Posts by Matt | Equestrian Barns & Architecture: Start Living the Dream

Warm Horse, Happy Horse: Three Strategies For Keeping Your Horse Comfortable All Winter Long

8:38 pm

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Whether you live in the balmy south or the shivery north, winter will arrive on your doorstep sooner or later.

Horses stay warm very naturally on their own: their coats turn fluffy on the coldest, windiest days because they quite literally turn their hair up to block the chill. When the hair follicles stand on end, a warm jacket of insulating air is kept close to the skin. It’s kind of like goose bumps in humans, except that getting goosebumps, for us, just tells us to find our jackets.

But what if your horse doesn’t have […]

American Towns Built Around Horses

8:34 pm

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Misc.

Horsetown USA: Three American Cities With Horses in Their DNA

No matter what your discipline is, chances are you can strike up a conversation with any horseman. We might have different saddles and ideas about the length of a horse’s mane, but we’ve got similar passions when you come right down to it, and similar needs, too, like green-space preservation, or access to a variety of feed and farm suppliers.

In some spots, the benefits of horsemen sharing their needs has resulted in some pretty special places. They’ve got beaches and mountains, corrals and […]

Are Your Blankets Ready For Winter?

8:30 pm

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Equine Care

All across the country, horse owners are wrinkling up their noses, putting on their brave faces, and pulling out their horse blankets from storage.

Whether you fold them neatly into tack trunks (and if you do, we commend you!) or stuff them into trash bags and knot them up, hoping for the best, that fateful moment when you realize you actually have to get those blankets out is always fraught with nervousness: what if they smell, what if there were moths, what if there’s a spider?

Once you’ve brushed the dust off your face and stopped […]

Horse Camping Basics

7:37 pm

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Misc.

Ah, fresh air! The breeze in the pine trees!

A trail winding through the hills, to the perfect campsite, a place to pitch your tent beside a babbling stream. You’ll go fishing, and in a cast-iron skillet over a Boy Scout quality campfire, cook your fresh-caught dinner with simple satisfaction. After you make up your horse’s pen, of course.

What, you’d go camping and not take your horse? That’s just mean. Your horse wants to go visit new and wild locations, too. He’s not the only one who could use a […]

Four Amenities Your Private Barn Needs

4:34 pm

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Facility Planning & Design

Simple is best, right? Just you, your horses, a space to ride and a space to turn-out… what else could a happy horseman want?

Not so fast. For one thing, private barns have a way of becoming semi-private barns fairly easily. Oh, your friend Denise needs a place for her horse to stay during the equestrian festival! What? Your coworker can’t afford the board at her dressage barn anymore? Come on over, we have a spare stall!

And even if you manage to maintain your privacy, sometimes the walk (or golf-cart-ride) between the […]

Summer Isn’t Over Yet: Four Horse Biographies to Read Right Now

4:08 am

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Misc.

Yes, summer is almost over. Kids are going back to school, the locusts are singing their good-bye song, and shop windows are full of scarves and sweaters.

But don’t give up the end of your summer! There are still a few more weeks before Labor Day. You still have time for a little summer reading.

Get you to the beach or the lake, and pack your beach-bag with horsey reads. Here are four horse biographies to help you savor the last days of summer.

The Eighty-Dollar Champion By Elizabeth Letts

You’ve […]

An Equestrian in Saratoga: Three Things to See and Do in America’s Oldest Horse Racing Town

2:40 am

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Misc.

2013 marks the 150th anniversary of Thoroughbred horse racing at Saratoga Springs, New York.

Equestrians think of Saratoga for its high-bred horses, and it is truly one of those special towns where the horse is celebrated in every way. If you’re visiting Saratoga Springs as an equestrian tourist – what better way to travel, right? – here are three fantastic must-sees in Saratoga.

Big Red Spring

This beautiful town became a part of the upper-class for its springs – a series of unique, naturally carbonated mineral springs, each with its own purported health benefits. There […]

Changing Routine – Creating a Flexible Feeding Schedule

5:30 am

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Equine Care

Is your horse turning into a very large alarm clock?

For centuries (or at least for decades) horse-people have had a rule drummed into their heads: Feed Horses At The Same Time Every Day. If you don’t keep your horses’ feeding schedule tight, you run the risk of colic.

Well, that idea has some merit. If you feed your horses at the same time every day for five years, and then one day you show up half an hour late, somebody might have gotten so worked up into a frenzy over his empty feed bucket that […]