Monybuie Draughts & Donkeys

07/08/2024

Our beautiful c**t foal this year is reserved to a lady who has waited 2 years for one of our Belgians. He’s staying with us until next spring to allow natural weaning and vital social learning within the herd before he leaves. (He is also going to a herd where he will live out with constant access to freedom forage and friends to allow him to take all the skills he has gained and mature to be a well rounded socially and behaviourally sound horse.) She is happy to wait because she cares about his long term development.

INDUSTRY STANDARD PREMATURE WEANING PRACTICES

Weaning is naturally gradual, whereby the physical and psychological bond between mother and offspring is ended. To date, there are numerous studies, across a wide range of species, showing the physical and mental harm that is done when animals are prematurely and forcibly weaned. The act compromises an animal's welfare and goes against best-practices for raising a physically and behaviourally healthy animal. Therefore, it should be avoided.

Premature weaning of horses (~4-7 months of age) is sadly still a common practice in the horse world. While young horses can physically be kept alive when weaned at this age, the practice is harmful in the short-term. It can also result in the creation of unwanted behaviour problems in the long-term.

While we have selectively bred horses to perform a wide range of activities for us, we have not been able to breed out the basic needs which they still share with their wilder relatives. Studying how horses behave under natural conditions gives us valuable information on how best we can provide for our domestic horses. For example, horses have evolved to need fulltime access to what I call the 3 F's of Friends, Forage, and Freedom: living in direct contact with other horses, having continual access to forage so that they can trickle feed, and having the ability to freely engage in a wide range of normal behaviours in their environment. When horses are denied access to one or more of these three F's, or when we interfere with their ability to engage in normal behaviours it results in stress, decreased welfare, and can result in the creation of unwanted behaviours.

To better understand the effects of weaning practices, researchers in France and Iceland examined how and when foals wean themselves when living under natural conditions. Of the 16 mare-foal pairs they observed, they found that all of the foals spontaneously weaned themselves at around 9-10 months of age. Two weeks prior to self-weaning, the mares and foals remained closer to one another than they did to others in the group, usually within 1-5 horse lengths of one another. Suckling bouts also didn't decrease in the two weeks prior to weaning, and the foals made no attempts to suckle once weaned. This self-directed weaning also caused no signs of stress to either party.

A frequent rationale for premature weaning is to preserve the physical condition of the mare. Interestingly, none of the mares in this study lost physical condition, despite the length of time mares and foals were together.

In summary, to quote the authors:

"Modern breeding practices generally impose strong constraints as compared to the conditions of development of foals in a more natural environment. One major aspect is the early artificial weaning, which is not just a stage of diet transition but also a stage of social separation. There is increasing evidence that such a practice, although carried out on a routine basis by horse breeders, leads to short- and in some cases to long-term severe negative outcomes.

There is therefore a clear need to better understand the factors at stake (e.g., cessation of milk intake, immature digestive system, maternal deprivation, absence of adult models, additional changes in feeding or housing…), to improve the domestic management of weaning and animal welfare."

You can read the full paper, 'Domestic Foal Weaning: Need for Re-Thinking Breeding Practices?' by accessing it at this link: https://tinyurl.com/PrematureWeaningHorses

Image by Hans Benn from Pixabay

01/08/2024

🩷🩵

Our gentle giant Flora with Jude as the sun was starting to set last night.

10/07/2024

Very few people consider the impact changing homes can have on a horse and they expect so much of them straight away. I was having this conversation with someone who recently acquired a new horse that was showing anxiety last week, so it seemed appropriate to share. ☺️

"New Home Syndrome"🤓

I am coining this term to bring recognition, respect, and understanding to what happens to horses when they move homes. This situation involves removing them from an environment and set of routines they have become familiar with, and placing them somewhere completely different with new people and different ways of doing things.

Why call it a syndrome?

Well, really it is! A syndrome is a term used to describe a set of symptoms that consistently occur together and can be tied to certain factors such as infections, genetic predispositions, conditions, or environmental influences. It is also used when the exact cause of the symptoms is not fully understood or when it is not connected with a well-defined disease. In this case, "New Home Syndrome" is connected to a horse being placed in a new home where its entire world changes, leading to psychological and physiological impacts. While it might be transient, the ramifications can be significant for both the horse and anyone handling or riding it.

Let me explain...

Think about how good it feels to get home after a busy day. How comfortable your favourite clothes are, how well you sleep in your own bed compared to a strange bed, and how you can really relax at home. This is because home is safe and familiar. At home, the part of you that keeps an eye out for potential danger turns down to a low setting. It does this because home is your safe place (and if it is not, this blog will also explain why a lack of a safe place is detrimental).

Therefore, the first symptom of horses experiencing "New Home Syndrome" is being unsettled, prone to anxiety, or difficult behaviour. If you have owned them before you moved them, you struggle to recognise your horse, feeling as if your horse has been replaced by a frustrating version. If the horse is new to you, you might wonder if you were conned, if the horse was drugged when you rode it, or if you were lied to about the horse's true nature.

A horse with "New Home Syndrome" will be a stressed version of itself, on high alert, with a drastically reduced ability to cope. Horses don't handle change like humans do. If you appreciate the comfort of your own home and how you can relax there, you should be able to understand what the horse is experiencing.

Respecting that horses interpret and process their environments differently from us helps in understanding why your horse is being frustrating and recognising that there is a good chance you were not lied to or that the horse was not drugged.

Horses have survived through evolution by being highly aware of their environments. Change is a significant challenge for them because they notice the slightest differences, not just visually but also through sound, smell, feel, and other senses. Humans generalise and categorise, making it easy for us to navigate familiar environments like shopping centres. Horses do not generalise in the same way; everything new is different to them, and they need proof of safety before they can habituate and feel secure. When their entire world changes, it is deeply stressful.

They struggle to sleep until they feel safe, leading to sleep deprivation and increased difficulty.

But there is more...

Not only do you find comfort in your home environment and your nervous system downregulates, but you also find comfort in routines. Routines are habits, and habits are easy. When a routine changes or something has to be navigated differently, things get difficult. For example, my local supermarket is undergoing renovations. After four years of shopping there, it is extremely frustrating to have to work out where everything is now. Every day it gets moved due to the store being refitted section by section. This annoyance is shared by other shoppers and even the staff.

So, consider the horse. Not only are they confronted with the challenge of figuring out whether they are safe in all aspects of their new home while being sleep deprived, but every single routine and encounter is different. Then, their owner or new owner starts getting critical and concerned because the horse suddenly seems untrained or difficult. The horse they thought they owned or bought is not meeting their expectations, leading to conflict, resistance, explosiveness, hypersensitivity, and frustration.

The horse acts as if it knows little because it is stressed and because the routines and habits it has learned have disappeared. If you are a new human for the horse, you feel, move, and communicate differently from what it is used to. The way you hold the reins, your body movements in the saddle, the position of your leg – every single routine of communication between horse and person is now different. I explain to people that when you get a new horse, you have to imprint yourself and your way of communicating onto the horse. You have to introduce yourself and take the time to spell out your cues so that they get to know you.

Therefore, when you move a horse to a new home or get a new horse, your horse will go through a phase called "New Home Syndrome," and it will be significant for them. Appreciating this helps them get through it because they are incredible and can succeed. The more you understand and help the horse learn it is safe in its new environment and navigate the new routines and habits you introduce, the faster "New Home Syndrome" will pass.
"New Home Syndrome" will be prevalent in a horse’s life until they have learned to trust the safety of the environment (and all that entails) and the humans they meet and interact with. With strategic and understanding approaches, this may take weeks, and their nervous systems will start downgrading their high alert status. However, for some horses, it can take a couple of years to fully feel at ease in their new home.

So, next time you move your horse or acquire a new horse and it starts behaving erratically or being difficult, it is not being "stupid", you might not have been lied to or the horse "drugged" - your horse is just experiencing an episode of understandable "New Home Syndrome." And you can help this.❤

I would be grateful if you could please share, this reality for horses needs to be better appreciated ❤
‼️When I say SHARE that does not mean plagiarise my work…it is seriously not cool to copy and paste these words and make out you have written it yourself‼️

29/06/2024

Handsome boy and his magnificent mum 🥰

24/06/2024

Flora says smile it’s Monday! 😂

20/06/2024

Welcome to the world little one 💙😍

Florette Van Den Egelenberg X Matteo Van ‘t Rietenhof

Our second foal from this combination of approved Belgian draught breeding. Born in the UK from imported frozen semen and made possible by the amazing stud team Bowland Irish Draught Horses.

Flora also decided to have him at the same date and time as Fortè our now 2 year old filly, so they share a birthday 🎂

27/05/2024

22/05/2024

Our ‘meet and greet’ experiences with the animals are always a popular choice for both big and little people. Learn about the animals and enjoy a unique hands on experience.

11/04/2024

Such playful little monkeys. Having a break after a busy morning

31/03/2024

Got back from our Easter egg hunt this afternoon to find these three young kids sat waiting patiently in our seating area, wanting to book on a donkey trek. I had to unfortunately tell them they needed to bring an adult with them. 😂

30/03/2024

Another busy day of mini farmers learning about the animals and how to care for them. They all did so well they got chocolate Easter eggs added into their real egg hunt, which was a definite hit!

29/03/2024

A thoroughly enjoyable day today putting on a bespoke donkey experience day (with additional goat cuddles 😂) for the lovely Janette and Steve.

25/03/2024

Typical unpredictable March weather meant a wet and cold day today but everyone was able to have a good time despite the lack of sunshine. The baby goat cuddles were definitely a favourite activity and we had some really talented mini farmers who managed to master milking 👏🏻

23/03/2024

Ellie and Beau our Irish Draught horses are looking forward to a busy couple of weeks meeting all the people who have booked onto our mini farmer, meet and greet and donkey treks. Let’s hope for lovely blue skies like this all week 🤞🏻

18/03/2024

🐣 Looking for a fun and exciting activity this Easter Holidays?

Choose from our:

🫏 Donkey Trekking: Experience the beautiful Galloway countryside alongside our miniature and standard donkey tour guides.

🐑 Meet and Greet: Spend time getting to know all our animals. Enjoy grooming and cuddles with our gentle giant Belgian Draughts and tiny miniature donkeys. Meet our rare breeds. Hand feed the sheep to just name a few of the activities.

🐴 Mini Farmer Experience: We can’t give away all the exciting things you will be doing - but if you like the sound of tractors, egg hunts, goat milking, cows, and animal cuddles this is the one for you! All ages enjoy our Mini Farmer experience!

◾️ All activities must be pre booked in advance.
◾️ One to one experience, you won’t be sharing your time with another group.
◾️Prices starting from £15pp

🫏. Get in touch to find out more and book 🫏

Plus exciting new activities coming this summer! 👀

Dumfries and Galloway! Whats Going on ?

03/03/2024

Turn your damn horses out.

Solitary confinement is used as punishment for humans, yet stabled horses are described as "living like kings".

Horses don't want to live like kings, they want to live like horses; horses run, play, roll, doze in the sun, mutually groom, fall over, get kicked, get bitten- it's just how herd life works and they need that entire spectrum to be functional individuals.

Maybe you have a horse who doesn't like his pasture time. I can assure you that your horse likes time outside. What he doesn't like is lack of shelter, lack of company/incompatible company, lack of hay/grass/forage and whatever else is it that the average pasture tends to lack.

Another argument is "my horse has all that and he's still waiting to come in every evening!", chances are that you feed your horse in his stable and he therefore has a positive association with it. What if you fed your horse in the stable then instead of bolting the door, left it open all night? Would he still be in there by morning, content to stare at the walls for 12+ hours, or would he be raiding the feed bins or going around saying hello to his neighbours?

Everyone is doing their best and the reality is that the majority of horse owners are bound by the rules of yard owners, so 24/7 turnout in herds is not always possible. However, let's stop pretending that the main reason we lock horses up for half their lives is because they like it. No being on this earth likes being locked up with no choice about when to come or go, so why would horses? Sure, all horses are different but all horses are horses!

Here's some of our mare herd letting off some steam with Spring living up to her name!🤠

08/02/2024

Moving cows with the horses before the bulk of the snow arrived

04/02/2024

A little bit wet this morning but still enjoyable taking the donkeys for a trek.

19/01/2024

The sky this morning 😍. Looks like lava

10/01/2024

The sun coming through the clouds

09/01/2024

You can tell Forté our Belgian Draught 🇧🇪 was born and bred here in 🇬🇧, because the first sign of some sun and that’s it shes getting rid of the winter woolies and her lovely light summer coat is coming out 🤣🙈.

We only use approved stallions who have been graded in Belgium and meet the breed standards. Fortè is by the infamous Matteo van ‘t Rietenhof and all being well she is expecting a full brother or sister this summer out of our stunning gentle giant mare Flora who has also passed grading standards and was imported by us in 2021. Fingers crossed for the pitter patter of giant hooves this summer 🤞🏻.

07/01/2024

Today’s visitors picked a perfect day of sunshine and blue skies. We introduced our latest residents to the 2024 meet and greets, our wee herd of Belted Galloway cattle.
All the usuals were also pleased to see our guests, with the goats trying to hog the lime light as usual.

It was a great opportunity to offer an insight into the way we keep our horses… with freedom to choose. We are among a dedicated and ever growing group of people pushing for a change from ‘traditional’ keeping of horses in isolation (and its multiple knock on negative consequences) to giving 24/7 access to freedom, forage and friends. While it doesn’t replace the wild, it is our best effort to promote a calm balanced and healthy horse. We are always evolving, trying to improve and help our horses (and all our animals) meet their innate needs.

06/01/2024

The herd enjoying some welcome ☀️ after weeks of ☔️. Nearly all of them have chosen to go off onto the hill today to make the most of a break in the weather 🙌🏻.

09/12/2023

All our youngsters live within a balanced herd of adults, with freedom to roam, tracks and varied terrain. They are content and relaxed. We try to keep them for those first couple of years at least so that when they move on they have the skills to cope and hopefully end up living in a herd environment. We won’t sell horses to people who have the intention of keeping them stabled almost constantly with only minimal or individual turnout.
They are a herd animal; they can be a herd animal AND a human companion at the same time. Horses make better human companions when their equine needs are met.

I have a field full of late gelded geldings who all think they’re Mr. Macho. It can get messy, since they weren’t socialized as young studs, and eventually, once their behavior became too raucous, they were gelded. There is much arguing over resources, posturing, and testing each other. It requires a lot of attention and space to keep them all safe.

A young horse learns so many important lessons from a herd - a horse inherently wants to get along. it doesn’t pay to be an outlaw, since the risk of bad behavior is being ostracized. They learn from a young age from mother and the herd what behavior is ok and what isn’t - they learn to read expression and to tune in to the overall energy of the horses and environment around them.

It’s sad, really, how many horses are overprotected, with the intention of keeping them from being injured or dirtied or whatever the case may be - they lose crucial socialization skills, proprioception development, development of bone and tendon and ligament, the ability to learn, and the ability to get along.

The best thing you can do for a young horse is to let them live in a large space with a herd - not just another horse, but a real, functioning, stable, healthy herd. Let them learn how to be a horse - once you miss those crucial learnings, it is extremely difficult or nearly impossible to create a really well rounded, happy horse.

A field full of misfit boys lovingly nicknamed The Crips and The Bloods are a testament to this - all their behavior is managed through plenty of space, a sharp eye toward their needs and behavior, and the commitment to keep them for life so they can be their happiest.

And then there’s my young stud: a gentleman, soft to handle, and well balanced mentally: has lived with a herd since he was born, and knows what behavior will not be accepted by other horses. This translates beautifully over to his learnings, because he assumes the world is good, and there is order - one of the most crucial things a young horse can learn.

02/12/2023

We have snow this morning

01/12/2023

The donkeys are looking forward to attending a Christmas Fair tomorrow afternoon at Wallets Marts in Castle Douglas from 3pm. Santa is coming along to!

29/11/2023

Beautiful morning for taking the big girls out

27/11/2023

Todays view 👌🏻

24/11/2023

Zetta: when she’s not busy herding cows she likes to spend her time eating and rolling in mud. She can often be found in a ditch or a stream eating all the grasses and plants from the bottom and sides. Happy as a pig in mud 🐷

23/11/2023

Great offer for Black Friday! Our gang love travelling in a maxi 3, so much room, and amazing walk in tack locker.