Farm, Horse
Are You Winter Ready?
Just as we get a second bout of sunshine. Here we are discussing whether you are Winter ready. Don’t worry though we won’t mention Christmas and mince pies just yet. Although I imagine they will both be out in force by the end of the month
Our 4th podcast episode, was released on September 1st. Features special guests Claire Hayward (Perry Equestrian), Katie Grimwood (Baileys Horse Feed) and our very own Lauraine Smith (Equine Category Manager). In this episode of our podcast they discuss how to make your stable ready for Winter.
Preparing Your Stable To Be Winter Ready
The key to having your stable ready for Winter is to start preparing early. A thorough deep-clean is essential before winter gets here, and the longer days are the perfect time to start prepping.
Strip the stable out completely and pull up any unfixed rubber matting. If you need any additional or replacement matting pop into one of our stores and stock up.
Use a disinfectant to scrub the floors, walls, and matting. Ensuring that you use a small brush to get into the corners. Check for any leaks that may cause an issue during rougher patches but also keep it ventilated. Even in the cold weather, a well ventilated stable is incredibly important. This can be via open vents or by using an air-conditioning system. Poorly ventilated stables can cause COPD and other respiratory problems if they are full of circulating dust and mold.
Get the Winter rugs out and check them over. If they were properly stored at the end of last winter, all you’ll need to do is make sure they’ve not suffered any rodent damage over the summer. If, however, they were improperly stored or have residual damage. It is important that you get them cleaned, mended and reproofed well before they’re needed.
Keeping Your Horse Happy When Stabled
Keep the stable fresh by removing any wet bedding and all droppings several times throughout the day. If wet bedding isn’t removed regularly the ammonia fumes from horse’s urine can irritate their lungs and upper airway and the bedding itself can cause thrush.
Dirty stables also attract flies which can be especially irritating and uncomfortable to a horse kept inside. You can also hang sticky fly paper (just make sure your horse cannot reach them) to keep those pesky insects at bay.
Stabled horses should never be left alone. When a horse is bored and lonely they become stressed, which in turn can lead to health problems and mental suffering.
During the winter months, boredom can be alleviated by ensuring your horse has some company. This could be by having another horse in an adjacent stall, or by being around goats, pet sheep or even cats.
Feeding small, frequent amounts of dust-free high-quality hay or haylage can also keep boredom at bay. Feeding them little and often mimics the trickle feeding habits of horses in the wild and also keeps them occupied and entertained.
It is important that horses are not fed large amounts of hard feed when stabled, unless getting plenty of exercise.
As always, if you have any questions regarding ‘Being Winter Ready’, don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of our team, you can pop into the store or get in touch via any of our social channels or website. And also be sure to check out our new podcast, search ‘petplace’ on Apple or Spotify to listen to the full discussion about ‘Being Winter Ready’.
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