Weight-watching: Supporting Our Horses Through Summer 🌞 Summer can be challenging for horses who seem to gain weight just by looking at grass. Managing their weight while balancing everything else can feel overwhelming—no one wants to make life difficult for their horse. The good news? Research is advancing, and guidance is more accessible than ever! Whether you’re a yard manager or an owner, you can apply evidence-based strategies to help your horse maintain a healthy weight. 🐴 Check out the practical guide to equine weight management from the University of Liverpool: Equine Weight Management Guide 📖 Trusted sources like BEVA and NEWC offer expert advice and recommendations: 🔗 BEVA – Obesity Guidance for Horse Owners 🔗 NEWC – Healthy Weight & Alternative Grazing Systems 💡 Remember: You are not alone. Your vet is your greatest resource for personalized advice, so consult them before making any significant changes to your horse’s diet or management. Let's work together to keep our horses healthy, happy, and thriving this summer! 🌿🐎 #EquineHealth #HorseCare #EquineWeightManagement #HealthyHorses #ResponsibleHorseOwnership (fb)

✨ The importance of language! How we talk about things shapes how we treat them, horses included. We need to recognise their individuality and emotions, and meet them as they truly are—not as objects. Referring to our equines as ‘it’ rather than ‘who’ distances us from them and can lead us to treat them in ways that we would never consider treating other people.💙🖤 We know that horses are sentient beings with consciousness and their own emotional lives and experiences. We know that they feel pain, fear, stress as well as the pleasure of playing, of being with friends and eating tasty food. We know they are individuals, with unique personalities and life experiences. By calling them ‘it’ we reduce them to objects. And somehow it isn’t as bad to shout at an ‘it’ or to hit them if they aren’t doing what you want. It is easier to label them with terms such as ‘stroppy’ or ‘naughty’ rather than question why they might be behaving in the way they are. Our equines are individuals with their own thoughts and feelings. By recognising that in the way we talk about them, we meet them as they are, not as objects to do our bidding.#EquineAwareness #HorsesAreSentient #AnimalWelfare #RespectOurHorses #EquineEthics #HorseLovers #HorsesOfInstagram #AnimalRights #LanguageMatters #CompassionForAnimals #communitiesforhorses (fb)