LETTER OF THE WEEK

Sir — With regard to your recent news item on overrugged horses (28 September), I would like to raise another concern — about the ever-popular trend of splitting paddocks with electric fencing into squares for maximum individual turnout.

Doing this robs the horses in the middle of this grid of any shade or shelter and, with the fence being electric, it makes mutual grooming very tricky.

In many aspects of horse husbandry, owners keep themselves well informed with regard to check-ups from the chiropractor, dentist and so on. But we seem to be getting so caught up in new technologies that a horse’s basic natural needs are sometimes forgotten. Andrea Moreton Bozeat, Northants