Anything For Animals

posted by admin on May 30

There are so many Top Tips I can think of for your horses and ponies - that I had to give you another 10!

Lets not hang around, so here they are:

1) If your horse is difficult to catch from the field, then keep a bit of crackly paper in your pocket with the treats, so that he is a bit more interested in you in the first place - then once close enough, the treat should do the job!

2) If he is outside a lot in the winter, then leave his ‘feathers’ untrimmed as they will act as a natural ‘drainpipe’ to channel the excess rainwater from his legs - helping reduce the chances of cracked heels.  Adding Vaseline to the heels will also help as well.

3) If your horse needs entertaining in his stable, why not drill a hole through a large turnip (or similar) and hang it from the wall!  This should give him something to amuse himself with - and a tasty treat too!

4) If your horse is too greedy and finishes off his hay too quickly, then make the holes smaller in his hay-net.  Use spare baler twine to form a smaller grid across the existing holes around the middle and bottom!

5) And, if you are feeling creative, then why not make him a new (or first) fly fringe out of baler twine for the warmer weather - particularly if he has a sparse forelock to do the job naturally.

6) Smear a little Vaseline around the tops of the overreach boots if he hasn’t worn them for a while as they could chafe a little to get started.

7) Change the type of wormer you use every other year so that the worms in your area don’t get immune to the preparations.  And always worm at the same time as your whole yard to make a more effective job of it!

8.) If your horses don’t like their medication, you could always mix it with black treacle, or something equally sticky, and wipe it on their tongue - this way they won’t be able to spit it out!

9) Water in your stable should be changed very regularly as it can absorb ammonia from the horse excrement quite easily and will become quite unpleasant to smell and drink - which could eventually make your horse ill.

10) And finally, another comfort one - make sure that you check the fitting of your horses saddle several times a year especially if you are changing their activity.  A horses shape will change quite noticeable with different feeds and/or different amount of exercise from summer to winter.

If you have any of your own tips - please add them in the comments section - or feel free to read 10 Top Show Tips For Your Horses Equestrian Career.