Equine Care | Equestrian Barns & Architecture: Start Living the Dream

Keeping Senior Horses Happy

2:02 pm

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Recently, the equestrian world saw a 37-year-old pony make headlines in the UK for winning a dressage competition. The judge told Scrumpy’s rider that the spunky pony looked like a four-year-old.

While not every horse is going to be fresh as a colt well into their golden years, it’s still possible to maintain the happiness and soundness of older horses with smart senior care.

First, know your horse. Memory is faulty, and so when senior horses go downhill gradually, losing condition and good health without the changes to their body being glaringly noticeable, horse […]

The equestrian lifestyle is not for those afraid of work. Whether you have a staff of grooms or you’re mucking out after work every day, there’s going to be a certain level of physical labor in your life as long as horses are involved. Sometimes, it seems like there’s too much horsekeeping being done to get any horse-enjoyment in! That’s when a few minutes saved on daily tasks can start to add up very quickly.

Strap Down the Scissors: Yes, you can break open a hay bale by using a piece of baling […]

Cool Tips for Summer Riding

3:51 pm

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Equine Care, Products

As the dog days of summer roll in, nothing seems less appealing than putting on leather boots and a hard hat before a nice broiling ride in the sun. But training schedules wait for no one, and if you’re prepping for the fall show season, you know you can’t give up riding just because of a little sweat. (Okay, a lot of sweat.) Luckily, there are plenty of options these days to make summer riding, if not a breeze, then a lot more comfortable.

Go techie: Technical fabrics are made to wick away moisture or allow […]

Healthy Treats for Horses

12:03 pm

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Equine Care

When you’re feeling like a change from carrots and apples, what are healthy treats to feed your horses? You could buy commercially-packaged horse “cookies” from the local feed store… or you could hit the produce aisle at your grocery store! Surprise your horse and tempt his tastebuds with these healthy treats for horses.

Bananas — Most horses absolutely love bananas, and they’ll eat them peel and all. Since bananas are full of potassium, they’re a great choice when your horse has a busy day, such as a horse show or long trail ride. Bananas are […]

Horses and Summer Skin Problems

5:10 am

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Equine Care

Summer often brings a host of skin problems for horses. Hot weather, summer storms, and swarms of insects can make misery for the most resilient of horses. What are some common summer skin problems for horses, and what can we do about them?

Bug bites: Hives, wheals, and itching can be a sign of insect allergies. Reactions to no-see-ums is often called sweet itch, but any biting insect can cause itching and discomfort. This can lead to hypersensitivity and everything that comes with an itchy horse: skin damage, hair loss, infections, all caused by a horse […]

The Benefits of Equine-Assisted Therapy

5:00 am

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Equine Care, Guest Author

The following post has been provided by one of our guest authors, Daniel Matthews.

You may know someone who has a therapeutic animal. In my experience as a Community-Based Rehabilitation Specialist, I’ve seen dogs, birds, and even hamsters fulfill the ‘therapeutic animal’ role. The animal serves as a companion allowing the individual to take her or his mind off of real, or perceived, problems. The animal helps teach care and empathy for another being. By helping ease and stabilize the mind, caring for the animal becomes a form of self-care for the individual.

Now, horses are emerging […]

Stable Tips for a Happy Summer

8:51 am

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Equine Care

Everyone’s been waiting for summer, and now that it’s here, there’s a good chance we’ll find something about it that makes us anxious for fall. After all, summer has its own unique challenges for our horses, our farm, our tack, and ourselves. So here are some tips to keep your stable happy this summer.

Happy Tack
Leather does not love humid summer days. If mildew and green mold begin to creep into your tack room, it’s time for some climate control. To start, be sure you wipe your tack dry after cleaning. (We […]

Getting Gray Horses Gray Again

8:13 am

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Equine Care, Products

Gray horses do not want to be gray. They make this clear to us every time we turn around, seemingly — gray horses want to be brown, green, or black. They let us know their preference by rolling in whatever camouflage they can find, whether it’s fresh spring grass, an alluring pool of mud, or sadly, manure.

Since spring grass, brown mud, and manure are not accepted colors by any breed organization that I can think of, it falls upon we horse owners to get our horses cleaned up and back to their original colors before anyone else sees them […]