How to Care for a Horse in a Stable

Choosing and maintaining your horse's stall are important parts of providing your horse with proper care. Most important, you have to make sure the horse gets adequate food, water and exercise. Read on to fully understand the needs of a stabled horse.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bitter Apple Sprays
• Fly Mask With Ear Protectors
• Fly Repellent
• Lead Ropes

1. Find a stall of adequate size. A 12-by-12 stall is sufficient for most horses. Larger horses will need more space.

2. If at all possible, give your horse a stall with attached paddock so he can move inside and out.

3. Make sure the horse has plenty of fresh water. There are automatic waterers that keep water in a bowl at a certain level. The downside to an automatic waterer is that you cannot monitor the amount your horse drinks and some horses don't like automatic waterers. If you do use one, be sure to check it regularly to make sure it is working. You can also keep water in a bucket. If you use buckets, try to make sure your horse has at least 10 gallons of water available at a time.

4. Feed grain from a manger or from a bucket or feed pan placed on the ground. When you dump grain on the ground, your horse may ingest sand, and this can cause colic.

5. Decide whether to feed hay from a hay rack or the ground. Some people prefer the hay rack because it keeps the hay out of the bedding. Others prefer to feed hay on the ground because it mimics the horse's natural grazing stance (head down).

6. Understand that stalls made of wood are the most horse-friendly. Stalls made of cement block or concrete walls can damage a horse's foot or leg if kicked. However some horses will chew on wood stalls, so be sure to cover exposed wood with a substance aimed to prevent wood chewing or with metal.

7. Make sure the barn has adequate ventilation. Bacteria breeds in stale areas. Open doors to allow sufficient air circulation.

8. Horses produce up to 40 pounds of manure and urine a day. Keep stall clean and make sure liquids can drain adequately from the stall or are soaked up by bedding.

9. Choose bedding that is comfortable for the horse. There are many types of bedding available including sawdust, shavings, wood pellets, shredded paper and rice hulls. Research what is available in your area .

10. Give your horse as much turn-out as possible. Horses should have a large, open area to run and play in.

11. Turning two horses out at the same time can increase the amount of exercise both horses get, but chose turn-out mates carefully. Horses can be aggressive toward one another.

12. Keep flies under control. Use fly sprays on the horse, taking care to protect the eyes. Consider putting a fly mask on the horse to keep flies out of its eyes.

13. Keep your horse parasite free by using a daily de-wormer, de-worming with a paste de-wormer regularly, or having your veterinarian perform fecal exams and de-worming when indicated.

14. Make sure your horse gets adequate exercise. In addition to turning your horse out for play-time, be sure to ride, longe or otherwise exercise your horse regularly.

15. Give your horse a stall next to other horses where he can see, smell and hear them. Horses are herd animals and do not do well in isolation.

16. Keep your horse vaccinated. Especially in a boarding facilities where horses come and go, your horse can be exposed to all sorts of bacteria and disease. Inoculate regularly.

Tips & Warnings

• Roll on fly sprays that are specially designed for the eye area and face should be used if you don't have a fly mask.
• If your horse is a cribber, you may need a cribbing collar.
• Even if the horse is indoors, consider using a horse blanket in low temperatures.
• Horses kept in stalls for extended periods of time can acquire unpleasant habits such as weaving or cribbing. Horses need to be free to roam outside as often as possible.
• Make sure the stall has no exposed nails or wires that the horse could cut itself on.

[thehorsecoach]

on 11/12/2007 Extremely thorough - and great comments too! I would also recommend checking on your horse at least twice a day, and remember not to turn out with a halter on!

[katiebarnstable]

on 12/27/2006 backing up-pull gentally back on your riens without kicking (because this is a sigh for the horse to go foward) the horse should move away from the presure in his mouth ie go backwards
- neva boot the horse in the rips when trying to do this with some it may take longer because they are tempermental- a tempermental may buck if u just assume kicking him or hitting him will make him understand!!

on 8/8/2006 When working with horses, always remember that they have a different understanding than we do. So if you are pulling on the bit when your horse doesn't have any idea of what you want, they become confused and may pull against the bit. A helpful hint is to only use the amount of pressure it takes. A horse's mouth is not something to play tug-of-war with, nobody in their right minds would say they like their mouths being pulled at, so why should your horse? It doesn't matter if your horse can't understand what you want when you are first starting something new! That's like asking a five year old to do a 80,000 word report! When working with horses you need to take time and work through the problems together.

on 6/30/2006 If you notice your horse is licking his or her lips it could mean several things.
1. Do you greet your horse with food? Well stop! It is OK to give a horse a treat after work, but remember the horse eats all day, so it will not think you are pleased it simply sees your palm as a food bucket. Licking lips or fiddling with the tongue may be a sign of begging. Just ignore him.

2. Float his teeth. Horses teeth over time get pointed, so ask your veterinarian about floating.
3. Pain. Your horse my be experiencing pain in the tongue or gums. It may be a nerve pop, so ask your veterinarian.

on 1/24/2006 I will list some beddings. I personally use shavings, but feel free to read and use your own.

Make sure bedding is:
Comfortable for the horse
Secure footing
Not dusty
Urine proof
Supports the feet
Encouragement for resting

Shavings:
Wood can contain toxic resins that could be harmful to the horse and could cause hives. Do not use shavings with black walnut, it could make a horse founder. Pine shavings are dust free and most absorbent. Smaller flake shavings are better for comfort. Shavings should not be used for foaling because they could stick or cause breathing problems to a newborn. They could also eat the shavings and could cause colic.

Straw:
This is best for foals. Plus it doesn't stick after birth. Straw drains well but is not absorbent. Spiders or insects may find straw to be a home for them. Wheat is the best of the straws because horses will not eat it.

Sawdust:
Sawdust can be very dusty. It is very absorbent, be very careful which dust you use. It may be toxic.

Pelleted wood:
Less dusty and is three times more absorbent than shavings. Acts like cat litter. Do not use hardwood pellets because it may contain glue or dangerous woods. Make sure it is heat treated too.

Peat moss:
Very comfortable and absorbent. Can be used in pastures. Use it along with shavings or straw because it does not supply good foot support. May cause dry hooves. Requires more daily maintenance.

Corrugated cardboard:
This bedding is made of cut up cardboard. Dust free, and more absorbent than straw or shavings. It is not as clean looking as shavings may be though. It is very cheap $5- $8 for 50 pounds.

Shredded paper:
Inexpensive. 6 times more absorbent than sawdust and 10 times more absorbent than straw. The bad part is it is hard to clean. I also could stain a horse's coat.

Grass hay:
Some farms prefer this over straw for foals. It is not very absorbent, high risk of your horse to get hives. Also not good support.