The only use we have for "stud chains" on the farm 😆
🎶Please, please, please 🎶 stop buying/bringing home horses to live alone without other equines.
Horses are herd animals and there is never an excuse to keep a horse solo long term.
"Some people can't afford more than 1, they're doing their best for their horse." You are NOT doing the best for your horse if you force them to live alone.
Horses are a privilege, not a right owed to anyone. If you cannot keep your horses happy and healthy in a SPECIES APPROPRIATE environment (Friends+Freedom+Forage) then please, please do not buy a horse and bring it home to give you joy while the horse simply survives.
Horses are social herd animals, they need the companionship of other horses. Not only from across the barn aisle, not only from across the fence in another field, not from you an hour or two a day, and not from a goat you found to throw in the paddock (not that other animals can't be great companions, they absolutely can be and are! But there's no true comparison to another horse when you're talking about isolation vs companionship).
Horses need real physical companionship from other horses.
Please, don't bring a horse home and leave them isolated without other equine companions, it's not fair to them just so that we can say "I own a horse!"
Video- two of our geldings finishing up grooming each other in the field. We have a lot of grooming sessions out here 😆
We keep our boys in separate groups based on who can handle grass, but they get time out all together, winter together and they all always have at least one buddy living in the field with them!
Today I'm so very proud to announce that all 5 of my personal horses officially live on a track system! 😍
We just moved Emma and Stella to the track we've been building behind my house, and so far they are excitedly figuring out the fencing and space they have. It feels so good to be able to move them out of their small and definitely boring dry lot up by the road, now safely tucked behind us☺️
We made the decision after dealing with bouts of laminitis for Stella, attempting grass removal in a "dry" lot that refused to be dry, and ultimately realizing being by the road on a hill wasn't great with bad weather living outside 24/7.
Now they are in a quieter spot, can see our other horses, are located right next to a spigot for water and electric in the winter, and can enjoy much more movement as they're getting older! Plus I can watch them from my window 🥰
The beautiful fencing was done by Hauser Site Services, and the Amish Shed Outlet relocated our sheds for us! Grass removal was courtesy of my Dad and my farm team 🐴
And just like that we have Track #2 🤩
I am so excited to have a second track installed on the property, and my girls are going to be thrilled with their new home! Thanks to our contractors at Hauser Site Services 🚧 We have electric tape inside of the track, and a second line of tape to make a double fence between them and our boys 🐴
We'll be working on getting rid of more of the grass over the next week or so as well as moving the sheds around and then we'll introduce the ladies to the field 🐴
So excited to have them right behind my house instead of up by the road!
We finally have a sign to go up on our corner sign post on the farm at Belfast Rd.! When the old owner moved he took the farm's original signage with him, and it's taken me a long time to pick a replacement sign to go up there- it's finally here and we're all so excited!
The girls got hosed off to keep cool and Stella had a roll 😆
Today their field was scraped to dirt by our wonderful contractor of Hauser Site Services to keep the girls off the grass & weeds!
☀️Seniors☀️
Senior horses more often than not require special care, especially during extreme weather. In this heat it's important to keep an eye on our seniors!
A senior horse is described as a horse 20 years or older who also shows signs of aging such as dental changes, body condition changes, immune decline, changes in dentition, etc.
Like any other age of horse, it's important to offer free choice salt options, plenty of fresh cool water, shade, and of course forage options in that shade.
But senior horses can also come with a special set of needs, and each horse is different. Seniors may need to be kept in a cooler barn with a fan if there is not adequate cool shelter outside. Seniors may need to be encouraged to consume salt and water more than younger horses, which is where soaking feeds/forages comes in handy. Many seniors also suffer from conditions such as PPID (Cushings) with a heavy coat, Anhidrosis which can quickly cause overheating, dental issues that make it harder for them to get proper nutrition, heaves or asthma, general heat intolerance and more. This makes it extremely important to monitor your seniors closely and provide them with extra resources.
Hosing, extra salt and/or electrolytes both free choice and added to feed if needed, staying inside or under a fan or plenty of cool shade, plenty of fresh cool water, fun water options like salt or clay or mint for example, watery treats like cucumber and melons for horses who can safely have them, frozen lick treats, and clipping horses with shaggy coats are all great examples of extra care you can provide your senior horse.
Many Senior horses are still ridden which is wonderful! It is however important to give them a break and keep them safe during this heat, so they can resume riding once the temperature, humidity, and/or air quality is better.
At 29 years young, Emma is our oldest horse at HSF, named after her. I've had the honor of knowing Emma 20 years this month💕
Emma is c
After Fred had a full week on the track to detox and prepare😆 we put the boys out in the shady grass field for the day to escape the heat 🤞🏻☀️ All 4 of them were thrilled! They'll get to enjoy the shade tomorrow and Sunday before it's back to the track on Monday
Another Horses in the Heat Tip!
Let's talk about water 💦
The average full sized horse drinks 10-12 gallons of water daily. That's a lot of water!
How to offer water: Providing large tubs (troughs, or buckets) of clean water in the fields and stalls 24/7 is ideal. Water tubs should be scrubbed/cleaned out daily to prevent any gross build up or contaminants. In the summer it's important to keep water in the shade when possible to keep it from getting too hot. Similarly in winter keeping ice broken to keep water accessible is important, and adding a small heater can make a big difference! Horses have been observed to prefer warmer water in cold weather and colder water in hot weather.
When does drinking change: Seasonal changes (hot vs. cold weather), amount and type of exercise, and type of forage consumed all play a role in how much our horses will drink.
For example, horses being ridden in hot weather will drink more than horses resting in cold weather. Another example is that horses grazing daily on live grass pastures will consume much of their additional water through the grass, where a horse eating mostly dry hay will need to actively drink more to meet their hydration requirements.
How to Encourage Drinking: One of the easiest ways is to provide plenty of loose, free choice salt options, provide salt licks, add 1-2tbsp. of salt to your horse's diet if they won't use loose salt/salt licks, add electrolytes to your horse's diet, or even making a salty water bucket option in a separate location from their fresh water source. There are also equine hydration additive products to put in water, sold at stores and online.
Water is a crucial resource for horses, especially during times of high heat. Horses are incredibly proficient at heating themselves up, but remarkably poor at cooling themselves down. Keeping horses hydrated is a very important step in keeping them healthy all year!
Signs of Dehydration: Weakness, trembling, stiffness, tying up, increas
Tips for the Heat-
Fans, shade, hosing, frozen ice treats, and resting to stay cool are all great ways to help our horses beat the heat. Don't forget to provide plenty of cool fresh water and salt during this heat wave too!☀️
🧂 Salt can be provided as loose free choice in a bucket/bowl, as a salt lick, or added into their feed (1-3tbsp).
🧂Horses are not as efficient as cows at licking salt licks, and not all horses use them, so adding salt to grain is the best way to ensure they get enough. Loose salt is the next best way, though not every horse will eat loose salt either.
🧂Mineral salt, white table salt, and electrolytes are all different. Regular salt or table salt (and pink himalayan salt) is needed daily, while electrolytes mostly need replenishing during intense heat, sweating in high humidity, exercise with sweating, etc. Daily electrolytes can be good, but are needed less than regular salt by most horses year-round. Mineral salts are great fed loose and free choice.
🧂💦Salt can also be added to a small bucket of water to make a salty drink that some horses may like. A flavored electrolyte is another great water additive. Make sure to always also provide fresh plain water too!
💦 Be sure to provide plenty of cool water, ideally kept in the shade, at all times and especially during this heat☀️
Video: Stella (left) and Emma (right) licking one of their mineral blocks. They also get salt and/or electrolytes added to their soaked feed during high heat.
We have a snapping turtle living in our stream crossing 🤩 🐢
