About

Horses and happiness.

Paxx Equestrian was born out of the simple belief that owning a horse is about so much more than just riding, it’s also about creating an environment where you can both thrive physically and mentally. Spending time with our horses has such a positive impact on our lives that we really wanted to make sure they were happy too. When looking into activities that may be beneficial for our horses, we learnt that encouraging natural behaviours through enrichment was one way we could help make them happier and healthier.

What is enrichment? Enrichment involves creating new opportunities or items for horses to explore and enjoy. It positively contributes towards a horse's physical and mental needs. When it comes to enrichment, food enrichment is generally a good starting place as most horses love treats. So we decided to follow that path by designing a lick mat made specifically for horses that would make it easy for owners to engage in a rewarding enrichment activity with their horse.

The Paxx Equestrian™ Original Equine Lick Mat has been designed so it is big enough and soft enough for sensitive muzzles with a nice open texture for large tongues. We did think about making it even bigger, but it's not supposed to be a feeder, it's a sometimes treat and a fun introduction to enrichment. We wanted to make it easy to clean in the sink, stick to the float or pop in the freezer. Smaller portions on the mat also also make it easier to try new foods with your horse. It has suctions on the back which will stick to a variety of surfaces as well as 4 reinforced corner holes for easy hanging (with optional brass carabiners to help maintain corner strength). You can use fresh spreads on it or freeze it. It has the potential for lots of variety.

We found a lot of information that supported our belief about how positive a lick mat could be for horses and owners. This type of enrichment activity also involves you, not just your horse playing with a toy by themselves, we thought that was a win/win! A lick mat helps encourage these natural behaviours: licking, nibbling with teeth and lips, whisker work and using sensory behaviours like taste and smell. We thought that was pretty cool! Another interesting consideration is that licking can be an effective way to promote calmness in horses by tapping into their natural instincts for relaxation as it encourages salivation, licking and movement of the jaw. Not only that, a lick mat allows you to create treats tailored to your own horses' requirements. But most importantly, we have all had so much fun discovering our horses favourite spreads whilst giving them the opportunity to practise natural behaviours.

Since designing our lick mat we have tried (some pureed or mashed); apple, carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato, molasses, honey, bananas, raisins, sunflower seeds, peppermints, strawberries, watermelon, grapes, mint, pear, cinnamon, blueberries and liquorice. A little goes a long way, you don’t need a lot of food on the mat to create a fun enriching food experience for your horse. Using your lick mat is not something you would do every day and it’s not meant to replace your normal feeding but it’s definitely a rewarding food activity to share with your horse and we believe most horses would love it.

We hope our lick mats inspire you to participate in some fun enrichment activities with your horse and our handcrafted trail reins provide you both with some unique self-expression!

Sara & Daisy
Paxx Equestrian