Keeping horses
Horse husbandry includes keeping horses , ponies , mules and donkeys in human care. The equine need appropriate care for good health and a long life.
Domestic horses need hay as basic feed, if necessary concentrate, water, a light, cool, airy but draft-free stable with litter, contact with other horses and exercise. In addition, grazing or a paddock is attached. In horse keeping, the needs of the horse and the possibilities of the horse owner must be taken into account.
General
In the wild, a horse is in motion for up to 16 hours a day - mostly to eat - and covers 30–40 km. The horse is a running and flight animal. Since this need for movement cannot usually be covered by riding and driving sports or training alone , as much opportunity as possible for independent movement should be given.
Horses are distinct herd or group animals. Every horse needs the opportunity to make social contacts with fellow horses. With every form of keeping, the social structure and the compatibility of the horses with one another must be taken into account. This also applies to race, age and gender-specific differences.
The horse is prepared for a life in the open air and needs fresh, dust-free air, light and species-appropriate feed. Dust is the biggest problem for the horse's sensitive respiratory system. In order to maintain a balanced nervous system and alert senses, the horse needs a minimum of variety. An unobstructed view that maintains interest in the surroundings without causing stress is ideal here . Horses need shelter that provides shade and protects them from bad weather.
Horses need a lot of roughage (basic feed) for a healthy digestion. Since the horse has a relatively small stomach , enough feed must be available in small quantities throughout the day. As a rule of thumb when keeping the animals in a stable, roughage is followed by concentrate, at least three times a day. These needs of the horse must be taken into account in order to keep the horse healthy. Horses must have adequate access to safe water.
From a practical point of view, it is desirable that horses are accessible to the veterinarian and farrier . Light, electricity and (frost-free) water connections are mostly required. In addition, it should be possible to accommodate the horse at a reasonable cost.
Section 2 of the Animal Welfare Act requires that animals are properly nourished, cared for and housed appropriately according to their type and needs.
Stable operation
A favorable ratio of income and costs is to be aimed for for economic management. For example, it can be mucked out and littered with mechanical help if the stable has been built accordingly. The time required for feeding and watering can also be reduced with the appropriate infrastructure.
Equestrian infrastructure
For riding recommend a lighted all-weather riding arena or riding school and a good riding area , for lunging a lunging or lunging. For driving, permitted paths away from road traffic or a driving square are advantageous. For versatility, is off-road track for race horses, a race track and polo a polo field suitable. Most riders spend a considerable part of their free time with the horse and therefore also look for opportunities to maintain their social contacts there (joint riding, rider's room).
Housing forms
Stand posture / tether posture
Before motorization, farms , forests and businesses were dependent on the work of the horse. However, they often couldn't offer their horses much space. Therefore, the posture was normal back then. The horse was tied up in its stand and had space to stand and lay down. It couldn't turn or walk around. However, since it was used as a workhorse for several hours a day , it had a great deal of exercise. Today, however, horses are usually kept as leisure partners. Many horses only get an hour of exercise today. For horses that are so little moved, standing is not appropriate to the species. This type of husbandry is therefore viewed critically. Nowadays, holding a stand is prohibited in most federal states. In Switzerland it is forbidden to keep studs permanently for longer than three weeks. You can still find examples of studs in some, especially historical, studs for demonstration purposes. As a rule, these horses no longer stand in stands all the time.
Playpen
A playpen is a large stable that a group of horses shares.
Pit stance
Usually horse stables are now divided into boxes. The horses stay in these boxes sometimes during the day, but especially at night. It is important that the box is big enough. As a rule of thumb and recommended by the German Equestrian Association , the size of the box should be at least twice the square at the withers of the horse. In numbers one can say that a box for large horses should be approx. 3.5 × 3.5 m. In general, every horse should have 35 m³ of air available. If this is not the case, this can lead to a serious lack of oxygen in the stable, which can be problematic for the horses - especially for the foals that are still very sensitive. Based on the recommended box size, this would correspond to a stable height of approx. 3 m. In principle, the walls of the stable must be smooth and must not pose any risk of injury.
Horses are distinct herd animals and lonely if they are kept apart. Therefore, the boxes should normally not be closed. The paneling of the partition walls, fronts and doors ends roughly at chest height and merges into bars so that the horses can see, hear and smell each other. If walls and fronts are made of bars, care must be taken that the spaces between the bars must be designed so that neither the horse's hooves nor his head fit between them.
A horse stable includes pasture areas on which the horses can move and graze freely in the pasture season - around mid-April to the end of October. As a rule, this is done by the hour, half-day or day and night according to the specifications of the stable owner or horse keeper and depending on the weather conditions. For the rest of the year, paddocks should be available to allow the horses at least some exercise in winter.
Paddock box posture
The paddock box is a single box with a directly connected, fenced outside area, the paddock, which is usually as wide as the box. The horse can go back and forth between its paddock and the stable. Several paddock boxes can be located next to each other in a stable section and the horses have the opportunity to maintain social contact with other horses beyond the fence and to eat in peace inside. Depending on the size and surface of the paddock, this posture does not necessarily offer a lot of freedom of movement, but the horses can participate more intensively in the barn. The conversion from single boxes to paddock boxes is easy and a benefit for the horse.
The interior of a paddock box is provided with litter (straw, shavings, etc.) and serves the horse as a retreat, as a place to lie down and as protection from the sun and insects. It is usually separated from the outside area by a box door and / or a lamellar curtain as an insect screen. In the case of a small outdoor area, it is advisable to secure the floor. Larger outlets can also be designed with sand, wood chips or the like. The advantages of a paddock box are more social interaction with other horses, a larger range of motion and an increased stimulation of the senses seeing, hearing and smelling through the environment and that the horse can enjoy all weather conditions or protect itself from them.
There are systems in which the individual paddocks can be converted into a large contiguous paddock in a few simple steps. This can be advantageous when cleaning the paddocks by machine. On the other hand, the now large paddock can be used as a group paddock.
The fences between the individual paddocks should not be electric fences, as the horses then do not have the opportunity to exercise social contacts over the fence. The horse would likely be electrocuted and avoid contact with the neighboring horse. A paddock box cannot replace daily grazing or exercise on a larger paddock in the group, as social contact is limited with individual paddoks.
Open stalls
In the open stable, all horses in a group have access to a covered area as protection from the weather, often with feeding stands, feeding cribs or hay racks and a self-drinking area that the horses can access at any time. The pastures or paddocks are attached to the open stable. In contrast to boxes, open stables are usually not littered, but the manure must be collected daily (also in the run). The horse can move back and forth between the protected stable area and the open outside area. If there is enough pasture space, this type of husbandry is based on the needs of the horse. However, it requires the owner to invest a corresponding amount of work and time.
Group exercise
If a whole herd of horses is kept on the pasture with an open stable, this corresponds to group free range management . The facility consists of a playpen, a paved run and pasture. The three areas form a unit in which the horses can move freely as a group (from around 10 horses) or as a herd and have unrestricted contact with one another.
Paddock Trail
With the paddock trail concept, a five to six meter wide fenced path is created around the available area, on which the horses can move freely. So that they do this, infrastructure is distributed over the path: for example, several hay racks, a sandy place to wallow, salt licks, scratching brush, water point and shelter. A water ford or horse pond can also be integrated into the path. The infrastructure (covered hay racks, water carts, shelter) can be set up in such a way that they are also accessible from the inner paddocks. In this way, the natural movement behavior of wild horses is to be simulated and the horses are encouraged to move more independently.
Grazing
Horses can be kept outside all year round as a herd or in small groups on sufficiently large, usually changing pastureland - at least one hectare per horse, if possible double that in order to avoid overgrazing. In humid weather, which is sod heavily burdened by the horses' hooves and damaged, the floor will quickly muddy. That is why horses are usually kept indoors in such weather. In contrast to the paddock , the pastures are usually further away from the stable.
protection
Horses need protection from wind and sun in the pasture, as well as access to fresh water if they are to be suitable for longer stays. A larger group of trees or a sheltered, shady depression can serve as natural protection. Otherwise a shelter or a more solid pasture hut with enough space for all horses must be built. Horses not only retreat there during thunderstorms, heavy rain or strong winds, but also when it is very hot. Mobile pasture huts are often put on the pasture. If the horses are relocated to another pasture because the pasture has been completely eaten away, the mobile pasture hut moves with the horses. An electric fence is usually used as a fence .
water
With all-day grazing, horses can cover approx. 60% of their fluid requirements through the intake of grass. Since horses, depending on their size and feed availability, need between 20 and 60 liters of water per day, paddocks must also be equipped with water sources in the form of self- watering devices or water containers. It must be ensured that several drinking points are available so that lower-ranking herd members have access to water.
Pasture maintenance
Horse pastures need to be tended. The areas must be dragged and rolled in the spring, if necessary re-sown and mowed. For reasons of pasture hygiene (parasites), alternating stocking with cattle and horses is recommended. The paddocks must regularly check for poisonous plants that have been flown in or introduced, such as B. ragwort should be checked. These must be eliminated as some poisonous plants can even be life-threatening for horses and some horses are inexperienced in foraging. Sycamore horns in the neighborhood are also dangerous, the seeds, seedlings and leaves of which can be deadly. Feces should be collected at least once a week.
Robust posture
With robust housing, the individual horse has no stable space. Stable spaces may be available for sick horses. The animals are on the pasture around the clock all year round.
Boarding house
Boarding horses are kept on the horse farm for an agreed fee. Pension horse keeping is mostly a service in rural areas. The keeping of riding horses is of the greatest importance here. In addition, horses of mercy, convalescent horses, mother mares for foaling and young horses can also be retired. In a pension stable, a regulated process and, if possible, no disputes among the horse owners are aimed for.
Pension horse keeping is influenced by the demands of the customers, the size of the company, the type of keeping, the offer for rider and horse and the assumption of services such as feeding, manure and litter. The cost accounting is sensible as a full cost accounting.
The following offer situations are cost-relevant:
- Stable space, box, active stable or playpen , necessary adjoining room for feed and saddle room, paddock or pasture
- Additional delivery of feed by the company
- Feeding, mucking, littering and animal observation by the company
- Provision and maintenance of riding arena , riding arena , horse walker , treadmill, etc.
- Offer of riding lessons and / or horse riding
The boarding horse owner acts as an animal overseer within the meaning of the BGB (see animal owner liability ). He is therefore - just like the animal owner - liable to pay compensation for damage caused by a horse if he cannot prove that he has exercised the care required in traffic with his supervision or that the damage would also have occurred if this care had been exercised ( § 834 ). The liability of the boarding horse owner is very extensive and is not covered by normal public liability . Many insurers therefore offer separate animal keeper liability insurance. A lump sum coverage of at least € 1.5 million is considered appropriate. Damage to the horse posted must be insured separately. They are only regulated if the animal keeper can be held liable for this damage. In order to reduce the risk of liability, an employment contract should be concluded with every employee. This contract documents which services the pension company takes on. It also offers the option of limiting liability for damage to the horse that is hired to the sum insured or to a fixed amount.
The horse owner is also obliged to report the operation and the number of horses to the animal disease fund and to pay the contributions that may vary from state to state. The adjuster should inquire about this, as the animal disease fund will take care of the disposal of the carcasses if a horse dies.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gabriela Baumgartner: Obstacles on the way to the horse. In: Observer . July 10, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2018 .
- ↑ Guidelines for assessing horse keeping from the point of view of animal welfare ( Memento of March 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection
- ↑ German Animal Welfare Association for the maintenance of horses ( Memento from May 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Can horses be kept tied up? , Gieri Bolliger, January 27, 2017, Bündner Woche
- ^ Romo Schmidt: Keeping horses appropriate to the species . 2011, ISBN 978-3-275-01773-7 , p. 42.
- ^ Gerlinde Hoffman: Orientation aids for equestrian facilities & stable construction. 2009, ISBN 978-3-88542-740-7 , p. 61.
- ↑ Dietbert Arnold: Life in the single box . In: Cavallo Basic: Pasture and stable - this is how horses live appropriately. 2012, ISBN 978-3-613-30697-4 .
- ^ Romo Schmidt: Keeping horses appropriate to the species. 2011, ISBN 978-3-275-01773-7 , p. 42.
- ↑ Paddocktrail , Offenstallkonzepte.com
- ↑ Horses in landscape maintenance, ed. v. Ministry f. Nutrition and rural area, Baden-Wuerttemberg
- ↑ Guidelines for Riding and Driving, Volume 4, Keeping, Feeding, Health and Breeding, Warendorf 2010, pp. 214f, ISBN 978-3-88542-284-6
- ↑ Pulling over a harrow-like instrument, the willow witch with a reactor or a horse, see University of Karlsruhe
- ^ Gerlinde Hoffmann, German Equestrian Association: "Orientierungshilfe Reitanlagen- & Stallbau", Warendorf 2009, p. 160f, ISBN 978-3-88542-740-7
- ↑ Atypical pasture myopathy in horses ( memento from January 3, 2018 in the Internet Archive ), on pferdeklinik-kottenforst.de, accessed on January 2, 2018
- ↑ Collect horse droppings, from lehrer.uni-karlsruhe.de, accessed on Jan. 2, 2018
- ↑ Chamber of Agriculture NRW “Diversity from the farm”, chap. 4.7.5. by Heinrich Brune / Erik Humbert "Pension horse keeping"
literature
- Bender, Ingolf: Practical handbook horse keeping, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 978-3-440-09830-1 .
- Dietbert Arnold: Pferdewirtprüfung vol. 1, stable climate. Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt 2009, ISBN 978-3-8370-9960-7 .
Web links
- Horses and other equidae - information from the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office
- Website of the playpen association for species-appropriate horse keeping
- Link catalog on horse keeping at curlie.org (formerly DMOZ )
- pferdewissen.ch
- Analysis and evaluation of physico-chemical and material parameters on the release of biogenic gases and airborne particles from substrates when keeping warm-blooded horses in littered individual boxes , dissertation (PDF)
- Process engineering and structural planning as well as economic evaluation of a rearing farm for warm-blooded horses in Germany , dissertation by Sven Rothenberger
- 9 points for an optimal stable climate in the horse stable