Mill Swamp Indian Horse Views: Fighting Nature is Rarely Good Strategy

Are we turning the corner? Practitioners of natural horse care are less likely to be wrongfully considered neglectful owners than they were a decade ago. Veterinarians who really trust their clients are letting them in on the truth of the advantages of letting a horse live as a horse instead of being forced into a crippling life of sugar, stables and shoes. People are starting to learn that the most prevalent form of neglect is to force a horse to become obese. I think that Joe Camp deserves much of the credit, but the real credit goes to the horse owners who care enough about their horses to risk the wrath of the established horse world by treating their horses humanely. It takes guts to do so. Owners who refuse to compromise their horse's health by keeping them bloated fat will be criticized for "starving" their horses.

This is the second revolution in horsemanship, to use Dr. Miller's term. The first is the widening acceptance of natural horsemanship, which allows for the humane training of horses, and, most importantly, allows owners and trainers to respect each individual horse for who that horse is. Natural horsemanship makes it much harder to  view a horse as a fungible good whose "value" is somehow related to its sales price. Natural horse care allows that horse, with its innate, God given value, to live as healthy and happy as possible.

I am much more optimistic about the acceptance of natural horse care than I was when I wrote is post a few years ago. Hit this link to see more. Mill Swamp Indian Horse Views: Fighting Nature is Rarely Good Strategy: Horses evolved to survive nature's rhythms. When we force them to live counter to that evolution their health pays for it. Just becau...