KATHERINE BLOCKSDORF

Horse and Pony Care By the Day, Week, Month and Year

horse and pony care

• Daily Horse Care

• Provide your horse with fresh clean water. Clean, readily available water is essential for good horse care.

• Provide your horse with adequate fodder and concentrates. If feeding hay, your horse will eat approximately 2% to 3% of its body weight every day.

• Provide adequate shelter and blanketing according to the weather. The design of your shelter, whether run-in shed or stable is very important for proper care. Horses need a place to get out of the wind and wet.

• Do a visual check for scrapes, cuts, bruises and puncture wounds on your horse\'s legs, head, and body. Treat any injuries promptly. You should have a horse first aid kit on hand.

• Do a visual check for signs of illness such as runny eyes or noses, or sounds of coughing or wheezing.

• Clean your horse\'s hooves and check for bruising or cracks, or loose shoes.

• Muck out the stall if your horse is stabled. Ammonia from urine and manure is harmful to horse\'s lungs and hooves and can cause problems like thrush. 

• Weekly Horse Care

• Check the amount of concentrate, fodder, and bedding on hand. Try to have at least two weeks supply on hand, so if there is an emergency you don\'t run short.

• If you care for your horse on a small acreage, clean manure from paddocks. This cuts down on flies, keeps the grounds clean for the same reason you\'d clean a stall, and makes a nice environment for you and your horse.

• Check fences for broken rails, loose wire, protruding nails, loose gates etc...that could cause injury.

• Scrub out water trough and feed buckets. Built up concentrates on the inside of feed buckets can spoil, and troughs can get soiled with chaff, dirt, and algae.

• Monthly Horse Care

• If you board your horse at a stable, make sure your board bill is paid on time.

• Horse Care Every Six to Eight Weeks

• Have your farrier in to trim hooves or re-set horseshoes. Leaving hooves to grow too long is hard on your horse\'s legs, and unhealthy for their hooves.

• Every Two to Three Months

• Some people feed a daily dose of medication, some have a six week or nine-week schedule. After the first hard frost, or once the fly season is over, you may also want to de-worm for botfly larvae. 

• Administer de-worming medication. It\'s important to have a de-worming schedule to keep your horse healthy.

• Once a Year Horse Care

• Have teeth checked and floated by an equine dentist or veterinarian. Some horses may need checking and floating every six months.

• Have immunizations administered by a veterinarian.