To start, there’s the human-horse bond that many people develop. More people are apt to make their horses their pets than with, say, cows. This could be because of the closer interaction that people have with their horses. If a horse is kept for riding, driving or other sports, its caretakers interact with them just about every day, learn their personalities, and pay attention to their physical well-being—from muscle soreness to scrapes and bruises. It’s easier to become bonded to an animal when you have this type of relationship versus simply feeding and opening a gate for it.

Physiologically, horses differ from other animals, too. In terms of digestion, cattle, sheep, and goats are ruminants; pigs, dogs and humans are nonruminants; and horses are somewhere in between, classified as nonruminant herbivores. According to the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, horses’ digestive systems feature enzymatic digestion that occurs in the foregut, plus fermented microbial digestion in the hindgut, making them able to break down forages.

This single-stomach digestion system makes horses more susceptible to digestive issues. Colic is the name for general abdominal discomfort, and it can be caused by any number of things ranging from having eaten something mouldy or toxic to having a heavy parasite load. Unlike ruminants, horses cannot regurgitate or burp, so they’re often unable to relieve the pressure built up from intestinal issues. For all these reasons, special care needs to be given to the pasture management, nutrition plan and water intake of horses.