What is the best investment you did that improved your horse’s life? While I was pondering about this question multiple things came up. In a random order I’ll give you my 5 best investments below.
1) Knowledge
I’ve spent hours and hours reading about horse behaviour, their needs, health and training. 
When I was editor at a publishing house which specialized in animal books I traveled by train. For four years I read 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon, on my way back home. Every single day. And at work I read about pets and horses too! I also invested time in watching YouTube videos, attending demo’s and clinics and taking and giving lessons. The best way to learn something is to teach it, is what they say.
2) Time
It takes time to learn new skills. I took me hours and hours of practice to master riding, taking care of horses, training them and teaching them new behaviours and so on. Time is a really good investment. One of my favourite sayings about time is: Take the time it takes, then it takes less time. So, invest time in yourself and in your horse. It pays back really well.
3) Boarding
Mees, Ziggy & Kyra (left)
An expensive monthly investment is boarding your horse. I have really high standard for boarding facilities. It must have everything to make my horse happy: they must be living in a herd, have 24/7 access to roughage & water, shelter and room to exercise daily. And besides that, I have a few requirements myself: access to trails, indoor/outdoor, a washroom and I also value nice human company. The only thing that grows by sharing is happiness, right?
Most important of all: the facility must provide excellent care for my horse. Because that saves me a lot of worrying. Sleepless nights and worrying all day about the safety or health of my horse kills my happiness instantly.
4) Cavesson
I just love my cavesson. When I bought it I thought it was way too expe
nsive, but all my knowledgeable horse friends recommended a cavesson. I am very grateful I listened. And I am grateful for my friend Saskia who convinced me to buy one without a polstered chain in the nose band.
My Vienna cavesson, with a nice soft leather padded nose band, has proven to be a very versatile piece of equipment. I’ve used it almost every day for the past 5 years. It is still nice and beautiful after all those years and it is a very gentle piece of tack.
5) Clicker
The cheapest investment and one that is even more versatile than my Vienna cavesson, is my clicker. It is such a powerful tool to communicate to animals once you know how to use it. If you can think it, you can train it!
Let me know what your 5 best investments in your horse are.
HippoLogic -> Clickertraining.ca 
I bought my Vienna cavesson at El Mosquero (http://www.el-mosquero.de). They have excellent service and a webshop! The cavessons are available in 3 colours and you can choose the colour of the buckles too (silver/brass).
LikeLike