HR Farm Horse Boarding

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas from our barn family to yours!! 🎄

10/31/2024

HR hopes you have a safe and happy Halloween!! 🎃👻🧙‍♀️

09/04/2024

You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours!

09/01/2024

PSA!

An unvaccinated horse in Kent County Delaware was recently diagnosed with West Nile virus infection after exhibiting neurologic signs. If your horses have not yet received their vaccinations this year for West Nile virus & the other mosquito transmitted viruses (Eastern & Western Equine Encephalitis), NOW is the time.

Please call our office at 302-735-4735 to schedule an appointment.

08/29/2024

Nothing beats this view 🤩🦄

06/19/2024

Feed buckets lookin like they're straight outta candy land – yay or neigh? 😄🍬🐴

03/08/2024

Calling all my fellow equine lovers! 🗣

I would love to photograph a horse + rider on the beach at Cape Henlopen before the season ends on April 30th.

This would be a one hour session minimum (can be longer if you want) but I am going to waive the travel fee for this session! 👏🏼

If you and your horse(s) are interested, let me know and let’s schedule it! 🫶🏼

02/29/2024

Who needs an ocean when you have a sea of horses? Keep those tummies happy; no sand allowed!

The horses have been nibbling at the short grass sprouting up rather than going to their freshly thrown hay. (How ungrateful 🥲😂😂)
Short grass + soft ground = they will ingest sand!

Add fiber intermittently to your horses diet/ have them on a sandclear regimen to help prevent sand colic 🏖️

02/09/2024

In a state of spa-induced relaxation 🧖‍♀️🫧🛁

Handsome boy is all clean…. For now 🤭

01/21/2024

FUN FACT FRIDAY! Are you familiar with the many adaptations that help your horse stay warm during the cold winter months?

🌾 Hindgut digestion of hay produces the most heat, acting as a small furnace inside of the horse. This is why free choice, good quality hay is so important in the winter.

💪 Horses have a huge muscle mass and muscle activity produces heat. This includes running and playing and even shivering if their body temperature starts to drop. It is important to remember that these activities also will result in a bigger caloric demand so free choice hay and in some cases, grain, is often needed.

🧥 To blanket or not to blanket is a constant debate but either way, as it starts to get cold your horse will grow a thicker coat. If you decide to leave your horse unblanketed you may notice that they look “fluffy”. This is due to a phenomenon called piloerection where the hair stands up to better trap air within. Two layers of the coat also help with warmth. The inner layer is softer and has air pockets to create an insulating layer. The outer layer is coarse and has oils that keep moisture from penetrating the insulating layer and keep the horse warm.

⚖️ Wild horses go into the winter heavier than ideal and the fat serves as an extra layer of insulation. However, if a horse is going to be kept heavily blanketed and in a barn during the cold weather months this is unnecessary and can lead to obesity related issues.

🦵Their distal limbs (below the knees and hocks) are made of mostly bones and tendons, tissues that are resistant to the cold temperatures.

🦶The hooves have an alternative route of blood circulation through larger vessels that can be used in low temperatures. This is why horses can stand in snow without detrimental effects.

👃A horse’s nose has a robust blood supply and is rounded so that it is less susceptible to frostbite than a human’s nose.
•
Courtesy of the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

01/19/2024

❄️☃️

01/18/2024

Snow days ❄️☃️

01/15/2024