The horse world is filled with stories, tips and advice that aren’t necessarily true. Just look at mythological horse creatures in Greek, Celtic and fantasy worlds. Those legends fuel a mindset that spills into our reality, giving rise to all sorts of illusions about horses and their care. So much of it isn’t true, and no one knows this better than horse owners who live in that reality.
Let’s have a look at some of the common horse myths and take a few moments to debunk them.
Horses should be fed at the same time each day
There’s really no solid reason to adhere to a strict feeding schedule. Horses are always going to be aggravated when they’re waiting to be fed. Humans are, too. This myth problem came about because we all feed our animals on a routine. As long as they’re content with food through the day without being overfed, they’re going to be satisfied no matter what.
Horses are colorblind
Horses can see a spectrum of colors, but admittedly, they do find it harder to see certain ones. It’s much different than the way we see color, as they can only see two of the visible wavelengths in the spectrum. They have dichromatic vision, which means they are thought to see mostly blue and green, but not so much red and yellow. Other colors tend to be de-saturated versions of basic hues. Their night vision is quite astounding, however.
Horses only sleep standing up
Yes, horses can indeed sleep while standing – for hours! But they also lie down to sleep. In fact, for optimum health (REM sleep) they must lie down to sleep. Horses in groups often like to spend time resting on the ground or sitting upright. They usually only do so when they’re very comfortable in their surroundings. Part of the standing-sleep comes from being a flight animal – they must be ready to move quick if they sense danger.
Horses only communicate with neighs and whinnies
It’s easy to see how one might think this. When people encounter horses on random occasions, neighing and whinnying is sometimes what they hear horses do. Entertainment and media regularly portray horses in this manner in movies and commercials. The truth is, horses are relatively quiet. And those neighs and whinnies aren’t the only way horses communicate. Horses mostly speak through body language. Owners learn a lot from their facial expressions, ear movement and eye direction.
Riding isn’t exercise, it’s just sitting
If you think there aren’t any health benefits to riding, then you probably haven’t saddled up before. Ask someone who rode a horse for the first time, and their muscles – more than anything – will tell them it’s not so easy. It’s not just the legs and derrière that get a workout, it’s the upper body, core and mind that benefits, too. Quite simply, horse riding is a phenomenal workout.