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You are here: Horses > Horse care > Horse Management |
Horse Care Basics All Horse Owners Should Know
About Exercising, Pasture Mainenance, Bedding and More
Owning a horse is a great responsibility. Horses are, by nature, companionable
animals designed to graze in open spaces with their herd.
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While they will learn to adapt to stable life,
it is vital to exercise your horse to satisfy its physical needs. Also, a horse will become bored and
discontented if it does not have the regular company of humans and other horses.
While there is no exact acreage requirement for horses, it is generally
considered that one acre of pasture per horse is sufficient. Before pasturing
your horse, check the pasture for trash, holes in the fencing, and other
hazards. |
You must check for poisonous plants in your pasture weekly, at the very least.
The most harmful plants are yew, deadly nightshade, ragwort, foxglove,
buttercups, oak leaves and acorns, bracken, laurel, privet, meadow saffron,
castor bean, locoweed, horsetail, star thistle, and sorghum.
Your pasture must be fenced, of course, to prevent your horse from escaping or
being injured. White rail fences look great, but are costly to install and
maintain. Plain wire fencing is fine if it is well-secured to strong wooden
posts. Barbed wire is not recommended for horse fencing.
Your horse will require shelter to protect it from wind, rain, and the sun. A
natural grove of trees provides good shade, but for shelter from the elements, a
three-sided enclosure works the best. Make sure your shelter is large enough to
enable all your horses to fit inside together, and build it so the back wall
faces the prevailing wind.
Horses require a constant supply of fresh, clean water. If you plan to use a
watering bucket, you must refill it at least twice daily and whenever it is
empty. Putting the bucket inside a tire will keep it from being easily tipped
over. A watering trough, supplied by a pipe, is better, but must be checked
during winter weather to ensure the pipe and water surface have not frozen.
Proper bedding is vital for horses kept in a barn or stable. Horses should not
stand all day on a hard floor, and they will lie down to sleep or rest. Straw is
a popular bedding choice because it is inexpensive, warm, and comfortable.
However, straw occasionally contains fungal spores, and the horse will
occasionally eat straw bedding.
Dust-free wood shavings are clean and hygienic. You can also use rubber matting
for a soft resting and standing surface, but you should put straw or wood
shavings on top of it to provide warmth. Also, hemp has become a popular bedding
choice recently.
The stable must be cleaned (‘mucked out’) daily. If your horse is stabled all
day, it should be cleaned three times daily. To muck out the stable, you will
remove any droppings with a shovel and wheelbarrow, and level the horse’s
bedding.
After you have removed the droppings, separate the soiled bedding from the
still-clean bedding material. Sweep, and then clean the floor with a stable
disinfectant. After the floor is dry, return the clean bedding to its place,
then add fresh bedding material to make up for the removed soiled amount.
If your horse is stabled most or all of the day, it will require grooming daily
to keep its coat healthy. However, don’t over groom a horse that spends most or
all of its time in the pasture. The natural oils in its coat help to keep your
horse warm and dry.
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Read the next horse care article on Managing the Horse Pasture Landscape. |
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