Posts Tagged ‘Horse Care’

I know owning a horse needs more than just riding, but im actually learning faster at the caring than i am at the actual riding. I haven’t been riding long at all, but think i know all the basics in Horse Care. How long you recommend riding for, before considering to buy or lease a horse? And if anyone has any basic Horse riding/ Horse care questions, i’d be willing to try and answer them.

A friend gave me an Arabian gelding that had been left for five years on her property by the previous owner. She still has the registration papers, but I have been paying for horse’s care for five months. We have had a bit of a disagreement about an unrelated topic, so I am worried that she could take the horse away since she still has his registration papers. Is this possible? Do I have any legal options?

In today’s society about 20% of families in the United States own more than one horse.

Thousands of other families living in urban or suburban communities with small acres of land and some with no land at all would like to own a horse or two. Many of these families have very little to no knowledge in owning horses in the suburbs or urban horse keeping.

Owning horses or a horse can be a very enjoyable, exciting, educational experience, for the young and old. Or it can also be a dangerous unpleasant experience if the proper knowledge of horse keeping in the suburbs is not pursued previous to buying a horse.

To many people, horses are simply beautiful creatures. But prospective horse owners should look beyond the appearances and know that there are many differences to horses many different responsibilities to owning a horse in urban areas as opposed to rural & agricultural areas.

-You need to learn about buying and how to buy a horse.
- Horse care & handling
- You also need knowledge of horse equipment.

You must also have the proper facility or accommodations for your horse if you have a small piece of land. You’re going to need a proper horse barn or shed, proper turnout area or run, also how are you gonna keep your horse or horses exercised?

There are many other things to consider, such as how many horses does your community permit per acre? How are your neighbors going to react to you having a horse or horses? Are they going to be comfortable with it and the possible smell of urine & horse poop, depending on how close or far you are from their property? Another thing to think about is what are you going to do with the muck after you clean the stall or paddock? Do you have the room to compost it or are you going to need a company or someone to pick it up? Where are you going to store hay and feed? Where will you store your horse trailer if you decide you want show with your horse or do some trail riding? Lastly consider what will be the cost to keep your horse at home, for feeding and maintenance etc…?

If owning a horse in the suburbs you may want to consider boarding your horse at a local horse boarding facility so you need to consider how much that will cost you as well.

See more Ideas Information & Tips at:
Horsekeeping Maintenance & Horse Grooming

God’s Horsemanship

Author: Gary Houston
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Horses are one of the true rare gifts given us; these wonderful animals pour their hearts out for us, many of which have given their lives for us as well. The countless hours spent on their backs, hundreds of hours being put to work for a variety of services, and the pure visual pleasure we experience just as viewers as we study their magnificence all bring rich reward to the human experience.

Three day events, steeple chase, dressage, endurance, racing, cutting, jumping and more all testing the limits and boundaries of performance. The willing horses guided by the human element straining and pouring themselves into what is being asked of them. Truly a marvel to behold.

With this type of use comes the importance of the utmost of care, strict feed guidelines, training regimens, rest and recovery periods, and not last and certainly not least the care of the horses feet, the latter in all reality probably at the top list of most important elements in proper horse care.

The proper care of horses’ feet cannot be underestimated or undermined. If you were to go the the hospital for any kind of medical treatment would you not want the utmost of care and attention to detail taken? Would you request or surrender yourself to a surgeon whose training has been about speed rather than quality. Without hesitation the answer to the last question would be a resounding “No.” Would anyone submit themselves to some kind of personal care where speed of execution took precedence over proper procedure? Of course not.

The Farrier industry on the other hand seems to have no problem still putting on “Speed Shoeing Contests”. The farrier industry upon further examination is still lagging behind on proper shoeing insights. The industry still operates out of “Old School Thought”. The many industry standard textbooks on shoeing practices are flawed. What Farrier schools are teaching is still not up to speed. Yet at nearly every major horseshoeing convention or AFA events there are still being held “Speed Shoeing Contests”. It just seems to boggle the imagination when thinking about this fact.

Why would anyone want to see how fast they could get a shoe on a horse’s foot? Isn’t the idea really to get the shoeing done correctly? Would you want someone giving you a haircut doing it as fast as they possibly could? It just defies logic. Yet speed shoeing contests persist. The industry needs improving and updating.

From out of the industry and schools are the Farriers that take care of the horses. Armed with incomplete and flawed information the Farriers are simply dangerous to the animals. This is a fact that needs investigating. The horses we all love so dearly are the ones being put at risk by these improper practices. How many horses have been ruined as a result? The question becomes what can be done about this. The truth is there is something available that can bring the whole industry up to speed. It’s information, understanding and comprehension to new methods. And these methods are available.

If you wish to be on the cutting edge find out for yourself and enlighten yourself to what these methods are you can do so by visiting the web page below in the author bio. This method has been in practice with a 100% track record over the past 16 years. Not one single lame horse. You can find yourself becoming a part of the movement to Care4Horses.

Reprint rights allowed providing nothing be changed.

Author bio: John Silveira a farrier in the Bay Area California. Information for the enlightenment of anyone interested in learning the truth about shoeing can be found at : http://www.Care4Horses.com

Author: John Silveira
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Does your horse have a weak topline?

Some horses just have conformation that promotes a weak topline. Whether your horse is swaybacked or loses his topline when he isn’t in training, a weak topline is never pretty. Luckily, there are three simple ways that you can help any horse build a stronger, better-looking topline.

#1: Build Your Horse’s Topline with Backing

When your horse walks backwards, he has to engage the muscles in his back and hindquarters, especially if he lowers his head while backing. Teaching your horse to back with his head down is a valuable time investment for two reasons:

1. It increases his topline

2. It puts him in a relaxed state because horses relax when their heads are low

At first, your horse may only want to back with his head up high. You may have to spend some time in the beginning teaching him to back with his head down low. Sometimes holding a treat down low can encourage your horse to drop his head.

I sometimes break the exercise into two pieces: dropping the head and backing. To teach my horse to lower his head, I crouch down low and gently tug on the lead rope. Most horses are curious enough to drop their heads and see what I’m doing. I reward that action with a treat. Next, I get teach him to lower his head while I’m standing up, again using a treat as a reward. Finally, I teach him to keep his head low while backing.

This may take several days, as some horses actually don’t know how to engage the correct muscles to back with their head low. At first, one of my horses could only take a step or two backward with his head in the correct position. It took several days before he could engage the correct muscles and back 10 steps or more.

Once your horse has learned to back with his head dropped, back him every day for 100 steps. This exercise will build the muscles in his topline, including his neck, back, and hindquarters. The results are actually surprisingly quick. You should see a difference in 2 weeks or so.

#2: Feed Your Horse on the Ground and Use Ground Toys

If you feed your horse in hanging bucket or manger, this may be contributing to his poor topline. To build a strong topline, horses need to stretch the muscles and ligaments in their topline. Feeding them on the ground will definitely help. In addition, consider using a ground toy that dispenses feed. There are a lot of options on the market, including the Nose-It, the Likit Snak-A-Ball, and the Amazing Graze toy.

These toys all roll around on the ground, which encourages your horse to keep his head down for long periods of time, thus stretching his topline muscles. When these muscles are stretched, they develop mass more easily.

I’ve used all three of the toys mentioned above, plus a few others that are no longer on the market. They work well because the slow dispensing of feed keeps your horse interested for longer than a non-food toy. It also keeps him engaged for longer than his normal hay or grain allotment.

One additional benefit is that having your horse stretch his topline is that this prevents his withers from “getting stuck,” which is the case in a lot of horses that are “built downhill.” They are not actually built that way, but their withers are stuck so they look downhill. Once their withers are released, they will have a more balanced-looking topline.

#3: Feed Raw Coconut Oil

This works well for horses who are fat all over except over their topline. For some reason, the calories from raw coconut oil go to a horse’s topline. Most horses that have this problem of being fat but having no topline have a Shao Yin personality type. These horses can be absolute pudges, yet look swaybacked and ewe-necked. So it’s coconut oil to the rescue. If you have this kind of horse, here are the three resources you need:

• Get raw coconut oil at your health food store or online
• Learn more about Shao Yin and other horse personality types at the Horse Harmony website
• Type your horse’s personality online for free at the Horse Harmony Test website if you are not sure about his type

For those of you out there with topline-challenged horses, I hope these recommendations help. They have certainly helped my two horses who have this issue, even during the winter, when they are not in training. Hope these tips help your horse, too!

Stephanie Yeh is a zen cowgirl obsessed about horses, healing, natural remedies, herbs, magic, MLM, and more. Check out natural horse care tips, ways to fund your horse obsession, natural health products, and more on her blog ( http://zencowgirl.blogspot.com ) and order XanGo mangosteen products on her website ( http://www.mangosteengood.com ).

Author: Stephanie H. Yeh
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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I’m looking for good horse magazines out there that aren’t really focusing on western or dressage but more on jumping and tips and health care tips. Any good ones out there? Thankx.

The maintenance routine will include frequently spreading manure droppings or picking them up. Horses can wear bald patches in the ground. This typically occurs in wet weather. A useful economic tip is to spread seeds that fall from the hay onto the bald patches. This will take care of those patches with new grass in season for your horses.

Maintaining your horse pasture with a variety of grasses should be your goal for good care. Safe herbs and other plants can also be included. Some horses enjoy eating blackberries which contain vitamin C. Brambles may be left in hedges many horses enjoy eating the young leaves of these plants. Dandelions are another highly nutritious plant for horses. They are also easy to seed. Good edible plants should be encouraged in your horse pasture.

Routine pasture inspection is practical horse care. Make sure all fences are in good repair. Carefully check for any poisonous plants frequently. Most people do not have the knowledge to identify poisonous plants in their horse pasture. If you are not familiar enough with the poisonous plants for the area where you live to readily identify them, purchase a good photographic guide to poisonous plants. Inspections for these plants should take place often because seeds from these plants can blow in and sprout anytime.

Here is a list of plants using their common names that may reduce the quality of your horse pasture and those that are unsafe for horses. If you find them in you horse grazing area take care that they are removed.

• Beech – Beech mast or the fruit is poisonous to horses.
• Box – This plant is often used as a hedge for gardens.
• Bracken – This plant is not usually eaten by horses. It should be pulled up and burned because it wastes valuable grazing and spreads.
• Buttercups – Horses usually do not eat this plant but weed killers can change the taste and they may be eaten then.
• Daffodil – If growing wild can be eaten.
• Deadly night shade – Can be eaten by horses that browse a hedgerow accidentally.
• Foxglove – Not usually eaten but it commonly grows in paddocks.
• Hemlock – The whole plant is deadly. Young shoots appearing in spring are sometimes eaten.
• Holly – The poisonous berries are at times eaten.
• Horse chestnut – Horses can not eat the fruit of this plant but they can eat the leaves.
• Ivy – This plant seems to do no harm is small quantities but not eaten in large amounts.
• Laburnum – If this plant is near a grazing area it should be removed, normally it is only grown in gardens.
• Oak – Consuming large amounts can cause colic in a horse and could be fatal. Sometimes a horse may crave acorns and in this case the acorns must be swept up and removed or select another pasture for the horse to graze.
• Oleander – This plant is deadly to both humans and horses. It is often used as an ornamental plant. Do not pasture a horse near this plant.
• Privet – This plant is poisonous to horses. It is commonly used as a hedge.
• Ragwort – This plant should be pulled up and burned. It can be fatal to horses.
• Yew – Poisoning from this plant happens quickly. Horses can be found dead with the plant still in its mouth.

When you are able to keep your horse in a pasture it is the best way to let him get exercise while grazing. At http://www.horse-central.com you can find information that can help you learn more about keeping your horse pastures safe and other ways to care for your horse.

Author: Fran Mullens
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Since i was little i’ve always wanted a horse. My parents always said no, because we never had the money or place to keep it. We now live in the country and my mom said i might be able to get one! I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a breed. I want a horse that is calm and just for riding. I usually ride with an english saddle. I also have taken lessons on riding and horse care.