The Mind

Promoting the mental & emotional wellbeing of the horse.

When we think about horse care, it’s easy to focus on the physical needs—nutrition, exercise, and hoof health. However, the mental and emotional well-being of a horse is equally crucial. Horses are not just physical beings; they are highly sensitive and emotional creatures that thrive on positive interactions and mental stimulation.

On this page, we’ll dive into the essential aspects of a horse’s mental health. From the importance of social relationships to the need for sensory enrichment and adequate sleep, understanding these elements can transform how we care for our equine companions. We’ll explore how creating a mentally enriching environment can lead to happier, healthier horses that are better equipped to form deep bonds and positively engage in their world.

Just as we humans need emotional support and intellectual engagement to lead fulfilling lives, so do our horses. By addressing their mental needs, we can ensure that they lead balanced, happier lives, ultimately enhancing their overall well-being. Let’s take a closer look at the mind of a horse and discover how we can support their mental and emotional health in ways that truly resonate with their nature.

A healthy social life is an ethological need. A behavior is classified as an “ethological need” if:

All individuals do it: Every member of a species naturally engages in this behavior.
It feels rewarding: The behavior itself provides a sense of satisfaction or pleasure to the individual performing it.
It has a rebound effect: Increased tendency to perform a specific behavior after a period of prevention
Preventing the behavior can cause chronic stress: If unable to perform this behavior regularly, an individual may develop ongoing stress that can lead to abnormal behaviors or health issues.

In essence, ethological needs are behaviors that are essential for an animal’s well-being because they are natural, satisfying, and necessary to prevent chronic stress and promote normal behavior.

“Horses show a marked preference for associating with particular individuals, their preferred partners, in their group, with familiarity and homophily counting among the most pervasive factors determining these reciprocal affiliative relationships.”

Stable Friendships

Horses need more than horses - they need good friends.

Horses are extremely social, sensitive, and emotional beings that form deep family bonds within their herd. They need more than just the presence of other horses—they need true friends. This is often more complex than simply having other horses around, which is why boarding situations can be challenging.

Not all horses get along, just like people. A common mistake is assuming a horse isn’t social if it doesn’t get along with a particular horse or herd. Many horses in traditional settings are socially awkward due to lack of regular socialization. Throwing a group of such horses together doesn’t always result in harmony. Did you have to do those awkward ice-breaker events in college? A group of people with completely different interests, forced to interact…you likely didn’t walk away from those with your new best friend!

A horse struggling to get along with others may end up isolated, missing the chance to find compatible friends. Alternatively, a horse might form strong bonds at one barn only to face separation anxiety when moved. My horse Tucker, for instance, really struggled with leaving friendships behind until he met Trubee. They became inseparable, and adopting Trubee ensured they never had to part. Both horses formed lots of new friendships wherever they lived, but always having each other mitigated the heartbreak of leaving old friends behind.

Horses recognize and remember their friends even after long separations, which shows how deep their bonds run. Keeping horses from forming these bonds to avoid the stress of separation might seem logical. However, that reduces the horse to merely a tool for human use, disregarding their intrinsic need for companionship. If your goal is purely to win competitions, this might seem practical. However, I know your priority is different. You want your horse to be happier and healthier. Therefore, the goal shouldn’t be to prevent friendships, but to enable and maintain them as best as we can. Even when circumstances are out of our control, we should strive to do what’s best for their social well-being in the long run.

For the horse in an ever changing environment, with horses coming and going often, ensuring an abundance of socialization will help the horse be quick to make friends. Their social bucket can still be filled with many friends, instead of a few really close friends. Some horses may only thrive with long-term, consistent friendships. Having a companion that travels with such a horse can enable that horse to lead a competitive life while still tending to their social bucket.

Here are links to interesting studies & articles that you can read that support the need for proper socialization for horses:

A review that covers an overview of social behaviors to include in equine welfare assessment

“Horses are highly social animals that preferably live in stable social groups and form long-term affiliative bonds. However, although their need for social interaction has not changed with domestication, domestic horses are often housed in individual stables with limited social contact with other horses or in group housing with regular changes in their group composition.”

“The strong emphasis on agonistic behaviour contrasts sharply with the rarity of agonistic behaviour in stable horse groups and the well-established importance of affiliative interactions for equine welfare.”

That translates to “the focus on negative behavior between horses is in interesting, given the behavior is rare in stable horse groups.” Or, “in healthy social groups, negative behaviors are uncommon. Positive social interactions are known to be crucial for their well-being, so why not focus on increasing those?” OR in other words, “why are we talking about how to put a band-aid on the broken system instead of just fixing the system.” We’re catching the drips from the leaky roof, instead of fixing the roof.

Instead of talking about how to stop the horse from cribbing, let’s study how to prevent a horse from needing to crib. Instead of treating the ulcers, let’s treat the problem that is causing the ulcers. Yeah – both things may be helped with some friends.

Torres Borda L, Auer U, Jenner F. Equine Social Behaviour: Love, War and Tolerance. Animals (Basel). 2023 Apr 26;13(9):1473. doi: 10.3390/ani13091473. PMID: 37174510; PMCID: PMC10177386. [PMC Free article]

A review that cites tons of sources to support the basic needs of horses

“All animals have requirements that are essential for their welfare, and when these basic needs are not met, the animal suffers. In horses, it is claimed that these needs include social contact, social companionship, free movement and access to roughage in the form of grass, hay and/or straw.”

“We conclude that the literature supports the claim that social contact, free movement and access to roughage are basic needs in horses and need to be taken into consideration to ensure their mental and physical welfare in management and training. “

Krueger K., Esch L., Farmer K., Marr I. Basic Needs in Horses?—A Literature Review. Animals. 2021;11:1798. doi: 10.3390/ani11061798. [PMC free article]

A study concludes that housing stallions in groups under specific conditions can effectively meet many welfare needs by providing access to social partners, establishing a stable social structure, and minimizing agonistic interactions shortly after group integration - 3-4 days specifically

“Therefore, we found that breeding stallions could be housed together on a large pasture, because the frequency of agonistic interactions decreased quickly and remained at a minimal level from the fourth day following group integration. This housing system could potentially increase horse welfare and reduce labour associated with horse management.”

Freymond S.B., Briefer E.F., Niederhäusern R.V., Bachmann I. Pattern of social interactions after group integration: A possibility to keep stallions in group. PLoS ONE. 2013;8:e54688. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054688. [PMC free article]

A study highlights a probable negative impact of single housing on welfare & health of horses and an advantage of group housing systems in view of immunocompetence (ability of the body to produce a normal immune response following exposure to an antigen)

“The results strongly indicate that individual stabling is an intense stressor leading to acute and lasting alterations in blood counts of various leukocyte types. The study highlights a probable negative impact of single housing on welfare and health of horses and an advantage of group housing systems in view of immunocompetence.”

AKA – solitary confinement is highly stressful for horses, causing changes in their blood that could harm their health. Keeping horses in groups may provide better support for their immune health and overall welfare.

Schmucker S., Preisler V., Marr I., Krüger K., Stefanski V. Single housing but not changes in group composition causes stress-related immunomodulations in horses. PLoS ONE. 2022;17:e0272445. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272445. [PMC free article]

A review suggests that optimizing social compositions in domestic groups and adjusting introduction techniques could minimize ethological and physiological stress indicators over both short and long periods of time, enhancing overall welfare

“Summarising: social relationships and interventions especially in relation to preferred partners, have rewarding properties in the brain and seem therefore important for the main coping mechanisms of domestic horses in large groups and most likely also for feral horses.”

Machteld C. VanDierendonck, Berry M. Spruijt, Coping in groups of domestic horses – Review from a social and neurobiological perspective,
Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Volume 138, Issues 3–4, 2012, Pages 194-202, ISSN 0168-1591, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2012.02.007. [ScienceDirect]

A study finds that composition (age/sex) and stability of groups are of great importance with respect to aggression levels and opportunities for establishing bonds.

“The level of allogrooming was more similar in the different group types than the frequency of agonistic behaviours. The two small unstable yearling groups had the highest allogrooming levels. The horses allogroomed less in large groups where they had more friends, but interestingly the horses that had few friends, allogroomed most.”

Which means horses participated in mutual grooming more consistently than they fought, and the unstable groups had the most mutual grooming. The groups with more friends spent less time grooming each other, which may suggest grooming is more often used for building up friendships and is less frequent in already established friendships.

Sigurjónsdóttir H., Haraldsson H. Significance of Group Composition for the Welfare of Pastured Horses. Animals. 2019;9:14. doi: 10.3390/ani9010014. [PMC free article]

Sensory Enrichment

Exercise the mind

How much does your horse get to explore using their sense of smell, taste, sight, hearing? Depending on your horse’s living situation, it is very likely that they are underutilizing at least one of their senses. A horse in a stall in a busier barn is likely seeing and hearing interesting things most days, but they most likely smell the same palette of scents daily. They probably receive the exact same feed daily, and are restricted to smaller turnouts that lack variety and novelty of tastes. In contrast, a horse in a decent sized pasture may experience a variety of scents and tastes from grazing a diverse range of plants. But visually and audibly, their lives might be more stagnant. And then there is every horse in between!

Herbal Tea Bar

My favorite way to add quick & easy enrichment for my horses is with my herbal tea bar. I use dried herbs, individually provided in buckets of water. This creates a tea, which can’t easily blow away and lasts a lot longer than the dried herbs by themselves! The horses love exploring novel scents and tastes whenever I add new herbs. I’ve tested over 40 different horse-friendly herbs with them. You can get the full list, along with my guide on setting up an herbal tea bar, for free! Simply submit your email address and I’ll send it straight to your inbox.

Herbal Enrichment Boxes

Perfect enrichment for any day, especially if your horse is confined. Simply add to an extra water bucket to make a “tea” that your horse can sniff or taste! Or create a “tea bar” of different herbs, and have fun watching your horse explore with their nose. We use herbs sold for human consumption, and in fact use the exact same herbs to make teas for ourselves!

Quality Sleep

Horses can become sleep-deprived

Laying down for REM sleep is required for horses, and they need at minimum 30 minutes a day, collectively. But some horses sleep more, and sleep is just as important for the health of the horse as it is for the health of our own bodies. If a horse doesn’t feel safe enough in their environment, they may become sleep-deprived. Sleep deprivation is known to lead to a host of health issues in people, including weakened immune function and reduced cognitive abilities. Therefore, it is our responsibility to ensure the horse has a space that is both safe and comfortable enough to lay down to sleep. This means providing a quiet, secure area with adequate bedding, and ensuring they feel secure within their surroundings, free from threats or disturbances.

Horses have two types of sleep: slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. SWS can be achieved while standing up, thanks to their stay apparatus—a special anatomical feature that allows them to lock their legs and doze without collapsing. However, REM sleep, the deepest stage of sleep, can only be achieved when a horse is lying down.

On average, horses spend about 5-7 hours per day resting, but only a small portion of this time (around 1-2 hours) is spent lying down. As REM sleep can only be accomplished while laying down, time spent on the ground should accumulate to a minimum of 30 minutes per day. If horses are deprived of REM sleep due to lack of a safe environment or discomfort, they may exhibit signs of sleep deprivation, such as excessive drowsiness, decreased performance, and even physical instability.

In a natural environment, horses sleep knowing that their friends will alert them of any danger.

Here are links to interesting studies & articles that you can read about sleep & horses:

Everyone needs sleep, and we need to know about sleep needs in order to provide quality welfare.

“Sleep is ubiquitous amongst all mammals but sleep profiles differ between species dependent upon a range of biological and environmental factors. Given the functional importance of sleep, it is important to understand these differences in order to ensure good physical and psychological wellbeing for domesticated animals. “

In other words, everyone needs sleep. But different animals need different amounts of sleep, and it helps to know what each animal needs to thrive when we’re the ones responsible for their wellbeing.

Greening L, McBride S. A Review of Equine Sleep: Implications for Equine Welfare. Front Vet Sci. 2022 Aug 17;9:916737. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.916737. PMID: 36061116; PMCID: PMC9428463. [PMC Free Article]

REM sleep needs may not change, but in the absence of forage horses may rest more to pass the time.

“When oats were substituted for hay or during fasting for two to five days, the total recumbency time and the total sleep time (slow wave sleep and paradoxical sleep) increased. The time in lateral recumbency did not change.”

Dallaire A, Rucklebusch Y. Sleep and wakefulness in the housed pony under different dietary conditions. Can J Comp Med. 1974 Jan;38(1):65-71. PMID: 4272959; PMCID: PMC1319968. [PMC Free Article]

Movement Motivators

Enriching the Environment

Movement is not only achieved by having the space and physical ability to do so – but also the motivation to move! Even if a horse is physically capable, an uninspiring environment may lead to lethargy and a lack of natural movement. If a horse has 10 acres, yet is alone and their food and water are mainly located in just one small area, chances are they won’t venture out to explore too regularly.

In these cases, environmental enrichment is essential to encourage natural behaviors and stimulate movement. Adding companions can be a powerful motivator, as horses are social animals and often move more when they have friends to interact with. However, the placement of resources is equally important. By spacing food and water sources apart, you can encourage horses to move between these points throughout the day, promoting natural foraging behavior.

For properties with smaller acreage, track systems, also known as a Paddock Paradise, can be highly effective. These systems create simple mazes or tracks within a confined space. Different resources, such as hay nets, water troughs, mineral blocks, and various enrichment items, can be placed at different points along the track. This setup encourages horses to move along the pathways to access these resources, ensuring they remain active and engaged throughout the day.

Enrichment items can include objects that stimulate their senses or challenge them mentally. For example, hanging treat dispensers, equine toys, and safe objects for them to explore and manipulate can add variety and interest to their environment. Introducing varied terrain within the tracks, such as gravel, sand, and logs, can also contribute to hoof health and overall physical conditioning.

Creating an enriched environment may require more effort upfront, but the benefits for your horse’s mental and physical health are immense. Horses that are mentally stimulated and physically active will be healthier, happier, and less prone to behavioral and physical issues. Additionally, an enriched environment can reduce the risk of obesity, colic, and other health problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

Incorporating movement motivators and environmental enrichment into your horse’s daily routine not only meets their physical needs but also supports their psychological well-being. It helps mimic the natural conditions under which horses evolved, promoting natural behaviors and a more balanced, fulfilling life. By prioritizing these elements, you ensure your horse remains active, engaged, and healthy, reaping the benefits of a life filled with purpose and stimulation.

Here are links to interesting studies & articles that you can read that support the need for adequate daily movement for horses:

A review that covers all the basic needs of the horse.

“Horses develop significant levels of abnormal behaviour when social contact, social companionship, free movement and access to roughage are compromised. Therefore, it appears to be justified to use the display of abnormal behaviour as a behavioural animal welfare indicator when analysing the quality of horse housing and training, as has been established for animal welfare protocols“

“…previous experience with the restrictions in basic needs may be a factor. For example, horses that were born and raised in a stabled environment may be less stressed by restricted movement than horses raised at grass and then moved to a stabled environment.” This quote refers to the second study listed below Basic Needs in Horses.