Horse sense

Man and horse have been sharing a special bond for more than 5000 years, be it on farmlands, on battlefields, on the road or in the sports arena. Today, some of these fine animals even play an important role in therapy programmes. But keeping horses is not a decision to be taken lightly. Here’s what you need to know first.

- PETER VAN NOORD

“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man,” Winston Churchill once said and frankly, even postcard-perfect pastoral scenes seem incomplete without a few of these graceful creatures grazing in the picture.

How deeply intoxicating is the scent of fresh country dust, sweat and the sweetness of hay that might describe the distinctive smell of a horse! Then there are its sounds: fresh grass or hay being pinched off, munched and crunched. The gentle snort of relaxation as the horse allows you into its space, with a tender sniff from a soft muzzle, letting you glide your hand over a soft coat that covers strong shoulders.

The lives of man and these magnificent animals began intertwining more than 5 000 years ago. Through the centuries, horses have ploughed lands for farmers, have been used for transport and have served in the cavalry of army legions. To this day they are part of the sporting and entertainment industry, but lately more and more of them are also used in equine-assisted therapy. (See “Horses as healers” on page 88.)