Spring Trail Riding Safety

4:43 pm
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Are you ready to hit the trails now that winter is finally past? Spring trail riding might be the perfect antidote to all those cold arena rides you’ve put in over the past few months, but it’s not without hazards. Stay safe on the trail with these tips.

Get a good weather app. Spring and summer weather can be dangerous and unpredictable. Depending on your region’s climate, you might be dealing with potentially violent storms which crop up without warning… or maybe not. With smartphones, as long as you have cell service, you have warning […]

Prepare Your Farm for Floods

2:50 am
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A while ago I wrote about the need to have a disaster plan, https://equinefacilitydesign.com/equine-care/equine-disaster-plans.htm, recent historic flooding has reached the equestrian community, threatening the lives of hundreds of horses. Do your horses live in a flood plain? Even if the farm isn’t in an area commonly threatened by floodwaters, you might be surprised by the answer.

And even if the flood threat seems distant, consider this: extreme weather events in North America are on the rise, and urban construction only increases the risk of flooding. Rainwater which would have been absorbed […]

Alternative Horse Bedding: Corn Cobs

4:37 pm
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Ready to give shavings the boot? If you’ve been thinking for a while, “maybe using chopped up trees as horse litter isn’t the best idea,” you’re in luck. There are a variety of new, environmentally-friendly bedding choices on the market. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of one such choice, corn cob bedding.

Corn cob, ground up and processed into pellets with steam and water, creates an absorbent, biodegradable bedding for horses. The bedding composts much faster than wood shavings (some manufacturers state their bedding composts in as little as six months […]

Fans for Stables

6:56 am
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Ask an expert what a stabled horse is often lacking, and you’ll probably hear the words “fresh air.” Ventilation in barns is of utmost importance; a horse’s sensitive respiratory system is susceptible to mold, fungus, the fumes from ammonia in their soiled bedding, and dust floating through the air. Even in summertime, with all the windows flung open, a barn can be a place of still, unmoving air, which exacerbates heat problems as well.

All sorts of fans exist to help out with still stable air, from massive ceiling fans to discount-store box fans. Which fan is […]

Wildlife-Friendly Farms

11:33 pm
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Sharing our farms with wildlife is one of the privileges of country living. Farms serve a vital role in providing green space and habitat to a wide variety of animals who might not find places to survive in suburbs and urban spaces. But it comes with challenges–how do we keep our horses and other domestic animals safe from hazards wildlife might bring? And how do we protect wildlife which might be squeezed out of habitat by construction elsewhere?

Native animals: Animals granted wide-ranging habitats are more genetically diverse, which is good for the species overall. Even […]