Husbandry for Happiness
How is your horse’s lifestyle serving them and how can we change it for the better?
What is Husbandry for Happiness?
Husbandry for Happiness is ensuring the horse’s lifestyle and management are appropriate for their needs both as a species and as an individual.
Horses as a species are nomadic herd animals. They need movement, company, and plenty of time each day foraging. The three ‘F’s by Lauren Fraser of Forage, Freedom, and Friends gives an excellent framework for their lifestyle. How we set this up will depend on various practicalities and our management in addition to their lifestyle also matters - what we feed and how we deliver that, how we care for their feet and their teeth, and how we go about exercising them.
Horses as individuals living in a domesticated setting also have certain specific needs, including if they have health problems or injuries, but also for the prevention of these developing in the first place.
As a vet, I keep seeing that husbandry (lifestyle and day-to-day care) is inextricably linked to health (or disease) and also, importantly, to happiness. Horses are our friends as well as our partners in various athletic pursuits (or not - ridden, non-ridden, and everyone in between is so welcome here). So naturally, we not only want them to be healthy, but also to be happy.
Husbandry for Happiness is my term for how we as humans can provide this for our horses, whether they are currently totally well and we want them to have peace, rest, fun, and interest in their lives and to prevent potential problems developing, or whether they are currently unwell, injured, or showing behavioural signs.
Coming soon: Husbandry for Happiness online course
• What is the importance of a species-appropriate lifestyle for horses’ health and happiness and how does it ensure these?
• Why and how does forage and feed delivery affect health and happiness?
• What effect do the teeth and the feet have on injury risk and perpetuation, and other body systems such as the gut and metabolism?
• What is ideal, and what can you do in your specific situation?
Launching September 2026
This is for you if:
• You want to understand and provide for the deep roots of your horse’s health and wellbeing
• You prioritise the way your horse feels - happiness, as opposed to only the absence of disease or injury
• You want to be able to ask a vet questions about what might be specifically needed for your horse’s lifestyle and care
Meet your coach
Hi, I’m Lily, I have been a vet since 2016, initially in general mixed practice, and over the last few years I have changed my approach and now run a whole horse veterinary rehabilitation boarding track system in West Sussex, UK. As well as my patients, my own horses, particularly Sunny and Beau (pictured here) have taken me on quite a journey and have guided me through developing this new approach.
My passion is helping people and animals to live their best life together by nurturing their all-round wellbeing and unique partnership. I am fascinated by all aspects of wellbeing from how the body functions in health and disease to how we all learn, think and feel, and how all of this is intertwined. I want to help people on their journeys of discovering how to keep horses’ bodies and minds healthy, comfortable, active and engaged and to explore the integral role of both the horse’s and our emotions in all of this.
My approach combines my veterinary background with knowledge of species-appropriate lifestyle, pain physiology, posture and locomotion, trimming and dentistry for posture and soundness, and remedial exercise, as well as learning theory, trauma-informed horsemanship, and cooperative care training. I am not only a vet, but also a Postural Rehabilitation Professional, trimmer and dentist, and trainer. I offer a broader and deeper view on the investigation and treatment of health conditions than I used to as purely a vet, and help horses and humans to better communicate and heal.
I look forward to meeting you and your horses!
