1.Picking weeds will be your new favourite hobby!
Of course, it looks better when your stable and its surroundings are all free of weeds. Better to roll up your sleeves for a day and get rid of everything at once, than doing a little bit every week. Even more important are the weeds on the fields and paddocks – not only do they look bad and won’t get eaten, they can also be highly dangerous. Look for common ragwort, black nightshade and field horsetail and get rid of all of them immediately. There’s of course also a lot more poisonous plants that can be found on the horse’s fields and that you need to be aware of. Inform yourself on what dangerous weeds and plants can be found in your area and then ban them from your field right away!
2.Take care of your water
Water also plays a very important role in the stable, as horses drink about 20-30 litres of water a day. On hot days and after exhausting rides, it can even be up to 80 litres. Reasons enough to ensure your water supply is running nicely and smoothly. It’s very common and practical to have
automatic drinking troughs in the stable. Clean the trough once a day to get rid of dirt, such as hay, straw or bird poop and to check if everything is still working well.
On the fields and paddocks, not everybody has access to a water line or the possibility to have a pipe run to the field for an automatic trough. In those cases, bathtubs, mortar buckets (check that they are food safe and not endangering the horse’s health!) or other food safe tubs and buckets can be used to be filled with water. Don’t leave the water just standing there for a couple of days though, as stagnant water can cause a lot of problems, such as algae forming, the water getting dirty and foul or insects laying their eggs in the tub. The water should be changed multiple times a week and the tub should also be cleaned then. Furthermore, the water level should be checked multiple times a day and filled up if needed. A
water bag, which can easily be put and filled in a wheelbarrow, can come in super handy here. If you have multiple horses, it’s easiest to equip the tub with a float valve. When the water comes below a certain point, the tub fills itself up automatically and the horses have fresh water again. For this solution, you do need to have a water line or purchase a water truck though.
3.Insects and mosquitos? Nobody needs them at the stable!
No horse owner ever wants insects at the stable, especially not if your horses are prone to sweet itch. Those pesky insects can irritate our four-legged friends and bring a lot of stress. Want to get those pests off your back? Make sure that there’s no stagnant water at the stable, as insects love to lay their eggs in there, which means that before you know it, your local pest population is even bigger than before.
You can also turn your stable into a real paradise for birds, as birds such as swallows love a little insect snack to go. Swallows are real “barn birds” because they like to nest at walls, roofs or hallway entrances. To help swallows build a nest, put down a shallow basin with damp clay or put up artificial nests. Planting trees and shrubs also helps to make your stable more attractive to different bird breeds. Of course, with birds comes a lot of bird poop, so this option may not be the most ideal for you. In that case, you can always fall back on
fly traps!
4.Your horse isn’t Oscar the Grouch
As much as Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street loves his mess and clutter, it’s not something you should have at the stable. A messy stable can quickly become dangerous, and thus it’s important to have some sort of organisation system in place. Stable boxes, rug racks, stable organizers or grooming bags can help. A tidy locker can also make your life much easier, since you won’t have to search for things anymore and it prevents damages to your precious tack. But you should also make sure that nothing gets damaged when tacking up or brining everything back to the locker. None of us like to walk over to the locker multiple times to put everything away, so get yourself a saddle cart! With a saddle cart, you can easily wheel your bridle, saddle pad and grooming bag to the wash place! Easy, neat and organised!
Let’s not forget that horses can be super untidy too. We’ve probably all met a horse that likes to drag the hay through the entire stable. Which then results in them not eating the hay and instead peeing and pooping on it. To prevent this, get a
hay net or
bag, which helps keep the stall tidy while also giving your horse something to do.
All in all, a clean and tidy stable also helps keep mice and other pests at bay.
5.Better safe than sorry
Accidents can happen faster than we think sometimes, like your horse tripping over or getting tangled in something. To prevent serious injuries, fields and paddocks should be checked daily and everything that shouldn’t be there should always be taken out. It’s also important that the ground conditions aren’t too dry or too wet. Moisture und mud are the breeding ground for bacteria, which can cause mud fever in the hoof bulb. Mud fever can easily be treated in its early stages, but can always come back to cause more problems again. In order to have a ground that’s not too wet yet not too dry, some certain plants can help. For this, please consider the soil type as well as the correct plants. Plants best suited for a field are: cleavers (calming effect), daisies (rich in calcium and magnesium) and milk thistle (supports the cleansing effect of the liver) due to horses loving them and their healing effects or high vitamin contents.