Here in the UK we have many different flying insects. For us as horse owners, it is the horse fly that receives the most attention. Trying to determine whether to use a fly rug, cover in fly spray before you ride or turnout, or simply do nothing is every horse owners’ annual conundrum.
As riders, we ask horses to do a job that involves coordinated movement of the musculoskeletal system and therefore a degree of fitness. Of course, different disciplines will involve different degrees of exercise intensity. However, whenever we ask a horse to carry us it is important to consider how best to train, maintain fitness and reduce unwanted injury or soreness.
With the festivities behind us we, and our horses, can get back to the day to day of enjoying our riding, and looking forward to longer days with better weather ahead. However, that is not always easy when we are still very much in the grips of winter. Icy, or very wet and boggy, conditions can mean longer time spent stabled for our horses, limiting their natural exercise; while the cold, damp weather seemingly heads straight to their joints at this time of year. This is particularly true for our senior horses, where joint stress is recognized as being prevalent in more than 50% of horses over fifteen years old, rising to around 80-90% in older animals.
As we head into the season of horses growing their winter coats, it is important that we avoid excessive sweating with clipping to help coat care and speed up the cooling process after work to keep their skin and muscles in the best possible condition. This helps horses to regulate their body temperature and here are a couple of my top tips to help you achieve an effective clip.
Laminitis, a painful and potentially life-threatening condition, can affect donkeys just as it does horses. While it’s a common affliction in equines, it’s essential to understand that donkeys have unique characteristics and susceptibilities when it comes to laminitis.
The clocks go back and we can avoid it no longer – winter is with us! For many of our horses this means a transition to the winter routine of spending longer time stabled. Whilst this is often a practical necessity, in order to preserve paddock quality, it does bring its own challenges, and chief amongst those is respiratory challenge. Even the best managed stable environment increases respiratory stress from the combined challenges of bedding, preserved forages and shared air space. Winter exercise can also exacerbate the issues with dust and sensitive triggers associated with riding surfaces including indoor sand schools and latex surfaces.
As we head into autumn, those chilled-out, hazy days of summer can seem a distant memory. Circumstances conspire which can result in a sharper, more reactive horse. It’s important that distracted horses don’t bubble over into reactiveness or lack of concentration.
Hedgehogs play a crucial role in the ecosystem by controlling insect and pest populations. They are also commonly kept as pets, and various organisations are dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned or injured hedgehogs.
As social animals, goats require ample space for exercise and roaming, along with adequate shelter to protect them from harsh weather conditions, particularly during the colder season. They are unique and intelligent animals, who are relatively easy to keep, but they do best in pairs or herds.
Maintaining a healthy weight for your horse is crucial. Horses that are overweight are prone to various health issues like respiratory problems, arthritis, and laminitis. Similarly, underweight horses are also at risk of developing health problems like muscle loss and low immunity. It is therefore essential to ensure that your horse maintains a healthy weight.
