Horse IQ

As I mentioned in Part 1 of my article series on the subject of pica, horses have a natural tendency to graze. As a matter of fact, wild horses can graze up to 16 hours a day on a fertile open range. But when they start to eat non-food items, that’s where they can cause themselves a lot of digestive problems. And their owners a lot of grief (not to mention vet bills).

Today, I’ll take it a few steps further. I’ll tell you about another common non-food item horses try to eat, and what the best treatment for this chilling challenge might be.

A more dangerous form of pica is dirt eating. The equine intestinal tract is not designed to digest dirt, and if too much sand or dirt collects in it, it can cause sand impaction. Often, a horse that eats dirt and sand will stop or at least reduce the amount that they eat when provided with a salt or mineral block.

Yet another of the common non-food things that horses routinely eat their own tails and manes, or those of other horses. The best explanation anyone has ever come up with for this one is… boredom. Horses chew on things. Its what their mouths were designed to do. If their food doesn’t give them enough to chew on, they’ll chew on and ingest other things.

And since horses are naturally curious and do most of their exploring with their mouths, its not unusual for them to ingest foreign objects. Depending on the object, this could cause colic, blockages or irritation in the digestive tract. The best way to avoid this is by keeping the stable floor and pasture as free of foreign objects as possible.

Like All Horse Vices,
You Want To Avoid This

Ohio State University’s Extension Department brings up a point worth taking home:

“Oral” vices include eating non-food materials, tail or mane chewing, cribbing, and wind sucking. These vices seem to develop mostly in horses with no opportunity to graze. Some of these will resolve if the horse is given access to pasture, more hay, exercise, and companionship, but others will continue even then, having become a habit.

The “habit” is what you want to avoid. Once a horse starts eating non-food items, there’s a better-than-average chance he’ll keep doing it. Even if he’s full. Not good. Try like heck to dissuade him from his pica practices as soon as you see the habit developing.

As always, the best thing to do is make sure your horse has access to some fertile pastures, preferably with plenty of room for exercise. The idea here is if there’s more for your horse to do, the less bored he’ll be. And less boredom should result in fewer of these vices.

But if you’ve been reading my articles for very long, you I’m a big fan of stopping a problem before it starts. That’s why I say the best treatment for pica is a balanced diet high in roughage, give your horse plenty of pasture time with other horses and keep his pasture and stall picked up.

Yours For Better Horse Health,

Sierra Lynch

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You’ve heard me say before that a horse that won’t eat is a strange horse. While that’s very true, there’s another side to that coin: horses that eat the wrong things. One of the more frustrating equine behaviors to deal with is the eating non-food items, technically referred to as pica. In this two-part series, I’ll share some things that I’ve observed over the years that may help you if your horse develops this problem.

Its been commonly thought that horses who engage in pica are trying to compensate for a lack of nutrients in their diet, but thats been called into question by several studies. Its not completely ruled out as a cause of pica, though, so if your horse is routinely eating things that aren’t food, a good physical and nutritional workup is the first step in treating the problem.

Why Some Horses Eat Manure

But do you want to treat it? According to vets, that depends on a number of factors. There are some types of pica that seem to be natural developmental behaviors in young horses. Specifically, coprophagia eating manure is commonly seen in foals up to about a month old.

Its believed now that eating feces may actually be important in developing the intestinal bacteria that young horses need in order to digest their food. If you see it in an older horse, though, it may be an indicator that theres not enough roughage in his diet. If possible, if you see an older horse eating manure should be pastured and allowed to forage for fresh grasses to satisfy that need.

When Horses Eat This, They May Just Be Bored

Eating wood is another fairly common equine pica behavior. Horses who chew wood or eat their bedding are also often exhibiting a need for more roughage or boredom. Horses are designed to roam and graze for up to sixteen hours a day. When theyre confined to a box, those natural needs aren’t met (for a quick solution to this problem, check out my article on horses who eat their own bedding).

In addition, when theyre fed on a concentrated and easy to digest diet, they dont get as much chewing as their bodies tell them they need. In either case, theyll often compensate by chewing and eating wooden posts, stall doors and anything else wood that they can reach. You can try to reduce the behavior and its attendant damage by painting wooden surfaces with creosote or with oil based paints.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this series on horses eating non-food items. And don’t forget, you can always stay up to date on the latest in horse health and behavior by getting my Horse IQ RSS feed.

Yours for Better Horse Health,

Sierra Lynch

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Welcome to Part 2 of my series on miniature horses. Minis are a tad different from regular horses. And today we’ll talk about dental issues, hoof care, and horse training. I hope you enjoy it.

Miniature horses can be trained to be family pets, herders or guides for those with sight impairment (they are not suited for hearing impaired persons.) Horses must be extensively tested and accepted into the guide horse program. They must measure less than 26 inches tall at the wither, must be determined to have structurally sound legs, be in good general health, demonstrate stamina and must pass an intelligence exam.

Training miniature horses as house pets can be as easy as training a dog or pig (another notably intelligent animal.) They can be taught to use a large litter box, eat at the table, fetch items, sleep in their own quarters, open and close doors, among other tasks.

You can begin training miniature horses at any stage but the earlier in their life you begin, the easier it will be for both you and the horse. Occasional bathing and daily grooming teaches the horse trust, patience and is great for their overall health.

Hoof care is of the utmost importance with miniature horses. Trim hooves early on in life and pick them out daily. Regular trimming will help balance and support proper bone growth. Optimally, the farrier you choose should be very experienced with miniatures.

As with other horses, miniatures need a dental check up early in life and routine check ups thereafter. Waiting until a dental problem has arisen can be very harmful to minis, as their teeth are smaller and more brittle than fill size horses.

Yours for Better Horse Care,

Sierra Lynch

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