Horse Questions

[ChickyMama229]

Hello everyone!! I am finally getting a horse for real soon! The house that we are buying has almost an acre and a half of land for the horse to graze on. I plan on using my horse as a pleasure riding horse and occasionally run a few barrels and small jumps now and then. When I go out riding it will have to be in the space that I have available in my yard or on the paved and gravel roads around my house. Is it ok to canter/gallop on these roads? I don't plan on shoeing the horse, I'd like to keep him/her barefoot. I have read that starting the horse at a walk and gradually raising the pace on these roads can build up the strength of the hoof. If going faster than a w/t on these roads is a threat to the wellbeing of my horse, I will save the c/g for my grass yard. Also, since the horse will be used for strictly pleasure riding is it necessary to feed him/her grain? If grazing is not enough I would prefer to feed nothing more than hay but if it's necessary I will be happy to feed grain. Since this is my first horse I would be glad to receive any tips and helpful suggestions for just about anything related to buying and taking care of my horse. Thanks so much!!!

 

[Zinjifrah]

An acre and a half of good grazing is not enough for one horse, generally. A good figure to go by is that if you have good quality graze, you need five acres per horse if they aren't being fed anything else. A good quality grass hay would be advisable, but as to grain, that depends on the horse. If it's a very easy keeper, no grain at all except as a means to administer medication if it becomes necessary. If it's a hard keeper - if it gets thin very easily, and doesn't seem to put on weight - then you need to get the teeth checked, possibly floated, and you may need to add grain to the diet to fatten it up. Is this horse going to be by itself? Just as chickens are flock animals, horses are herd animals. They need the companionship of another horse, even if it's just where they can see it. Other animals make do as companions... but they aren't as good as having another horse around.

Barefoot or shod, I do not recommend cantering and galloping on hard surfaces. Hooves are designed for dirt, not pavement. Be careful on gravel, since the size commonly used on roads can easily become lodged in the hoof wall and create a bruise, which can ultimately lead to an abscessed hoof. Taking care to clean the hooves regularly and keep them trimmed can help prevent that.

 

[mill-j]

And why not shoe your horse? They can do fine without but they will likely be a little tender footed on gravel. Shoeing also helps prevent chipping and cracking hoofs. Possibly more important than shoes is properly trimming the hoofs regularly. This takes skill and a very good back or a farrier.

Break down and buy some feed. A horse LOVES sweet feed, it's rather inexpensive if you get 10 or 12 percent and a 50lb bag will last a horse quite a while.

Keep us updated

 

[TropicalBabies]

Hi ChickyMama,
Congrats on the home and horse! Pretty darn awesome!!! Not sure where you are at in this world or what your conditions are, it makes a difference. I don't shoe my horse and think that is the best way to go if you can, but I don't rodeo. I purchased front and back EZ boots for my guy and rarely use because I ride in the sand mostly. I also take good care of his feet, daily clean, have him trimmed every 6 weeks, plus hoof supplements.

As far as pasture, "they" say 1 acre per horse but in bad conditions a horse will not get enough and in good conditions (spring) they can get too much and founder. Grass can have a lot of sugar and that is not good. Horses need somewhere between 15- 20lbs of food per day on average. I'd skip the grain unless you are working him hard or see him thinning or have cold winters or too much money. Then I would add Timothy or alfalfa oat hay myself, again, all depends. Check in with your feed store and read everything you can get your hands on for your area. Are you in Florida? Be sure to check your pasture for poisonous weeds. I myself, weigh out 4-6 lbs of cubes 2x per day depending on how much I let him graze. DO NOT do any sudden diet changes... you can live to regret that. I work my Hombre in the round pen plus trail or beach and he is still a little chunky. You want to ALMOST, KINDA see a SMALL show or HINT of rib. A fat horse is bad and a skinny one is sad. I think you just gotta watch and see his body. Good luck, have FUN and please keep me posted! I'll take a photo if you got one <3

 

[Bunnylady]

. A horse LOVES sweet feed,

Children LOVE sugary cereals, too, but most nutrition-minded people understand that that ain't real food!

A lot of horses have health matters that make the carbohydrate content of sweet feed an absolute no-no. Now, before you have the animal, is the time to learn about proper care and feeding; it can save you some whopping high vet bills later.

I do not recommend cantering and galloping on hard surfaces. Hooves are designed for dirt, not pavement.

When I was a teenager, a friend of a friend was killed when she apparently decided to gallop her horse on the road, and the horse slipped and fell. They really don't get good purchase on pavement, with or without shoes.

Shoeing also helps prevent chipping and cracking hoofs. Possibly more important than shoes is properly trimming the hoofs regularly.

Having seen feet torn up when shoes came off (sometimes several times in a relatively short period of time), I know that shoe can do more harm than good in some situations. Absolutely more important than shoes is trimming; whether the horse is shod or not, it is critical that the feet work properly to keep the rest of the joints working properly, and that begins with the feet having the right shape.

A horse on an acre of land here is basically on a dry lot; it will need to be hayed year-round to maintain its weight. Some horses do fine on just hay, though people who prefer that sort of thing may give a ration balancer (kind of like a horse version of a multivitamin) to make sure that the horse gets all the vitamins and minerals it needs.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Children LOVE sugary cereals, too, but most nutrition-minded people understand that that ain't real food!

A lot of horses have health matters that make the carbohydrate content of sweet feed an absolute no-no. Now, before you have the animal, is the time to learn about proper care and feeding; it can save you some whopping high vet bills later.



When I was a teenager, a friend of a friend was killed when she apparently decided to gallop her horse on the road, and the horse slipped and fell. They really don't get good purchase on pavement, with or without shoes.



Having seen feet torn up when shoes came off (sometimes several times in a relatively short period of time), I know that shoe can do more harm than good in some situations. Absolutely more important than shoes is trimming; whether the horse is shod or not, it is critical that the feet work properly to keep the rest of the joints working properly, and that begins with the feet having the right shape.

Bravo!

 

[OhZark Biddies]

i was just talking "sweet feed" on another thread for use in catching varmints, and somehow ended up here... didn't read all the other replies, but will mention that sugar cubes and sweet feed can make a horse naughty and a pony down right mean. I think they get to "jonesing" for it like a wino for a drink, and loose judgment.

Same is true for a lot of animals... a pet coon once grown will hurt people to get a candy that was cute to give it when it was a little thing... so be aware of this unintended consequence of sugary treats.

For horses it has it's place in getting them to come in from pasture when called (give just a handful), and we used to use it for bringing in horses that have been put out to pasture all winter, and have not been handled in months... again just to get them to come in... but understand initially they're coming in for the sugar, it's your job to baby them and treat them so that soon they'll come in just for your attention.

Another way to say it, is that you can get a "trash" horse to come into sweets, but a good horse will come into "sweet talk".

But I'm not meaning to suggest that the person who suggested sweet feed originally has trash horses at all, a lot of good horses take sweet feed with no ill effects, I'm just saying understand the craving and the behavior that sugary treats can have, when you're a new horse owner, and might not know what you have in the horse's personality, etc.

@techbsmith ... somehow now I'm over here talking about raccoons liking sweets?

 

[TropicalBabies]

i was just talking "sweet feed" on another thread for use in catching varmints, and somehow ended up here... didn't read all the other replies, but will mention that sugar cubes and sweet feed can make a horse naughty and a pony down right mean. I think they get to "jonesing" for it like a wino for a drink, and loose judgment.

Same is true for a lot of animals... a pet coon once grown will hurt people to get a candy that was cute to give it when it was a little thing... so be aware of this unintended consequence of sugary treats.

For horses it has it's place in getting a them to come in from pasture when called (give just a handful), and we used to use it for bringing in horses that had been put out to pasture all winter, and had not been handled in months... again just to get them to come in... but understand initially they're coming into for they sugar, it's your job to baby them and treat them so that soon they'll come in just for your attention.

Another way to say it, is that you can get a "trash" horse to come into sweets, but a good horse will come into "sweet talk".

But I'm not meaning to suggest that the person who suggested sweat feed originally has trash horses at all, a lot of good horses take sweet feed with no ill effects, I'm just saying understand the craving and the behavior that sugary treets can have, when you're a new horse owner and don't know what you have in the horse's personality, etc.

@techbsmith ... somehow now I'm over here talking about raccoons liking sweets?

I'm with you on that OhZark. Instead of sweet feed I will put a prune (great for hiding pills) or slice of banana or slice of orange or carrot or starfruit (is the best) in my pocket. My husbands horse was super shy, possibly from a person in his past. We won his trust with the help of a small piece of fruit for a few days and it was fun. But years ago, we had a horse founder and it was a hard, expensive and ugly thing. After thousands of $ and months of trying to turn him around, we ended up putting him down. Spring grass and friendly people bringing sweet feed and mangos without us knowing. You can love a horse to death for sure or create a problem with sweets.

 

[techbsmith]

@techbsmith ... somehow now I'm over here talking about raccoons liking sweets?

Those lil buggers LOVE sweets!

 

[mill-j]

Hmm looks like a lot of people disagree on the feed I do agree with their reasons but as your horse gets older you'll find that it'll get harder to keep weight on them. And yes every horse is different, there is no "set" way of feeding and taking care of them, they are all different and vary from year to year.

I noticed everybody mentions hay. Don't kid yourself, feeding just hay can leave an unsightly "hay stomach" as well, especially after a hard winter, meaning you can feed to much hay. Then again some horses you can't...

Edit: Someone mentioned shoes somtimes off in a short period of time. This is rarely a worry if you have a good farrier. If you're planning to do a lot of road riding it'll be worth your while. I guess it also depends on the size, shape, etc of the shoe