Horse Care Features

Caring for a horse involves daily work, without which it’s simply impossible to talk about a horse’s health. From a person will depend on what will be feeding the horse, as well as his appearance and health. Today we’ll look at the steps involved in caring for horses and how to care for artiodactyls at home.

Care and maintenance of horses at home

Eating horses

Despite the fact that horses are not used to sorting out food while eating, you need to learn how to feed them correctly. For this it is important to understand: how much the diet will be properly selected, the horse’s health will directly depend. Firstly, the horse’s menu must contain vitamins and all the necessary minerals to prevent a deficiency of vital trace elements. The horse’s menu should vary, depending on the season, age of the animal, as well as the purpose , for which they keep it.

The most affordable food for horses is cereals, their price is quite low. Many breeders make an unacceptable mistake when overfeeding a horse with grain. The fact is that this can cause serious problems in the digestive system up to the rupture of the stomach from overfilling. In this case, death occurs in 99% of cases, and it will be terrible and painful.

Horses are representatives of herbivores, respectively, their diet should consist solely of plant foods. It is strictly forbidden to “pamper” the pet with confectionery, chocolates, and so on, a minute weakness can cost several days of treatment and putting the gastrointestinal tract in order. The most successful components of the horse menu are hay or grass, depending on the season, vegetables and barley with oats. Here is an approximate daily menu of an average horse:

• hay of the first grade – about 5 kg;
• oats or a mixture of muesli – about 4-5 kg;
• bran – normal about 1 kg;
• vegetables (beetroot or carrots) – 1.5-3 kg.

The importance of drinking

The importance of water in a horse’s life is worth telling in a separate section. It is strictly necessary to provide a two-time watering per day, and the water temperature should be about 18-20 ° C.

The lucky owners of a sports filly or foal should remember that it can never be drunk immediately after training, it is required wait a pause for about 1-1.5 hours.

It happens that a horse cannot calm his thirst. In this case, you can calm the animal in a tricky way: distract it from the water with food. Usually a handful of hay or grass is poured into a container of liquid, which switches the horse to food.

Riders, and especially foals, should have a place where there is an opportunity to hide from the cold wind, rain or snow while keeping horses in winter. This can be a special room: a stable (stall) or an ordinary shed with a roof, where drinking bowls with clean running water should also be located.

We clean the horses

Horses – clean animals, they will be grateful for the careful, attentive care and compliance with sanitary standards when breeding. Let’s figure out how to properly care for a horse and keep an artiodactyl, what should be the care of a foal and an adult? Many people, answering these questions, underestimate the complexity of the task, thinking that an ordinary shower and subsequent combing of the mane are all that is required for the existence of animals, but this is not so. Experienced horse breeders argue that caring for a horse at home is an art that is not accessible to everyone. For example, grooms on elite farms argue that when combing a mane, it is important to change the hand. So, the left hand will be required for the left side of the hair, and the right hand for the right, although this can be called more fiction than the truth. In any case, the horse must be tied so that it does not kick during the procedure, because not every horse likes these actions.

All manipulations are best done on the street, and not in the house: this way the animal will be calmer.Keeping a horse at home implies that each pet should have individual grooming equipment: a comb, a scraper and a brush. We describe the whole procedure in stages:

• They always begin cleaning from the left side from above: from the head to the limbs, then move to the right side.
• When cleaning the head, it is important to stand so that the animal can to see a person. It’s better to start cleaning with anti-wool treatment, and then change direction.
• After the mechanical cleaning is finished, the horse’s wool should be wiped with a damp cloth: this removes the remaining dirt and hairs.
• Next, the turn comes wiping: it is desirable to dry the horse as much as possible.
• Finally, there is a mane, it is combed first with a rare comb, then with more frequent one. Movements must begin strictly from top to bottom.

During the care of the horse there is a wonderful opportunity to examine her body in more detail. Perhaps from close range some wounds or injuries that require treatment will be noticeable.

We buy a horse

No matter what kind of horse keeping systems are used in the village, It is worth mentioning right away that horses are only bathed in the summer, when the temperature in the street is high. Moreover, forcing a horse or foal is also not worth it, it is recommended to take into account the mood of the horse.For example, if a horse has a strong fear of water, it is not necessary at all costs to force her to swim in the river, there will be no sense in this. Such a horse is bathed only at home, on a farm, using water from a hose. You need to start with a low pressure, so that the animal gets used to the procedure and understands that he is not in danger.

It is important to use special makeup for horses when swimming. Now there are a lot of detergents, shampoos and conditioners on sale that make the process of caring for a horse even more pleasant and simple.

Hoof care

How to properly care for horses without hoof care? It is a well-known fact that horse hooves need special care, and the owner must provide it. To begin with, in the process Behold move in micro cracks in the hooves may get stuck stones or chips, that horse can not remove yourself. If time does not help your pet, it can threaten the development of inflammation and further problems arising from this. Usually, at the site of the lesion, which can also be caused by namin or pricking, an ungulate horn occurs. Self-medication can only lead to a worsening of the condition, therefore it is better to seek the help of a specialist: it may even require surgical intervention.

As for forging, this is not a mandatory procedure, as is commonly believed.It is shown only to horses that are used to perform hard work, or those that walk on a hard surface for a long time. You can entrust horse forging only to a professional who is 100% sure of what he is doing. First, the master must carefully clean the hoof, and then grind it under the correct shape. Only a properly trained hoof is filled with a horseshoe that needs to be changed at least once every 2-4 years.

How to monitor the health of the horse

It is worth saying that equine diseases there are a huge number, some of them are less dangerous, some are more. It is important to recognize the main symptoms of the disease in time and conduct the right treatment. A sick horse can be recognized by such signs:

• impaired appetite;
• weakness and lethargy;
• low mobility;
• uneven surface breathing;
• fever.

The most common diseases are pneumonia, rabies, tetanus, equine flu, eczema, lichen, and so on.

Usually the disease concerns the digestive system: for example, the horse can be tormented by painful colic. The reasons for their appearance may lie in the errors of feeding, as well as in the incorrectly set cinch. In any case, the veterinarian should supervise the treatment of the horse.

Mares and even small foals often get a variety of injuries that usually go away without human intervention, but it also happens that help is still needed. For example, if you see that the site of the injury is swollen, you should attach an ice bag to it: it will relieve pain and reduce swelling.

Being in free pasture in the summer (this is the most suitable way to keep horses in the summer) the horse runs the risk get a sunstroke, even lose consciousness. In this case, you need to move the mare to a cooler place, give her water and apply a cooling compress to her head.

As for vaccination, you need to find out from the veterinarian what vaccinations are necessary for horses at present, and then proceed according to the schedule of vaccinations. Despite the fact that vaccines take a lot of money (the cost of the vaccine starts from 100 rubles per dose, and there may be several per month), the only way to be sure that the maximum is done to maintain the horse’s health.

Rules for the treatment of horses

Speaking about the care and maintenance of horses, we must not forget that the horse is a large animal that can injure a person, intentionally or not. There is a generally accepted list of recommendations and rules that every breeder must follow:

• During communication and care, you must maintain goodwill towards the animal.
• You can’t approach the horse quietly, you must first call it so that it isn’t afraid.
• You can work only on a well-fed horse, it is recommended to pause about 1 hour after feeding. This is one of the main rules for keeping work horses.
• Before putting a saddle on a horse, be sure to clean its hooves.
• When removing a mare from the premises, it is necessary to go ahead and open the shutters completely.
• Lead the horse is necessary only on an occasion, and always the person goes on the left. When cornering, you should not pull the animal too sharply, since such maneuvers can provoke the development of shoulder injuries. It is customary to saddle a horse only when there is confidence that there are no irritants and obstructions nearby.
• Care should be taken to horse shoes: it should be comfortable and fully fit in the stirrup.
• You should never throw a horse unattended, especially if it is used for horse racing.
• Be sure to communicate with horses, they feel it. These are smart animals that understand what kind of person is next to them and feel their intentions.
• After the horse works, you need to encourage her with hay or a little withered greenery. As for drinking, then, as already mentioned, it is not worth giving water right away, it is better to take an hour’s rest after work.
• You should never feed horses with grain on an empty stomach: this can provoke the development of problems with the intestines and provoke colic. Before moving on to oats and grain, you need to give the horse normal hay.
• Before you bring the horse to work, whether it’s shipping or jogging, you need to put its appearance in order, paying attention to the hairline, tail and mane. After the time of rest comes, you need to thoroughly grind the horse with a rolled tourniquet from hay or straw. Then, when the skin dries from sweat, you need to traditionally clean the horse with a brush with frequent cloves, which is called a scraper.

In conclusion, we say that all the rules and recommendations on how to care for a horse, are mandatory, and all these manipulations must be performed every day, despite the weather, season, mood or how many horses are kept in the farm. Material costs and work will not go unnoticed, the horse will respond with a beautiful appearance, good mood, no diseases, and a long and faithful friendship.