Horse Home Care
What a wonderful situation to be in where you can get up each morning and venture down to the barn and greet your friends that greet you with a winney, or body language that says please hurry up because we are really, really hungry. Having your horses on the same property that you reside is a blessing. Not only is it convenient, but you won’t miss the endless moments of fun and humor horses bring to us.
So, if you feed them at eight o’clock, try not to make it any later than eight thirty. Afternoon feeding should be the same, and if you can even split the daily rations into a third feeding, even better yet. I understand that having at least one to three acres of land per horse is not always possible, but this is a recommendation for the better health of your horse.
Stall Maintenance and Safe Fencing Practices for Horses
If you have stalls to clean, clean them every day. This means not only taking out the manure but the urine. Horses like to lay down, some several times a day or several times in the evening. That is why it is important to keep sufficient bedding underneath of them. Also, the more bedding you use as a general rule, the cleaner your horse will stay. Barely covering the bottom of the stall really is not sufficient. Some horses urinate a lot so you need enough bedding to absorb this and make it comfortable for your animal.
Choosing the Right Fencing for Horse Safety
When building paddocks, there should be at least six to eight feet in between each paddock. This way the horses cannot fuss at each other over the fence. Not only do they tear the fences down but risk injury that not only can be costly but can put them out of commission for riding, for long periods of time.
Stall Maintenance and Safe Fencing Practices for Horses
Make sure the distance in between paddocks is large enough to get grass cutting equipment into that area easily. Try to set up your paddocks in a logical way that makes easy access and easy to keep a watchful eye on them. If your property does not have a sufficient amount of trees for shade, remember to limit the amount of time horses must spend in the harsh sun, rain or severe cold. For example, horses in hot weather should be brought inside during the day out of the sun and turned out at night when it is cooler unless you have a severe bug problem.
Cold weather horses should be out during the day where the sun can warm them and in at night.
As far as water, good old bath tubs with the fixings removed, large stainless steel fifty or one hundred gallon tubs are available or automatic waterers are available in many varieties. Remember having a constant amount of fresh clean water available for your horse is imperative. Water is a nutrient that they must replenish as needed. Dehydration can be deadly.
