Over the stable door with Hamish

Greetings Fellow Equines and Horse Owners!

With the colder weather well and truly on us there may not be as much incentive to get out there and ride. However, unlike the car, the horse can’t be left to park in his stable/paddock without attention. However clean your paddock area is, there always seems to be something that can go wrong. It could be something as simple as a branch falling down and spooking your horse on a windy day. There are just some things which are out of the control of the horse owner.

To make use of time when not riding and to reduce the possibility of mishaps, regular maintenance can be done.  It could be a walk around the paddock to check fencing, possible boggy areas, fallen debris, rabbit holes or even rubbish thrown over the fence.  Boggy areas should be fenced off if possible and check the reasons for the bogginess. Maybe some new area of erosion due to ground traffic etc. if it can’t be dealt with immediately, take photos (everyone seems to be good at this these days!) and deal with it in the drier weather. Genuine wash aways can be slowed down with old bales of hay or stacks of intertwined branches providing this is fenced off from stock. As always check for weeds, especially anything new or that you don’t recognise. The environmental board in Mt. Barker is great for helping identify plants for you for free. If possible, steeper land should be avoided.

As we are in quite a high rainfall area, it can be difficult to keep horses feet dry. So two things here, regular checking of hooves for thrush or abscesses and providing a dry area for the horse to rest in. This could be a shelter or fairly large well drained sandy area. Most horses will like to lie down at some time during the day and sand is a clean medium for them to do that.

Horses are social animals, so even if you are not riding, don’t forget to visit your neddy with a groom, pat or a carrot.

Til next month,

Hamish