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Reader Rant : Mirror, mirror, on the wall

Thursday 25 June 2009

Horse reader Emmie Foxall wants all owners to think carefully before putting up a stable mirror, in case it does more harm than good

While stable mirrors can be beneficial for a lot of horses, it really gets my goat when people whack them up without truly thinking about whether their horse will like them.

A horse that feels threatened by open stables, for example those with grilles in American barns, may not like a mirror on a solid wall.

Equally so, a horse who is possessive over his food won't appreciate a mirror next to his feed bucket.

Horses don't recognise their own reflection and will only see another horse invading their space, or trying to get at their feed bucket.

Stable mirrors are fab for the majority of horses and I don't doubt they're put up with the best intentions, but they aren't a cure for all evil and there are horses that will feel even more threatened by them.

My friend's horse had choke one night and the only stable with a bed down had
a mirror in. It was the mare's reaction that made me think, as between struggling to breathe she spent her time gnashing at her reflection – clearly unhappy at having 'another horse' staring at her.

Since then, I've known of two people who have put up mirrors in their stables with good intentions of making the horses happier.

However, in both cases the mirrors were by their feed buckets or haynets and the horses were possessive over their feed.

In my opinion the mirrors just made them more stressed.

Please, if you are going to spend money on a mirror for your horse, spend a little time thinking about where to put it and whether it's something your horse needs to be introduced to gradually.

We all want to do what's best for our horses, so we just need to stop and think whether a mirror will help or hinder.

Do you agree with Emmie's views? If so, click here to vote