Save Money and Ease Your Workload

Reducing bedding, part 2

by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

Using less bedding saves you time and money in three ways:

1) in ease of stall cleaning

2) in having less stall waste to deal with

3) in helping you end up with a nicer compost product with less carbon (from the bedding) in the compost.

This month we wind up the series on bedding reduction by discussing alternative beddings.

Alternative Options

Research shows that alternative beddings such as wood pellets, peat moss or shredded newspaper are more absorbent and contain less dust, mold and foreign objects than traditional shavings, which may be a concern if either you or your horse have respiratory issues. These beddings also compost faster and more completely, so if you plan to compost you’ll wind up with a nicer finished product. Reducing bedding use also lessens your impact on the environment by cutting down on the amount of wood (or other) products consumed.

Be very careful to choose a product that is healthy for your horses – you may need to consult your veterinarian if it is a non-traditional product. There are many interesting non-traditional products on the market including shredded newspaper (which has proven to be an excellent bedding), shredded cardboard, shredded phone books, rice hulls and wheat byproducts. Woodstove pellets can work in place of horse bedding pellets and are essentially the same product, just be sure to use pellets that contain only 100% wood products with no chemicals, glue or additives. Look for readily available sources of bedding that are cost-effective, absorbent and compost well.

Space Savings

An additional benefit to some bagged beddings may be in space savings. Pelleted beddings come bagged, and with the addition of a waterproof tarp or cover you may be able to store them outside in a very small area. If you only need a few bags, such as for a single horse, they might even be stored in an aisleway or under the hayloft steps.

The advantage to you as a horse owner is huge; reducing bedding means less stall waste by volume, less hassle for dealing with the stall waste, less cost for you on bedding, less storage area needed, improved horse health and less time spent on stall cleaning chores. That means more time to spend enjoying your horses.

Good horsekeeping to you!.

~Alayne

Reducing Bedding, Part 1

Save money and ease your workload, part 1 of 2

By Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

Reducing bedding usage is a smart management idea for any size horse property. Less bedding means cleaning stalls will be easier and faster, since you won’t have to hunt around for manure in mounds of shavings. It also means you end up with less stall waste to deal with. If you compost, that means less carbon in your bin or pile so it will all compost better and faster and you’ll end up with a nicer compost product that will be more useful for your pastures.

I'm not suggesting reducing bedding use at the expense of horse health, but it is important to note that most of us like to bed our stalls the way we like our own beds: nice and deep and fluffy. Horses don’t need a soft, fluffy bed and your horse management situation may not require this.

Matting

The key to reducing bedding use is to start with rubber stall mats. Stall mats are excellent for horse health. They provide a level surface for a horse to stand on—much healthier for hooves than holes, rocks or wet spots. Stall mats also have a good amount of cushion, which is important for joints and soft tissue. Talk with your farrier or veterinarian for recommendations; most are staunch advocates of stall mats.

Using rubber stall mats makes chore time much simpler. A stall mat offers a firm, level surface that allows you to easily scoop up manure and soiled bedding and leave clean bedding behind. You can reduce the amount of bedding you currently use in the stall or bed only in “potty spots,” minimizing the amount of stall waste you must dispose of.

Stall mats should fit snugly in a stall, from wall to wall, to avoid urine seepage underneath. Horses tend to urinate in areas where it won’t splash, as urine is mildly caustic to the skin. Keep this in mind if you want to train your horse to urinate in a specific portion of the stall or the paddock instead. Insert photo Derby, by Alayne Blickle

Bedding Reduction

The primary purpose of bedding should be to absorb urine and moisture. Examine your situation: Do your horses have 24-hour access to a paddock? Are their stalls primarily for feeding and protection from severe weather? If so, they may not need as much bedding. Consider reducing bedding to just the “potty spots” or using a slight layer, like a litter, across the whole area. Better yet, you may be able to eliminate bedding completely, especially in the dryer summer months. Just remember that horses confined in a stall will still require bedding to absorb urine and moisture.

Next month we'll talk about alternative bedding products.

Thwarting Thieves

Security strategies for horse owners
by April LaLande, Horses for Clean Water


Many of us tend to spend every spare cent on our four-legged friends and their accoutrements, rarely thinking about how those pennies can add up. That gorgeous show saddle, comfy trail gear or handmade brow-band--how would we feel if they were stolen? Or, even more overwhelming, what if one of our horses were stolen?

Looking through the long list of stolen horses reported in the United States, it is apparent that while occasionally a high-profile horse is a target, the majority of victims are everyday, run-of-the-mill horses and equipment, conveniently easy to steal and probably even easier to sell.

If you want to better protect your horse and belongings, enhance your security now, whether you keep your horses at home or at a boarding stable.

Assess Your Vulnerability
Take a look at your property with a web tool like Google™ Maps street view, or Google™ Earth street view and click on the satellite tab. You get a fairly good aerial image of your area and can begin to imagine ways in which a thief might steal horses, tack or equipment off your property.

Ask yourself some basic security questions:
• Is my property unprotected by perimeter fencing or is my fencing easily breached?

Uncharged wire fencing is much easier to cut and drive through than a solid fence. Solution: Invest in the most secure fencing you can afford. Check fences and fields periodically for signs of damage or intrusion, and have any workers you employ keep an eye out for anything or anyone unusual.

• Am I on a main road or surrounded by roads?

If so, it is easy for a thief to drive by and monitor your comings and goings to see if your place might be an easy target. Most horse thefts are staked out in advance, and roads make the crime easier to accomplish. Solution: Locked gates and motion lights are good deterrents. Lock any gates that are not in regular use and make sure they are properly installed so they cannot be lifted off their hinges, padlock intact.

• Can I see my horses from my house?

Solution: A security camera can be a relatively inexpensive theft deterrent for unwatched areas of your property.

• Can someone slip in my back gate unseen and rummage through the barn? Is my farm a public facility? Are events held there?

Solution: For large facilities, have just one main entry, and post signs instructing visitors where to check in. If possible, monitor your main entrance by either locating it within view of the house or by using a security camera. Use "no trespassing" or security signs on perimeter fencing and in areas where you do not want people bothering animals or looking for things to steal.

• Is my trailer waiting and ready for someone to haul off?

Solution: For as little as 30 dollars, a simple trailer-hitch lock can prevent the theft of your trailer, or worse, your trailer with a horse in it.

• Are halters hanging conveniently close by my horses in unobserved areas?

Solution: You may want to put halters in a secure tack room or other area less obvious to a thief , but where you can easily retrieve them when needed.

• Do I have a "four-legged alarm system"?

Solution: Even if you’re gone, many thieves will not want to deal with dogs and may move on to easier pickings.

Other Security Strategies
• Make sure sick or agitated animals are investigated immediately for signs of foul play.

• Make sure you can be reached when you are away if there is an emergency situation. It is a good idea to let your veterinarian know when someone else will be taking care of your horses.

• Only notify trusted contacts when you will be away for prolonged periods; don’t announce it to everyone.

• If you are going away, cancel deliveries so unwanted newspapers or packages don’t pile up on the front steps, a sure sign to burglars that no one is watching the farm.

Write down your security policies and share them with boarders and employees so you can all work together to prevent theft. Remember to periodically check and update insurance policies so you can cover the replacement costs of your vehicles, facilities and belongings.

About the Author
April LaLande lives on an award-winning conservation farm with her husband, horse, goat, whippets and resident elk herd in the Cascade foothills of Washington. In addition to the requisite day job, April provides writing and research assistance to Horses For Clean Water on environmentally sensitive horse keeping practices.


Resources for Recovering Stolen Horses
Missing Pet Network www.missingpet.net
Stolen Horse International netposse.com
Stolen Horse International theft prevention tips: www.netposse.com/prevrec/prevention.htm
Washington State Department of Agriculture: Livestock Identification Program
http://agr.wa.gov/FoodAnimal/Livestock/WhoToContact.aspx
Oregon: ODA Animal Health and Identification Division
www.oregon.gov/ODA/AHID/livestock_id/main.shtml

Winter Preparedness Tips

Fall preparations make winter life easier
article and photo by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

Who can forget last winter’s weather? Record snowstorms, arctic temperatures, then all the flooding. Many of us (along with our horses) were cabin-bound for weeks on end. So…are you ready for another potentially wet and wild Northwest winter? As with most things, now is the time of year when an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Below are a few of HCW’s top tips to help get your horse property ready for the worst that winter can dish out.

1) Bring in footing material for paddocks and other high traffic areas. It is much easier for delivery trucks to back into paddocks and drive through pastures now, rather than once these areas have become slick and muddy in January. These materials are usually more available at this time of year, before the demand gets high. Plus, getting footing now will avoid creating a mud mess later on. For more information on choosing footing types, refer to the handout “Footing Findings” at http://www.horsesforcleanwater.com/.

2) Check gutters and downspouts. Now is the time to clean and make needed repairs or additions to your roof runoff system. Think “keep clean rainwater clean” by diverting it away from your paddocks to areas where it won’t get contaminated. Good places to divert to include grassy ditches, a dry well, rain barrels, stock watering tanks, a fish pond, well-vegetated woods, or an unused portion of your pasture. Doing this will reduce the amount of mud your horse stands in this winter and will make daily chores easier for you.

3) Close down your pastures. If you’re lucky enough to have pastures, then fall is the time to baby them. Pastures grazed too closely in the autumn are subject to winter damage and slow regrowth in the spring. For winter protection, it’s best if you allow grass plants to produce at least four inches of leaf growth. During the winter months, pasture plants are dormant so they simply cannot survive continuous grazing. Also, soils are saturated and easily compacted during our soggy winters. The best option for managing your horses during winter is to create a winter paddock or sacrifice area. Confine your horses to this area during the winter and in the summer when pastures become overgrazed. For additional help with sacrifice areas, refer to the Horse Farm Management articles in the December 2008 through February 2009 issues of NWHS, which can be found online at http://www.nwhorsesource.com/.

4) Tarp your manure piles. This will help keep the nutrients you are trying to save in the compost and not allow them to get washed out into the surface waters where they can cause problems and contribute to more mud and yuck. Be sure to store manure as far away as possible from streams, ditches or wetlands to avoid potential environmental problems, as well as away from fence lines to be a good neighbor. More information about composting is available at http://www.horsesforcleanwater.com/.

5) Spread compost. Fall is a great time to spread compost. Compost is a rich soil enhancement that adds micro and macronutrients and replenishes natural microbial life, which improves the health of the soil and plants. Spread compost in pastures during the growing season, no more than a ½ inch layer at a time or a total of 3-4 inches per season.

6) Consider liming your pastures. Have a soil test done on your pastures. If it indicates your pastures need liming, then fall is an excellent time to do this. Fall applications allow the lime to neutralize soil acidity as it reacts with the soil over the winter. Changing the pH allows grass plants to be more competitive next growing season.

Good horsekeeping to you!

Questions to Ask Before Boarding, Part 2 of 2

Check into health and amenities when choosing or changing boarding facilities
by Ellen Mosier, Horses for Clean Water; photo by Alayne Blickle

Last month we looked at an overview of some of the big-picture points to consider when shopping for a new boarding facility. This month, we look at boarding facility amenities and food and health concerns.

Amenities
Depending on your needs as a rider, there are several things to consider when searching for a new facility:

• Places to ride: Is there a covered arena? Outdoor arena? Round pen? Can you ride to trails from the facility or will you need to trailer out?

• Horse trailers: Are you allowed to keep a horse trailer on site? Is there an additional fee for this? Can friends visit with their horses? Is there adequate space for them to pull in, park and turn around? How long can they leave their trailers on site?

• Instruction: Is there a trainer associated with the facility? Does your horse have to be in training to be boarded there? Are other trainers allowed to instruct there?

Food and Health Concerns
These are important concerns for horse owners at all boarding stables:

• Food: What are horses fed? Where does the hay come from? Is it dry and fresh smelling, free of mold, mildew or weeds? Are you allowed to provide your own feed if your horse has different needs? Will you be allowed to store it on site? Does this cost extra, or does it provide a discount in board fee? Do they charge extra to feed daily vitamins and minerals or monthly psyllium pellets?

• Deworming: Many facilities have a deworming program that boarders must follow. It may be that boarders are required to deworm their own horses and provide a record, or the facility may provide the medication and service as part of a boarding fee. Be sure that whatever program is used is appropriate for your horse, and/or that you can opt out if you need to. If you are moving to a new region, you will want to find out what types of parasites are prevalent there.

• Fly/pest control: What methods are used to discourage pests? Are there nest boxes and vegetation that attract pest-eating birds, bats, and insects? Does the facility practice good manure and mud management to reduce flies? Are horses turned out with fly masks on? Are there barn cats to keep the rodent population down? Some boarding places may require the use of feed-through fly control added to a grain or complete feed supplement once a day, every day. Be sure you are comfortable with the methods used, and research anything you are not familiar with.

• Veterinary care: Ask if there is a barn vet boarders are expected to use, or if you may choose your own. Ask around for recommendations. If you are not moving your horse far, find out if your current vet can travel to the new place.

• Hoof care: As with vet care, find out if you can choose your own farrier and if your current hoof care practitioner can follow you to the new place.

• Other horses: Seeing the other horses boarded at the facility will tell you a lot. Do they look and act vibrant, with shiny coats and alert, bright eyes? Do they smell healthy and fresh? Are their feet trimmed or shod nicely, free of cracks and thrush? Whether in a pasture or barn, are they able to stand contentedly with not too many bothersome flies? Are they at a healthy weight? Do they seem comfortable, quiet and friendly around people? There will sometimes be less than healthy or well-adjusted horses at any given facility, but more than a few of these might indicate an underlying problem.

There is a lot here to think about, but finding a new home for your horse is a big responsibility. Be as thorough as you can—take your time, do the legwork, ask questions, observe. You will find the right place, and your horse will thank you for it!

Questions to Ask Before Boarding

Practical considerations and questions to ask when choosing or changing boarding facilities, Part 1 of 2
by Ellen Mosier, Horses for Clean Water

My horse lived at the same wonderful boarding facility for the first nine years I owned her. The farm was like a second home to me, so when boarders were told in late summer 2006 that we’d have to move our horses by spring 2007, I knew it would be a hard act to follow. It took many months and a lot of miles to find another stable that felt right to me, and I learned a lot in the process. In this article I’ll share my thoughts about what to look for and how to look for it, and what questions to ask.

Take Time to Look
The other boarders and I were fortunate to have such a long lead time to look for a new facility. It took each of us several months to find the right place. Give yourself as much time as you possibly can—at least three or four months. If you need to move quickly, don’t settle for something you won’t like for the long term. Find a suitable temporary situation, and then keep looking.

Write out your image of horse heaven. It will vary with every horse and owner. Know where you’ll be willing to compromise when the time comes, but start out with a vision of the perfect place for your horse.

Figure Your Budget
Boarding situations vary hugely in cost. Figure out what you need to buy each month to care for your horse, including feed, supplements, deworming, hoof and vet care, transportation, clinics and shows, and an emergency fund. Whatever is left in your budget after that is what you have to work with when determining where you can afford to board your horse.

As you research boarding facilities that interest you, refer to your budget list and run the numbers. You will probably discover that you have to make compromises. You may want to find a stable with a covered riding arena, for instance, but such places generally cost more. If your horse’s food and dewormers are included in the boarding fee, it might offset the additional cost of the arena, or you may decide that indoor riding is not within your budget right now.

Be sure to include time and logistics in your cost scenario. You may find a great deal on a self-care situation, but if you work full time and live many miles from your horse, the amount of money and time you would spend commuting might not be realistic.

Remember that your horse’s safety and good health are the most important considerations. Never make your compromises in those areas.

Consider Geography
Determine the geographical area for your search. Knowing the answers to the following questions will help you define how big this area can be: Do you commute to work? How far are you willing to drive? How long will it take to get there? Is it convenient for riding with friends? Is it close to activities you enjoy, such as trail riding, or shows? Can your instructor easily travel to you, or can you and your horse get to him or her?

Check online, phone books, and community boards at local tack and feed stores and public arenas to locate boarding facilities in the area of your search. Ask friends or others who live in that area if they know of a suitable facility. Take a drive and look around. If you see a place you like, check for a sign with a phone number to call later. If there isn’t anyone around to talk with, you might leave a note at the door. Needless to say, don’t go through any closed gates to do this!

Make a Visit
Check out every place that interests you in person. You can only truly evaluate a place if you see it for yourself. Take along a friend for a different perspective. Together, you are less likely to miss anything of importance.

Bring a list of questions with you for the facility owner/manager, and take time to write down the answers. When you are visiting many facilities, there is a lot to remember. Talk to the person in charge of the actual horse care, and—if possible—talk with other boarders. Don’t hesitate to ask direct questions.

Ask how long the facility has been in business, what their methods of horse handling are, what background the staff has, and whether someone is on site 24-7. There will no doubt be a contract for boarders to sign; ask to see one, then read it thoroughly. What are the responsibilities outlined for you? What are the rules you must follow? Some boarding places seem very informal, but if a conflict ever comes up, the contract is there for your protection. Know what’s in it!

Location & Living Conditions
Take a tour and check out everything, including the pastures, paddocks, barns, and outbuildings. Is the facility on a busy road? Set back from the road? Easy to get into and out of with a horse trailer? On flat or hilly ground? In a flood plain? Open or nestled among tall trees? Know your preferences. Are the horses on pasture 24/7 or in a stall most of the time?

The following list will provide you with many more things to consider and questions to ask about the living conditions of your horse’s potential new home:

Barn: Is the barn dry, clean, and well ventilated? If hay is stored there, is it dry and fresh-smelling, free of mold and mildew? Is there a tack room with a locked door where you can store your gear without worry about dust and theft? How much space will you have for your gear? Is there a wash rack with warm and/or cold water available? Are there cross ties or other safe methods to tie horses in the wash rack and barn aisles? Is there a phone in the barn for emergencies? Is there a clean and organized message board available? Are the barn doors left open at night for better ventilation? Is there an evacuation plan in place for fire or other emergencies? Is there a list posted with contact information for horse owners, farriers and veterinarians? Is there a restroom or portable toilet for boarders, and is it relatively clean?

Stalls: Are stalls large, with good ventilation? Are they clean and odor-free? Are walls smooth, with no stray nails, hooks or splinters? What type of bedding is used, and how often is it changed? What is the flooring underneath like--firm and flat, or is it rocky and dished? Rubber mats are generally the best for horses to stand on. Cement or concrete are definitely not suitable. Can horses see outside? Is fresh water available at all times? Is food laid on the ground, in a feed bin or in wall-mounted racks? Who cleans the stalls and how often?

Paddocks and Pastures: What is the fencing like--steel pipe, wood or vinyl? Is it safe or will horses get loose or cut on nails and loose boards? Do stalls have individual attached paddocks? What type of footing is used? Is there sufficient drainage so horses are not standing in mud, water or urine? How often are paddocks cleaned? Are pastures well maintained and regularly dragged to spread manure, or are there weeds and/or toxic plants? Be sure to ask about winter conditions, too; is there sufficient drainage to prevent mud and standing water? Do horses have access to shelter and fresh water at all times?

Turnout: When the facility advertises “turnout,” does that mean into a paddock or a pasture? How often, and for how long? Alone or with other horses? Is there room enough for the horse to run and exercise? Do you pay extra for someone else to turn your horse out each day?

Companionship: Are horses in a pasture or paddock with other horses, or in adjoining areas? Which horses are pastured together, and how are they introduced to one another?

Next month we'll finish by looking at boarding facility amenities as well as food and health concerns.

Lessons in Safer Grazing

Tips for Safely Managing Your Horse’s Health on Pasture, part 2

by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

Below are some simple guidelines for managing the overweight horse on pasture to help reduce the sugar and carbohydrate load in your horse’s diet. Remember, seek help from a veterinarian and/or and other professional experienced in this area, especially if you have an at-risk individual (i.e., a horse with Cushings, laminitis or founder, Equine Metabolic Syndrome, insulin resistance, Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy, etc.) Keep in mind that any changes you institute need to be given time in order to evaluate their effectiveness, and must be done gradually to allow your horse’s natural gut flora to adjust.

Managing the Easy Keeper on Pasture

• Learn what a healthy weight for your horse is. Talk with your vet or consult a weight chart such as this one: http://drgwald.com/Documents/Body%20Conditon%20Score%20Chart.pdf. Determine where your horse’s weight is and should be, as well as how to manage its diet.

• The best time to graze while gaining maximum benefit of forage without adding extra fat on your horse is between 3:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. At this time pasture plants have used up most of the sugars that built up during the day. Since not many of us care to set our alarm clocks to 2:45 a.m., try turning your horses out as late as possible in the evening and bringing them in the next morning before heading off to work. Remember to apply a good insect repellent if mosquitoes are a concern in your area. An alternative to night grazing is turning horses out on pasture in the early morning and bringing them in by 10:00 a.m., when plant production of sugar becomes high once again.

• Don’t be fooled by late summer brown grass--brown grasses can be very high in sugars! Pastures are healthiest for horses (lowest in sugars) during the active growing season when plants are green and not stressed. Therefore, graze at-risk horses during the active growing seasons (spring and early summer) and limit grazing of dried out and brown pastures.

• Don’t allow horses to graze pastures that have gone to seed. The grass plant seed-head is a high-sugar part of the plant. (See part one of this series for details.)

• Be very careful with grazing during cool weather (under 40 degrees) and especially if it has frosted. Pasture plants store carbohydrates at very high levels during these times. This is a key issue and will play the most havoc with an at-risk horse’s metabolic condition.

• During long periods of sunny weather, eliminate or substantially reduce grazing time for at-risk individuals. Consider grazing late at night instead (see above).

• Shady pastures and cloudy days will cause lower carbohydrate and sugar levels in grasses. Rotating horses to shaded pastures may be an option for high-risk individuals.

• Implement a rotational grazing program to help avoid overgrazing. The greatest amount of sugar in a grass plant is in the bottom 3 inches. For help designing a rotational grazing system for your property, contact Horses for Clean Water or your local conservation district.

• Easy keepers on pasture may need a grazing muzzle, a device that fastens on a horse’s head and only allows the horse to eat through a two-inch hole in the muzzle. An Internet search will give you several options, plus tips on how to safely use them.

• When feeding hay, always weigh it and don't cheat; a 1-pound difference in a feeding is huge.

• Eliminate grain, sweet treats (carrots, apples, sugar cubes) and carbohydrates from your easy keeper’s diet and review your feeding program with your vet. Grain, complete feeds and concentrates add huge amounts of sugars and non-structural carbohydrates to a horse’s diet. Horses only require these when lacking in energy or weight.

• Exercising a horse as little as 30 minutes a day, three times a week, can make a big health change by improving its metabolism. Horses (like their humans!) need regular exercise as part of their standard care regime. Confining horses in a stall and reducing physical demands sets the stage for serious metabolic problems.

• Treat each horse as an individual. Just like people, the dietary needs for one horse may not be the same for another.

This is a very complex and evolving area; each horse is an individual and each situation may require a slightly different way of handling things. Talk with your veterinarian about specific feeding and grazing recommendations for your horse, and check out the other resources listed below.

Good horsekeeping to you!

Resources:

One of the best resources on this topic is Katy Watts of www.safergrass.org. Katy has DVDs and other educational materials available for purchase at a reasonable price.

An excellent pasture management article, which includes an interview with Katy Watts, at TheHorse.com: www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=2356&src=VW

Northwest feed companies that have low NSC (non-structural carbohydrate) feeds and list the NSC content so you know exactly what your horse is getting in grain or pelleted rations:

• LMF Feeds - www.lmffeeds.com

• Nutrena - www.nutrenaworld.com

International Veterinary Information Service: www.ivis.org

Equi-Analytical Laboratories for testing forage: www.equi-analytical.com

Sites with information on grazing muzzles:

www.shopping.com/xPC-Bc_Equine_Grazing_Muzzle_for_Horses_And_Ponies_Black_Muzzle_for_Horses , www.horse-sense.org/archives/20050911124342.php

Grasses, Pasture and Horse Health

The truth behind myths about grazing and grasses, part 1 of 2

by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

As an environmental educator in the horse property management field, I visit a lot of horse properties and talk with many horse owners. One of my biggest concerns in pasture management is how owners integrate their horses into the management process, particularly when it comes to grazing and the overweight horse, fondly referred to as the “easy keeper.” In this two-part series, I will talk about how to manage the easy keeper on pasture and attempt to help unravel some common horse health myths surrounding pasture management. The first of these myths is that short grass is good for horses.

Short and Sweet

Over the years, pasture grasses and related grazing principles have been developed for horses through the cattle and sheep industries. This means we have developed grass species with extremely high levels of sugars and carbohydrates that are good for fattening up animals bound for milk or meat production and early age slaughter. These same high-sugar grasses in excessive amounts are not necessarily good for horses, which are athletes intended to live 25-plus years. There are many in the horse industry struggling to develop a better understanding of the issues surrounding sugars, non-structural carbohydrates, and grasses for horses, including vets, farriers, agronomists, horse owners and others.

In horses, “fat” is not healthy. The related high sugar and non-structural carbohydrate issues in hay and grass may explain why we are now seeing so many overweight individuals with metabolic disorders and insulin resistance problems. It may be that the types of pastures we've developed and the way we've been grazing horses are contributing to very serious equine health issues.

If your horse is overweight or already suffering from a metabolic disorder (Cushings, laminitis, Equine Metabolic Syndrome, insulin resistance, Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy, etc.) you need to research options for reducing sugars and carbohydrates in your horse’s diet. Even if your horse doesn’t have one of these problems, watching your horse’s waistline and doing your best to keep him in good health is smart.

Often the easy keeper is simply placed on an overgrazed pasture, commonly called the “diet pen.” Unfortunately, the overgrazed pasture is anything but a diet pen because the greatest amount of sugar in a grass plant is in the bottom three inches. The other common myth I hear is that grass that has gone to seed is good for a horse; this is simply not true. The pasture grass seed-head is another high-sugar part of the plant. Mowing your pasture before the plant produces a seed head will force the plant to produce more leaves (called tillers), which are better for the horse to eat. At this point, the sugars in the plant are more evenly distributed instead of being concentrated in the seed head.

Spring Feeding

Another major myth I hear is that springtime grazing is bad for horses. Again, this is simply not true. When a grass plant is actively growing, as it is in the spring, it is using up its stores of sugar to produce new growth, thereby leaving less sugar in it. When a grass plant is stressed, such as when there’s not enough rain or during cold temperatures, the plant stores sugar and waits for the ideal conditions in which it can start actively growing again. This explains the big growth spurt you often see in droughty pastures after a summer rain. The grass had accumulated sugars and was just hanging out, waiting to jump into action once ideal conditions occurred. This means that brown grasses experiencing stress can have a higher amount of sugar in them than actively growing green grasses.

What is true about springtime grazing is that any change in a horse’s diet can cause digestive upset to the friendly bacteria, creating serious health issues. I always recommend any dietary changes be done on a gradual basis. So, if your horse isn’t used to being on pasture, begin springtime grazing for the “normal” horse at an hour or half an hour at a time. Over a period of several weeks, work your horse up to a couple of hours. Keep an eye on the horse’s weight and consult your veterinarian regarding any questions or concerns.

Next month we will cover some simple guidelines for grazing your horse and managing the overweight horse on pasture.

Gimme Shelter, Part 3 of 3

Plan your horse shelter for ease, efficiency, and possible expansion

by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water, www.horsesforcleanwater.com

This month we wind up our series on setting up an at-home horse shelter by covering a few final design points as well as considering the back end of the horse: manure management. I’ll also provide some further resources on manure management, building shelters, and horse care.

Waste Space

A critical consideration for your horse shelter is manure management. If you plan for a system of managing your horse’s manure, such as composting, you can figure that into your design and chore-efficiency considerations. A 1,000 lb. horse produces about 50 lbs. of manure per day, equaling about one cubic foot daily. With bedding, that comes to two cubic feet per day.

Plan your manure storage area to accommodate the amount of stall waste you will be accumulating. You can utilize finished compost in pastures, gardens or lawns, or you can arrange to haul it away. For additional help with manure management see the Horses for Clean Water Tip Sheet “How to Compost and Use Horse Manure” at www.horsesforcleanwater.com/tipsheets/index.html. For additional help with bin designs, contact your local county conservation district or extension office. Using your favorite Internet search engine, type in the name of your county and the words “conservation district” or “extension.” Your county’s solid waste department may also offer classes on composting.

Plan for the Future

When planning your barn, lay out the interior to simplify chores. Keep tools and equipment storage in a central area. If you will be using large equipment inside your barn, consider the size of aisleways, doors, gates, interior posts, etc. Lay out your compost bins so that they are easily accessed when cleaning stalls and paddocks, as well as for using the finished compost.

Other considerations include versatility and options for future expansion. Is there a possibility of an additional horse in the future? How about more pasture areas? Or a storage location for a future tractor? Would you love to build an outdoor arena someday? Keeping your dreams in mind when you start out helps avoid costly redoes down the road.

Safety Concerns

An important consideration for any size shelter is fire safety and prevention. Always have good wiring and good electrical work done. Practice good housekeeping by keeping areas clear and regularly cleaning up cobwebs and dust. Keep the proper size and type of fire extinguisher centrally located and in good working order.

For More Information

Here are some excellent reference books on these topics. Check them out from your local library or help support Horses for Clean Water by purchasing them through the Amazon.com link on www.horsesforcleanwater.com.

Horsekeeping on a Small Acreage (2005 revised and updated edition) by Cherry Hill is an excellent reference book on horse facility design and management. It includes information on understanding horses, designing a horse facility for your land, and designs for horse barns and other facilities.

Horse Housing: How to Plan, Build and Remodel Barns and Sheds by Richard Klimesh and Cherry Hill. This beautiful book has lots of wonderful, detailed ideas and explanations – plus it’s fun to read, look at the photos, and dream.

Equipping Your Horse Farm: Tractors, Trailers, Trucks and More by Cherry Hill and Richard Klimesh. Whether you have one acre or one hundred, you probably need a tractor or ATV, some implements, a truck and a trailer. This book can help.

The Perfect Stall by Karen E. N. Hayes. Learn how to provide five-star accommodations to improve your horse's health, comfort, and safety with less work for you.

Additionally, check out the Horses for Clean Water website for upcoming events. HCW offers loads of free or low-cost educational opportunities on mud, manure and pasture management.

With these thoughts in mind you are ready to begin the design and construction phase of your horse’s shelter. Good luck and good horsekeeping to you!

~Alayne

Gimme Shelter, Part 2 of 3

Consider the location, construction, and convenience of your horse shelter 

by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water 

Last month we talked about what your horse needs for his shelter, as well as some thoughts on design and siting. This month we will cover potential regulations and structural considerations. 

Research county, city or local regulations before you start on your project, and be sure to check with zoning and building codes. Community considerations are important as well. Odors, dust, flies and noise can bother neighbors, and in the long run it's easier to avoid complaints. Consider management practices that make your place an asset to your neighborhood, such as adding native nest boxes for birds (and for insect control!), preserving trees and good pasture and manure management.

Building Considerations

The flooring in your stall or shelter should be dry and level. Rubber mats on top of 6 inches of gravel provide an excellent surface -- they keep an even surface for the horse to stand on with an amount of cushioning. They also reduce the amount of bedding needed and are very easy to clean. Packed clay is a traditional flooring but erodes over time, creating potholes in the stall. Concrete and wood are slick and hard and should not be used in horse stalls or shelters. 

Walls should be strong, smooth, free of projections, and at least eight feet high. Barn stalls should have a foot of space between the top of the wall and the ceiling to allow air movement and good ventilation. Walls should extend to the ground so horses cannot get its legs caught under them when lying down. Avoid sharp edges or corners, as well as square posts that can scrape. Beware of metal siding used for horse buildings. Metal edges and corners are very dangerous and can easily cause serious injury. Also, horses can easily kick through metal siding.

Minimum stall size is 12'x12', or 10'x10' for a small horse or pony. A one horse run-in shed should be at least 10’ x 12’. For two horses, depending on their temperaments and compatibility, 12’ x 16’ might work. When housing more than one horse in the same shelter, provide enough space to minimize the chance of injury. Timid or less aggressive horses can easily become trapped by a more dominant horse in small, enclosed areas or corners.

Power and Utilities

Are you planning on power, water, sewer or phone in your shelter or barn? If so, you need to investigate the feasibility of each. Unless you plan to haul water, you probably will at least need water lines. Shelters, barns and areas such as manure storage should be located at least 100’ away from well heads. If you are on a septic system, know where your drain field is located and don’t place structures or paddocks over it. Contact your county health department for help with well and septic questions. 

Storage

For feed storage, you can get by with a larger attached closet-sized area or a small shed located near your shelter. If you have a barn, then you will probably have hay storage in a loft area or extra stall. Consider how much hay you will be storing: one horse eats approximately 600 lbs of hay per month, and a ton of hay requires 200 cu. ft. of storage. Hay needs to be kept dry, out of the sun and weather. Store it off the ground on pallets with 4"-6" space between stacks for ventilation and rodent habitat reduction. Grain should be stored in rodent-proof containers and kept well away from any location where your horse could possibly get into it. If you are short on space, a simple alternative is to store the grain in your home or garage.

Tack and equipment should be kept where it is dry and convenient. This may be any place from a heated tack room in a barn to a closet in your horse’s shelter to your home. 

Shavings or bedding also need to be stored where they are dry and convenient. Large amounts are best stored away from horses because of dust, mold and fire danger. If you are tight on storage space, consider an alternative such as pelleted bedding. Wood pellets are made of kiln dried wood (usually fir, alder or pine and very little cedar) and sawdust. The fine material is compressed into a small, hard pellet that expands back to the sawdust stage once exposed to moisture. Pellets are usually sold by the bag, making transportation and storage easy. With the addition of a cover, you may even be able to store them outside, making them especially convenient. An added bonus is that since it is more absorbent you can use less bedding, saving on money while reducing stall waste!

Feeding Areas

It is most natural for horses to eat with their heads lowered; this aids in clearing their respiratory systems. You can feed in a manger or on the stall floor. Rubber floor mats work especially well for this purpose. Avoid feeding on sand or muddy ground, as this leads to ingestion of dirt, causing serious digestion problems. Grain can be fed in a flat, open pan or grain box. Avoid competition when you feed--it is best if horses can be fed separately. 

We finish this series next month with more details and resources for designing your at-home horse shelter. 

Until then, good horsekeeping to you!

~Alayne

Gimme Shelter! Part 1 of 3

Tips and ideas for basic horse shelters

by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

Looking for ways to trim your horse budget? Thinking that now is the time to bring your horse home to give him a break from stall life at the boarding facility? If you are in the market for setting up an at-home horse facility, let’s start with a basic requirement for your horse: shelter.

Providing shelter for your horse can mean anything from a tree in a pasture to a nice big barn. If you are in the market for designing a horse shelter, let’s consider the basic requirements and review some considerations for building a horse place.

Basic Needs

A horse needs shelter and protection from the heat, driving rain and severe cold. A healthy horse can withstand cold temperatures, but when it’s windy a horse looses a considerable amount of body heat. This situation worsens when the horse is wet from rain or snow. Horses should be provided with a place where they can get out of the mud and wet for at least half the day. This can be anything from a paddock with a basic run-in shed to a larger structure like a barn with stalls.

When designing your horse facility, you will at least need a place for your horse (or horses) with storage for feed (hay, grain and supplements), tack, supplies and bedding. You may be able to consider a larger design such as a barn with a tack room, shavings storage, wash rack and the works. However, if these large plans are not in your immediate budget, a simple shelter may be able to address your needs and the horses'. 

The Indoor Environment

A two- or three-sided run-in shed with a roof can provide excellent shelter and may be the most natural for a horse. It's also a little easier on the pocketbook. With this kind of facility, the horse is allowed to regulate his own body temperature; it also provides excellent ventilation. 

Closed barns accumulate dust, ammonia fumes and moisture, creating an environment in which mold and germs flourish. This is harmful to the horse’s fragile respiratory system, which is designed to breathe the clean, dry air of prairies and savannahs. If you have a barn, each stall needs air movement to keep air clean and prevent condensation. An occasional breeze down an aisle is not enough. Look at having open windows year-round and a door at either end of the barn. A roof with some kind of opening at its peak allows warm, moist air to escape. If you are experiencing condensation in your barn, your ventilation is not adequate.

Site Considerations

When choosing the location for your shelter, look for a high, well-drained area--don't build in a low area or wet spot.  It may be useful to check soil types, as well. Gravelly soils are best; they tend to be well-drained, making good locations for buildings and confinement areas. Loamy soils are best used for pastures. Check with your USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, your local conservation district, or your Cooperative Extension office for more information on soil types in your area. 

Stay as far away as possible from creeks, wetlands, or ditches (especially those with water). Ensure that hills or sloping ground behind or near your structure don't drain into it. Be sure to locate the shelter facing away from the prevailing weather patterns so your horse can get protection when the winds howl.  

Accessibility and Efficiency

Is there a year-round road or driveway to your barn or shelter? Folks such as the vet and farrier, as well as trucks for other deliveries, will need access. Is the driveway good--not too muddy or narrow? Easy to clear of snow? Free from overhead wires or trees? Are gates wide enough for trucks doing deliveries? Can emergency vehicles access your place if necessary?

For chore efficiency, review your proposed setup so deliveries of supplies can be made without moving horses. For example, will people have to drive through pasture to get to the barn? Can others feed your horses without walking through pastures or paddocks? Can you move horses to other areas (barn to pasture, between paddocks, etc.) with ease? Be sure that aisleways and paths are wide enough for wheelbarrows or other equipment.

Check back next month for regulations and building considerations. See you then!

~Alayne

Farm Disaster Preparedness

Seven steps to preparing yourself and your horses for emergencies

by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

In the Pacific Northwest, many types of natural disasters are possible, including wildfire, arctic blizzards, major earthquakes, volcanic activity and flooding. Recent winter blizzards with record snowfall followed by warm weather with record rainfall produced massive flooding and accompanying landslides within our region. Many of us were impacted, and in some cases overwhelmed, by this weather. On-farm disaster preparedness can go a long way to help minimize disastrous results for you and your horses. 

During an emergency, the time you have to evacuate your horses will be limited. Having an effective emergency plan will help you move your horses to safety more quickly. If you are unprepared or wait until the last minute to evacuate, emergency management officials may tell you to leave your horses behind. Once you leave your property, you have no way of knowing how long you will be kept out of the area. To avoid this situation, emergency officials recommend the following steps to help you become better organized in the event of a disaster... (click here to read the full article in our digital edition)

Creating the Perfect Paddock, Part 3 in a 3-part series

Put your new paddock to good use

by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

In this series we have covered key techniques for setting up and managing the perfect horse paddock. This month we wind up by discussing how to integrate your paddock into your management system, along with how to deal with horse boredom.

Paddock to Pasture

You’ve done everything to set up the mud-free, dust-free perfect paddock, so now you’re ready to integrate everything into your horsekeeping system. If you have pasture, your horses should be kept in their paddocks during the winter and early spring when grass plants are dormant and soils are soggy. In the summer, use your paddock to avoid grazing pasture below three inches. Having a well-maintained paddock is also useful for separating or confining animals, for controlling the amount of grass or feed your horse consumes on a daily basis (so he doesn’t become overweight), and for caring for sick or injured individuals.

Remember to begin springtime grazing time gradually. Too much pasture can cause serious problems, especially in the spring when grasses are green and full of sugar. Start with about an hour of grazing at a time and work up to several hours over a period of weeks. If you have any questions on this, consult your veterinarian for recommendations.

Beating the Boredom

Some horses confined in a paddock will develop boredom issues, but luckily there are a few things we can do to help alleviate the problem. The first is to feed more frequently. Smaller, more frequent meals mimic a horse’s natural behavior. If this isn’t possible, consider leaving additional lower quality hay for your horse to browse during the day. On the advice of your vet, perhaps you can reduce the overall quality of hay you feed and increase the amount.

Other boredom-busters include horsey toys; a variety of toys are on the market these days, including balls, licking toys (with sugar or salt in them) or objects with a food treat inside that encourage the horse to pursue the toy. You may be able to make your own toys, perhaps a ball or some other safe plastic object, a plastic milk jug the horses can bat around, or even a heavy branch from a non-toxic tree species--check with your veterinarian for advice on local tree species that aren’t toxic.

The very best method for reducing boredom in your horses is to provide more mental stimulation: riding and exercise. Even though your horses can move around in their paddocks, they still need regular exercise, so plan and maintain a regular program for your horse. Exercising a horse as little as 30 minutes per day three times a week can make a big health and attitude change. Horses (like their humans) need regular exercise as part of their standard care regime. Options include riding (of course!), hand walking, lunging, round pen groundwork, or using a hot walker. Perhaps now is the time to work out a riding and ground exercising routine that will fit your schedule and will benefit your horse. 

Healthy Farm, Healthy Horse

By utilizing a confinement area as outlined above, you will have less mud and runoff, less dust, fewer flies, and reduced odors as well as healthier pastures. All this means healthier horses, fewer vet bills, less money spent on supplemental feed, a place that’s easier for you to care for and to look at and enjoy, and a cleaner environment for all. That’s perfect!

Happy Horsekeeping,

~Alayne

Creating the Perfect Paddock, Part 2 in a 3 part series

Watch out for too much water
by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water
www.HorsesforCleanWater.com

The perfect paddock is what we all want for our horses, right? Last month we began this series by discussing reasons for creating a winter paddock and where to establish it. This month we'll cover mud and manure control, fencing considerations, safety tips and chore efficiency ideas

Mud and Manure
Keeping your horses in a paddock area in the winter confines manure and urine to a small, manageable area where you have better control over it. Picking up the manure every one to three days will help reduce your horse's parasite load. In summer months it will also reduce flies and insects by eliminating their habitat. Regular removal of manure also greatly reduces the amount of mud that develops. Eliminating mud in the winter is your key to reducing dust in the summer, too. Reducing mud and manure will help prevent contaminated runoffs from reaching the surface and ground water in your area as well. The manure you pick up can be composted and reapplied to your pastures during the growing season, another plus for your pasture management program!

Footing is the next important consideration for paddocks. Using some type of footing, at least in the high traffic areas, will reduce mud by keeping your horse off the soil surface, thereby avoiding erosion. Hogfuel or wood chips can provide an excellent footing. These wood products can be good environmental controls, too. Through the natural composting process, they contribute to the breakdown of the nitrogen in the horse’s urine and manure. This process eliminates the urine smell often present in outdoor confinement areas. Gravel (crushed rock, no larger than 5/8”) works well, particularly in wetter conditions where hogfuel will break down too quickly. Gravel surfaces are very easy to pick manure off of. Sand is also a popular footing choice and is more available in some parts of the country. Avoid feeding on sandy surfaces, as ingesting sand (or mud and dirt) with hay can result in serious sand colic problems and expensive vet bills. Sand also drains poorly and is dusty in the summer. A good sand choice would be a coarse, washed sand.

There are many possible footing materials for different parts of the country. In choosing footing, some considerations include:

• Will it be a suitable, safe surface for my horse to run, stand and lie on?
• Can I easily pick up manure from the footing material?
• Will the footing material contaminate my compost pile in any way?
• Will it be very dusty in the dry months?
• What is the cost and availability?
• Is it in any way toxic to horses, humans or other animals?

You might want to try a combination of footing types, perhaps using gravel in the high traffic areas and hogfuel in the rest.

Water Control 
Install rain gutters and a roof runoff system on your barns and shelters and divert rainwater away from your horse’s confinement areas. This will seriously reduce mud and prevent manure and urine from being washed out of the paddock. In an area that gets 39 inches of rain annually, 8,125 gallons of rainwater will run off a two-stall run-in shed in one year. If you divert that much water away from your horse’s confinement area, you are greatly reducing the amount of mud you have around your horse. Divert clean rainwater to an area on your property where it can percolate back into the natural hydrology of your land – a vegetated area or an unused corner of your pasture.

As you choose the location and size of your paddock, keep in mind that there will still be some surface runoff. You can help control runoff by locating your paddocks so they are surrounded downslope by at least 25 feet of lawn, pasture, woods or even a garden. Vegetation in these buffer areas will act as a natural filtration system to help slow down runoff and reduce sediments and nutrients.

Safety Considerations
Use the very safest fencing you can for your paddocks. While wood fencing is attractive, in a confinement area it often offers the temptation for chewing. Whatever type of fencing you choose, you may want to reinforce it with some type of electric tape or hot wire as a psychological barrier. Horses are hard on fences and will test most types, but tend to respect electric fencing.

Building corners and walls should have no protruding objects on which the horse can get hurt, like bolt ends, nails, boards or the tops of metal T-posts. Also watch out for the corners of roofs and the bottom edges of metal buildings. There should be no wires or cords hanging in the paddock and absolutely no junk, garbage or machinery. Keep in mind that gates on fences need to be adequately sized for the types of truck deliveries you expect (such as gravel, hogfuel, hay, etc.).

Efficiency
A chore efficient aspect you can add to your perfect paddock is good outdoor lighting. This is best installed during the summer months, but most appreciated during the winter. Proper lighting helps you get your winter manure management chores done sooner and more efficiently, leaving less manure behind to turn into muck.

Chore-efficient equipment will also help with your perfect paddock. There is nothing worse than cleaning a stall and paddock with a manure fork with broken and missing tines – except perhaps working outside while freezing. Invest in a wood-handled (easier to grip in the cold) manure fork that will help you get the job done quickly and easily. A warm, insulated waterproof jacket, wool hat and insulated waterproof gloves with grips are also essential tools.

Next month we wind up this series by discussing how to integrate your perfect paddock into your management system, along with tips for dealing with horse boredom.

Creating the Perfect Paddock, Part 1 in a 3 part series

Create the best possible paddock for horse, human and environmental health
by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

Tired of confining your horse in that muddy, dusty, smelly and fly-infested pen? Are you looking for some new ideas on how to care for your horse during the winter months or rainy season? Or where to keep your horse when your pastures are on the brink of being overgrazed? Or when your horse is in need of a “diet pen”? Having a horse-friendly, easy to care for paddock for your horse is central to horsekeeping. The bonus for you is that having the perfect paddock will be better for horse health, more chore efficient for you, nicer for all to see and cleaner for the environment. In this series we cover key techniques for setting up and managing a horse paddock, including location, footing, and fencing as well as controls for mud, insects, odors, and dust. We begin by looking at where to locate a paddock and how big it should be.

The Problem with Mud
Living in mud is unhealthy for a horse. Mud harbors bacteria and fungal organisms that cause diseases such as Scratches (pastern dermatitis), rain scald (also known as rain rot), thrush and abscesses. Mud is also a breeding ground for insects, especially filth flies and mosquitoes -- a big concern for all of us now with West Nile Virus in most of our neighborhoods. Horses fed on muddy or dusty ground can ingest dirt or sand particles, leading to sand colic, a very serious digestive disorder. Mud also creates a slick, unsafe footing that can cause slips and injuries for horses as well as humans. As all horse owners know, mud is extremely inconvenient, making barn life unpleasant and an eyesore for all. And the summertime version of mud is dust – unhealthy for us, our horses and our neighbors.

Probably the most important aspect of managing pastures is the time when you take your horses off your pasture. You can greatly improve the health and productivity of your pastures by creating and using a paddock (often called a “sacrifice area” since you are sacrificing that area as grassy pasture for the sake of the rest of your pastures), while allowing your pastures a rest period. For pasture health and productivity, it is important never to allow pastures to be grazed below three inches. Once grass plants are grazed below that amount, they begin losing vigor and strength; the downward spiral of bare soil, dust and weeds begins to take hold.

The perfect paddock also offers good environmental controls with fewer run-offs of sediments and nutrients (from mud and manure) that are harmful for creeks and drinking water. More productive, grassy pastures will hold onto valuable topsoil and filter out nutrients and sediments – more pluses for the environment. All of this adds up to bonuses for everyone.

The Right Spot
If you don’t already have a location for your perfect paddock, begin by choosing an appropriate site.
• Choose an area on higher ground, away from creeks, wetlands or other water bodies and well away from surface water flows.
• If possible, choose well-draining soils, not organic, mucky ones.
• Look for a slight slope (about 1 to 2% is optimal) that will drain away from your barns and confinement areas.
• For chore efficiency, your confinement areas should be convenient to your barn and manure storage area.

One paddock per horse makes it easy to monitor each horse’s health as well as intake of food and water. It also helps to alleviate problems that might occur during your absence, like ending up with a fat horse and a skinny horse, or an individual that might trap a subordinate in a corner. Having horses in adjacent paddocks so they can see each other helps alleviate stress. If you have a barn with stalls, you may find it easiest to set up paddocks as runs off of each stall. This chore efficient arrangement gives the horse free access to a paddock to move around in as well as the stall for shelter and a clean, dry, convenient place to feed. 

The size of a confinement area can vary from that of a generous box stall, say 16' x 16', to that of a long, narrow enclosure where a horse can actually trot or even gallop about to get some exercise. If you want your horse to be able to run or play in his paddock, an enclosure of about 20' or 30' wide by 100' long is recommended.

The amount of land you have available, the number of horses, their ages, temperaments and the amount of regular exercise they receive all play an important role in determining the size you choose to make your paddocks.

Next month we continue with part 2 of Perfect Paddocks: Manure and Mud Management, where we'll look at fencing considerations, safety tips and chore efficiency ideas for your horse’s outdoor living quarters.

Out on the Trail, part 3 in a 3 part series

Tips for greener trails
by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

This month we finish up this series with more tips taken from Horses for Clean Water’s new brochure, Stewards of the Trail, which offers ideas for reducing our impact on the land where we ride. To receive a free copy of Stewards of the Trail, contact the Snohomish Conservation District at 425-335-5634 ext. 108, or 425-335-5634 ext. 123, or lois@snohomishcd.org.

Rules of the Road
While trail riding, follow Backcountry Horsemen’s motto of “Leave no trace." This means leave what you find, carry out what you brought and take all litter with you.

It is paramount that as we ride we make every effort to preserve the past: look at and enjoy but do not touch cultural or historic structures and artifacts. Leave rocks, plants and other natural objects as you find them. Avoid introducing or transporting non-native species of plants and animals. Do not build anything, such as fire pits, chairs or trenches.

Share the trails with other users. Speaking to them will often help settle an uneasy horse startled by the sudden appearance of a new object. Friendly conversation helps others view horses and equestrians in a positive light. Remember that while you are riding you serve as an ambassador to non-riders. What you do reflects on other horse owners. Bicyclists, runners and hikers should all yield to equestrians, but it is smart to be polite and courteous; when possible, give the other user the right of way. Common sense and courtesy are more important than who has the official right of way.

Keep your horse under control and at a safe speed at all times. A fast gait on wet soil degrades a trail, potentially causing further erosion. Plus, it can be unsettling to other trail users if you ride up behind them quickly.

It is best to keep trail rides to a small group so you can manage safety concerns and etiquette. Smaller groups also have less impact on the trails. Unless the trail is wide enough, go single file and keep a horse’s length between riders.

Finally, do not smoke or drink alcohol while trail riding.

Help Maintain the Trails
There are some simple techniques you can do to help keep trails open and safe, both for yourself and others. Carry a small, foldable handsaw and clippers. Clip or remove small branches that lean into the trail (10 to 12 feet above the trail). When a newly fallen tree blocks a trail--and if someone else can safely hold your horse while you work--consider moving the tree to make it safer for the next rider.

If you see unapproved trails being started, like a corner cut on a switchback, consider blocking the trail at both ends to prevent or discourage access. Blockage can be done with branches, rocks, old trees or stumps.

Carry a spare plastic bag with you in order to pick up and carry out any litter you come across.

If you belong to a riding group, formal or informal, perhaps your group can volunteer to do trail maintenance.

Happy trails!
Following basic stewardship practices can help ensure safety for you, your horse and other trail users, in addition to keeping the environment healthy. It also helps keep the trails open to horses. Remember that you and your horse are ambassadors wherever you ride; abusing privileges makes it difficult to receive support for maintenance or to build new trails. Please help your fellow horse owners preserve this privilege for generations to come. Only YOU can make a difference!

Resources for Horse and Rural Land Owners
There are many wonderful resources available that provide guidance on trail riding issues, horsemanship, trail maintenance and equestrian trail locations.

· Backcountry Horseman of Washington, http://www.bchw.org/, is an excellent organization that works with different government agencies, volunteering time and work to keep trails open for equestrian use.
· Codling, Melinda. Horse Sense for the Trail Rider. Washington, Backcountry Horseman of Washington, Inc., Tahoma Chapter, 2002.
· Gimenez, Rebecca. “You Can Build a Horse Trail," John Lyons Perfect Horse, August 2006: pp 43-46.
· Washington Trails Association. www.wta.org
· Wood, Gene W. Recreational Horse Trails in Rural and Wildland Areas: Design, Construction, and Maintenance. South Carolina, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Clemson University, 2007.
· For more information on horse property management and other natural resource issues, contact your conservation district, extension office or Horses for Clean Water (http://www.horsesforcleanwater.com/).

Happy Horsekeeping!
~Alayne

On the Trail

Tips for greener trails: part 2 in a 3 part series
by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

This fall we are highlighting a new Horses for Clean Water brochure, Stewards of the Trail, which offers ideas on how to reduce our impact on the land where we ride. Last month we started with tips for the start of your trail ride. This month we’ll talk about what can be done while you’re on the trail. We finish up next month with rules of the road as well as resources.

Stay on the Trail
When mud and puddles develop along a trail, teach and encourage your horse to step through them. Riding around these areas widens the trail, destroying more vegetation.

Stay on marked trails and do not cut new trails, switchbacks or corners. Whenever possible, riding single file will help keep from widening and degrading trails. Never go off a trail into a sensitive area such as a wetland, bog or marshy meadow. Creating new trails without permission of the landowner can cause those areas to be closed to future use. New trails can’t be maintained and may decrease the amount of maintenance the whole system receives. It also potentially destroys wildlife habitat and may cause erosion and loss of valuable topsoil. When sediments end up in streams, ponds and other water bodies, serious water quality problems can occur.

In the parking area, avoid driving your truck and trailer over vegetation or into sensitive areas, or widening parking areas in any way.

Water Bodies
Only cross through creeks, waterways or other sensitive areas in designated locations. Existing crossing points have been chosen and designed to make the least amount of impact on waterways. Crossing in other areas potentially increases erosion and the loading of sediments as well as nutrients and bacteria (from manure and urine) in water bodies, resulting in increased water pollution and possible trail closures.

Cross single file so as not to widen the area further.

Weed Control
Invasive weed species in open spaces and wild areas are a huge problem everywhere. Non-native weed seeds are transported in, take root and quickly out-compete native plants. This is a particular problem when wildlife loses critical habitat or food sources, or when toxic weeds move in.

It is thought by some that horses convey weed seeds onto trails and rural lands through their manure. Recent academic studies show that this may not be the case after all, since horses rarely eat weeds. Fibrous weeds in the seed head stage are particularly unpalatable to horses. Instead, weed seed conveyance may be via weed seeds caught in horse hooves or on the soles of riding boots. Take care to inspect your horse’s hooves before leaving home to eliminate weed seed transmission. Brush your horse’s coat well while still at home to remove potentially harmful seeds, particularly if your horse lives in a weedy area. Be sure to remove mud and foreign debris from riding boots as well.

Consider seeking help from Horses for Clean Water, http://www.horsesforcleanwater.com/, or your local Conservation District or Extension Office regarding how you can manage invasive weeds on your property. You should be able to eliminate, or at least substantially reduce, problem weeds and their spread onto other properties.

Permission
Only ride in areas where you have permission from the landowner. If you open a gate to pass through, be sure to close it after you. Respect the property of others.

Tying
Avoid tying your horse to a tree or other vegetation if at all possible. Doing so can seriously harm the tree, perhaps even destroy it. If you must tie, such as during lunch breaks or rest stops, be sure to look for the sturdiest tree possible or a low-hanging branch. Teach your horse to stand quietly. Pawing may damage sensitive tree roots.

Wildlife
Observe wildlife from a distance. Be careful not to stalk or approach wild animals, and never feed them. Feeding wildlife damages their health, changes natural behaviors, and exposes them to predators and other dangers. Dogs should be kept under control at all times, but especially around wildlife. Avoid wildlife during sensitive times: mating, nesting, raising young, or, for those species that hibernate, in winter.

Dogs
A dog should be under control at all times. Many dog owner associations recommend leashing your dog. Leashed dogs are protected from being lost or injured by wildlife, and from harming or chasing wildlife or other dogs on the trail. Unleashed dogs can frighten other trail users, including their dogs, depriving others of peace of mind and the use of a public area. Horses and riders can be startled or hurt by a loose or aggressive dog. An out-of-control dog increases the chances of dogs being banned from your favorite public lands and trails.

Riding a horse with a leashed dog may be dangerous, especially with pedestrians or horse traffic around, so consider leaving your dog at home.

Emergency Considerations
While riding on a trail, especially in a remote area, carry a whistle and a cell phone. In case your cell phone dies or is out of range, it takes less effort to blow a whistle than to yell for help.

Always carry ID, and consider an ID tag for your horse. The ID should contain your name, the horse’s barn name and your cell phone number. Should you and your horse part ways, the cell phone number will be the fastest way to reunite you.

Carry a map of the area you are riding in or a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit that you are familiar with.

Other basic emergency items include a hoof pick (for hoof problems) and duct tape (for emergency tack repair or in case of a lost shoe). A sharp pocketknife and matches are other necessities to consider carrying. Drinking water for people is always important. Use the buddy system and ride with at least one other person. At the very least, let someone else know where you are planning to ride, when you plan to return and with whom you will be traveling.

Stay tuned next month for trail riding rules of the road. Until then, happy trails!

At the Trailhead

Tips for greener trails, part 1 of a 3-part series
by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

Early fall is a great time to hit the trails with cooler temps, fewer bugs and smaller crowds. But even on the trails there are things we horse owners can do to reduce our impact on the environment and take care of the land. Horses for Clean Water recently collaborated with the Snohomish Conservation District (www.snohomishcd.org) to produce a new brochure, Stewards of the Trail, which details ideas for reducing our impact on the urban and suburban land where we ride.

Over the next few months we will highlight some of the information from this brochure. We begin this month with ideas for the start of your ride:

Your Horse
A good trail ride starts with a good horse. Know your horse and be able to anticipate and handle his behaviors. A young horse with a skilled rider can be safely under control, while an older horse with little experience and inadequate horsemanship can be an accident waiting to happen. Accidents happen when a rider tries to force his or her horse through a situation for which the horse is unprepared.

Be sure your horse will stand tied to the trailer, both alone and with other horses. This is necessary so you can properly tack and untack your horse. If your horse paws while tied, he will do damage to the parking area and possibly to your trailer. If he does dig a hole, be sure to fill it before leaving.

Be able to mount and dismount your horse from both sides. If you have to dismount while out on the trail, you may not have an option when it comes time to mount again.

Be sure your horse is properly shod for the conditions of the trail. Broken-down hoof walls and sole bruises can result from improper shoeing.

Be sure your horse has properly fitting tack for the conditions of the trail. A cinch or girth that cuts into a horse’s belly or an ill-fitting saddle can make a horse sore and give him an (understandably!) poor attitude.

Be sure your horse is in good physical shape for the conditions of the trail, such as steep climbs, obstacles, length of the trail and water crossings.

Teach your horse to walk when going up and down hills. An inexperienced horse will want to run, potentially causing erosion. This also isn’t a safe habit for your horse to get into, and walking will help him develop muscle tone and balance.

Know whether your horse will cross obstacles such as a log on the trail or a bridge. Be sure your horse is controllable in case you encounter wild animals, dogs or other trail users.

You
Be prepared for the weather and wear appropriate clothes. Rapid changes in weather can occur, and if you aren’t within distance for a quick return to your vehicle, you could risk getting very cold and/or very wet. Hypothermia can happen quickly, even in the mild Pacific Northwest climate. Consider carrying appropriate rain gear, waterproof gloves and hat, and--especially in the winter--insulated boots. Always carry a coat in case of unexpected bad weather, even in summer.

If you are riding in a hunting area during hunting season or at dusk, be sure to wear blaze-orange reflective gear.

Know the route you are taking, and know when to turn away from unsafe conditions such as deep water or a broken bridge.

Manure Management
Parking lots: Carry a manure fork in your trailer. Take home everything: manure, old hay, spilled bedding. If possible, throw a bucket of water on urine puddles to help dilute it further. Smelly piles of manure and urine attract flies and are not attractive to other riders or users.

On the trail: Teach and then encourage your horses to keep walking when they defecate on the trail. This helps to avoid manure piles. If a group of riders stops for any length of time and there is a buildup of manure, dismount and kick manure around to disperse it.

Next month we will talk about what can be done while you’re on the trail. In November, we’ll finish up with some rules of the road and additional resources. Until then, happy trails!

~Alayne

Natural ways to control bugs: Fight Nature with Nature Part 3 of 3

Trapping

by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

Reducing chemical use in our lives as well as reducing the nuisance bug population on our horse properties is a healthy goal for each of us. In this series on green insect control, we conclude with some ideas for simple, non-insecticidal traps for insects, along with some resources where you can get more help.

Go Trapping
Several types of simple insect traps can be useful for reducing the flying insect population. Perhaps one of the cheapest and easiest is fly paper or tape. This is the old-fashioned type of sticky tape you uncoil and attach to the ceiling. The paper may or may not have an attractant; at any rate, the insects happen across it and get stuck. The disadvantage to these is when the tape accidentally falls into your hair or when your horse’s switching tail catches it. So use it, but choose your locations carefully!

Pheromone traps are simple containers with one-way lids. The traps are placed in barn areas where flies hang out. A small amount of pheromone solution, a natural substance to which flies are attracted, is placed in the container. The flies (and yellow jackets!) buzz into the jar, stay trapped and die. Traps are sold by different companies under various names, such as Trap-A-Fly, Venus Fly Trap and Fly Terminator. Some are jars, while others are bags you hang or sticky traps infused with pheromone attractants. Check farm and horse supply businesses, as well as catalogs.

Bait jars are another effective way to trap flies. You can make your own fly bait jars very cheaply and easily. Take an old mayonnaise or similarly sized jar and punch several holes through the lid. Put in a few pieces of raw hamburger or fish and about an inch or so of water in the bottom of the jar. Set the jar in a safe place where it won’t be stepped on, and very soon the flies--attracted by the smell of the meat--will make their way into the jar and eventually drown. The disadvantage to this method is that it can be smelly and particularly attractive to your household dogs, but it is a very useful method that your grandmother probably used on her farm!

Goodbye Bugs
The key point to keep in mind when trying to manage insects is to strive to reduce insect habitat, which is the mud and manure. After you have these under control, go after the bugs with birds, bats, fly parasites and insecticidal traps. Your farm will be different from ever before, and you will be helping to keep potentially harmful chemicals out of the environment!

Good luck and good horsekeeping to you.

WHERE TO GO FOR HELP

Fly Parasites
· Try an Internet search under the words “fly parasite”

Bird Nest Boxes
· The Original Birdhouse Book by Don McNeil
· Local chapters of the National Audubon Society (www.audubon.org)
· Local feed stores and wild bird supply stores

Bat Houses
· Try an Internet search for “bat house”
· Bat Conservation International (www.batcon.org)
· Your local extension office (see last item under mud and manure section below)
· Gardening supply catalogs and stores, local feed stores and wild bird supply stores

Fly Masks, Traps and Sprays
· Feed and tack stores and supply catalogs

Mud and Manure Technical Assistance
· Horses for Clean Water (classes, workshops, farm tours and more) www.HorsesforCleanWater.com or Alayne@horsesforcleanwater.com
· Your local Conservation District—do an Internet search for the county that you live in along with the words “conservation district”
· In many Western states, cooperative extension may be able to assist you in these areas. Locate their offices through your state’s land-grant university (if you have trouble locating them ask for help from your public library’s reference librarian).