By: Matthew M. Brendal
H HEALTH CARING Horses are gregarious by nature and take care of each other by taking turns looking for predators, mutual grooming and other team efforts. By owning a horse you have made yourself part of the herd and hopefully the leader. As the leader your care for the horse is very important, this includes daily grooming and inspection. Grooming is a very powerful bonding and training tool. Horses love to be groomed and several studies have shown than a horse frequently groomed will be healthier both physically and mentally. Grooming rids the horse of external parasites, helps bring blood to the skin and bonds the horse to the groomer. I like to use a brush as training tool on young horses to relax to touch and enjoy/look forward to being touched. Grooming Horses should be groomed daily before & after be ridden. You should wash your horse but, use only hair shampoo or medicated shampoo. Purchase good quality brushes, cheaper one fall apart or they are not as effective as they should/could be. Several brushes are on the market but the ones that you will need are: Rubber hand brush - Fleshy parts horse Curry comb - Fleshy parts of horse for mud/dirt removal Mane & tail comb - Thin and comb mane & tail Stiff bristle brush - Remove mud/dirt from most of horse Soft bristle brush - Face and lower legs and finish coat Your horse’s hooves should be cleaned once a day and inspected for injuries or other problems. Daily cleaning will help reduce chances of thrush and help the horse feel more comfortable. Hooves should also be cleaned prior to and after being ridden. Inspect the shoes for loose nails or other problems. HEALTHY CONDITIONS Probably the easiest method to insure good health and safety is prevention. Having a clean pasture, paddock or a stall free of dangerous objects. Ensuring fences, stalls and barns are in good condition. The pasture should be free of hazardous plant life, have nutritious forage available in sufficient quantity for all animals. The pasture should also be inspected for animal burrows or other hazards a horse may discover. Horses in stalls need proper ventilation and room to relax. They also need mental simulation if the stall time per day is over 12 hours a day. Horses evolved from free roaming ancestors that traveled 15 to 20 miles a day, continuously eating small meals of grass. Most horses allowed unlimited access to roam in a pasture throughout the day will be mentally and physically healthier than a horse stalled with little access to a pasture. If you do let your horse(s) have free unlimited access to a pasture they will also need some type of shelter from the weather, hot, cold, storms or harsh weather conditions. Hoof Care MAINTAINING SANITARY CONDITIONS Cleanliness of Horse’s Housing
Dust, manure and urine can cause irritation, disease and other hazards to horses and humans. Horses have a very sensitive respiratory system. Stalls and the barn should be cleaned at least daily. Care should be taken so that the horses are not exposed to dust from sweeping.
WATER QUALITY
Water is the most important nutrient your horse will consume. It is often taken for granted that water is safe. If your horses are consuming water from a well, care should be taken not to contaminate it through a septic tank, manure piles or fecal dropping/urine of live animals. Waste storage sites should be at least 50 feet from a drilled well and at least 100 feet from a dug well or surface water such as ponds or streams. Fecal Coliforms should not be present in any water sample. 1 coliform bacteria per 100ml can cause sickness in livestock.
Water intended for horses should have a bacteria count of less than 200 bacteria per 100ml (about 3.4 fluid ounces) of water.
During and after a disaster it is very important to determine the water quality. You may want to fill containers with fresh water prior to any disaster if any warning is available.
PASTURE GRASS CARE
The care of your pasture grass may be based on region, budget, time and knowledge. Pastures should be sprayed once a year to get rid of weeds (broad leaf). You may also benefit from soil/grass testing each spring. Fertilizing once or twice a year based on the information provided from the soil/grass test results. If possible it is a good idea to mow the pasture several times a year to promote grass growth. Also rotating horses between pastures every so often based on size and forage growth will allow for better long term pasture management at less cost.
GRAINS/PELLETS/PROCESSED FEEDS
It is very important to purchase a high quality product. I can’t stress enough that the best investment for your horse is quality feed. Investigate feed companies and local feed stores to ensure they stand behind their product and most importantly are able to give educated answers to your nutritional questions. You also have to be concerned about availability or your specific feed. Ensure the feed store carries an adequate inventory so that you can always get the feed you want and don’t have settle for a lesser feed. If you and your horse travel, is that feed available nation wide? Feeds have become specialized for specific purposes, such as:
Pregnant Mares Performance Feed
Weanling to Yearling Senior Feed
Yearling to 3 Year Old Complete Feed
I like Purina feeds for several reasons, they make a quality feed, they do all their own research and they have free equine educational programs. Their website also assists you in making feed selections. Never feed a horse a feed designed for another animal.
Maintaining sanitary conditions after a horse becomes sick is important. Know how that disease is spread and what you can do to stop the infection of other horses.
Have protective clothes you can wear/clean or dispose of after cleaning the infected area. These clothes may include, rubber gloves, rubber boots, dust mask, coveralls and duct tape to seal loose clothes to boots or gloves. This clothing is to protect you from zoonotic diseases so you must clean or dispose of this clothing properly to avoid spreading to other horses or people. Clean the healthy horse’s stall(s) before cleaning the stall of a sick horse.
When cleaning the stall start low and go high. The manure and bedding may be infected so it needs to be disposed of properly as directed by your veterinarian. Put your boots on prior to entering the stall or area to be cleaned and take off prior to leaving. You may also want to place cleaning articles in a plastic bag.
Wash your hands with soap and sterilize any brushes, tools, blankets and equipment after contact with the sick horse(s). All buckets for water or feed used by a sick horse must be cleaned before letting another horse use it. There should be no sharing of water troughs between a sick horse that has a disease that may infect any other horse. When in doubt ask your veterinarian.
