Basics of Horse Care
Author: Rob Daniels
Copyright 2006 Rob Daniels
Horses are amazingly beautiful and sensitive creatures. Horses
require not only understanding and patience to have a horse as a
pet, it also requires a whole lot of care.
Herd Mentality:
Observe horses in the herd system, each horse's welfare in the
wild depends upon an instinctive submission to the discipline of
the herd. The instinct is for immediate action. To the horse,
action is survival. When horses live in an herd environment,
they often take turns sleeping and standing guard for any
predators. When the leader of the herd signals danger they take
flight.
Learning respect and ascending to authority starts on the first
day of life for the foals, there is a distinct pecking order in
herds of horses.
It is important to keep a quiet profile around horses. Horses
naturally do not like unnecessary noise because in the wild
their survival depends on detection of predators with their
hearing. Extraneous noise interferes with this predator
detection. This predator detection is tightly coupled with a
horse's flight reflex. Due to these survival genetics, horses
have a physiological wiring in their brains that predisposes
them to prefer quietness and to become bothered by unnecessary
noise. Many horses can get startled easily from abrupt noises
and this could result in injury to the horse, the rider, or
people around the horse. Talk to your horse in a quiet,
reassuring voice.
Relationship With Horses:
A horse will love you if, first and foremost, you treat it
fairly, and secondly, if you allow yourself to develop a
relationship with it in the same way you would a human partner.
There are too many who will look after the horse's material
needs but put nothing back into the partnership itself. The
horse born in captivity will identify with an alternative
provider and companion, resulting in a healthy relationship from
the beginning. A healthy relationship with your horse requires
trust, coupled with respect, fondness with compliance, and a
desire to please.
Check Your Horse:
Examine your horse every day and especially prior to riding the
horse. Carefully examine the horse's legs and back for any
unusual heat or lumps. Make sure that the horse's eyes are alert
and not glazy. Listen for any excessive noise or gurgling sounds
coming from your horse's stomach. Catching problems before they
become serious is critical to keeping a show horse sound and
alive.
Exercise caution and discretion when around stallions and mares
when they are in heat. They are dealing with hormones on an
order of magnitude that you probably can not comprehend.
Stallions typically bite and some may be easily triggered into
violent behavior.
Grooming Horses:
Keep your horse clean. Keep your horse's entire coat free from
dirt, mud, sand, and sweat. Brush your horse every day. Pick out
your horse's feet every day. Wash out any sweat residue from the
saddle pad or girth every day. Wash out any dirt or sand
residue, as from the riding arena, on your horses legs every
day. A number of different problems can result if a horse's coat
is not kept clean.
Barn Care:
Keep your horse's stall clean. Make sure that your horse's stall
is cleaned every day. Be sure that any wetness is removed with
the manure. Replace the removed bedding with fresh, clean, dry
bedding. Water should be dumped from buckets every day without
exception. Unhealthy dirt and bacteria can build up in a bucket
if it is not cleaned on a daily basis. Clean water is essential
to maintaining a healthy horse. Make sure your horse always has
clean, fresh water available.
Training A Horse:
The intelligence of the horse increases rapidly with education.
An intelligent trainer can make an intelligent horse. A kind but
firm trainer will result in a disciplined but pleasing horse.
Horse Feed:
Feed your horse(s) at the same times every day. A horse may get
upset and colic or injure themselves by kicking the stall or
pawing, if not fed when feeding is expected. You should not make
radical changes in a horse's feed program. If you must make a
change in the feed program, make the change gradually. Drastic
changes in a horse's feed program can cause the horse to colic
and in some cases, may die. Your horse's stomach is a highly
sensitive bio-reactor that maintains a delicate balance of the
organisms that digest food in your horse's digestive track.
Visitors should not feed a horse that you do not own without the
owner's permission; no carrots, no apples, no treats, nothing.
The horse could potentially, get sick if they have an allergy or
sickness.
Pay attention to everything that goes into your horse; that
means all feed, all hay, all water, all treats, all supplements,
all pills, and all shots. This knowledge could save your horse's
life in an emergency situation. Post this information on your
horse's stall door so that it is available to a vet if you are
not around in an emergency. Make sure that your horse gets
high-quality feed and hay. Your horse's health and soundness
depends on the nutrition that you provide for them. Take good
care of your horse. A rider without a horse is no rider at all.
Vet Care:
Make sure that you have a good equine veterinarian. A good vet
will save you money in the long run and may save your horse's
life some day. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Make sure your horse has all the vaccinations that are normal
for your geographical location. All horses should be on a good
worming program to control intestinal parasites. A horse should
be wormed by a vet at least twice a year.
Horse Flies:
In the summer spray your horse trailer down with fly spray about
10 minutes before you load the horses. The flies should leave,
and your horses will be without those pesky flies!
Cooling Horses:
Never spray a hot, sweaty horse with cold water immediately
after working the horse. This can cause muscle spasms and
binding, or shock that can lead to death. Wait until the horse
is breathing regularly, and use warm water if it is available.
If a horse has heat shock, consult your vet and the vet may
instruct you to cold hose the horse, even if still hot and
sweaty. Never put a horse in a stall or confined area while
sweaty or while they are still breathing heavily. This can
result in shock and/or colic that can lead to death. Walk the
horse until the horse is cooled out and the breathing is normal.
Shoeing:
Horses' hooves generally grow approximately 1 cm in a month, and
take nearly a year to grow from the coronet band to the ground.
Horse's hooves need to be trimmed regularly (about every 6-8
weeks). Shoeing a horse does not hurt them. If you were to grow
out your finger nail, you could put an earring/pin through it
without causing discomfort; however, if you pushed the pin
through the part of your nail that is attached to the soft
tissue of your finger, it would hurt. When horse shoes are
nailed in, they are nailed at an angle so which the horse
doesn't feel it.
Make sure that you have a good farrier, especially if you show
your horse over jumps. The concussion from landing from jumps
amplifies any problems in a horse's shoeing. If a horse gets
sore feet or legs from bad angles or bad shoeing, the horse can
not just take his shoes off, sit back on a couch, and rub their
feet, or find another pair of shoes like you can. Bad shoeing
can result in your horse becoming lame due to a number of
problems including: bowed tendons, popped splints, or
shoulder/back soreness or spasms. Bad shoeing can ruin a good
horse, so don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish where shoeing is
concerned. A laid-up horse is far more expensive to maintain
than a good farrier. And remember not all horses need to have
shoes, only if they are competing, walking on hard/rocky
surfaces, or have hoof problems.
Sleeping:
Horses do lay down to sleep, but only if they feel completely
comfortable in their environment. It is not enough to provide a
dry stable, food and water. Horses will often sleep standing up
by locking their knees. Horses are one of the few animals that
can put one half of their body asleep while the other half is
wide awake. Emotionally and mentally, all horses need to feel
they have and be comfortable in their own space!
To fully enjoy a horse's finer qualities you must treat them
with both kindness and quality care. In the end, a happy horse
will mean a nicer ride and a happier rider.
About the author:
Rob Daniels has been an equestrian rider for 25 years. He has
studied various disciplines additional articles are available
at: Riding Stable - http://www.riding-stable.com and Horse Stall.net