The Top 5 Things to Gift Your Horse (And Yourself!) -
Advice from Grand Prix Trainer Nikki Alvin-Smith
Nikki Alvin-Smith with home trained Grand Prix Tiberio Lafite aka Tigger
As as seasoned horse breeder and equestrienne as well as international freight forwarder shipping horses worldwide, I've learned a few things along the trail. Not least is how to make life just that little bit better for horse and human.
Like most horse aficionados, when it comes to horse ownership I am often caught between budget dilemmas and tussles with time management. Here are the top five things to gift your horse, and yourself, to make the very best of your horse ownership experience.
1. Freedom Of Movement With Company Makes Life Better
For a creature of such size with a genetic predisposition to roam and graze, the horse presents a challenge in modern day methods for horse keeping where space is at a premium. Provision of the opportunity for the horse to move around his domain as freely as possible is a gift worth giving.
Not only will a horse be healthier both mentally and physically, but life as a horse owner will also be less onerous. A horse stabled for 23 hours a day can be harder to handle and ride. The best fix for a rambunctious horse is often simply turnout time. This simple drug-free approach can save much training time and training issues.
A band of young home bred mares at Willowview Hill Farm
Horses with arthritis will do better with turnout and we all know horses love fresh air. Let’s face it, whether you pick up manure from the stall, or pick paddocks periodically to keep the worm population under control, it really doesn’t matter where you spend your time cleaning up.
Social interaction with other horses is an essential component for horse happiness. Herd animals are much more content with some level of companionship. It doesn't have to be in the same pasture or paddock if risk of injury to the horse is a concern.
2. Safety Net
When it comes to good horsekeeping it is almost essential that a stall is available for use in case of emergency medical care, neighbors firework events or catastrophic weather events such as hurricanes where equines’ major injuries come from flying debris. There are lots of options for constructing a horse barn and having personally built five of them I can attest to the deep satisfaction and money saving factor that comes with building a barn yourself. However you choose to build it, design it with the horse in mind first.
Gift you and your horse a stall space that offers your horse security and space to turn around and lay down. The stable should also offer good ventilation and be light. Both sunlight and good airflow minimize pathogens and provide a comfortable environment where horse care can be provided.
Large matted stalls with solid kickboarded walls (horizontal are best) at WVH
The stable space should be secure with kickboards to cover any metal walls for safety. Doors and walls should be an appropriate height to prevent an excited horse making a jump for it and dividing walls between stalls similarly structured so horses cannot intimidate their neighbors.
3. Become A Horse Foodie
It is cheaper to buy good food for your horse than lesser quality rations as you actually need to feed less quantity and it will benefit the health of your horse and may even diminish the number of vet visits needed in the future due to nutritional imbalances in the horse’s diet. There is little point in purchasing top quality provisions of grain and hay and then storing or feeding them in an inadequate manner.
For example, hay is probably a huge chunk of your horsekeeping budget. Your horse deserves hay that isn’t muddied or manured. Buy good hay and keep it that way! To minimize waste when feeding outside consider purchasing a hay feeder. As cows and horses are not similar in either conformation or nature, use a feeder specifically designed for horses to help ensure their safety utilizing it and always remove halters to prevent the horse becoming hung-up on a feeder. Avoid hay feeders with sharp metal roof edges or low roof designs, and try and secure a feeder with soft rounded edges and horse-friendly gravity points.
Store your hay appropriately under cover from rain and snow, and protect it from dampness in the ground by storing it on pallets. To prevent moisture from creeping into the hay from the surface below consider laying a thick tarp under the pallets.
The provision of a hay loft space or designated hay stall in your barn build, or the addition of a storage shed can save you money as you can buy hay and store it when it is being marketed at its cheapest, which is during hay season. From a personal standpoint the vermin and dust above the horses' living spaces that a loft inevitably involves puts me off the loft barn design. From a fire safety standpoint an independent structure for hay storage away from the horses is what I prefer.
Buying good quality hay can save you money on the need to purchase additional supplements for your horse.
When buying supplements choose carefully. All supplements are not created equal and many are full of fillers and while dosage wise may appear cheaper are actually less effective.
Similarly when it comes to grain supplies storage is important. Provide rodent protected storage for the grain and keep supplies fresh by rotation.
4. Good Education
If you give your horse the gift of a good education, then he will be easy to handle and ride and will always better understand the demands of life with humans. Train the horse to happily trailer load and travel, stand when mounted, how to tie, and move forward off the leg and be obedient under saddle all matter when it comes to his quality of life. If there ever comes a need for the horse to move home and find a new owner his chances are much better if he has a job to do and knows how to do it successfully and is happy to oblige.
When it comes to taking lessons riders are often taunted by their non-horsey friends:
“Why are you still taking lessons? Haven’t you learned how to ride by now?”
As a horse owner there is always more to learn. Find a good trainer that is kind to work with and can supply you with sincere knowledge to progress your riding talents to where you want them to be.
5) Take Time Out
The amount of time a horse owner can find to ride in any 24-hour period is often stretched to the limit due to the demands of earning a living doing something else to afford their horse habit, and family commitments that necessarily take preference over time at the barn.
Spending quality time with your horse is more important than quality, and for folks that board their horses off property the commute can eat into the time available to spend with their equine partners. Motivation to ride can be aided by mapping out a regular schedule to ride with a barn buddy, using time earlier in the day rather than later as both mood and focus of the horse owner isn’t distracted by other daily dilemmas that might have arisen making it a more productive time spend for both horse and rider.
In conclusion, give you and your horse the gifts that matter. They are more important than the latest fancy saddle or shiny boots!
All Rights Reserved. Copyright ©2019 Nikki Alvin-Smith - Author
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