Italian Horse Protection ONLUS |

Reports

The horse's stomach and nutrition

Veterinary

17/08/2021 - Having a fibrous diet allows the stomach to be protected in many ways. Chewing the fiber stimulates the horse to produce saliva: in fact, the horse, unlike humans, produces saliva only when it chews. Saliva is essential not only for lubricating food, but also for its bicarbonate content which buffers the normal acidity of the stomach. Fiber also has a physical function: once it reaches the stomach, it forms a fibrous mat that protects the stomach walls from the presence of acids.
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The teeth and chewing of the horse

Veterinary

22/05/2021 - Everything you need to know about horse teeth - by Emanuela Valle, veterinary surgeon
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The sleep of horses

Ethology

22/05/2021 - Horses sleep standing up? And if they lie down it means something’s wrong with them? Let’s have a look at sleep in horses to understand our equine friends’ needs properly
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Viral numbers

Veterinary

19/04/2021 - The recent Equine Herpes Virusepidemic has reminded all horse owners of the importance of vaccinations. Regular vaccination is a fundamental element of the horse’s care and wellbeing.
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The world of the horse through the five senses

Ethology

31/03/2021 - by Rachele Malavasi, ethology consultant for the Ethical Riding School In the wide steppes of Asia, where the gaze extends as far as the eye can see and everything is tinged with ocher: here is where the horse has evolved its sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Its senses are ideal for probing the wide steppes, avoiding ingesting the frequent stones among the grasses of these arid pastures, and saving itself from attacks by predators. We on the other hand, are collectors and we have built around him a world made of details and close distances: how can we help the horse to extricate itself in this environment?
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The whip: let's clarify a boorishcustom to be abolished

Veterinary

21/03/2021 - by Emanuela Valle, veterinary surgeon. With the latest events on the racing fields there has been a lot of talk about the use of the whip and to confirm the dishonesty of this gesture I would like to try to summarize what science says because only it can really protect the horse.
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The social lives of horses

Ethology

13/02/2021 - Socialising is one of the strongest natural instincts in horses: living a peaceful life in herds is the starting point of their well-being. Years of selective breeding have not changed this need in favour of life with humans: through selection, horses have been bred to be more docile (i.e. more inclined to be led), but this would have been impossible if they were forced to live outside of a herd. Everything in horses is oriented towards social life, even their brain, whose gyrification index is among the highest in mammals: according to scientists this is probably due to the high social complexity
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Well-being through the mind: ethological needs

Ethology

28/01/2021 - To guarantee that all horses live in a state of mental wellbeing, as well as physical, these three ethological needs of mutual grooming, play, and defending bonds with companions, must be met. You will have noticed that all these ethological needs imply the presence of a social group. A horse that lives isolated (whether in a loose box or a paddock) cannot play, cannot perform mutual grooming, and cannot form those affectionate bonds to be defended. Not even living in a pair, however much an improvement it might be over living in isolation, is ideal, because it is not a given that the two animals will like each other enough to be drawn to engaging in these behaviours with each other.
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Endurance

Equestrian sports

11/09/2019 - Endurance riding is an equestrian sport based on long-distance rides on different types of paths of 30 to 160km in length, depending on the category.
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Tortured horses, the videos of the investigation

Various

17/06/2019 - INVESTIGAZIONE
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