Hay Nets - Good Or Bad?

I used to love to look down the aisle of a barn and see hay nets hanging at the fronts of the stalls, horses lazily munching away. But I don't anymore. What was once thought of a healthy efficient way to feed your horses and save on bedding and hay in the long run since there was very little waste, is now considered unhealthy for your horse. Hay nets and permanent structured hay racks alike, are out. Studies have shown that horses inhale dust and hay particles when eating hay this way. They need to eat with their heads down. Hay on the ground is the healthiest route. It's is the natural route.

Dust of any sort, whether it be hay dust, sawdust, manure dust, or just plain old dirt dust, is a major issue when it comes to your horse's health. You want to do everything you can to make sure he or she is not inhaling unhealthy amounts of it on a daily basis. Dust is inevitable, and ideally, you want a nice airy barn. In the event you need to use fans during the summer season, be careful where you place the fans. Fans on the floor stir up dust. Fans should be placed off the floor, if possible, preferably mounted on the stall fronts, with the cords out of the way of man and horse.

Be careful when you sweep the aisle ways. Wet them down lightly first and use a broom and light strokes. You don't have to get every last dust speck. Do not use a leaf blower. I shudder at the thought. There is a fine line between diligent and fanatic. Find it and don't walk that line.

MaryAnn Myers is an equestrian, horse trainer, and environmentalist. She is the author of equine novels, "Maple Dale," "Favored to Win," "Maple Dale Revisited," and newly released, "Ellie's Crows." She lives with her family on an organic farm in Northeast Ohio, that houses rescue dogs and retirement horses. For more information about MaryAnn Myers, visit... http://www.sunrisehorsefarm.com

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Equine Mega Worming

We diligently worm our horses with the change of seasons. Some horses get wormed monthly, weekly, and even daily. Wormers are so common place; the cost of worming a horse is cheaper than having the old-fashioned fecal check done to see if your horse even has worms. Would we take an aspirin if we didn't have a headache? No. Then why are we treating our horses for a condition that they might possibly not even have? It is mind boggling that this mega-worming frenzy has become such common practice. Where does it end? Scientific speculation is that we are going to end up with super resistant, super worms. What will we do for our horses then?

Some boarding stables have strict rules about worming and the boarders are expected to comply. For stables where the horses are all turned out on the same pasture, this is a must according to the farm managers. They say you can't worm one horse unless you worm them all. I disagree. I think we need to get back to doing fecal checks on a routine basis. I think the fecal checks should be affordable. We need to re-establish a common-sense practice of only worming the horses that need wormed, and not medicate the others just because they happen to be in the vicinity.

To the horse persons lucky enough to have their own farms and their horses in the back yards, approaching this mega-worming issue becomes easier and I encourage you to talk to your veterinarians about worm management. As an added note here for those that farm organically, when you worm your horse or medicate them in any way, the subsequent resulting manure should not be composted. It is no longer a base for healthy, organic decomposition and future fertilization.

MaryAnn Myers is an equestrian, horse trainer, and environmentalist. She is the author of equine novels, "Maple Dale," "Favored to Win," "Maple Dale Revisited," and newly released, "Ellie's Crows." She lives with her family on an organic farm in Northeast Ohio, that houses rescue dogs and retirement horses. For more information about MaryAnn visit... http://www.sunrisehorsefarm.com

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A Naturally Clean Horse

I am flat amazed at the mass selection of shampoos and conditioners on the market for horses. There are shelves and shelves of them at every tack shop and feed store. Horses have oil on their skin for a reason. A mild shampoo once every couple of weeks throughout the summer and a mild conditioner for their manes and tails will suffice. If you wash all their oils away, bathing them day in and day out until they are squeaky clean, you are paving the way for skin issues; dry skin, flaky skin, and sunburn. No problem, one might say, there are products on the market for every one of those conditions, shelf after shelf and rows and rows of them. Hose your horse off between shampoos. Use plain water. It works, and chlorinated aside - depending on where you live, it's natural.

I know of a horse person whose horse started rubbing its tail morning, noon, and night. A pretty tail that would soon look straggly if this continued. Following the old adage that if a horse is rubbing its tail it needed wormed, he wormed it and the tail rubbing continued. Turns out the horse was having a reaction to the conditioner he was putting on its tail, the same conditioner that started the problem and compounded when he kept using more and more of it to try and remedy the condition. When he rinsed it all off and left it off, the tail rubbing ceased.

Diligent grooming is by far the best way to keep your horse clean. Horses love being groomed and it's good for them. It's good for us. It's best to have a separate set of grooming supplies for each horse, but if that's not possible, wash your brushes routinely with a mild shampoo. Enough said. If there is a contagious skin condition rampant in your barn, follow your veterinarian's recommendations on how to eradicate it. I know of a very admirable horsewoman that puts all her brushes in a bucket once a week and soaks them in a little vinegar and hot water. On any given day you can pull up to her barn and see the brushes and combs drying on the fence posts in the sun.

MaryAnn Myers is an equestrian, horse trainer, and environmentalist. She is the author of equine novels, "Maple Dale," "Favored to Win," "Maple Dale Revisited," and newly released, "Ellie's Crows." She lives with her family on an organic farm in Northeast Ohio, that houses rescue dogs and retirement horses. For more information about MaryAnn Myers visit... http://www.sunrisehorsefarm.com

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Dust-Free Hay

It goes without saying that you want to feed good hay, with little or no dust. That's a given. But it's rare to find totally 100% dust-free hay, simply because of the process of how hay grows and is baled. It's vegetation growing in dirt! Dry dirt is dust. It gets dustier if there has been a rain within a few days before bailing. It gets moldy if it rains just before and is too damp or got rained on after it was cut and lay in the field and was then baled. I can smell mold and mildew a mile away, I am allergic to it. But even if I wasn't, mold and mildew shows up in other ways, no pun intended.

If you pick up a flake or two of hay and it's heavier than the others, chances are it has mold in it. Sniff, (From an arm's distance if you're like me). If it smells musty, open it up and look. Mold is obvious and so is mildew. If it's even slightly iffy, don't feed it. Better safe than sorry. If hay has a significant amount of dust in it and does not smell musty or moldy, you can choose to soak it, hose it down, or return it. If it's just a light amount of dust, shake it out and wet it down. In a perfect world, all hay would be dust-free. This isn't a perfect world. If it were, all hay would be cut a week or so after a good rain; it would lay row after row curing in a sunny field for days before being baled. And it would smell like fresh green grass.

MaryAnn Myers is an equestrian, horse trainer, and environmentalist. She is the author of equine novels, "Maple Dale," "Favored to Win," "Maple Dale Revisited," and newly released, "Ellie's Crows." She lives with her family on an organic farm in Northeast Ohio, that houses rescue dogs and retirement horses. For more information about MaryAnn Myers visit... http://www.sunrisehorsefarm.com

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11 Ways to Keep the Confined Horse Happy

Most horses are happiest living in a pasture, and if your horse gets injured, most minor injuries will heal just as well with the horse turned out. Occasionally, however, a serious injury requires stall confinement. Prolonged stall confinement can lead to stomach ulcers or vices, such as cribbing or weaving. Here are 11 ways you can keep your confined horse happy.

1. If possible put your horse in a stall or small pen that is open where the horse can see out on all sides.

2. Put another horse or companion animal in another stall close by.

3. Keep hay in front of the horse at all times. If your horse gets too heavy, you can use a hay net with smaller-than-normal holes to slow down hay consumption.

4. Cut the grain portion of the diet in half but do not decrease supplements.

5. Add additional nutritional and digestive support so your horse will have the nutrients he needs to heal as quickly as possible. I like Simplexity Essentials for nutrition and digestive support, and Noni or Xango juice for extra antioxidants. KLPP, Fastrack or Probi digestive products are other options for digestive support.

6. Put hanging balls or lick toys in the stall to give your horse something to play with. Some horses like cones or balls with handles to push around.

7. The flower essence Rescue Remedy can be added to your horse's water to help keep your horse calm. The homeopathic remedy chamomile is another option to calm some horses.

8. If your horse starts to get irritable or goes off feed, he may be developing ulcers. Products such as Succeed, UF, green clay or aloe/slippery elm are all options for healing and preventing ulcers.

9. Calming herbs such as Relax Blend can be useful for some high-energy horses who have to be confined.

10. Hand walk your horse several times a day if possible. Taking the horse to the arena to watch other horses work, or out to graze can have a huge effect on his mental attitude. Some ground exercises can be done to keep your horse limber and focused.

11. Get body work done to keep your horse comfortable and help prevent compensation muscle spasms that can cause further lameness.

Performance horses who have to be confined regularly can benefit from some of these same actions. Research shows that confinement is one of the most common reasons for ulcer development so it is worth going to the extra trouble to keep it as stress free as possible. Vices that develop during time kept in a stall may persist even after the horse is turned back out.

Last but not least, the time your horse must be kept up can be used for bonding. More attention to grooming and scratching those itchy spots can make your horse appreciate you, and this will serve you well when training resumes.

Madalyn Ward, DVM, is a recognized author and veterinarian in the field of holistic horsekeeping. For free tips on horse health, horse personality types, laminitis, and horse nutrition, plus one-stop shopping on holistic horse products, visit http://www.BuyHolisticHorse.com and her blog at http://blog.horseharmony.com.

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Taking the Trauma Out of Tacking Up a Horse

The mysteries of tacking take a while to get to grips with when you first start riding. Horse back riding lessons, where you get an already tacked up horse, don't prepare you for the 'real thing', i.e. taking up your own horse, getting on the right equipment, getting everything in the right place, and making sure it is all safe enough to get on.

Even though you may know how to tack up in a logical, methodical sort of way, actually getting the job done with a live animal, that doesn't necessarily agree about the tacking up bit, can be difficult. If you are new to it, you'll likely have shaky hands, the horse will spit out the bit, spook at the saddle and stand on your foot. All this while you're trying to look confident as the whole looks on furtively to sus out just how much you really know about horses.

The thought of riding a horse can be nerve racking enough without the added trauma of tacking up. So, if you want to give yourself an easier time, separate the two into distinct stages. If you worry about tacking up, and know it will take ages, make you nervous and bad tempered, and on top of all that you worry about looking stupid in the yard, first of all, take it slow.

So, decide for a while that all you're going to do is tack up. Take it slow. If you can, tack up in the stable, so there's no audience. Groom and talk to your horse first so she doesn't pick out your nervousness. Make this days target to just tack up. Don't even think about a ride afterwards. When you've become more confident about getting ready, then will be the time start thinking about riding. Too much all at once, if you're not used to it, will leave you frustrated and demotivated.

One of the best pieces of advice I came across when I first started riding was to go slowly and take a step back when things got difficult or tense. Don't push yourself to do things you're not confident with. Take a step away, and then approach it again another day. If just getting the bridle on is enough for you, just do that. Don't worry about the saddle, leave it for another day. Taking it slow, taking your time, not stressing yourself out, will in the end make you much more confident than pushing yourself to do things that scare you all the time. Don't feel the fear and do it anyway. Step away from the fear, then take a small step back another day. Stressing yourself out tacking up won't help you be a better rider, it will guarantee a bad relationship with your horse. Get the relationship with your horse right first. Get to know her through your leading and grooming and tacking up, believing in the end that if you takes things slow you will get there quicker in the end.

Linda James is a mature horseback rider, who learnt to ride later in life. She writes about horses and horse riding at http://jodders.co.uk

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Fat Horse Thin Horse

Despite the credit crunch, it's more likely nowadays that horses are adversely affected by obesity rather than malnourishment. Are we killing our horses with kindness? Obesity isn't always seen as obesity, or even as a problem, but it can be one of the most potentially serious threats to its health that a horse can have. It's been recognised for a long while that fat horses are more prone to laminitis, but besides this, they could get heart disease, arthritis and lung problems. Obesity increases the amount of fat in the liver which can eventually cause inflammation and cirrhosis or even permanent liver damage.

Colic and obesity kill more horses than any other equine disease in the UK - yet obesity is something which is preventable and treatable.

So what can you do to help an overweight horse?

First of all you need to recognise that he is overweight. While weight gain in humans might be frowned on, in a horse it's seen as 'looking well' and not as a problem. But if other people begin to tell you that your horse is fat, he probably is!

As in humans, exercise is good for horses as long as you don't overdo it to begin with. If you don't always have time to ride, you could lunge. If you are seriously short of time, think about a horse share so your horse has a rider more often.

Simply restricting the amount of food you give to your horse to slim him down won't solve the problem, and could cause others. Horses need a slow trickle of food because of the way their stomachs work, so simply cutting down might leave their stomachs empty for long periods of time, and lead to gastric ulcers and colic.

It's better to feed low-calorie fibre, perhaps putting forage in several small holed hay nets around the stable so the horse has to move around. Since feeding restricted amounts of food will also restrict the intake of essential nutrients, it's important to find a mix that will give these nutrients without adding too many calories. A way to make a small amount of food last longer is to put some very large smooth stones in the bottom of the food so your horse has to move them around to get to the feed underneath. Soak hay for 12 hours or so to reduce the amount of calories in it. This might sound like a bit of a bind, but if you soak it when you turn out in the morning, at least the job will be done for the day.

You can cut down on calories by using shavings or woodchip instead of straw for bedding, as a lot of horses will eat the bedding. It might be better to restrict the amount of grazing, getting your horse in at night, especially if the grazing they have access to is very rich.

So, once you know that there's a problem, it's fairly easy to take steps to help a horse that's a bit over weight to lead a lighter and healthier life.

Linda James is a mature horseback rider, who learnt to ride later in life. She writes about horses and horse riding at http://jodders.co.uk

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