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equiculture

Horse Ownership - Responsible Sustainable Ethical©

HORSE OWNERS are RESPONSIBLE for a SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT©

‘When we keep our horses in captivity, compromises have to be made (otherwise each horse property would need to be made up of several thousand acres) but it is important that none of these compromises are to the environment. If we attempt to compromise the environment then imbalances occur. The environment relies on complex ecosystems and when gaps occur in these ecosystems then problems develop.

We also have to acknowledge that equines are not indigenous to countries such as Australia and New Zealand. So in these countries especially we must minimise the impact that our horses have on the environment because the plants and animals that are native have evolved without pressure from large, hard hoofed animals. By managing our land effectively we can ensure that the environment and our horses achieve optimum health.’ Extracts from Understanding horses and pasture

At Equiculture we are strong believers in the need to develop and maintain sustainable horse keeping practices. By doing so horse owners ensure not only the health of the environment but also the ongoing viability of their love of keeping horses. We understand that there are areas of potential conflict between some environmentalists and some horse owners but they need not be. The interests of these groups are not mutually exclusive and in fact can be very compatible indeed. Horse owners need to take responsibility and adopt sustainable practices for their own benefit, the benefit of their horses, their property and the environment as a whole.

In many areas in Australia and around the world, some local/state or federal authorities are justifiably looking at ways of dealing with irresponsible land management practices adopted by many horse property owners. The current situation is not sustainable and horse owners need to be responsible and take ownership of the environmental issues caused by horsekeeping before the inevitable legislation occurs.

Natural living equines (wild and feral) have access to very large tracts of land, at least several square kilometres and often much more, and their normal behaviour reflects this. When we keep horses in captivity they are generally restricted to paddocks that are small (by horse standards). So we have to pro-actively manage domestic horses, in particular some of their behavioural ‘quirks’, otherwise they will degrade the land.

Twenty first century horse management need not be detrimental to the environment or the horse. Creating horse and property care systems, that once established are easy to manage in terms of time and expense, can not only enrich the lifestyle of your horses but are less damaging and can enhance the environment.

Adopting sustainable practices has many benefits leading to healthier horses, more diverse and productive pasture, a more aesthetically pleasing property which is worth more and can actually save money. A sustainable horse property has minimum impact on the surrounding environment and any impact should aim to enhance rather than be detrimental to the environment as a whole. This means protecting waterways and grassland flora and fauna, increasing biodiversity (increasing flora and fauna species) and in particular providing or encouraging habitat for native wildlife.

Let’s consider just one of the benefits of a sustainable horse property - increased biodiversity. In a natural living scenario a horse is free to browse and graze on a wide variety of grasses, shrubs and other plants. In doing so the horse ingests a wide range of foodstuffs which contain a variety of nutritional benefits. If instead we keep our horse in an overgrazed paddock which contains only one or two species of grass (those types that are able to maintain themselves during overgrazing for example Couch Grass) the horse can then become deficient in essential nutrients. Expensive supplementary feed is then required in order for the horse to get a balanced diet. By increasing biodiversity we simultaneously provide healthier feed for our horses and increase habitat for wildlife.

Horses are increasingly being used on conservation grazing projects in the UK (see our photo gallery on the Konik Ponies of Wicken Fen and the articles on the more sust & enviro info page) because if managed correctly horses can be effective grazers and can actually help to increase biodiversity. For example the Konik Ponies at Wicken Fen are actually being used to regenerate a natural wetland and are themselves thriving in this environment and are not suffering from many of the physical and behavioural issues caused by traditional domestic equine management.

We are constantly increasing our own knowledge about how horses can live sustainably in harmony with the environment and will continue to share this information with you on this website, in publication form and via our seminars. In the meantime have a look at our sustainable horsekeeping series or try to attend one of our one day seminars. Please subscribe to our mailing list and you will be kept up to date with additions to this site including new seminar dates etc.

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Remember:-

HORSE

OWNERS are

RESPONSIBLE for a

SUSTAINABLE

ENVIRONMENT©