Housing Your Horse Comfortably

In This Chapter

• Understanding the basics of keeping your horse in a boarding stable or at home
• Providing equine accommodations on your own property
• Establishing work and play areas for your horse

Horses are pretty big creatures. Unlike a dog or cat, your horse can’t just move in with you and start sleeping at the foot of the bed. No, you have to do plenty of thinking and planning on the subject of where and how to house your horse.

People who own horses in today’s world basically have two choices when it comes to equine housing: Keep the horse on their own property or board the animal elsewhere. These options are vastly different logistically, and your choice has a significant impact on your lifestyle.

If you bought this book because you own property that’s zoned for horses, and if you dream of a having a horse in your backyard, you may not need to ponder the question of where to keep your equine buddy. But, maybe you live in an urban or suburban area, have only a small backyard barely suitable for your Labrador retriever, and think that you have little choice other than to board your horse at your Uncle Jasper’s house 70 miles outside the city limits.

Ultimately, you need to attain the most convenient and economically feasible housing arrangement for your horse. You want your horse to be happy and healthy, and you want horse ownership to be both fun and manageable for you. Keep these points in mind when making your decisions about housing.

Before you decide where your horse can call home, we urge you to read this chapter to get an idea of both backyard horsekeeping and boarding, along with details on how to correctly do both. After you discover the pros and cons of backyard horsekeeping and boarding, you’ll be able to make a much more intelligent — and ultimately correct — decision.

Away from Home: Boarding Stables

A boarding stable is a commercial establishment that provides housing and limited care for horses. Boarding stables earn their income by charging horse owners a monthly fee for boarding their horse. Some boarding stables also offer horse owners additional horse care, such as exercising or blanketing their horses.

Most people who utilize the services of boarding stables live in urban or suburban areas. They can’t keep their horses on their own land, so they board them at a nearby stable. Accommodations for horses vary greatly from stable to stable and region to region, with the more luxurious offerings costing more than the ordinary ones. Generally speaking, keeping your horse in a box stall (an indoor, barn-like enclosure — see “Housing your horse indoors” later in this chapter for details) will cost you more than pasture boarding.

Tip

Even if you have your own horse property, you still need to consider boarding. Boarding offers many benefits, particularly to first-time horse owners. Even if your dream is to have your horse in your backyard, explore the possibility of boarding for at least the first year that you own your horse.

In the following sections, we cover the advantages and disadvantages of boarding your horse, your boarding responsibilities, and ways to find and choose a suitable boarding stable (either commercial or private).

The pros and cons of boarding

Plenty of really good reasons exist for boarding your horse, especially if you’re a first-time horse owner:

- Convenience: When you board your horse, you’re hiring someone else to do much of the daily upkeep needed to maintain a horse in good, healthy condition. And that means the boarding stable staff is responsible for feeding your horse every day, providing water, and cleaning his stall. If you choose to board your horse, not only do you avoid these chores, but you also avoid worrying about things like buying and storing hay and bedding material and disposing of equine waste.

- Help with your horse: Boarding stables are places where horse owners of varying experience congregate. Most boarding stables also have trainers available for hire to boarders. First-time horse owners who board their animals often find they’re surrounded by people who can help them with just about any equine problem that comes up. That’s a big contrast to being alone at home with your horse.

- A place to learn: You can find out a great deal about horse care and handling just by being around other boarders. You may see others make mistakes to avoid, and you can figure out the right way to do many things by observing your fellow boarders.

- Riding facilities: Most boarding stables have arenas for exercise, wash-racks for bathing, mechanical hot walkers for exercising your horse, and access to riding trails. These facilities are available to horse owners as part of their boarding fee. You may not have access to these amenities at home.

- Social atmosphere: Boarding stables are wonderful places to meet and make new friends who share your interest in horses. Many stables even foster the inherent social aspect of the environment by holding events like barbecues, dances, and play days. Boarding stables also are good for your horse’s social life, too. Your horse will find himself with plenty of built-in equine friends.

Warning!

Of course nothing is perfect, and boarding has its downside:

- Expense: If you figure out the day-to-day expense of keeping a horse, you discover that you spend more boarding your horse than you do keeping him at home. Of course, you’re paying not only for the horse’s feed when you board, but also for the services that the stable provides. The amount of money you pay for monthly board depends on where you live and the type of facility you choose. Board can range from $100 a month for a pasture in rural areas to $700 a month or more for a full-service facility in an urban area.

- Inaccessibility: Boarding can be very convenient because you don’t need to worry about feeding and cleaning up after your horse daily. However, you do have the chore of driving to and from the stable every time you want to see your horse (as opposed to merely stepping outside your back door).

- Politics: Just as in any situation that involves humans, boarding stables have their politics. Boarders get into squabbles, talk behind each other’s backs, and sometimes even try to make trouble for one another with stable management. Of course, you can avoid much of this by keeping to yourself, but then you miss out on many opportunities for camaraderie.

- Instability: You may keep your horse at a wonderful boarding stable for years, only to wake up one morning to find out the place has been sold. The new owner may be someone who couldn’t care less about the business, or even worse, a developer who wants to knock down your horse’s stall and build condos instead. Both of these situations — and particularly the latter — occur in the boarding stable world more than you may think. If it happens to you, you have to start shopping for a new place to keep your horse.

Knowing a boarder’s responsibilities

Remember

If you think that boarding sounds like a good idea, keep in mind that you also have certain responsibilities as a boarder. You must:

- Be considerate of other horse owners. In this book, we provide you with all the information you need to be a responsible and considerate horse owner. If you board your horse, you have a significant obligation to follow the rules of safety and protocol. Handling your horse carelessly can jeopardize the safety of your fellow boarders and their horses.

- Be courteous. If you find a really nice boarding stable that you’re happy with, count your blessings and be considerate to the staff. It’s amazing how many boarders behave rudely to staffers whenever they want something done or have a problem. You get further with staffers by being nice rather than demanding.

- Consider the community: Boarding stables and horse property in general are becoming more and more scarce these days. Land developers are gobbling up rural areas for housing and commercial buildings, minimizing the amount of places where horses can live. Homeowners in many once-rural-now-suburban neighborhoods also are looking to push horses out of their communities.

If you’re boarding your horse in an urban or suburban area, your stable’s very presence in that area is tenuous. Be considerate to the people who  live in the surrounding community so they maintain a positive opinion of the stable.

- Pay your board: Most boarding stable owners who run clean, well-kept operations aren’t making profits hand over fist; they put a significant amount money back into the stable’s upkeep. So paying your board in full, on time, every month is important. Don’t expect the stable to carry you for a few months because you want to buy yourself a big-screen TV. If enough boarders pay late in any given month, the stable can experience cash flow problems.

Selecting a commercial boarding stable

Boarding stables are just like any another type of business: Some are really good, and others are really bad. The good ones provide safe, comfortable accommodations for horses; have caring, conscientious, and knowledgeable staffs; and offer excellent facilities for riders. The lousy ones are just the opposite: They sport unsafe conditions for horses, have staffers who couldn’t care less, and have nothing to offer boarders in the way of conveniences or facilities.

Remember

Before you commit to keeping your horse at any commercial facility, we strongly recommend that you thoroughly check the place out. If you haven’t already discovered boarding stables in your area, you can find local facilities to tour by looking in your telephone directory. Take a look at as many stables as you can, and spend some time walking around and talking to other boarders at these facilities. The things you’re looking for include

- Safe, sturdy accommodations. Inspect the box stalls, paddocks (small corrals, usually with some kind of shelter), and pastures. Make sure that each of these enclosures is well constructed and well maintained. Check to see whether gate latches are secure and horse-proof (that is, they can’t be opened with a flip of the nose).

Warning!

Do not board your horse at a stable that uses barbed wire as an enclosure. A close encounter with barbed wire can seriously injure your horse. If you find a stable you really like that uses barbed wire, politely ask them to switch to a safer fencing. If they decline, consider boarding your horse elsewhere.

If you choose to board your horse in a pasture or paddock, look for accessibility to shelter from rain, snow, wind, and hot sun. If you plan to keep your horse in a box stall, check to make sure that the horses are given at least 8 inches of bedding in their stalls.

- Clean, safe surroundings. The stable property should appear well maintained. Be wary of a place that has junk lying around and an unkempt look. If they don’t take care of their own property, they probably won’t take very good care of your horse either.

- Security. Find out whether a guard or caretaker is on duty at the stable 24 hours a day. Not all boarding stables provide this kind of protection, but we recommend that you hold out for it if you can. If you can’t find one in your area, look for a stable that provides some kind of security to ensure your horse won’t be stolen.

- Water. Find out how water is provided to each enclosure, and scout around to make sure that each horse at the stable has a generous supply of water at all times. If you live in a cold climate, find out how the management keeps the water from freezing in the winter.

- Quality feed. If quality pasture isn’t available to your horse, then hay needs to make up the majority of his diet. Make sure that the stable you’re considering offers hay as an option for feeding. Ask to take a look at the stored hay on the stable property, and inspect it for quality. (See Chapter Establishing an Everyday Routine for information on determining hay quality.)

Warning!

If the stable stores grain, be certain that it’s kept securely locked up so that the horses can’t get to it. Any escaped horse that gets into the grain is in danger of colicking or laminitis. (See Chapter Examining and Treating Equine Health Troubles for more about preventing and reacting to these and other maladies.)

Warning!

Use caution with stables that feed only commercial pelleted feed with no other options, because a diet consisting solely of pellets is unhealthy for your horse. If a stable that you like feeds only pelleted feed as part of your regular boarding agreement, make sure that they agree to feed your horse hay if you provide it.

- Good care. Have a talk with the stable manager and find out about the daily care the horses receive. Make sure that your horse’s stall is cleaned at least once a day, every day, and that your horse is fed at least twice daily. Also, ask the manager about the stable’s pest control program. Find out what steps are taken control flies, rodents, and internal parasites, and what method the stable uses to dispose of its waste. (See Chapter Establishing an Everyday Routine for more info on general horse care.)

If you want extra care options for your horse, such as daily exercise, blanketing, and supplemental feeding, find out whether these options are available at the stable and, if so, at what cost.

- Health requirements. Determine which, if any, inoculations the stable requires for horses to board. The more inoculations the stable requires, the less likely your horse will become ill. The stable you choose should require regular inoculations for influenza/rhinopneumonitis and equine encephalomyelitis, at the very minimum. Boarders also need to show proof of regular dewormings. (See Chapter Preventing Equine Health Problems for more details on preventative healthcare for horses.)

- Riding facilities. Look for good-sized, well-maintained riding arenas, turn-out pens, washracks, and hot walkers. Look for good footing in all riding arenas, which means the dirt is soft — without being too deep — not hard. If you live in an area that gets a lot of rain or snow, consider holding out for a stable with a covered or indoor arena so you can ride all year long regardless of the weather.

Warning!

If you plan to trail ride, ask the manager for a map of the local trails and find out how you can access them. Beware of trails that require you to spend too much time riding on busy roads before gaining access to them.

- Tack storage. You need a place to store your saddle, bridles, halter, grooming equipment, and everything else you need to care for your horse (see Chapter Getting into Gear with Horse Equipment for horse gear details). Find out whether the boarding stable rents on-site tack lockers or storage sheds to boarders. If not, you have to provide your own or keep your equipment at home and bring it with you every time you visit your horse.

- A professional demeanor. The boarding stable management should expect you to sign injury liability waivers and a boarding agreement, and fill out other official papers stating the name of your veterinarian and a person to contact in case of an emergency. Reputable stables also require proof your horse is up-to-date on his vaccines. Stable management also needs to provide you with written rules of the stable. Be wary of any boarding stable that has an overly casual attitude about your boarding agreement. They may also have an overly casual attitude about caring for your horse.

- Convenient location. Be sure to choose a stable that is easy for you to get to. If it takes you an hour to drive each way to see your horse, chances are you won’t get to see him as often as you should.

Remember

Be aware that the nicer the stable, the more you have to pay for board. Don’t opt for a stable that isn’t up to par just because the fees are low. When it comes to boarding stables, you really do get what you pay for.

Choosing private boarding

Boarding your horse at a commercial facility isn’t your only option. Plenty of people who own horse property rent out stalls, paddocks, and pasture to individual horse owners to help offset the costs of keeping their own horses. You can find these individuals by looking at ads in your local equine publication, your daily newspaper and often from flyers tacked up at feed stores.

If you decide to board at a friend’s or neighbor’s house, look for the same type of qualities and amenities you look for when considering boarding your horse at a commercial facility (see the previous section). The quality of feed, care, and accommodations should be no less than they’d be at a 200-horse facility.

Most people who offer private boarding don’t have a riding arena on their property. If you’re a beginning rider, you need access to a riding arena where you can safely develop your skills. Before you visit a property where you may decide to board, ask the owner whether you have access to an on-site riding arena or a nearby community riding arena.

Tip

If you decide to board with a private party, be sure to get an agreement in writing. The agreement needs to spell out the amount of your board, all the services included in the boarding price, the length of prior notice you’re required to give before vacating the property, and what your liabilities and responsibilities are as a boarder.

Staying Close: Having a Home Stable

If you’re one of the many who dreams of seeing a horse every morning when you look out your kitchen window, a home stable may be the right housing option for you — provided you live on property that has been zoned for horses. If you live in a suburban or even rural neighborhood that forbids the keeping of livestock, you have no other option than to board.

Double-check your zoning laws by contacting officials in the city or county where you live before you run out and buy a horse to put on your land. If it turns out that you can keep a horse or two on your property, then you can discover the joys of at-home horsekeeping. Knowing that your backyard horse is waiting for you whenever you get the urge to ride or simply share in some relaxing equine company is a wonderful feeling. Plus, something about the feel and smell of horses on the property makes even the most modest home feel very special indeed.

Although having a horse in your backyard is a great experience, don’t overly romanticize the notion either. Keeping a horse on your property requires an investment of time and hard work. In the following sections, we cover the advantages, disadvantages, responsibilities, and financial commitment of housing a horse at home.

The pros and cons of a home stable

Here are some really good reasons to keep a horse in your own home stable:

- Easy access: No driving to the stable when you want to ride! Your horse is right there in your yard, just outside the back door. And if your horse needs special care like a blanket put on every night, feeding of extra or special feed, or medicating, his close proximity is convenient.

- Security: If you like to keep a close eye on your horse, a home stable provides a chance to watch your equine buddy nearly 24 hours a day.

- Cost: Keeping a horse on your own property is less expensive on a monthly basis than boarding him. At a boarding stable, you pay for daily feeding, cleanup, and the use of the facilities. With an at-home horse, you do the work yourself — your only cost in this regard is time.

Warning!

If you determine that you want to keep your horse at home, you may find that the disadvantages can easily outweigh the benefits:

- Hard work: With an at-home horse, you’re responsible for the daily chores of feeding and cleaning. If you work full-time, you may find that mucking your horse’s stall is the last thing you want to do either before or after work.

- Being tied down: Because horses need to eat at regular times each day, you need to be home during these times to put out the feed. If you can’t be home, you need to make arrangements with a responsible neighbor or a professional horse sitter.

- Maintenance responsibilities: Keeping a horse in your yard means storing hay on your property and possibly maintaining a quality pasture. Add to that list storing and disposing of the waste your horse creates and building and maintaining proper facilities for your animal.

- No support system: New horse owners who keep their animals at boarding facilities have the benefit of asking other horse owners and professional trainers for help. If you keep your horse at home and you run into a problem, chances are you have no one to turn to for immediate advice.

- Limited riding facilities: Most owners of single-family horse properties don’t have the space, time, or money to build and maintain their own riding facilities. If you’re one of these people, you may not have access to an arena in which you can ride — a real problem if you’re a beginning rider. And if your property isn’t near riding trails, you won’t have that option for riding, either.

- Liability: All kinds of potential liabilities fall on the shoulders of horse owners. You need to have a talk with your insurance agent to determine exactly what kind of property insurance you need to have with a horse at home.

Knowing your responsibilities at home

Remember

If you decide to keep your horse at home, you must uphold a number of responsibilities:

- Cleanliness: You have an obligation to your horse and to your neighbors to keep your property clean and well maintained. If you don’t, you may even get in trouble with the law.

- A good image: In urban and suburban areas everywhere, horse owners are facing a growing challenge to their hobby. Whereas horse property was commonplace at one time, it’s becoming harder and harder for horse owners to find communities that are accepting of horses. You can do your part by being friendly and considerate toward your neighbors, and make every effort to resolve any horse-related problems that arise.

- Continuing education: Because you and your horse are pretty much on your own, you need to learn as much about horses and horsekeeping as possible. If you don’t continue to learn, your knowledge of all things equine won’t advance, and you’ll end up shortchanging yourself and your horse. Read plenty of books and magazines on horses, check out responsible discussion groups on the Internet, and most important, join an equestrian group in your community. (You can start with the resources in the Appendix.)

Committing yourself financially

Purchasing property that’s zoned for horses is more costly than purchasing property that isn’t zoned for horses. If you’re lucky enough to get horse property that is already outfitted with safe and comfortable equine accommodations, consider yourself fortunate. If you buy a place that is zoned for horses but not set up to house them, you have expenses ahead of you. Adequate shelters, enclosures, waterers, feeders, and other items all have to be installed before your property is ready for a horse (see the next section for more details).

Upkeep on horse property is costly, too. You need to keep your property in good working order, with the fences painted and the grass trimmed (unless you have your horse do the lawn mowing for you). You need to factor these upkeep fees into your annual budget.

Don’t forget about the cost of owning a horse, which you have to consider whether you keep your companion at home or board him. Include veterinarian and shoer bills, feed, tack, and other equipment in your budget.

Setting Up Backyard Accommodations

Okay, suppose you decide to keep your horse at home, on your own property. Where do you keep him and what exactly are your housing options? Well, you have a few options, and we give you a close-up look at each in the following sections.

Keeping your horse outdoors

In nature, horses live outdoors, where they constantly roam and graze. Outdoor enclosures confine horses in open air and are popular places to keep horses because they are more natural. Most horses prefer to be outdoors and seem to do best there as long as you meet their needs for food, water, and shelter.

When it comes to outdoor accommodations for your horse, you have two choices: pastures and paddocks.

Remember

You need to keep the enclosure you choose for your horse free from debris. For your horse’s safety, don’t use the enclosure to store old pipes, car parts, or anything else.

Grazing your horse in a pasture

A pasture is defined as a substantial portion of fenced land where high-quality grass grows for equine consumption.

If you have the land, motivation, and ability to create and manage a high-quality pasture for your horse, a pasture is the best way to go. Horses that live on pastureland suffer the least from colic, leg problems, breathing disorders, stable vices (see Chapter Understanding Horses from Head to Hoof), and other maladies that tend to afflict horses confined in stalls. Pastures usually can accommodate more than one horse at a time, too, providing an opportunity for its occupants to live together in groups, as nature intended. Pastures can range in size from a half acre to hundreds of acres, depending on how much land you have available.

Tip

Starting and maintaining a pasture is hard work and takes some know-how. We don’t have room in this book to give you a crash course on how to grow a pasture, but we have enough space to tell you to go to your local agriculture office (look in the government listings of your telephone directory for the County Extension office) and library for help. Find a good book with information on growing a pasture, and follow it. One such book is Horsekeeping on a Small Acreage by Cherry Hill, published by Garden Way Publishing.

Remember

Even if your horse is on pasture, you still may need to supplement the animal’s diet with hay during times when the grass is not growing or is lacking in quality. Don’t assume that the grass alone will provide enough sustenance to the horse. Overgrazing, drought, and other problems can render a quality pasture into a field of starvation for a horse. (See Chapter Establishing an Everyday Routine for more about feeding horses.)

Don’t forget to provide your horse with shelter from hot sun and inclement weather. Add a shed to your horse’s pasture so the animal can get out of the weather if he wants to (see “Sheltering your horse with a run-in shed” later in this chapter).

Putting your horse in a paddock

A paddock, by our definition, is a small outdoor enclosure that is void of viable pasture grass, and contains dirt as footing. In certain parts of the Eastern United States, a paddock typically is thought of as a large pen with board fencing. In the Western United States, most horses live in small 12-by-12-foot or 12-by-24-foot paddocks made of a pipe enclosure, known as a pipe corral.

A paddock is the next best thing to pasture because it gives the horse room to move around. Because paddocks are outdoors, they also provide good ventilation and more opportunities for mental stimulation for your horse than a box stall does. For information on setting up a paddock, contact companies in your area that install paddocks (look under “Fencing” in your telephone directory).

If you decide to keep your horse in a paddock, make sure that you provide him with a place where he can seek shelter from the rain, snow, wind, and hot sun. A three-sided, run-in shed is a good option (see “Sheltering your horse with a run-in shed” later in this chapter).

Focusing on the right fencing

A number of options exist regarding pasture and paddock fencing, including wood, pipe fencing, and polyvinylchloride, to name just a few. Whatever type of fence you choose, we strongly suggest that you only use fencing material that is designed with equine safety in mind.

The best material to use, in our opinion, is polyvinylchloride, arranged in a post-and-rail design. Polyvinylchloride (PVC) is attractive, durable, and easy to maintain. It can be expensive to install, but will last a very long time. Wood, although traditional and charming, is expensive and destructible (horses love to chew it). You also need to paint wood fencing on a regular basis, whereas polyvinylchloride never needs painting.

Pipe fencing, on the other hand, is also safe and more affordable than polyvinylchloride, but it isn’t as attractive as polyvinylchloride. Pipe fencing is most commonly seen in Western states, often with a corrugated metal roof. The advantages of pipe fencing, along with cost (it’s the least expensive of the fencing mentioned here), are easy maintenance and adaptability. Paddocks made of pipe fencing and panels can be more easily rearranged than wood or polyvinylchloride fencing into paddocks that are bigger or smaller.

Although wood is high maintenance and can be expensive, some people prefer to use it because of its innate beauty. If you want wood fencing, consider putting a hotwire above the top rail to keep your horse from chewing. A hotwire gives your horse a mild zap of electricity if he tries to chew the fence and thus protects your wood from gnawing teeth. Even if you protect your wooden fence from your horse’s teeth, you’ll still need to paint it every so often to keep it from looking faded and worn. Use a quality, nontoxic paint for maintenance.

Warning!

Don’t enclose your pasture with barbed wire. Barbed wire is dangerous to use around horses. Horses easily become tangled in barbed wire and can be sliced to ribbons by the wire in short time as they struggle to get free.

Tip

Your pasture fence needs to be high enough to discourage your horse from jumping out, so the posts need to stand at least 5-feet high, after they’ve been inserted into the ground. And don’t forget to include a gate! Make the gate at least 4 feet wide to accommodate you and your horse.

Sheltering your horse with a run-in shed

An old standby in the way of equine shelter is something called a run-in shed. The run-in shed is a three-sided rectangular shelter with one open side that offers the horse a place to get out of the rain, snow, wind, and hot sun.

You can buy a prefabricated run-in shed from a barn manufacturer (ask at your local feed store for references of companies in your area) or build your own from scratch using wood or corrugated metal. Make sure that the shed is big enough to safely accommodate however many horses you keep together in your pasture or paddock. Occasionally, members of the herd want to crowd into the shed at the same time.

Tip

The best location for your run-in shed is the highest ground on your pasture or paddock, with the opening of the shed facing away from the direction that winter winds typically blow. Keep fresh bedding in your shed to make it comfortable for your horse (see the next section for bedding options), and clean it every day.

Housing your horse indoors

The majority of horse owners keep their horses in outdoor enclosures, but some owners keep them inside, at least part of the time. Indoor accommodations for horses nearly always consist of a box stall, which is just what it sounds like: a stall in the shape of a box.

Keeping a horse in a box stall has a couple of advantages:

- Stall-kept horses stay cleaner and neater. They don’t end up muddy when it rains, or dusty when it’s dry.

- Stall-kept horses avoid bites and other scars. Horses kept outdoors in pastures or paddocks (which we cover earlier in this chapter) usually suffer more from such maladies.

Warning!

The downside of keeping a horse in a box stall is that it is less healthy for the horse than living outdoors. A horse that stands in nearly the same place for hours on end is more prone to colic, leg problems, and boredom, which often results in stable vices (see Chapter Understanding Horses from Head to Hoof). Because ventilation isn’t as good in a stall as it is outdoors, stall-kept horses also are more prone to respiratory disease.

If you choose to keep your horse in a box stall, make sure that the stall is at least 12-by-12 feet in size, or larger if you can manage it. Provide the horse with at least one window to see through to give him something to do and to improve ventilation. House another horse next door to him for companionship, if possible, and put a window between them so the horses can see each other and interact.

If you have room on your property, attach a small outdoor paddock to the stall so the horse can go outside whenever he wants. The stall’s design also needs to allow for plenty of cross-ventilation without being drafty.

Tip

When it comes to designing and building a box stall, we recommend you purchase a prefabricated box stall made from wood or aluminum from a barn manufacturing company, or hire a well-recommended professional to design and build the stall. Either of these methods ensures that your horse is housed in a stall that is appropriate in size, design, and material.

Remember

Don’t forget to keep the stall floor covered with at least 8 inches of bedding to protect the horse’s legs and resting body from the hard concrete floor. Horses need bedding in their stalls or shelters to be comfortable. A thick layer of bedding material protects their legs and joints from the hard ground and their hooves from damaging moisture in wet weather. It also absorbs urine and keeps ammonia fumes to a minimum if it’s cleaned frequently. Plus, horses just love clean, fluffy bedding. Just watch them roll in it when you first put it down. (You can also use a rubber stall mat to soften the flooring for your horse.)

You may find that buying one type of bedding over another is easier, depending on where you live. Stick with bedding that your horse seems less likely to eat, because such a habit is neither healthy for the equine digestive system nor your wallet. And make sure that whatever you use is specifically made with horses in mind. Bedding is available at your local feed store. Some common bedding options include:

- Paper: Recycled paper bedding, made from newsprint, is absorbent, soft, and nearly dust-free. The downside of this bedding is that it can become easily packed down by a horse that walks around a lot in his stall.

- Peat: Peat bedding is made from partially decomposed sphagnum moss from wet bogs or peatlands. This type of bedding is known for being very absorbent, taking in 10 times its weight in moisture and for neutralizing ammonia in the stall. Peat also composts easily, and doesn’t make horses’ hooves dry the way some wood bedding can.

- Sawdust: Sawdust bedding is made from woods including pine, cedar, and fir. It’s highly absorbent, easy to find, and economical. The downside of sawdust is that it can cause respiratory problems in sensitive horses.

- Straw: Straw, sold in bales, isn’t as absorbent as wood shavings but is less dusty, very soft, and warm. It is the bedding of choice for mares with foals.

- Wood pellets: Pelleted wood is high in absorbency, readily available, and easy to use. Pellet bedding is typically made from soft, nontoxic woods like pine.

- Wood shavings: Wood shavings, available loose or packaged, offer a thick, comfortable bed, and are easy to buy and store in bulk. The best wood shavings for horses are made from pine and/or other wood mixtures.

Warning!

Wood shavings made from black walnut are toxic to horses and must be avoided for your horse’s health!

Remember

Clean the stall of manure and fouled bedding on a daily basis. You also need to completely and thoroughly clean the stall by using a mild bleach and water solution at least once every six months. See Chapter Establishing an Everyday Routine for more details on managing manure.

Making Room for Work and Play

Regardless of whether you board your equine buddy or keep him at home, you still need to make sure that environment you provide for your horse includes equipment that specifically makes caring for and riding your horse safer and more enjoyable. If you plan to keep your horse at home and need the following amenities installed, talk to a trainer or other equine expert for advice on how to create your facilities.

Storing your gear in a tack room

You need a place to keep your saddle, bridle, grooming tools, horse blanket, and other items you use on or for your horse (see Chapter Getting into Gear with Horse Equipment for more about equine gear). This storage place can be as luxurious as a shed equipped with a saddle rack and pegs for your bridle and halter or as modest as a large trunk that you store inside a barn or other weatherproof building.

If you plan to board your horse, find out whether you can rent a tack room or locker for a fee or supply your own. If you’re keeping your horse at home, take advantage of the fact that you own the property and erect the nicest tack room that you can. A roomy, well-designed tack room can enhance your enjoyment of your horse.

Remember

When designing your tack room, think bigger than merely housing the amount of tack that you have at this point — you’ll probably want to grow into it. Leave plenty of wall space for bridle racks, and don’t forget shelving for items like shampoo, clippers, supplements, and other accessories.

Tip

If you don’t have the time, money, or inclination to build your own tack room, you can purchase a prefabricated building for this purpose. A garden shed, outdoor playhouse, or storage shed easily converts into a tack shed.

Staying safe in a spacious work area

Horses’ bodies take up a lot of room, so you need to have a decent amount of space for grooming, bathing, and tacking up your horse regardless of whether you board or keep your horse at home. Besides adequate space, your work area needs:

- Crossties or hitching posts to secure your horse while you work on him (see Chapter Working with Your Horse from the Ground for more about safe means of restraining a horse).

- A washrack with a cement floor and nearby crosstie or hitching post, water spigot, and hose for bathing your horse.

The cement floor prevents your horse from having to stand in the mud.

- Tack storage (or full-sized tack room) situated nearby so you have easy access to your equine tools and equipment.

A sheltered work area is preferable so you can attend to your horse even during inclement weather. A roof over your work area not only protects you and your horse from rain or snow, it also keeps you both out of the blistering sun.

A contractor can do the work of putting all this in for you.

Sharpening your skills in a riding arena

Remember

Having a safe, enclosed place to ride is extremely important, especially if you’re a beginning rider. In an arena, you can perfect your riding skills and gain the confidence you need to take your horse anywhere beyond the stable.

Good riding arenas have well-constructed fencing at least 4 to 41⁄2 feet in height, along with adequate footing to help cushion the shock to your horse’s legs as you ride. Covered arenas are best because they shelter you and your horse from the sun, rain, and snow as you ride.

If you plan to board, make sure that the facility you choose has at least one good-sized, well-maintained arena. If the stable has more than one arena, all the better! Multiple arenas mean you rarely have to ride in crowded conditions.

If you plan to keep your horse at home, consider building your own arena, if you have the money and the room. Build the largest arena you can fit onto your property, because the more room you have to ride, the happier you’ll be. If space is limited, make your arena at least 60 by 100 feet in size, which gives you the minimum amount of room you need to effectively ride your horse.

The type of fencing you use for your arena depends on your budget. Pipe fencing is adequate, but wood and polyvinylchloride fencing are much more attractive, albeit expensive. If you plan to turn your horse out in the arena, you want to make the fence higher — at least 5 feet — to discourage him from jumping out. For more fencing details see “Focusing on the right fencing” earlier in this chapter.

If you don’t have room for an arena on your property, find out whether the neighborhood you live in has a community arena where you can ride. Ask fellow horse owners — they know where the local arenas are situated.

Accessing trails for a fun time

Few things are as relaxing and soul-enhancing as a horseback ride on a wilderness trail. The soothing feel of your horse’s rhythmic step and the singing of the birds can melt away your stress.

If trail riding is an activity you want to enjoy with your horse, be sure to house your horse at a stable that has access to plenty of equestrian trails. Or make sure that trails are nearby when you consider keeping your horse at home.

Warning!

Don’t put yourself into a situation in which you must travel on busy streets via horseback for an extended amount of time before you reach a trailhead. Horses and traffic don’t mix (ever see The Horse Whisperer?), so limiting the amount of riding you do on major thoroughfares is wise.

by Audrey Pavia with Janice Posnikoff,DVM