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  • From: "Lila Corey" <Caballera@embarqmail.com>
  • To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Winter Reality Checks....
  • Date: Wed, 6 Jan 2010 07:54:50 -0500

Karen,
Thanks for sending this article.  It reminds me in print why I have asked my last boarder to leave my barn.  I asked them last week, if they remembered the last time they even picked the horses feet?  Their answer was I am not sure---I said I WAS cause I was the one having to do their work.  (These folks don't need a horse--and I told them so - and they have 3 months to find a place to put it other than here).  I told them I wasn't gonna watch them "neglect" their horse anymore.  It makes me livid.
Lila
----- Original Message -----
To: MSAR
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 12:43 AM
Subject: [MSAR] Winter Reality Checks....

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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