Cheerful horse behavior encouraged through equine enrichment, such as toys for horses, social interactions and movement
You love your horse and do everything possible to ensure his health through equine vaccines, horse wormers, the best supplements and more. And of equal importance to horse health, is horse happiness. We asked Robin Foster, Ph.D., certified equine behaviorist and university professor of 30 years, how horse owners can know whether their horses are as happy as they are healthy. She shared with us four key characteristics of happy horses -- engaged, enriched, social and moving -- and explained more about each unique component.
Happy horses are engaged with life going on around them. They are active members in their social groupings and attentive to, and eagerly willing to, explore their environment.
“Enrichment opportunities for horses have really grown dramatically,” Dr. Foster said, crediting positive changes made in zoo environments for large animals in confinement. “Minimizing the effects of isolation, stress and limited movement -- zoos have these same challenges, and the equine industry has borrowed from that,” she said.
Enrichment falls under different categories, such as sensory, movement and feeding enrichment, which offers horses the opportunity to enjoy treats and work for food, such as with problem-solving horse toys. Cognitive enrichment keeps their mind working and burns energy,” Dr. Foster said.
“The first job is to make sure it’s something your horse will work for. Some horses love certain enrichment items, while for other horses, they just sit there. Shop around and experiment,” suggested Dr. Foster. Horses can learn the game rather quickly through their curious nature or by watching another horse. “When they can see other horses, they learn very quickly that food comes out of that thing and they will give it a good try,” continued Dr. Foster.
It’s important that from an early age, horses have social interactions with other horses to meet their social needs. Depending on how horses are housed, they often have limited social time even at a barn with other horses. This is also true in the human-horse interaction.
“No matter how much you care for your horse, humans have very complex lives with many demands -- the horse being only one of many. Your life with your horse is maybe an hour a day. The amount of time a person spends with their horse can be limited, and what does the horse do the remaining 24 hours? If horses do not have a social life with other horses, and a rich, complex environment, you can bet that affects their overall behavior,” Dr. Foster said.
“Horses need the ability to move freely,” Dr. Foster strongly encouraged. Happy horses are free to run, roll, turn wildly, race around and kick up their heels -- not just move in a fixed way, such as lunging. All of this can play a role in a horse’s behavior.
“Horses able to move more freely are usually more physically fit for competition or riding. And mentally, they are more resilient and buffered against stressors,” Dr. Foster said. For example, think of how a barn-kept horse under saddle might react to a large owl spreading her wings to swoop from a tree, compared to a pasture-kept horse or one with intermittent turnout.
Consider these four characteristics as they relate to your own horse’s happiness. Is your horse displaying each of the four signs, or could a few changes be needed? Learn more information at ValleyVet.com to help keep your horses healthy and happy.
Join hosts Dr. Bart Barber and Dr. Peter Morresey as they engage in discussions with Alexandra Conrow, Monique Cross, and Stephanie Welsh. These skilled technicians offer a firsthand account of their roles in the surgical process, highlighting the journey they undertake alongside the horse, from the moment it steps out of the stall to its return post-operation. As the podcast unfolds, listeners gain an understanding of the crucial responsibilities shouldered by equine technicians. From pre-surgical preparations to assisting in the operating room and overseeing post-operative care, every step of the process is discussed.
Lexie, Monique and Stephanie delve into the various options available for veterinary technicians and assistants, shedding light on career paths, training opportunities, and the rewarding nature of their profession. They also discuss how technicians serve as invaluable mentors and guides for aspiring veterinarians.
By Nick Pernokas
In the days of the old west, it wasn’t unusual to see someone who had more than one occupation. In remote areas, it was helpful if a man was able to do more than one thing. Leather was an important trade, so in many cases it overlapped with other jobs. Kit Carson fixed harness, when he wasn’t acting as a military guide. S.D. Myres was a mayor and a deputy sheriff.
Now, I want to tell you about Davis Reynolds.
Davis grew up in Louisiana. His uncle, Bud Moses, was a stock contractor and on weekends Davis would work for the rodeo company.
“I worked for him for years,” says Davis. “It was a blast.”
In 1990, about the time he got out of high school, Davis started riding bulls and roping calves and steers.
“I’d ride bulls and team rope, but whenever I got hurt, I’d go back to team roping.”
In 1994, Davis moved out to the Grand Canyon area to cowboy, and quit riding bulls because there wasn’t much bull riding near there. Day working on some of the local ranches replaced the team roping. Davis worked for the Babbitt Ranches during their month-long roundups. The Babbit Ranches were huge and still ran a chuck wagon.
“Those guys were just awesome. They took me under their wing and took me out there.”
The vastness of the Babbitt Ranches impressed Davis. The endless panorama of sky and emptiness was a change from Louisiana.
Davis went to work as a tour guide for the mule concession in the Grand Canyon National Park. The mule barn had its own saddle shop and Davis built some chaps for himself. One of his friends there was a saddlemaker and he suggested to Davis that they build a saddle for him.
“I helped him build my first saddle,” remembers Davis. “It was terrible, because it just gave me the bug.”
From then on, Davis built all of his own gear.
In 1995, Davis married Lisa, who he met at the mule barn. In 1997, the park service was looking for someone to pack supplies into the Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Canyon. Davis had the experience, so he went to work for the Park service. It was a federal job with the Department of the Interior.
In 2000, Davis joined the Arizona National Guard. After 9/11, he was deployed overseas to Iraq for six months, where he participated in special missions. Davis was the medic in his team. A knee injury caused him to be sent to Germany for surgery. When Davis returned to the United States, he received a medical discharge. Unfortunately, something else had followed him home: PTSD.
Davis discovered that his leatherwork was good therapy, and he began a successful leather cell phone case construction business in a camper next to his house. Soon, his nightmares were going away. Davis was making a lot of hand-sewn cases, but he wanted to build other products as well. Davis found out that he was eligible to attend a leather trade school through vocational rehabilitation, and the G.I.Bill, if he could jump through all the hoops to qualify.
After several months of completing other courses in business, Davis was cleared to find a saddlemaking instructor. The stipulation on this was that it had to be someone who had worked for vocational rehabilitation and had taught other veterans. Davis searched the western United States and finally found Bud Shaul, a saddlemaker in Yarnell, Arizona. Bud, a marine, had taught veteran classes at a school in Idaho. Bud was also a former saddlemaker at Hamleys Saddlery in Oregon.
Davis told Bud, “I want to learn about saddles, but for anything you do in this shop, I’m yours.”
Davis took two of Bud’s two-week classes on saddle construction. In the process he built two saddles, but more importantly, the men became friends. There wasn’t any place to stay that was close, so Davis slept in Bud’s shop and did some repair work for him at night. Bud was impressed with Davis’s work ethic and his eye for detail. When the classes were over, he offered Davis a job, which was more like an apprenticeship. There was no pay involved, but the opportunity to learn was tremendous. For the next two years, Davis would travel down to Yarnell on his weekends and vacations from the Park Service at the Grand Canyon.
Davis helped out at Bud’s schools and met many other vets that were coming through it. Eric Marsh wasn’t a vet, but he was a firefighter who took the class. Eric asked Davis for help on a saddle he was building after he took the class, but soon after he tragically perished as a Hotshot fighting the Yarnell Fire. Eric’s widow called Davis and asked him to finish Eric’s saddle, which he did.
Davis Reynolds Saddlery now had a 12×24-foot building and things began to pick up for him.
“I was happy. I’m thinking, I’m a hobbyist doing what I love to do in my off time. Then, I realized the responsibility you have when you’re making that stuff.”
Davis decided that to make a top-quality product, he had to learn from more experienced leather workers. Bud encouraged him to take some classes. Davis was hesitant at first, but Bud even offered to go to some classes with him.
Bud told Davis, “As long as you’re alive, you need to take lessons from other people and swallow your pride.”
Davis went to the Wickenburg Leather Show that was put on by The Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal. The friends and connections he made there were priceless. He met people that he could call if he had a question. For the next few years, Davis took classes at the show.
“It was the coolest thing to meet some of the greatest leather artists in the world there.”
Davis became good friends with Charil Reis and Ralph Solome, who managed those shows, and now he works for them at the Prescott and Sheridan shows. He hands out the informational packets at the door and helps people find the tools that they need.
“I get so much energy off of that, helping other people find that drive and keep that drive going. There’s so much talent at these shows.”
Bud passed away before fulfilling his dream of enlarging his school. The family sold most of his equipment through an estate sale, but they gave Davis all of his patterns and books. Many of the patterns are the old Hamley patterns. The northwest look has definitely influenced Davis’s style.
“The round skirts have drawn me to a lighter, stronger saddle with inskirt riggings.”
Davis uses a variety of swells. His favorite is a Flat Creek Packer, which has a little swell to it. It’s similar to an Association swell with a wood post horn.
“To me, a saddle is that person’s personality, not mine. You have to make it to match their personality and what they want it to look like.”
Since Covid, Davis’s saddle orders have dramatically increased. Davis also builds a lot of holsters, which range from concealed carry to cowboy style. Cobra sewing machines have replaced the stitching pony in his shop.
Today, Davis runs the sign shop for Grand Canyon National Park. They produce all of the informational signs in the park. On his time off from the park service, Davis also works as a hunting guide for Steve Chappell of Elk Camp T.V. Elk Camp is a weekly show on the Sportsman Channel. Their team schedules elk hunts in the high desert of Northern Arizona during hunting season for various individuals and then films them.
Davis and Lisa have 40 acres just south of the park with a log home and the shop. A couple of older horses share their place with them. Davis seems to keep things fresh by all of his varied professions he rotates between. As if that weren’t enough, Davis is licensed to marry couples. He has even performed weddings in his shop. That’s what I call a full-service saddlemaker.
You can find Davis Reynolds Saddlery on Facebook.
Photographs Courtesy of Reynolds Saddlery
This article originally appeared on Shop Talk Magazine and is published here with permission.
There are more interesting articles in our section on Recreation & Lifestyle.
by Marcella Peyre-Ferry
You never know where you will find the horse that is perfect for you. For Janine Guido, the horse that fills all her needs came out of a kill pen in Alabama.Janine has been riding since she was five years old, but injuries kept her out of the saddle for more than a decade. She remained vitally entwined with animals, running Speranza Animal Rescue at her family’s 17-acre farm near Mechanicsburg, PA. The rescue focuses primarily on bully breed dogs, but also includes a wide range of farm animals plus two zebras and a camel.
As far as horses go, Speranza was focused on a few older, neglected or unrideable animals that needed a healthy retirement home. Known for her willingness to take in the worst cases, Janine didn’t have a horse she could ride.
In 2021, a year after recovering from knee surgery, Janine let her friends know she was interested in returning to riding. Soon she got a call from one who had spotted a horse in an Alabama kill pen. What made this horse stand out was that he was a branded warmblood.
“I had gone through so many bad injuries and knee surgeries. I wanted to get back into riding but I needed something that wasn’t going to kill me,” Janine said.
The 16.2 hand, bay Holsteiner gelding that would become known as Murphy was in poor condition weight-wise, missing several front teeth from periodontal disease and had a healed bowed tendon with no apparent lameness.
“He looked broken. His eyes had no hope,” Janine said. “Little did I know he would turn out to be the perfect mister unicorn ever. I cannot say enough good things about this horse.”
All Janine had to go by was a photograph, but she was willing to take a chance. “I thought, ‘if I can ride him great, if I can’t, I can’t-- that’s OK,’ There was just something special about him,” she said.
It took time to get Murphy back into shape. As he gained weight and condition it became apparent that this was a horse with a history.
When it came time to get on his back, Janine was hesitant at first, but Murphy exceeded all expectations. The first ride was a five-minute walk - a small step to build confidence. The next included trot work and Janine began to see a hint of how well Murphey had been trained.
“He does incredible lead changes, he jumps anything - you just point him at it. He’s got the best brain. I can’t say enough good things about him,” Janine said. “He’s a once in a lifetime horse and I got him from a kill pen.”
In addition to being a willing jumper, it is possible he was trained for eventing at one time. “It’s apparent he has had dressage training,” Janine said.
Although he is believed to be in his mid-twenties, Murphey is still fit and ready to show. Janine has taken him to nearby shows under his new show name “Simple Man” In February 2023 they won all three of their over fences classes at Heritage Acres Winter IV and placed fourth in the flat class to earn the Baby Green Hunter Championship.
For the coming spring Janine hopes to try the beginning jumper divisions.
After finding Murphy, Janine’s eyes have been opened to other possibilities. She recently purchased a young thoroughbred mare at auction whose only problem was an abscess in her sinus cavity. She hopes this horse may take over for Murphy when it is time for him to retire.
In Murphy’s success story there are poignant moments. “What’s sad for me was when he first came here he knew how to beg for treats. That broke my heart. At one time this horse was so spoiled, he was treated well and loved and yet he turned into what we found him as,” Janine said. “Growing up in the hunter - jumper world my trainers have always been good with keeping in touch with the horses that were sold, This just opens your eyes. People are not aware.”
Finding a good riding horse in the ranks of the rescue is not common but it does happen. Speranza currently has a few that are being rehabilitated before being adopted out.
“It boggles my mind how well trained some of these horses are that people have just given up on. It’s just crazy,” Janine said. “I never thought you’d be able to find something that made and that high level that was going to ship to slaughter.”
Janine encourages people to be open to buying horses that are in challenging situations and to be careful when they sell an older horse. “I would just encourage people, whenever you sell your old or retired horse, keep tabs on it,” she said. “If you’re looking for a lesson horse, don’t be afraid to look in kill pens, some nice horses just need some meat on them.”
This article originally appeared on East Coast Equestrian and is published here with permission.
You can find more interesting articles in our section on Retire & Rehome.
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