happyhealthyhorses

To blanket your horse or not…

happyhealthyhorses — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 02:38:59 +0000

With winter quickly approaching, the question many horse owners ask is:

Should I blanket my horse or not? Take a minute to take our survey and then we will talk about this topic in our next post!

The Joy of Grooming

happyhealthyhorses — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:35:00 +0000

Your horse depends on you for their basic needs. Food, clean water, shelter, exercise and time to socialize with their friends are all important, but so is the time you spend grooming your equine friend. Often the benefits are much more than skin deep! This is time to build your relationship and trust with your horse, it is also a great time to establish firmly, but not in a mean way, that you are the leader of this two member herd. By balancing demand for respect with reward for cooperation, you can quickly establish that you are a fair leader worthy of your horse’s respect.

The benefits on a physical level are great too. Horses enjoy grooming each other and will often find objects to rub their bodies on, so it goes to show that horses love to be groomed. Respect goes both ways, and I find that instead of just rushing from one grooming tool to another, I like to show my horse what we are doing next. I let them look and smell the hoof pic or brush, and then I proceed on in a loving manner. While going over your horses body, inspect closely so that you don’t miss cuts, abrasions, insect bites, swelling or problems with the hooves. Groom often, not just before you ride to help your horse look and feel great. Your time spent grooming should be enjoyable for both you and your horse. Happy grooming!

Zippy and Kashi Grooming

Catch colic quick and turn it around

happyhealthyhorses — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 01:51:48 +0000

Being familiar with your horses routines and behaviors helps you catch a bout of colic early on. This, and some quick action on your part is key to fast turnaround. First get your horse off the ground and keep them from going down again to prevent them from rolling. Colic can get serious fast if a horse is allowed to roll which can cause their intestines to twist. Get some Pepto Bismol into them to coat the stomach and settle it. A homeopathic remedy I also like to use is called Nux Vomica. Usually by the second dose of Nux Vomica given 15 minutes apart we start to see the horse become a little more comfortable. Walk the horse just enough to keep them from rolling but not so much as to wear them out. Making them move often helps get the digestion moving along again, and within a short time you may start to see manure and/or gas pass as your horse starts to stabilize. In most cases you can turn your horses colic around quickly, so keep Pepto on hand and visit your local health food store for homeopathic remedies, and you can help your horse feel better in a flash!

Let Horses Be Horses

happyhealthyhorses — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:44:53 +0000

So much of what we do to and for our horses is for our convienence, with little or no thought given to our horses real needs. It’s amazing to see what happens when we put our horses needs first!

Even though there are limitations to what we can do in a farm setting, with a little forethought and creativity we can make great strides towards giving our horses just what they need. For example, turnout time for horses can be greatly improved in several ways. Horses are herd animals who naturally live in a group with other horses. When we ignore our horses need to have social interaction with other horses, problems often develop. Have you ever seen a horse with neurotic behaviors, like pacing, head bobbing or weaving, cribbing or wood chewing? Well, many of these behaviors are created by ignoring the horses need for social interaction and keeping them locked up in a box stall for too many hours alone. Horses who are turned out with other horses from a young age don’t develop these behaviors. Horses need to see, touch and feel other horses. They need to develop a dominance heirarchy between themselves, even if it’s just two horses, and they need to develop friendships. The more hours of turnout the better. In your horses opinion, being turned out 24/7 with their herd in a pasture or even with with a big roll of hay to “graze ” on is an ideal life.