Horses are adorable animals with exceptional expression from their big eyelashes and majestic gait. A horse is not only an amazing companion, but an efficient and flexible way to move around too. To keep your horse looking good and healthy, you need to give it lots of care and attention. Horses are unique and the type of care you provide will often vary between horses. It is important to begin by understanding your horse and what they really need to be in perfect shape and good moods.
Feeding the Horse
To keep your horse healthy and active, you need to ensure that they are well fed. Horses have a particular feeding adaptation known as trickle feeding. This means that they are adapted to consume portions of food all through the day. An average horse can spend between 17 and 20 hours each day on forage grazing. if you have sufficient pasture to let the horse graze, then that is certainly the best way to keep them fed. If however you are short on pasture, ensure that the horse gets an adequate amount of food.
Forage should be your horse’s primary food, consuming 1-2% of their body weight daily. A great way of ensuring that your horse’s intake of forage meets the required amounts is to provide quality hay. It is recommendable to include vitamin supplements in the horse’s diet, especially if it primarily feeds on hay.
Proper hydration goes a long way in ensuring that the health and wellbeing of your horse is maintained. Horses drink water ranging between 5 and 15 gallons daily. to keep them well hydrated, provide access to sufficient amounts of fresh and clean water at all times. In hot weather, the horse might need an increased amount of water supply since they get dehydrated faster. For colder seasons, check the water sources to ensure that they are not frozen. Horses that are either poor drinkers or heavy sweaters will need electrolyte supplements to replace lost minerals.
Horses have a particularly efficient body temperature regulation system. They can survive well in both hot and warm temperatures. Despite their being hardy, horses need a sturdy shelter in which they can hide from harsh weather elements. You should construct a structure that keeps the horse safe from the scorching sun during summer and protects them from heavy rains and storms. Your horse needs to roam about. The structure should therefore be large enough to allow for this.
Proper grooming is important to the health and the looks of the horse. The grooming needs to be done gently to avoid hurting the horse’s skin. Use circular motions to brush the hair. The dust particles caught on the coat of the horse can be removed by a dandy brush. Tone down the hair using a body brush. You can also use electric clippers to perfectly trim the body hair of your horse. Other important grooming procedures are rimming the hooves, untangling their mane and tail as well as bathing them occasionally.