Winter tips!

welsh_mountain

welsh_mountain

New Member
Aug 8, 2002
309
0
0
34
north wales
Visit site
With winter on its way, I thought we could share some of own own winter tips!

1.build your horses bed up so its deep and all cosy!

2.measure their weight regularyly in case they start to drop any.

3.board up the windows / gaping holes in the back walls. so there are no drafts

4.plug roof leaks

5.keep fingers crossed pipes don't freeze up!

6.find gloves and hats jackets wellies so your warm!

7. Get a couple of hay nets, then you don't have to fill 1 up every morning or night when your in a rush, i have 4 for blue and 2 for squire, so i fill mine up then i just tie one up if i'm in a rush and refil them regularly

And one that i remember roxr telling me is that You know the orange carrot bags? well get the shavings fork and attach the carrot bag with up, and it scoop the ice up from the trough!without getting cold hands

jo
 
katieB, does that really work???? I have never heard of that! If it does work, I would love to do it!!!

We use a fine sift to scoop hay and junk out of the buckets -- works well for the smaller buckets in winter once you break the ice up (water just passes thru).

Hmmm, good winter tips...

I always heard to mix 50lbs of cracked corn with every 250lbs of feed. The corn somehow made the horses warmer. However, I have had much better luck with giving more forage as opposed to more grains. :D

I'm sure I'll think of some more.
 
well heres a few of mine..
if you hate wet hands when getting horses in and handling wet rugs-wear disposable ones under your riding gloves-wet hands are cold hands...
I also use these gloves for mucking out in the morning-its quicker to pick the poo than fork it but remember to put them in the bin not the barrow so they dont end up on the muck heap...
fill a few buckets of water overnight and leave them in the shed covered with a spare turnout blanket to stop them freezing-that way you have fresh water even with frozen pipes-ditto carrots-cover them to keep the frost off with an old rug!!
Im another one who fills lots of haynets at the weekend-its amazing how much time you can save-or alternatively feed it on the stable floor-its nicer for the horse and easier for you!

keep spare clothing at the yard in your shed or area-especially dry socks!!

use Zinc and castor oil cream as a barrier for mud fever-its cheap and does the job-watch out for it on 2 for 1 offers at boots or superdrug and stock up....

if its not going to be really cold and has been dry-leave the horse in its turnout to save time the neck morning-that was its just on with the neck cover whilst they are eating and your away!!...

if you have several horses to do, get rid of the leg straps on turnouts and use a fillet instead...it saves a lot of time if your rugging 3 or 4 to put them out!!


that all for now, sure I will think of a few more as the light fades and Im reminded its winter!!
 
am i showing my ignorance or is it just im used to barneys sillyness?
wouldnt your horse eat the tennis ball or do something really dumb with it?? i know barney would!!! i would be too scared to put a tennis ball in in case he did!!!
 
Here's a few of my tips that make winter a bit more bareable:

*putting reflective strips on your horses T/O rugs will make it much easier to find in a field in the dark
*filling lots of haynets at the weekend will save you time in the week
*buying a torch on a headpiece will make sure you can still see in the dark but will leave your hands free (it may not look all that attractive though :) )
*organising a rota with other liveries may mean you can get a lie in or a night off once in a while :)
*adding sheepsking or fleece to the lining of T/) rugs can stop them rubbing - espically if the horse is thin skinned
*if the horse comes infrom the field wet and muddy - you can put a layer of straw between a mesh cooler and leave them tied up for an hour and it dries them off.
*to save time before riding only groom the areas where the tack and boots will go, a proper groom can be left until another day


That's all for now, but I might think of some more later!
 
1) Wear knee high boots and waterproof trousers at all times - parents don't seem to like muddy trousers in the wash, and muddy trainers in the hallway.
2) If feeding hay in the field, carry it down in a tarpaulin, instead of haynets - just makes life easier :)
 
Always pick out hooves into a skip bucket. Stops you having to sweep up the horrible wet mud.

Wash the outside of the hoof off first so that you stop too much mud getting on your hands (sounds obvious I know but not everyone does it).

Always keeps a spare pair of dry gloves, so that if you end up with wet ones, then at least you can change them.

Keep extra towels etc down at the yard to help dry off horses that little bit quicker if you are in a rush, but also to dry your hands off - keeps them much warmer.

Store rugs not in use etc in plastic bags or storage boxes so that they don't get damp.

If you end up with water on the ground from the a hose pipe/bucket of water, sweep it up into the nearest drain - prevents black ice from forming on the yard and reduces the likelihood of you or your horse slipping.

Take up a flask of soup or tea for when you finish - it'll warm you up before you have to drive home!
 
but dont forget the horse still needs good ventilation going through the stables in the winter so dont board up everything!

my winter tips would be to put your horse into livery :D then you dont have to worry about the hard work and the freezing yourself!
*i wish* But now i just have 3 ponies to look after instead of 30 so im not complaining!

we tried tennis balls..they just froze with the ice and the horses were too dumb to know why they were there...we we no have a plank of wood that the horse play with for some reason and each time they nudge the wood it breaks the ice :D
 
It helps if it's a large ball. Tennis balls aren't big enough really! Can imagine some horses would think they were apples -or is it just mine that is completely food orientated? ;)
 
For the water throughs the horses at my barn dont go out as often here because we get freezing rain and and hail *the whole nine yards* so the water troughs dont really concern me as the horses will be watered by buckets through out the day when ridden and around each meal*Or something*. So when they do go out water is put in the trough because its nice out and the horses are out so it wont freeze.

Where gloves when grooming because my fingers always freeze and I usually cut myself and dont even know it...

Warm the bit up before putting in the horses mouth*Yikes!!! Somepeople said they never knew this before when I was reading some article.*
 
ive seen a plastic beach ball type thing used, it's so light that even the slightest of wind will send it moving in the water so that it's basically constantly in motion, therefore the water doesn't get a chance to freeze! tennis balls can be quite heavy so it takes more wind to move them, and on a cold still winters night, they're not gonna go very far..
 
Tahoe wouldn't try to eat a tenis ball, but he would definatly play with them and they wouldn't be in the water bucket long, they would be in the stall/pasture/feed bucket:D

nothing that i can add to the list, there are some things (like the tenis balls thing) i havn't herd of before!
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back