Ten quick tips for beating the heat with horses

Go swimming. Most horses really enjoy a lake, river or deep pond respite and riding a horse through water deep enough to have their feet leave the ground can be a lot of fun. Just be careful as those legs get moving with dangerous velocity and force. Iif you manage to get one of your body parts in the way you’ll probably break bones. Always keep your legs in front of the shoulder and make sure you’re stable and balanced enough to stay aboard.

Eleven Quick Tips for dealing with alpha horses

Alpha mares and fillies can present some interesting challenges where training and handling are concerned. They also become some of the most loyal high achievers you’ll ever encounter if you learn how to reach them. All seem to have heart beyond the norm, smarts and a wilfulness about them that will test your fortitude. Try […]

Seven horse tips for winter fun

Seven tips for making winter weather a great time to get horsey There’s so much to do at the farm on any given day, but when footing or blustery conditions cause us to choose to stay out of the saddle, there’s still an opportunity to spend time with horse scents and activities that allow us […]

Six Quick Tips for identifying mares in season

Some mares are more obvious than others, but if you’re trying to get a clear read on cycling for breeding, it helps to get to know your mare so you can time ultrasounds and/or better schedule live breeding to save money in this challenging economy. If you’re seeing pink snow in the paddocks, at least […]

Seven Tips for horse health in winter weather

Wednesday Quick Tips Never leave a horse without water in the cold months (or any other time, for that matter). Colic is very prevalent during the winter and this can often be traced to poor access and/or subsequent gulping of water when finally provided. Make sure ice has not blocked access and all horses have […]

Ten Quick Tips for weaning babies

Make sure your foal is ready – just because the calendar says it’s time doesn’t mean the mind is prepared. Know your baby well enough to recognize when he is independent enough to be able to handle separation. If you’re nursing mare is in foal (again), sometimes you need to step up the timeline to […]

Five quick tips for horse stall maintenance

Editors Note: Friday’s Opinion appeared on Wednesday of this week due the timely (and scary) nature of the issue addressed. So, this week’s usual Wed. quick tips feature is a bit delayed. Whether you are housing horses in a stall 24/7 (a tough life for a horse unless injury layup is an excuse), offering limited […]

Quick Tips for pasture management

Develop a rotation management plan. We had twelve horses on twenty-six acres this year (divided into three herds) and figured such small numbers would make it easy for the acreage to support the grazing demands. We were wrong.