Why is the horse's happiness important?

Breeding a horse involves a wide variety of care to avoid physical suffering and ensure good health. It is also important to focus on your psychological balance to enable you to be happy. Once healthy and comfortable, the equine is not likely to develop abnormal behavior, even dangerous for others (horses or humans).

Definition of well-being in horses

According to professionals in the horse industry, the well-being of the horse is defined among other things by the absence of hunger and thirst, the presence of suitable habitat and the maintenance of a certain comfort condition. It also implies the absence of wounds and diseases, the absence of anxiety or fear, and the possibility of developing natural behaviors specific to one's species.
In nature, the horse has a rhythm of life peculiar to equidae. It feeds on grass, drinks a lot of water, lives in groups and evolves in large spaces. The basic needs of this animal are thus defined by its original living conditions.
Like other animals, the equine is happy when its basic needs - biological or psychological - are met. In addition to nutrition and routine maintenance, it is essential to take care of one's environment and social life to ensure one's happiness.
When not happy, the horse can become more reluctant, turbulent and even aggressive. This emotional state represents a significant risk to the safety of the rider, the owner and any other person in contact with the equine. Without necessarily reaching this extreme situation, the malaise of a horse also results in apathy, lethargy, or even a real depression.

Development of abnormal or risky behaviors

The horse must jaw at least ten thousand times a day to stabilize his nervous tension. In its natural environment, this physiological need goes unnoticed, because it grazes most of the time in order to ingest the quantity of grass required for its subsistence. It is different for horses living in boxes.
If he can not chew as much as necessary, the horse ends up with a large stock of nervous energy. He is therefore more stressed and tries to let off steam in another way. To soothe her anxiety and channel all this energy, the equine can, for example, gnaw the door of his box, scratching frantically or raging more often.
In all cases, the horse develops abnormal behavior, even pathological, which may lead to more serious diseases such as severe colic, aerophagic tic, etc. The daily walks (at least 4 km per day), sports activities and other physical exercises, also allow to evacuate all the energy stored by the horse.
In all these scenarios, the unfortunate equine finds himself in a state of great suffering and can no longer perform his duties on a daily basis. He can also develop irreversible disorders if his living conditions do not improve quickly. At this point, he is unable to behave "normally", to work with the man, or even to move among his peers.
The happiness of the horse is thus an essential parameter that any breeder or owner must take into account in order to avoid making him suffer or to expose himself to risks.