- Break out the Hay

Start putting hay out in your horse’s field early on in order to keep all of the grass from being eaten early in the season. This also ensures that your horses are being properly fed as the grass loses nutrients and eventually dies.

- Watch out for Mud

As the grass in your horse field begins to dies you’ll find that certain spots in the field get extremely muddy; most often around the gate and in feeding areas. In order to avoid this as much as possible, move the feed buckets and rotate the places where you put out the hay.

- Drain the Hose

If you have an outdoor hose that’s used for filling the horse fields’ water tubs, then lets not forget an important fact… WATER FREEZES! Be sure to roll up the hose when you’re done filling to ensure that no water is left in the hose to freeze. Water is necessary to keep horses in a field, so try not to neglect your hose =)

Simply doing a little bit of maintenance can help to keep your horse field in excellent condition for much longer during the harsh winter season. So have fun and bundle up!

-Carly

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My horse in this video has been undergoing this exact treatment for approximately a month and there is already a HUGE difference! Horse thrush is definitely a problem, but it can be solved just by following this regiment. Trust me, it works, this mare is living proof.

I’ll outline the exact regiment once more here:

- Use Thrushbuster (or an equivalent) for the first 7 days everyday

- After that use Special Formula (or Neosporin) 6 days a week and Thrushbuster once a week

Keep in mind that depending on the severity of the thrush it may take several months to clear up entirely, but persevere and in the end it will be worth it I promise you.

So good luck and get packing =)

-Carly

Musical Pylons:

This is one of my favourite games that I’ve been playing since I was a little kid. A series of pylons are set up about 2 meters apart around a 20 meter circle. In the middle of the circle there are as many pylons as there are players (usually about 5 or 6) with a softball or a tennis ball on top of each one. There are two children per pony and they each take turns riding. When the music starts, the horses walk around the circle of pylons with one person riding and the other person leading. As the music stops, the person riding must dismount while the person leading holds the horse for them. They run to the middle of the circle and try to get a ball; it is good to have 1 or 2 practices at the beginning of the game. After each turn the 2 teammates switch spots and 1 ball is taken away. If a person doesn’t get to a ball in time then their team is out. The last team remaining is then the winner.

Ride a Buck:

This one is great as one of the horseback games because it can be played with as many people as you want, as long as the ring is big enough. There is 1 person for each horse and they must get up and have a piece of paper placed inside of their thigh between their leg and the horse’s side. It is best to write the person’s name on the paper to avoid confusion. The object of this horseback riding game is to keep the paper under your leg for as long as possible. To make the game tricky, kids should be made to do interesting things while still trying to keep their paper in place, such as trotting, halting, touching their horse’s ears or tail, trying to kick a ball off of a pylon, etc. The last person to still have their paper wins.

Bridge and Tunnel:

Yet another one of the games on horseback which requires music, to make it even more fun you should put together a mix of songs that everyone can enjoy. For this game use a 20 meter circle and set up on one side two adjacent rows of about 6 or 7 pylons and that will be known as the bridge. On the other side, set up two trot poles about 1 meter apart and that will be the tunnel. If you wish to lengthen the tunnel then use 2 more poles. Once again there should be one person per horse and about 5 or 6 horses should be used. The horses should walk on the 20 meter circle going in and out of the bridge and the tunnel while the music plays. When the music is stopped the caller who isn’t looking can call out “bridge”, “tunnel”, or “bridge and tunnel”. If any horse and rider is stopped in the structure that is called, then they are out. To make it even more challenging for more experienced riders, the horses should be made to trot!

Horseback games are incredibly fun at any age on any occasion, so forget about your usual training for a day and have some stress-free fun with your horse. Play away!

-Carly

As a buyer, there is nothing more important when buying a horse than the pre-purchase exam/vet check. When looking at a horse there is only so much you can see by simply looking at it. Riding the horse definitely gives you a better idea of soundness, suppleness, and movement, but it’s the problems that we can’t see that may eventually lead to disaster when you buy a horse. This is why pre-purchase exams are so important! So if you find that you’re asking yourself, “are pre-purchase exams worth it?” let me save you a lot of headaches; they are! For myself, how extensive of a vet check I have done depends on the price of the horse, but as a rule of thumb anything over $5000 and I wouldn’t feel comfortable without a thorough exam. Sometimes the real value of the pre-purchase exam comes from the peace of mind of knowing that you made a well-informed buy. So please save yourself a lot of heartbreak and money, fall in love with the horse after the vet check.

4)      Do Some Leg Work

It is extremely helpful when horse shopping to go and visit some reputable barns in your area. Browse the Internet and ask around to try and pinpoint some barns that specialize in your chosen discipline. Often at barns like these coaches are training up young horses as sales projects and although they may not be publicly for sale, all of these horses are available. The best way to go about doing this is by visiting these barns and telling them exactly what you’re looking for and asking if they have anything similar available. Most of these barns will have a variety of horses to fit different budgets, but I’ll take this opportunity to stress to you an important fact. You get what you pay for! If a deal on a really nice looking horse seems too good to be true, nine times out of ten it usually is. So follow that third tip and get that vet check. Reputable barns that specialize in your discipline are an untapped gold mine for finding the perfect horse.

5)      Take a Test Drive

Apart from looking at an unbroken prospect, there is no reason that ANYONE should be buying a horse without riding it first. Every horse is different and if you want a horse that is right for you, you need to get a “feel” for it. What I mean by this is that just like when people shop for shoes, every rider has a different taste. Though some riders are not quite as particular as others, we all have our preferences and they should be remembered while horse hunting. More important than this, riding the horse allows us to feel exactly what’s going on underneath us. For example, how smooth their movements are, their suppleness, the evenness of their gaits, and their willingness to go forward on both reins. It is crucial in finding the perfect horse to take it for a test ride and see if it’s the right feel for you.

Remember, the finding the perfect horse takes time; it does not happen in one day, so take your time and choose wisely. Look at as many horses as you can! A horse is way too big of a commitment to just rush in, so I want you to really think about your choice and make sure you’re happy with it. So good luck and happy hunting!

-Carly

1)      Make Your List

It is key in your search to realize that a horse that is ideal for someone else may not be the ideal horse for you. Every rider has different abilities and different aspirations in their riding so how can we expect every horse to be right for every rider? This is why it is crucial that you make a list when horse shopping. I’m not talking about ideal height, colour, breed, etc. The list should include the desired experience level the horse should have. Remember inexperienced horses and inexperienced riders are never a good mix so be realistic about the experience level you’re looking for. Note the discipline you’re hoping to ride the horse in, trust me, it’s much easier to have a horse that’s already trained in your discipline than having to start training from scratch. It’s important to include your budget in this list, it’s extremely easy to get carried away while horse shopping and end up falling in love with something way out of your budget. Horses are a costly expense so be sure to be looking at ones within your means. Make your list as detailed as possible, the more you know about exactly what you want in a horse, the easier it will be when finding the perfect horse.

2)      Use Your Resources

In the horse world there is nothing more invaluable than your resources. By resources I mean your coaches, riding buddies, vets, farriers, and even tack store clerks, anyone who is immersed in the horse world with lots of contacts. The ideal way to find the best horse is through someone you already know and trust so ASK AROUND! Coaches are perfect since they already know your riding style and abilities and will know if the horse is well-suited to you as a rider. As for your vets and farriers, these are the people who frequent all of the local barns most often and have the most contacts in the horse world. Because of this you’ll find that they often have the most recent updates on new horses for sale. Riding buddies are the perfect choice for bringing a buddy with you when trying out a horse. You should always have a pair of eyes on the ground while you’re riding to give you a second opinion. You have all of these resources in your life so make use of them while horse hunting.

Continued on Next Post

-Carly

If I could go back and do everything over again knowing what I know now, life would be so much easier. No mistakes, no regrets, how perfect would that be? Unfortunately this is a pipe dream. Over the past 13 years me and my riding buddies have had our ups and downs with our horses and we all agree that with the knowledge we have now we could have avoided so much. I assume you know exactly what I’m talking about, the horse world can be a scary place. So I’ve decided to write this blog, a blog for horse lovers who have all been there, just like me. There have been so many times over the years that I’ve wished that I could just have someone to ask questions to without them know my life story. Barn buddies and coaches are great, but sometimes it’s not ideal to have everyone around me knowing my neurosis regarding my horse.

Fact: Horse people are by nature neurotic.

This is a blog meant for me to share the information that I find interesting and helpful about the love of my life and the love of your life too. The things that I wish someone had told me about. The ideas that would’ve meant the difference between me being excited and me being stressed out beyond belief. With everything me and my riding buddies have gone through, it seemed almost a crime not to create a blog to keep fellow horse lovers from making the same mistakes we have. I hope you find this as useful as I would have and it saves you and your beloved horse the hassles of figuring it out the hard way. So we may not know each other right now, but at the very least you can be absolutely certain that we have one thing in common…our horses!

So enjoy the blog and stay tuned =)

Oh and… Welcome to Horseshoe Diaries!

-Carly