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| + | == Summertime Heat and your Horse == |
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| + | When you own horses, you already know that there is a lot of stuff you need to be aware of, and a lot of different conditions that you have to be sure to watch for and to treat for. One of the problems with owning horses is that you can only do so much for them to get them out of the weather. With a dog or a cat, you can take them inside when it is very hot or very cold, but with a horse, you have to make decisions based on what you can do, and usually you only have a barn to take them into. That said, you always have to be aware of how the weather is affecting your animals, and along with other things, you have to be sure that you are watching for heat stress in your horse. |
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| + | Like other animals, horses can be affected by the extremely hot weather. You want to be sure that your horse always has plenty of shade, and plenty of water, but sometimes this isn’t enough. If you are living somewhere that it is very hot, you have to be sure to take precautions so that your horse isn’t affected by heat stress. There are several things that you can do to make sure that your horse handles the heat as well as he can. |
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| + | No matter what the temperature is, working is going to make a horse hotter because working makes them use all of their muscles and expand more energy. If your horse is working, he is going to get hotter. Therefore, on very hot days, you have to be sure that you are resting your horse. It is fine to turn him out to pasture, because chances are that he won’t work any harder than he should. However, you are going to want to avoid riding him or making him do any work on very hot days. |
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| + | Like all other animals, horses need to have fresh and safe water that is there for them at all times. You have to be sure that you are refilling your horse’s water, and that it is kept cool. Warm water isn’t going to be as good for him as cool water will be. |
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| + | Remember that your horse depends on you to protect him from the heat. Be sure that you have done your research so that you know what the best ways are to keep your horse cool and safe when it is hot outside, and be sure that you follow through with these things so that your horse remains healthy. |
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| + | == Healthy Foods for Healthy Horses. == |
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| + | Like any animal that you own it is very important that you are providing your horse with all of the nutrition that is necessary for good growth and good development. A horse is something that you invest a great deal of time and energy in, and it is something that is going to be very loving and loyal to you. This means that you have to be sure to provide your horse with not just adequate nutrition, but excellent nutrition. |
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| + | Remember that having a good horse feed is something that is important. You want to research your particular breed of horses and see what kind of diet they will do best on. Another thing to keep in mind is not only what kind of breed of horse you have, but what their lives are like. Are they racing horses, or working horses, or are they just horses that you keep as pets to ride. Do you show them, or are they simply farm horses? These are all important questions to ask, because the answers to these questions will help you figure out what the best diet is to give your horse. |
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| + | After you have determined what your expectations are for your horse, and what kind of lives your horses are going to be leading, you can pick out a great feed that is going to bring out the best in them, while giving them great nutrition. There are many places to buy horse food, so you have to be sure that you have a feed dealer that you can trust that will help you make great decisions about what is best to feed your horse. Then you can be sure that you have a good supply of food. |
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| + | Also, remember that depending on what your horse is doing in his life, the different seasons are going to act differently upon his body. It might become important that you switch his feed or change what you are giving him as far as amounts go, during the different seasons. This is also a question you are going to want to discuss with your vet, and make sure that you are doing what is right for your horse. |
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| + | An important part of both training your horse and bonding with your horse is what you are giving him for snacks. He will come to love the snacks that you give him, as long as they taste good and are good for him. This means that you should keep a great supply of the snacks that you know your horse loves on hand, and be sure to talk to your vet about what is appropriate for your horse as well. |
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| + | == Fashion Statement? Horse’s Shoes == |
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| + | A horse’s shoe is something that is, of course, put onto their feet. The process doesn’t hurt the horse, because the shoes are attached to the hooves of the horses, and in this manner it doesn’t cause the horse any pain because the horse’s hooves don’t have feeling. They are kind of like our fingernails. The shoes are attached to the hooves, and then they act as the bottoms of the feet. |
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| + | It is important that you realize just how vital a horse’s shoes are to their lives. In today’s day and age, there is a lot of stuff that can make a horse sick or injured, and a lot of it is going to be found where they are walking. No matter what surface they are walking on, there is going to be germs and other things that can get into their feet and cause them sickness. Also, no matter what your horse is doing for you, they are going to be working hard, and this might cause an un shoed horse to have a cracked hoof or another foot injury. |
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| + | You should know that if your horse gets a foot injury or an illness in their foot, your likelihood of saving them is not good. Foot injuries are very bad for horses, and if they are too badly injured they are going to have to be put down. Because of this, it is very important that you take all of the precautions necessary to make sure that your horse has the proper shoes and that they are well taken care of. |
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| + | If you are interested in learning more about your horse’s shoes, you need to be sure that you are contacted someone who can help you out. This is not something that you should be thinking you can take care of on your own, because a horse’s shoe is the best defense that he has against dying young. Because of how important shoes are to a horse’s health, it is never something you should attempt on your own. Be sure that you are finding a vet and someone who can help you with your horse’s shoes, and be sure that you know as much as you can about horse’s health before you get a horse. Remember to have your horse’s feet cared for often, and you will find that you horse will live a longer and happier life in general. |
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| + | == Equine Colic and your Horse == |
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| + | If you have had a horse, chances are that you have heard of the term equine colic before. You have probably done some research into this term, and you have found that when you are talking about equine colic, you are talking about a sign or symptom, and not really an actual diagnosis. The term colic in horses refers to any different type of abdominal pain, and this is usually the result of some other sickness in your horse. So, if your horse is exhibiting equine colic, it means that something else is wrong with him. Some of the things that might be wrong with your horse are small problems that will pass on their own, but some of them might be more serious complications that could require surgery and, if left untreated, could result in the death of your horse. |
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| + | If you choose to go with surgery you are going to find that it is usually very expensive. This is why colic results in death of so many horses, because sometimes you are not able to know what is wrong with your horse and you don’t get it treated. You have to be sure that you recognize the symptoms so that you and your vet can make a good decision regarding whether or not to do surgery. |
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| + | There are several symptoms that are associated with equine colic, and it is important that you and anyone else who is working with your horses recognize these symptoms. Because of the wide variety of things that might be wrong with your horse, it is important that the colic is recognized right away and diagnosed so it can be treated. |
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| + | Some of the symptoms include a horse’s reluctance to eat anything, which is going to indicate a problem. If your horse doesn’t eat, you need to talk to a vet. Also, if the horse is looking at their side, or even turning or nipping at their sides, it might indicate that they are trying to solve their own problems. If your horse is kicking at their abdomen, or pawing their front legs or stomping their feet, this is also indicating that there is pain in your horse and he doesn’t know what to do about it. If your horse looks like he is stretching abnormally while he is trying to go to the bathroom, there is also a problem. If your horse lies down and rolls and thrashes and then does not get up and shake off right away, this is indicating that there is a big problem with your horse. Also, if your horse is sweating after light exercise, curling his lip excessively, has cool extremities, lacks bowel movements, or has a higher pulse or respiratory rate, this is going to indicate that there is something wrong with your horse. See a vet immediately for treatment of colic. |
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| + | == Alternative Medical Care for your Horse == |
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| + | If you are looking to keep your horse happy and healthy, you might be looking into several different types of horse care. There are plenty of alternative medical care faculties besides for the normal, run of the mill vet. You might be considering several of these other therapies for your horse, for whatever reason. If you are interested in these, it is usually best to ask your vet what they feel about them, and then be sure to do some research. Usually the alternative medical care is given in cases where the horse’s life is not at stake because this is a situation in which the alternative care is helping your horse to have a better life, and not necessarily trying to save its life. There are some situations in which you might want to explore alternative care if your horse has been in an accident and your vet has said the best thing to do is to put the horse down. However, the most popular alternative care is care that you wouldn’t normally associate with horse care. |
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| + | Like humans, horses have muscles that work very hard. In recent times, a movement has begun where people have gotten trained in animal massage and acupuncture. The idea is that these things can help human muscles in a variety of ways, so it might be a good idea to try them out on animals as well. You might find that with both of these your horse is generally more happy, because they are often helping your horse with things that your horse might not even know are wrong, and things that you might not be able to tell bug your horse or cause it discomfort. |
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| + | With these therapies, it is important that you contact someone who has been trained in them, and someone who can do this very well, and who has done it for many other animals. This is a relatively new area, so you want to make sure that you are getting the best of the best, and that you aren’t running into problems by having someone who is not professional at what they do. |
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| + | In other situations, ones that are more serious, a decision to explore alternative therapies is something that should be made between you and your family and your vet. There are alternative therapies that might help your animal if your vet has said there is no hope because of injury or sickness, but you always have to keep your animal’s best interest at heart and make sure that they aren’t going to suffer needlessly. |
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| == Healthy Horse Weight == | | == Healthy Horse Weight == |
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| A horse’s weight is going to be an indication of how healthy they are. There are different breeds of horses, and different sizes as well, but whenever you have a horse at your home, you should find out what their ideal weight is, and then you should make a habit of weighing your horse about once a week or so. If your horse has any change in their weight, you might be looking at some kind of problem. If a horse drops a lot of weight in a week, it is going to mean that something is wrong, and you are going to want to seek vet attention right away. | | A horse’s weight is going to be an indication of how healthy they are. There are different breeds of horses, and different sizes as well, but whenever you have a horse at your home, you should find out what their ideal weight is, and then you should make a habit of weighing your horse about once a week or so. If your horse has any change in their weight, you might be looking at some kind of problem. If a horse drops a lot of weight in a week, it is going to mean that something is wrong, and you are going to want to seek vet attention right away. |
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− | With horses, sicknesses can happen very fast, and they can get too ill to save before you even have noticed that anything is wrong. Even a small amount of weight change during a week can indicate a problem before the problem is full blown, so if you are weighing your horse on a regular basis, you’ll be able to tell if there is a problem maybe even before you would be able to tell otherwise. If you are able to weight your horse regularly, you are going to have a much better chance of catching anything that goes wrong, and in this way you could actually save your horse’s life. It is very important to have a horse scale that you can have in your barn so that you can check your horse’s weight periodically. You should weigh him more often if you think there might be a problem. | + | With horses, sicknesses can happen very fast, and they can get too ill to save before you even have noticed that anything is wrong. Even a small amount of weight change during a week can indicate a problem before the problem is full blown, so if you are weighing your horse on a regular basis, you’ll be able to tell if there is a problem maybe even before you would be able to tell otherwise. If you are able to weight your horse regularly, you are going to have a much better chance of catching anything that goes wrong, and in this way you could actually save your horse’s life. It is very important to have a horse scale that you can have in your barn so that you can check your horse’s weight periodically. You should weigh him more often if you think there might be a problem. |
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| == Keeping your Horse Safe when Riding == | | == Keeping your Horse Safe when Riding == |