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

Every Day 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 approximatly 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 (could also be done daily). 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.

Horse Care Every Month

• 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 to long is hard on your horse's legs, and unhealthy for their hoofs.

Every Two to Three Months

• 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 veterinarian.

• horse care
• feeding your horse
• stable care