horse mirrors?

[michelle c]

i have read a few things in mag's about horse mirrors in trailers, and that although it is not as good as having a real horse companion, it is the next best thing and studies have shown that horses have less anxiety when they have a mirror, than just being on their own!!!

does anyone have a mirror? and what do they think of it?

i was thinking of getting one for my mare to go in her stable, as she is not 100% settled!!! i know the best thing is for her to be out, but she had lammie last year and had to stay in for 2 months so would not like to take the risk of seeing if she would be ok living out!!

[mayoguinness]

um, strange idea, guess it would depend on the horse;)

[jovi_y2k2]

I know a girl did her thesis on this last year and she won thesis of the year or something like that and did find that mirrors do help. I got one of those cheap mirror roll things (like mirrored sticky back plastic) and put some of that in my trailer and I'm not totally sure if Star pays much attention to it anymore but the first few times we put him in he got quite excited by the sight of "this other horse" and would always neigh at him! and he does travel quite peacefully.
We have mirrors in the indoor school at uni and if i loose school star in there, he makes a beeline for the mirrors and just stands there gawping at his reflection and blowing at the "other horses" nose, like they would for real.

[Peanut]

I used to ride a horse that kicked and everytime we passed the mirror in the indoor school the daft horse gave himself a whopping kick in the mirror! :p

[capalldubh]

Mmm, I think the posts are really quite interesting - it sounds as though it would depend entirely on how your horse felt about other horses. So if you had a horse that had quite a big personal space and didn't like other horses coming into it, the sudden appearance of another horse in their stable could be quite upsetting. If you had a chilled out horse that liked approaching other horses and was quite sociable, but didn't like being alone, it might be quite a pleasant thing to have a new neighbour.

OTOH, how a horse would react to another horse that it could see, but couldn't touch, hear or smell would be interesting. I wonder did the person who did the thesis compare the effect of a mirror with an actual real live neighbour?

[jovi_y2k2]

OTOH, how a horse would react to another horse that it could see, but couldn't touch, hear or smell would be interesting. I wonder did the person who did the thesis compare the effect of a mirror with an actual real live neighbour?

The thesis measured the levels of stress the horse experienced (i think by using a heart rate monitor and visual behaviour) when it travelled alone, with another horse and alone but with a mirror. the results showed that the horse was most relaxed with another horse, but was more relaxed with a mirror than when it was travelling alone

[martini55]

I'm not sure about use in stables, but:

http://www.equinescienceupdate.co.uk/mirror2.htm

[jovi_y2k2]

I'm not sure about use in stables, but:

http://www.equinescienceupdate.co.uk/mirror2.htm

Thats the research I was referring too, thanks Martini!

[capalldubh]

Thanks for the link - it's really interesting to see people doing research like that :)

[Skye94]

At my old work there was a horse called Clyde who was really vain and just looked at himself all the time.. then Lorenz went into that stable, all hell broke loose. first he wouldnt leave "bob"(the reflection horse in the mirror) alone and kissed him and snorted at him.. then when you had to catch Lorenz he used to kick bite and lunge at you or Bob.. so i had to speak to bob for 5 mins so Lorenze got jelous and caught, every morning his bed is horrible due to his fights with bob.. eventually bob came down :p

[EnduranceAli]

If Frayne sees her reflection in a window, then she always neighs at the lovely looking Exmoor Pony :D I wonder if a mirror in Mitzy's stable would help her when I go out with Frayne on a hack - she spends most of the time box walking whilst we are out, so not sure if she would even notice her reflection :confused: Ali xx

[Chilli]

http://www.companionmirrors.co.uk/research.php

[michelle c]

meg loves to stare at the mirror in the indoor school and is quite fasinated with herself, so i dont think she would mind one in her stable, it would be especially usefull when the rest of the ponies are out!!!! :D she used to live in stables where there were boards on the bottom half of the stable and mesh on the top, and she loved that because she could see everyone, but in the ones now the only way to look out and see another horse is to look over the stabe door!!!!

i think i will have to get saving for that mirror!!!:p