How To Keep Your Horse Happy And Healthy

Owning a horse isn’t a straightforward matter. You are accountable for providing for your pony, for meeting all of its necessary needs. It’s not a matter of simply supplying food, shelter and exercise, either. There are plenty of smaller needs that may not individually appear to be of great consequence, but are easily as critical as the basic essentials of food and shelter.

You do your horse no good if you keep it confined indoors throughout the day. Your pony needs to be exercised each day; he should be out in the open air for some time, free to do his thing. If you keep your pony in all the time, he is going to develop physical and mental issues, undesirable habits like cribbing, weaving, wall kicking, eating feces and tail gnawing. Nature made the horse an outdoor creature, and you should do your utmost to let nature have her way at least to the extent it is feasible for you to do so. When your pony gets time out in a pasture, he gets an opportunity to let off steam and work out his kinks, physical and mental. When he gets a daily chance to romp and play, he’s going to be less rebellious when you’re in the saddle!

You get a very cheerful and healthy horse when you give it due overall care. Keeping your horse in physical and mental peak form requires you paying attention to obscure care aspects of horse ownership.

Treat your pony to high quality hay and grain. Feed him all requisite supplements regularly: get an idea of what these supplements are from your veterinarian, who will make his suggestions based totally on your horse’s age, health and level of activity. The dietary needs of horses undergo changes as they age, so keep current on what is the best for your horse at any specific time. If you have put up your pony at an equestrian house, you get sound information on your horse’s supplement needs from the owner or the manager.

You need to maintain cleanliness with your pony, and part of correct hygienic practice is to change your horse’s bedding each day. You do not want your pony wallowing in his own refuse. Unsanitary living conditions are an open invite to hoof and respiratory diseases.

You need to get your horse’s teeth looked at regularly; the older he gets, the more the frequency of inspections should be. Horses ‘ teeth show the effects of time and use, they can develop conditions that cause great discomfort. Under these circumstances, the horse could have problems in feeding and most definitely will resist your efforts to put a bit in his mouth.

The ideal duration for checking your horse’s feet is daily. If his shoes do not fit well, he is going to suffer long term from damage created by asymmetrical wear. If feet issues are allowed to worsen, they will end up in lameness. Bad shoeing causes corns and fetlock damage.

As a horse owner, you’ve got to adjust yourself to one thing: you will be spending a lot on vet services even if your horse is top health. You should give him his usual deworming and shots. You have to ensure routine health checkups are made on schedule.

Horses are social herd animals. They don’t adapt well to the life of a loner, and imposed isolation will bring about great unhappiness. If you utilize a stable, confirm that it is a credible one where your pony will find not just good care, but also the constant company of others of his breed.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about riding hats