Last week I covered the five main influencing factors totake into account when designing the property. These are theenvironmental factors, the economic factors, the ergonomics, the safetyfactors and the aesthetics. This week I am going to cover theenvironmental factors in more detail and in the following weeks I willfollow the others one by one.

The correct environmental management of your property is equally asimportant as caring for your horse. In turn, good environmentalmanagement will lead to a better ‘lifestyle’ for your horses. Horses arenot native to Australia or New Zealand. This means that horses have ahuge impact on the environment if they are not managed well. Horsesthrive much better in an environment that is as close to natural aspossible. For a horse a close to natural lifestyle is to have access topasture and clean water, the companionship of other horses, shade andshelter.

Horse property owners can do their bit for the environment by providinghabitat for wildlife which will not detract from what land they haveavailable but will enhance it. Examples of this are fencing off dams andwaterways so that vegetation can grow. This provides habitat for manyinsect eating frogs, birds and bats which in turn make you and yourhorses more comfortable (due to less flies and mosquitoes). Thevegetation also shades the water so that it does not evaporate asquickly when hot. This cleaner cooler water can then be reticulatedaround the property when needed.

Other examples of good environmental management that can actually have apositive impact on the environment are: pasture that is grown for horsesprotects the soil, encouraging dung beetles improves the soil conditionetc. Good land care involves such practices as rotating horses aroundpaddocks so that pasture has time to recover, harrowing larger paddocksto spread manure and fertilising when necessary.

A better managed property provides a variety of plants which in turnsupports many animals. This is called an ecosystem. The more diverse theecosystem the better it can cope with environmental diasters such asfloods, drought, pests and disease.

Twenty first century horse management need not be detrimental to theenvironment or the horse. It is possible to create horse care systemsthat once established are easy to manage both in terms of time andexpense and at the same time are less damaging or even enhance theenvironment. In turn this is conducive with the natural life style ofhorses resulting in less stress for them and a better lifestyle forourselves and our neighbours.

Disclaimer: While the author and publisher have taken allappropriate care to ensure the accuracy of this articles content, noliability is accepted for any loss or damage from or incurred as aresult of any reliance on the information provided in this article.

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