When Less is More for Horses

Less interference from us = more time being horses

Horses are relatively simple creatures – they need food all the time, movement, and interaction with other horses. Our lawn ornaments, riding horses, and sport horses all share this. The only difference between these three types of horses is how we tend to manage them. And this can vary significantly between all of the disciplines.

When Less is More for Horse Management

• Some of the horse management things we do are time-consuming – but if we did less, our horses could benefit. We are, however, often constrained by where we can house our horses. Land is in short supply, boarding farms have schedules with varying amenities, and our lives and obligations factor into how much time we can spend at the barn.

• But when we can, we should aim for:

Less stall time

• More turnout means many things for horses and their caretakers, like more movement, less time picking stalls, more social interactions, and more slow feeding time, especially when there’s pasture.

Less time in the wash rack with shampoo

• Sebum is the natural oil that a horse produces. We know this as shine, and it’s anti-microbial and helps with waterproofing. Too much shampoo or using harsh shampoos or detergents (like Orvus) strips this natural barrier away.

Less overlapping supplements

• Many horses benefit from supplements, but your wallet won’t if you are overlapping supplements. Invest your dollars with an equine nutritionist to eliminate duplications and fill in any blanks your horse needs.

Be mindful of what your horse eats – forage first, then necessary supplements. 

Less rotational deworming and more fecal egg counts

• There is no good reason to practice rotational deworming. This outdated parasite control method creates worms resistant to medications and tosses money into the trash. Fecal egg counts give your vet a great idea of your horse’s parasite load and help determine what dewormer (if any) is needed.

Horse Training – Less is More

• Having worked around some of the best and not-best horse trainers in the land, I’ve seen horse training tactics that we need less of.

Less drilling of ideas

• Your horse doesn’t benefit from endless repetition of an exercise. This unhelpful drilling is especially dangerous when there is no release or reward to tell your horse they are on the right path. Aim for progress, not perfection.

• And consider that many things you want to train your horse to do under saddle have roots in groundwork. Need their hind legs to collect more? How about lungeing over cavelletti? Or hacking the hills? Or long and low work? It needn’t always be “do the thing more and better and more.”

Less time introducing new training actions

• Along the same lines as drilling, if you teach your horse to load, clip, overcome a spooky corner, or anything else, go slow and steady. Why try to build Rome in a day when you can spend a few minutes working on the STEPS to get there? Forcing a horse to confront their fears is flooding, and it’s harmful.

• Teach them microsteps instead so that the first time you ask for the “big task,” they have the confidence to do it.

Less tack, more communication

• There is a time and place for almost all tack. However – if you use tack to ignore your horse’s communications, you are doing them and yourself a huge disservice. If your horse opens their mouth, it’s their way of saying they are not coming through over their backs and into a receptive hand. The response should be to change your communication with your body instead of tightening the noseband or changing bits.

• The same goes for bucking, pulling on the rein, cold-backed horses, and that so-called naughty behavior, which is different ways your horse tells you something. Gadgets are not a quick fix.

Elbow grease is your horse’s best friend.

Less arena, more hacking

• Incorporating cross-training, different footing, and new experiences into your horse training is a great way to let them “see the world.” It’s good for their body, legs, and brain.

• I often see spooky horses having their world constricted to control the spooks. The riding area gets smaller, the corners are avoided, and maybe they lunge on a small circle to get the “spooks out.” When your horse’s world shrinks, you only expand the possible spooky things.

Why Less is More for Equine Health and Well-Being

• Shiny packaging and fancy words are for selling things – not always things your horse needs!

Less marketing, more other things and science

• My biggest pet peeve about the horse industry is that sometimes, products don’t make sense. I recently discovered a new product that claims to help cushion the bit. It’s like headgear for braces, but instead, it sits inside your horse’s mouth, and the bit rests upon it. And the price is about 500 Euros. 500!!!!!!!! (This prime example is also directly related to the whole less tack, more communication thing)

• But when it comes to science…let’s talk about magnets. There are dozens upon dozens of magnet therapies for humans, horses, and all kinds of animals alike. Science has largely debunked magnets as effective pain reducers, yet they are still marketed as such.

Less tradition, more welfare

• I started thinking about this specifically about whiskers. A horse’s whiskers are vibrissae, a specialized hair that helps a horse sense their surroundings where they cannot see. Many countries like Germany and show organizations like the FEI forbid clipping whiskers, yet many disciplines continue the practice under the guise of tradition.

• In other cases, the tradition is the rule, like mandatory spurs and double bridles at the FEI level of dressage. Some show organizations, like the USDF, allow snaffle bridles at the upper levels in national shows.

We all love a slow-fed, turned-out, dirty horse.  

Less procrastination

• Two things will likely happen when you procrastinate calling the farrier or vet. Your horse will be uncomfortable longer, and your bill will increase. Many things, like sore hooves, can be completely fine in a day or two or snowball into founder. Early intervention saves time, suffering, and money.

• Of course, exceptions exist, but that’s also a prime example of one more “less is more” situation. Practice less generalizing about your horse and more individual care based on their needs.

Does less is more always apply?

• On the contrary, a few cases exist when more is better with horses. More rewards. More preventative health care. More listening and understanding. More empathy. More time spend just being with them. More treats. You get the idea.