Friday 10 May 2013

A home for your horse?

Imagine you were moving house, and your horse got to choose where you live. He might have a long think, and reckon that a big, big field with lots of grass, access to fresh water, good windy spots where the flies won't bother you and some shelter from the worst of the elements would be just fine. He might not consider that you would like central heating, electricity, running hot water - or even a house!

So, our horse might not be very good at choosing a home for us. Fortunately, this situation doesn't come up too often :-)

Of course, the reverse is perfectly normal - we choose a home for our horse. Now, we're 'intelligent' and can understand the horses have different needs from us, blah, blah, blah, and are capable of choosing somewhere appropriate for him. Course we are. We know, to borrow an excellent phrase from Lauren Fraser, what horses want most is 'Friends, Forage and Freedom'. Course we do.

Those who know me might be noticing by now that I'm a little bit pissed off!

The cause? An smart advert I saw today for a nearby livery yard, advertising:
* arena
* indoor stabling
* tea and coffee facilities
* toilets

OK - that's human needs dealt with, now what about the horse, who is there 24/7 after all. Not even a mention of whether any turn-out was provided. How sad.