Winter weather

Luckily I haven’t been too stuck with the cold weather I have managed to get on my arena whether to lunge or flatwork but my Monarch horse walker has been a life saver as the horses are definitely even more excitable with the white stuff lying on the floor, my walker has got a roof, rubber floors and walls so even with the horses having a buck around they still stay upright and on four feet well most of the time !

However if you haven’t got a horse walker and you need to take them out make sure you have plenty of hoof grease to try and avoid the high heeled look on your horse, keeping them entertained can also be a problem so maybe putting a handful or two of Baileys Fibre Nuggets round the stable floor or in a treat ball maybe an idea ! They are low starch and low energy but a great source of fibre, they will encourage natural foraging and keep your horse or pony entertained for a few more hours !

Water taps seem to be the problem as everything from drinkers to hose pipes and taps have all frozen even with the well insulated pipes and taps! Thank god we don’t live in a really cold country as couldn’t deal with this for longer than a few days, fingers and toes are really starting to suffer.

We are making sure the horses are getting enough salts and accessible luke warm water to drink to try and make sure it doesn’t upset their digestive system too much.

The horses are all wrapped in duvets with three rugs making sure they are warm and toastie, with the shows all being a bit disrupted by the snow, my only plan will be making sure they are kept exercised and warm until the weather is back to normal then the training and shows will resume !