A Beginner’s Guide to Looking After A Horse

When the subject is horse, horse lovers are always learning more about them every day. It is a topic they can talk about for weeks, but still fail to cover every aspect, which can be overwhelming for novices or aspiring horse owners to understand. That being said, if you are a new horse owner or thinking about buying one, here are the essential maintenance tips that you need to know.

Get Help From Experienced People

Whether you are new to horse care or owning a horse, it is advised to make sure that you have help from experienced people. The first thing that you need to do is to stable your horse at a livery yard. In this way, you will be able to befriend experienced horse owners and the yard staff. The advantage is that they are knowledgeable in horse care, and hence, they will be able to suggest the best tips to care for your horse. That is why many people are using horse management app so that they can take the best care of horses by following specific guidelines given in the app.

On the other hand, when you are stabled at your yard, one should still learn the basics of horse care for beginners. In that case, this guide will help you find out all the basic horse care practices that you should know.

Top horse care practices you need to consider which impact the horse's health and wellbeing:

Suitable Living Conditions

One of the most significant factors in horse care is providing them with the best conditions or environment to live in. It would be best to make sure whether the stable or the field is fitting for the horse. Also, grazing must be maintained by removing the poisonous plants and droppings from the nearby field. In addition to topping, rolling and harrowing as required, it would be better if you hire a farmer to do the job perfectly.

Restricting Grazing

This is very important because many ponies and horses can gain more weight or get laminitis in summer if you don't limit their grazing. In such scenarios, one should go for 'strip grazing' or take the help of a 'starvation paddock'. Strip grazing is done by making a strip of the paddock with an electric tape and slowly moving it back a few feet at a time while they are grazing. Starvation paddock is not so different because here mini paddock is created instead of strips.

Preserving Your Grass

In the winter months, horses can poach the grounds, damaging the grasses and making it muddy and full of potholes. In that case, when you want to prevent such outcome, make a sacrificial winter paddock, or utilize a rotational paddock system to ensure that paddocks have time to recuperate.

Last but not least, fencing should be done keeping the safety of the horses in mind. Many careless horse owners surround the horses living area with barbed wire and broken fences. If you are smart and care for your horses, then you would put up wooden posts and rails than barbed wires. You should not go for concrete fences because if a horse hits the fence, it could cause serious injury to the animal.