While your hay may be delivered in perfect condition, how you take care of your hay loft may determine the condition it's in when it reaches your horses’ mouths. Hay lofts need to be clean. Old hay, insects, heat and moisture will be very detrimental to the new hay stored in the loft. It’s a great time of year to inspect your loft. Does it smell like somebody’s musty attic? Horses like, and therefore eat, clean, fresh-smelling hay. Hay soaks up odors like a sponge, and a smelly bale of hay is not going to appeal to any horse.

As we welcome the transition from winter to spring, we are eager to get back in the saddle and start riding regularly again. Canadian winters are not sympathetic to outdoor riding, and without access to indoor facilities many horse owners have not been able to ride or exercise their horses as much as they would like during the winter months. Bringing horses back into work after their winter vacation must be done gradually by starting at a lower level and increasing the duration and intensity of workouts. At the same time, the horse’s feed should be adjusted to address his present body condition (too thin or too fat) as well as nutrient requirements for the increased workload.

Cribbing is a compulsive behaviour or stereotypy that is bothersome to many horse owners because of the damage it may cause to both the horse and the farm itself. While cribbing, the horse places his upper incisors on the surface of the object, flexes his neck, pulling against the object, and sucking in air. There are many beliefs as to why horses begin and continue to crib. Most believe that horses crib in response to boredom or frustration. Others feel these stereotypies are learned behaviours. While there is evidence of a heritable component to cribbing, studies have shown that very few cases are a result of watching other horses perform these behaviours. A decrease in gastric pH has also been shown to increase the frequency of cribbing in horses.

Fats and oils are commonly used in horse feeds to increase the calorie content of the feed or to replace the calories supplied by carbohydrates. Fat supplementation has many benefits including providing calories for weight gain, and providing essential fatty acids to improve skin and coat condition. Feeding fat has also been reported to decrease excitability in nervous horses.