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Should You Board Your Horses or Keep Them at Home? |
Here's what you need to know if you plan to keep your horse at home.
1. Horses need to be fed at least twice daily. That doesn't seem like a big deal until you decide you'd like to go on vacation or visit someone for the weekend. Then it is a very big deal. Before you decide to keep your horse at home, check out the boarding facilities close to you to see if they can accommodate short term boarding requests. Or see if you can arrange a reciprocal arrangement with a horse buddy--I'll feed yours when you're out of town if you'll feed mine. It will bring you peace of mind knowing you have options. Otherwise, you can end up resenting your horse because you feel trapped by the demands of basic horse care.
2. If you're keeping your horses in a barn or paddock, their stalls or paddock will need to be cleaned daily. This is absolutely essential basic horse care. So the same problem arises as for feeding, and the same solutions apply. That means using a muck rake to remove all of the manure. If they will be in pasture, you'll need to break up the manure or remove it weekly. If you decide to hire someone to do that work for you, be careful! If that person is injured on your property, you will be liable. Make sure your home insurance covers this contingency.
3. Manure management is a BIG issue in basic horse care. If you just leave the manure lying around or pile it up, your neighbors are going to complain big time. Horse manure isn't particularly stinky (like dog manure is) because they eat mostly hay, but it attracts flies. So ask yourself how you are going to get rid of all of the manure that your 1,000 lb animals are leaving behind. You can take it to the dump, have a farmer remove it (hog farmers have good used for manure), or find a tree nursery who would be interested in it. It makes fabulous fertilizer!
4. A horse is a large grazing animal, and needs a lot of space to move around in. If you keep your horse in a stall or small paddock most of the time, you'll find that you have trouble riding him or training him. He will get sour, and will have a lot of pent up energy. Do you have the acres to keep a horse? One acre per horse is usually recommended. And keep in mind that horses graze all of the time if they can. So your green pastures will turn into dry lots very quickly unless you can rotate your horse among two or more pastures.
5. Horses are social animals, so they need friends. Can your property accommodate more than one horse?
6. Do you have enough horse knowledge and experience to safely handle the responsibility of horse ownership on your own? Would you be able to tell if your horse were colicking? Would you know what to do if your horse injured himself?
These are the important questions you need to ask yourself before you decide to keep a horse at home. If you decide to board your horse instead, here are 3 vitally important questions to ask when deciding where to board your horse.
1. Horses need to be fed at least twice daily. That doesn't seem like a big deal until you decide you'd like to go on vacation or visit someone for the weekend. Then it is a very big deal. Before you decide to keep your horse at home, check out the boarding facilities close to you to see if they can accommodate short term boarding requests. Or see if you can arrange a reciprocal arrangement with a horse buddy--I'll feed yours when you're out of town if you'll feed mine. It will bring you peace of mind knowing you have options. Otherwise, you can end up resenting your horse because you feel trapped by the demands of basic horse care.
2. If you're keeping your horses in a barn or paddock, their stalls or paddock will need to be cleaned daily. This is absolutely essential basic horse care. So the same problem arises as for feeding, and the same solutions apply. That means using a muck rake to remove all of the manure. If they will be in pasture, you'll need to break up the manure or remove it weekly. If you decide to hire someone to do that work for you, be careful! If that person is injured on your property, you will be liable. Make sure your home insurance covers this contingency.
3. Manure management is a BIG issue in basic horse care. If you just leave the manure lying around or pile it up, your neighbors are going to complain big time. Horse manure isn't particularly stinky (like dog manure is) because they eat mostly hay, but it attracts flies. So ask yourself how you are going to get rid of all of the manure that your 1,000 lb animals are leaving behind. You can take it to the dump, have a farmer remove it (hog farmers have good used for manure), or find a tree nursery who would be interested in it. It makes fabulous fertilizer!
4. A horse is a large grazing animal, and needs a lot of space to move around in. If you keep your horse in a stall or small paddock most of the time, you'll find that you have trouble riding him or training him. He will get sour, and will have a lot of pent up energy. Do you have the acres to keep a horse? One acre per horse is usually recommended. And keep in mind that horses graze all of the time if they can. So your green pastures will turn into dry lots very quickly unless you can rotate your horse among two or more pastures.
5. Horses are social animals, so they need friends. Can your property accommodate more than one horse?
6. Do you have enough horse knowledge and experience to safely handle the responsibility of horse ownership on your own? Would you be able to tell if your horse were colicking? Would you know what to do if your horse injured himself?
These are the important questions you need to ask yourself before you decide to keep a horse at home. If you decide to board your horse instead, here are 3 vitally important questions to ask when deciding where to board your horse.
Basic Horse Care---What Every Horse Needs.
What could be more basic than food? Yes, horses need to eat. But what's the best diet for them? Should you feed your horse oats? Does grain make a horse hot? What if your horse is insulin resistant. How much hay does a horse need daily?
Relax! Here's everything you need to know about horse nutrition. Horses also need to be dewormed regularly because they are grazing animals. Even if they don't spend any time in a pasture, they still have their noses to the ground most of the time--in their stalls, in the arena, in the aisles, on the trail when you stop for a break...You get the idea. And they can pick up worms and other kinds of parasites quite easily. Their immune systems will kick out these nasty critters a good portion of the time. But it only takes a few to embed themselves in your horse's gut to end up with a major parasite problem. That's why deworming is a crucial component of basic horse care.
Relax! Here's everything you need to know about horse nutrition. Horses also need to be dewormed regularly because they are grazing animals. Even if they don't spend any time in a pasture, they still have their noses to the ground most of the time--in their stalls, in the arena, in the aisles, on the trail when you stop for a break...You get the idea. And they can pick up worms and other kinds of parasites quite easily. Their immune systems will kick out these nasty critters a good portion of the time. But it only takes a few to embed themselves in your horse's gut to end up with a major parasite problem. That's why deworming is a crucial component of basic horse care.
Do You Know Which Vaccinations Your Horse Should Have? They Differ by Geographic Area, Among Other Things.
Everything You Need to Know About Caring for Your Horse's Teeth. Click here
Good Horse Care Includes Fly Control.
These Trees are Toxic to Horses. Are They on Your Property?
We want to make sure our horse properties or boarding facilities are attractive and have lots of shade for our horses and ourselves. So we like to see lots of trees. But are those lovely trees poisoning your horse? Here are the ones to look out for.
Caring for Your Horse in Winter is Different than in the Summer.
Horses can easily become dehydrated in winter because getting them to drink enough water can be a challenge. They also burn an enormous number of calories, and can lose significant weight over the course of a cold winter. Here's what you can do to give your horse the best care in winter.
Caring for the Aging Horse
Horses are living longer now. Here is how to care for your aging equine friend.
