Turnout Is Recovery: The Case Against the Stall-Rest Default
Standing still is intuitive as rest, and there are situations where a vet will prescribe exactly that. For a healthy horse, movement does more recovering than stillness does.
Articles by Claire Bennett
Why Horses Lose Condition in Late Summer, and What Actually Rebuilds It
The field still looks green. The grass in it is doing considerably less than it was in June, and several other things are working against the horse at the same time.
Electrolytes for Horses: How Much, When, and Why Salt Beats Sugar
Horse sweat is not like human sweat, which changes what replacing it requires. It also explains why a lot of what is sold as electrolytes is mostly something else.
Thrush: Why It Keeps Coming Back in Some Horses and Not Others
Two horses in the same field, on the same ground, with the same routine. One gets it repeatedly and one never does. The difference is usually in the shape of the foot and how much it moves.
Wet Ground, Soft Feet: Managing Hooves Through a Wet Season
Horn absorbs water. A foot that has been standing in mud for weeks is mechanically different from the same foot in August, and it fails in different ways.
Grooming Kit for a Horse That Hates Being Groomed
Resistance to grooming is usually information rather than misbehaviour, and the kit matters less than reading what the horse is telling you.
Fly Sheets: The One Feature That Decides Whether It Works
Mesh, coverage and UV rating all matter. None of them matter at all if the sheet does not stay where it was put.
Why Your Horse Ignores You on the Ground but Listens Under Saddle
The usual explanation involves respect. The more useful explanation involves clarity, consistency, and the fact that ridden aids are much harder to be vague with.
Reading the Signals Before the Buck
Horses very rarely explode without warning. They escalate, in a fairly consistent order, and most of what looks sudden is the last rung of a ladder nobody was watching.
The Rise of At-Home Care Between Vet Visits
Owners are doing more themselves in the gaps between professional appointments. That is mostly good, and it has one predictable failure mode.