Here is an excellent article for everyone.
So what are you having issues with this winter besides the
cold? Boots too cold? Scarves a hinderence? Glasses
fogging up? Gloves not right? Coat too bulky, windchill
well below zero? Not enough wood for your own fire? Got frost
bite? Vehicles wont start? Are you too hardpressed to allow
yourself even more time for proper care?
Winter is a tough time and there are a lot of horse people that
have a tendency to get real lazy in care because they themselves
are unable to cope with the cold and many of the extra chores that come
with owning a horse in the winter. Even summer is an issue with
its hot weather. All sense of commitment goes out the
window for some and reality sets in that they should not even own a
horse...well maybe we could hope reality will set in as some people
really should not own animals period.
Lets talk winter reality checks....Some will toss a blanket on
their animals thinking that it is doing their horse some good when
sometimes blanketing in the winter can be the worst thing you can
do. If the blanket gets too wet, the horse can succumb to
hypothermia. If you do not take it off regularly, you cannot tell
if your horse is losing weight, getting too fat or getting blanket
sores. In my day I have seen some real dumb horse owners even
neglect to take the blankets off long into June. Now I gotta ask,
what is with that? Winter blankets in warm weather??? Come on
now.
So, anyway, is your barn piling up with manure? Hows the
ventilation? Do you have adequate feed on hand? Running out
of feed in a two week blizzard, need I say more? Will you be able
to get it in or have to go and get it?
Many neglect care of the horses feet. Hard uneven frozen
ground can reack havoc on horses hooves and limbs. A good number
of shoulder lamenesses can occur from issues of frozen uneven
ground. Cracked hooves or bruised frogscan
occur too. Keeping a messy paddock in the fall and leaving it
go into the winter is a set up for a fall in care. Letting a
manure swill pit in your paddocks to build up and having soft
spots do not help in managing these areas in the warmer days
of winter and into spring, summer or fall. It is brutal and
cruel to the livestock to be housing them in such poor conditions and
for them to be wallowing in deep dung, no less frozen uneven dung.
And many of these situations can literally be stopped before they
occur with careful planning. But many horseowners truly do FAIL TO
PLAN. And when they run into issues, its from problems they
cause to their ownselves.
When spring rolls back in, you have other issues if your care
is not up to snuff which such. Manure management is an all year
chore. The cleaner your pens and barn, the healthier it is for
your animals and your person. Having manure build ups can
also cause worms not only to the horses, but to humans.
Tapeworms are among the ones that can infest both
species. Intestional surgery be you man or beast is no fun.
And then that brings us to are you managing your manure
properly?
So what do you do? Surpisingly, quite a few dont even manage
it well when its summer. Getting rid of the manure can be an art, not
getting rid of it properly will spell disaster. The average horse
puts out about 50 lbs of manure daily. In a course of one year,
thats a lot of poop to be standing in if you are not getting rid of
it. And thats a lot of flies and mosquitoes you will be breeding
too.
Many neglect water. Water is a problem for many. Pipes
freeze, automatic waterers build up with feed and clog and just when
you find the paddle is not working you might find it may not
have been working for days and your horse is stoved up. Well, that
is if you do not check them daily....water tank heaters can become a
great help or some can become a hazard if you neglect to fill the
tanks. And yep, barn fires through bad electrical from them can
happen 365. On water, the average full size horse takes in 20
gallons of water daily. Is yours getting enough? Can the
little pony reach the bottom of the trough? They cant get enough
it you do not make sure the adequate source is there to maintain
him . SNOW is not water.
Many neglect feed. They dont feed enough. Feeding a horse on
the ground in the same spot be it in a stall or in a paddock all
the time can be a detriment to your horses health. The feed can
get stomped into the ground and become a breeding area for pestulance
and botulism. Feed is wasted and the animals can get sick
and can die by trying to eat their spoiled feed stomped into the
ground and that is full of their dung. The feed spoils and they do
try to eat it and their dung if they are not getting enough to bid their
time.
Do you provide salt or a mineral block? 365 days a
year is a good time to have that on hand. It helps them
maintain and helps them drink water. And water helps the animals
to keep warm in the winter and cool in better weather. A horse can
lose a lot of weight in a short time if he is not keeping warm Are
they eating wood, be it the barn, the fence or a
tree?? Perhaps they are missing something like salt
and minerals in their very diet. And is that wood something that
might harm your horse?
Some animals like the old need to be monitored and more
often to make sure they are getting a balnced diet and plenty of
water. Young animals too need to be monitored. That long
winter hair can be deceiving. Monitoring them doesnt mean just
watching them it means feeling them up. Checking under that long
winter hair and/or blanket to FEEL rib condition. A quick
glance, sometimes you do not see what you surely can FEEL. Can you
check all of your animals daily? By check, I mean touch them? No
less maybe a couple of times a day? If you run into issues can you
isolate your animal to take more personal care than if you run a
herd? Do you know if your horse is passing enough urine or
manure? Can you tell if he is compacted? Compaction in the
winter due to lact of water is a serious issue. Again, water is
critical. Or does oes he have the runs? How do you know if
you do not watch him?
Old animals can have teeth issue. Do you check your animals
teeth? If he cannot chew, he cannot keep weight. Old horses
may go through a phase when they start losing teeth and until their gums
get hardened to the loss of teeth they will have trouble chewing and
keeping weight. At what age? Well that depends on his
care. Putting weight back on an old toothless horse does not
have to be difficult once you find the proper feed to maintain his
metabolism. Do your horses have to compete against each other for
rations? These are all issues care brings on.
Does he get any exersize or is he continually stall bound?
Do you score your horses condition regularly? Do you even
know how? Do you take the time to stand out in the cold to make sure
your equine friend is more than just fine? You cannot monitor things
when you are not around to learn and know.
Are you worming?
Some negligence of these things do not apply to every
horse owner, but it does to some. And sometimes its very hard to
do all things when it is sooo cold during the winter and you yourself
are trying to keep warm but its things that have to get done. I
can go on, but I think you get the picture. Owning a horse can add
up to a lot of not so fun work.
I hope you are all taking your best steps to tend your animals and
yourselves this winter.
I hope the article I have attached, the questions I proposed and
the things I brought up all will help you if you find you are
having issues in horse care. If you have taken the time to
read this, go take the same time to tend your animal. Dress warm
because in the time it took for you to read this, facts are more
than one person and more than one animal will have a serious winter
issue.
God
bless,
Karen
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