Green Horse Guide

Last year I did quite a few posts about eco & animal friendly products for horses and the people who love them. There are only so many resources to go around so shopping clean and green is important.

Keeping it Real

Let’s face it, horses are animals and all of their needs can and should be met as naturally as possible. Especially considering we’ve plucked them from their natural environment and asked them to live on our terms.

As we learn more about horses, more about our environment and more about what we can do to give the world a better future, our priorities have tochange.

Share Them With Your Friends

Here is a list of the many resources I’ve compiled, along with other great sites who have a similar ethos. Many of these products, brands & services I found via social media on my twitter and Facebook profiles.

Chemicals Don’t Make You Pretty – There are tons of products we need want for our animals. And while there is nothing wrong with pampering your horse, it’s only cool if you do it in a way that doesn’t hurt you, them or the environment.

Cruelty-Free Soft – Did you know that many conventional fabric softeners are made with rendered animal tallow? From what I’ve read that means horse fat too. That’s yucky, but there are plenty of vegan options for staying soft & here’s a big long list of them.

Give Them A Real Treat – Watching your animal’s diet is as important as watching yours. Buying organic means no GM ingredients & genetically modified products have no place in anyone’s diet. Read ingredients on mixes & treats to ensure they don’t contain syrup sweeteners (of any type) & don’t feed your animals any processed human food. Here is a great list of organic & sustainable brands.

Going Green Horse Tips – Thanks to the folks at Ecolicious Equestrian for this list of tips to make your horse world a greener one. They also sell a variety of products all made from organic & plant-derived ingredients that are purchased from biodegradable & renewable sources.

Green Horse Lovers – This list is dedicated to finding green products that work for horse people. You’ll find everything from organic leather cleaner to green mosquito repellant to recycled work boots.

How Green is Your Horse Farm? – How does your place stack up? Are you doing everything you can to keep your place clean & green? Here are a number of tips and ideas from the folks at Green Apple Horse.

Living With Real Style – This handy green lifestyle guide provides eco-friendly sources for a variety of life’s necessities like clothing, food & cleaning products. Not horse-specific, but created with horse people in mind.

Image from Cristian.torras

Never Ending Poop Factory – Horses provide us with a fresh supply of fertilizer every day, we should grow something! A guest post by Eleanor Van Natta teaches you how to compost your horses manure.

Painting Guilt-Free – Most horse girls I know hold on to a strong feminine side too, and finding cosmetics that aren’t filled with chemicals is surprisingly challenging. Here is a great list of nail polishes that you don’t have to dispose of as hazardous waste.

Real Horse Power – An interesting article from Green Living Journal about selecting and using draft horses for even more organic farming. Not all of it applies to stables, but some of it can certainly be stolen and used.

See Organic in Action – Stone Circle is a functional organic livery yard in the UK with a blog. They update regularly and provide tips and tricks for going organic.

Sleeping At Night – When you consider how many horses use bedding and how much of it is tossed every day you realize how important it is to source from sustainable manufacturers. Here’s a great list to get you started.

Supplemental Health – While I don’t generally agree with supplements as health aids, in some cases they are a necessary evil. In those cases it is important that you are using them as nature intended. Ensuring they are non-GM and come from plant-only sources is important (crude protein = ground up animal parts, BTW).

White Socks Aren’t Important to Horses – You’d be surprised what people would use to get horse socks white. If you must have them white, be humane about it. Here is a quick guide of ways you should and shouldn’t whiten horse socks.