Fencing & Pasture

Biosecurity horse farm, how to protect horse from virus, pathogens horse farm, designing a horse barn for health, safely transporting horses

Protecting Horses and Humans - The COVID-19 pandemic showed how alarmingly quickly a virus can spread across countries and continents and created an understandable reaction to protect against infection from any and all viruses and pathogens. By extension, it is also essential that there is a level of biosecurity on your farm or acreage to protect horses against agents of disease.

muddy paddock, mud horse, muddy hooves, footing grid, horse sacrifice area, horse paddock, pasture management

A common problem during the fall and winter months, muddy footing in horse turnout areas not only increases the difficulty of daily barn chores and grooming routines for owners, but creates a living environment for your horse that is neither safe nor healthy.

toxic plants, toxic trees, toxic horse, horse toxic, horse poison, equine poison

Fall is here! The leaves are changing and the temperatures are cooling off. It’s hard to imagine that such a pretty time of year could possibly be harmful to our horses. However, fall leaves can pose a potentially deadly threat. The following are trees that are highly toxic to horses.

stomach Bots, equine tapeworms, bot flies, Dr. Wendy Pearson, University of Guelph, larvae pupate, horse care, Seasonal Parasite Control

Stomach Bots and Tapeworms - Your parasite management program should give some attention to stomach bots and tapeworms. To control these parasites more effectively, it helps to understand their life cycles.

Horse Run-In Shed equine, horse shelter equine, horse property drainage

Horses are among the most free-ranging of domestic animals. They evolved as nomadic and migratory animals and have adapted to many variables in terrain and weather. They are built and instinctively driven to move, and their first reaction to anything remotely considered a threat is to flee. Domestication has changed some of these genetic qualities to fit human goals, but not by much.

building a horse fence, equine fence, fencing equestrian property, fencing acreage, how to build a fence for horses

A look at fencing for special areas and needs, providing sample fence planning layouts for public and private stables, and answers to some common fencing questions.

hazards horse farm, hazards equine farm, emergency plan horse farm, prevent barn firehazards horse farm, hazards equine farm, emergency plan horse farm, prevent barn fire, prevent horse injury

Often times, horse owners feel their beloved equines are simply a magnet for injuries. Being accident prone just seems to be in their nature, most times brought on by their instinctive fight-or-flight response, their need to establish herd hierarchy, and in some cases, their sense of natural curiosity.

track systems for horses, alexa linton, horse barn layouts, horsekeeping methods, how to organize horse paddocks, natural grazing horses

Create a Paddock Paradise - About 15 years ago, I was boarding my mare, Diva, at a private barn in Victoria, BC. The paddocks were very small and flat, with electric fence covering all the boards to prevent chewing, and Diva was on the end of the paddock row beside a forest. It was close to home, which worked for me, but Diva was deeply stressed, making it almost impossible to safely work with her or ride her.

Care & Feeding of Overgrazed Horse Pastures, overgrazing horses, Horse Pasture Maintenance, ferris fencing, fencing for horse grazing

Good pastures depend on good soil. That’s why professional contractors see your pastures literally from the ground up. The quality of the growth above ground will tell them the state of the root growth and the soil.

making hay for horses, first cut hay vs second cut hay, nikki alvin smith, how to store horse hay, mouldy hay horses, moist hay horses, preventing barn fires

There is a lot more to haymaking than “making hay while the sun shines,” though doing so is a necessary start. Sadly, each year horse barns and farmers’ storage barns burn down, and horses become sick from respiratory disease and colic, as well as myriad other diseases such as Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (PPID or Cushings disease). Many of these situations are avoidable so here are, in my opinion, the seven deadly sins of horse hay-making, in no particular order.

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