Don’t wake a sleeping horse

 

Horses can act very human, when they feel happy with their life.

The other day we had a big cleaning day at our stable. The horses were walking back and forth in the pasture, hanging over the gate, wondering what we were up to. As soon as we were finished in the evening we opened the gate and the horses trotted up to the stable, Bluebell in the lead. They slowly walked into the stable smelling the fresh bedding and the clean walls. After a short while they found their favorite places, lay down and soon fell asleep for the night, so did the nesting Barn Swallows.

They have a big pasture of soft green grass to sleep in, but sometimes they prefer their stable! These Nokota mares love their home so much that it almost hurts their untamed image and wild horse heritage. There’s nothing like a fresh cozy walk-in-stable when it’s time for a siesta. At summer it is cool in the day and warm at night thanks to the heavy concrete foundation that accumulates the heat. The stable is always dry and the bedding soft. It is also secure to rest near the house where their humans are and the high free view out over the pasture adds to that feeling of safety.

Their every day routine include spending hours grazing in the pasture, a few rounds of playing, bucking and running wild, after that a walk up to the corral for a sip of water is just right and then they walk into their stable for a nap.

When horses rest on the floor bedding like this, it is easy to understand that a clean, good quality, bedding and good ventilation is important in a stable. Horses’ lungs are adapted for clean fresh air, anything else is bad.