue even when horses are stalled for important reasons like quarantine or injury.
Water and grazing are close together in most modern pastures, so even though it’s comfortable, horses end up walking much less over the course of the day.
We give our horses food regularly but it’s often fed in meals. This can give your horse enough calories and nutrients to stay shiny and in good health, but it’s not ideal for their mind (or inside their body). After all, it’s very different from the almost-constant slow grazing of your horse’s ancestors.
These differences in environment and lifestyle are enough to leave many horses standing inactive and unengaged for large portions of the day. Sometimes they spend a lot of the day in empty pastures or empty stalls, with a small number of companions.
The gap between their natural needs as horses and a modern lifestyle can create both physical and behavioral problems issues. We all know – or own! – a horse with vices like weaving, wood chewing, or windsucking.
Our domestic horses have so much compared to wild or feral equines that it is sometimes easy to overlook whether their behavioral needs are being met as well. This is where enrichment comes into play. With an enriched environment, special foraging activities, and just fun toys (like a Jolly Ball! Or a Hol-ee Roller!), you can elevate your horse’s quality of life.
Horses Need Enrichment Because of Its Benefits!
Enrichment for horses isn’t just about meeting some theoretical equine needs. It has real benefits for you and your horse!
Foraging enrichment and slow feeding devices, even simple ones like hay nets, help your horse stay engaged but relaxed. Treat puzzles keep their mind active. They also prevent boredom in both the stall and pasture.
Physical enrichment in the pasture – like this sand station for rolling – gives your horse the chance for some self care and exercise. This can translate to better physical health, coordination, and flexibility – especially for older or less mobile horses.
Pasture toys make your horse braver and more curious because they teach that new objects can be fun. And enrichment doesn’t have to stay in the stall or pasture! Sensory walks, hand grazing, and other special experiences are enrichment too and they build your relationship with your horse.
The takeaway: horses need enrichment because they’re horses, in our modern world. But they also need enrichment because it’s a lot of fun and wonderful for both of you!
If you’re new to enrichment and want ideas for getting started, try the Treat and Puzzles Feeders gallery. It’s full of food-based enrichment ideas and puzzles that will be a hit with your horse!