What are sensory walks for horses and have you ever heard of them before?
This is something that I believe I’ve been doing for many years but didn’t know its name until recently. A sensory walk is a stroll outside your corral or pasture where your horse can explore. It can be any length of time, any distance, and with any number of special enrichment opportunities that you may or may not have set up in advance. So basically this means you can bond with your horse by simply taking it for a walk and letting it explore new sights, sounds, smells, and activities without any expectation for an end result. This is a way for you to connect with your horse while they take the lead.
Let’s take a minute though and jump back to “enrichment opportunities”. What are they and how can you set them up in advance? An enrichment opportunity is when you set out a specific object or intentionally change the environment around you. I’ll give you some examples: Maybe on your walk you already have a specific path you’d like to take or place to explore so before you begin the walk with your horse, you set out a few pool noodles on the path ahead that your horse will have to step over. Or you can hang a windchime in a tree that you’ll be passing by, or even dump water on the ground to create a puddle.
All of these activities create an opportunity for your horse to learn from and explore. The pool noodles create an opportunity for the horse to see and interact with something it has most likely never before had the chance to play with. The windchime in the tree gives a new sound for the horse to hear and possibly even look at as it passes by. And lastly, the puddle gives new scents and feels that the horse gets to experience.
But does every sensory walk need to have enrichment opportunities? Absolutely not. And I actually don’t encourage it until you and your horse have done many sensory walks without any enrichment opportunities. This is because any environment outside of where your horse naturally resides gives the opportunity for enrichment. There will mostly be new plants to smell, scents from other animals, unusual visuals, new sounds, and possibly even different textures on the ground they may have to walk on or step over.
So I encourage you to take it slow. There’s no rush in sensory walks. This activity is all about letting your horse lead the way and learning new things together. Maybe you didn’t know your horse likes the sound of the windchimes or maybe you will need to cross over pavement that they haven’t walked on in years and they find it intimidating. Always keep in mind that when you go on a sensory walk there’s no rush for an end result. You are simply allowing your horse the space and time to take in new experiences and learn new things about themselves.
If you have taken your horse on a sensory walk before or you offer specific enrichment opportunities that I haven’t mentioned and that you’d like to share, I encourage you to reach out to me on my personal Instagram @unbridledmama.
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