Post by CraigThis is the first time I've visited this newsgroup. We've been given a horse
to take care of and need some helpful information of feeding and general
care.
Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
You do know that horses are large, stupid, accident prone animals prone
to panicking and running off with no thought whatsoever for the safety
of themselves or anyone around them?
They need their hooves trimmed every few weeks or the hooves will become
overgrown and make them lame. Many also need shoes, which must be
replaced every few weeks. You must clean their hooves out frequently to
prevent stones or other debris from becoming trapped and injuring the
foot, causing abcesses or fungal infections. Of course this means you
must know how to pick the horse's feet up without it leaning on you for
support or struggling to get away. And if the horse does not behave
properly for the farrier (blacksmith), the farrier won't come back and
you'll have to find another one.
They need worming every few weeks, or the worms will multiply inside
them to the point that their intestines become obstructed, causing
excruciating pain (colic) and eventual agonizing death if untreated.
Treatment may require an emergency visit from the vet, including
medications or even abdominal surgery, at significant expense.
Their food rations need to be carefully controlled, otherwise they will
literally eat themselves to death. Too much or the wrong kind of food,
or even a sudden change of diet will cause their hooves to become
inflamed (founder), causing excruciating pain that will lead to death or
serious and permanent lameness unless the symptoms are recognized and
treated within the first few hours.
Mares come into heat every few weeks and may become dangerous to
themselves and those around them as their mating drive overtakes any
manners they might have had. Stallions can only be handled safely by
people with special training and experience -- a stallion's sex drive
easily overcomes their training otherwise, and they can and will kill
anyone who gets in their way. Geldings (castrated stallions) are usually
more even tempered, but those gelded later in life, or who still produce
male hormones (testosterone) can exhibit stallion-like behavior, with
all the inherent dangers.
Horses will dominate anyone (horse or human) who in the horse's judgment
is too weak to fight back. This means being bitten, kicked, and
trampled, particularly at feeding time. This often leads to injuries and
accidents (and expensive veterinary treatment) as horses pastured
together fight for dominance. You will NEVER win a battle of strength
with a horse, even a small one. That leaves only your experience and
brains, or some means of inflicting enough pain and fear on the horse
that it does what you want.
They need their teeth checked every few months for uneven wear, which
must be filed down (with the horse restrained or sedated) so that it can
comfortably eat. If you are trying to ride a horse whose teeth are
hurting its mouth, the bit and bridle will cause it unnecessary pain.
When a horse feels pain, its first instinct is to run away as fast as it
can.
Their stalls must be cleaned out daily to remove droppings and urine,
and bedding (straw, shavings, whatever) replaced so the horse can lie
down without injuring itself. Horses that lie down in their stalls can
sometimes become stuck against a wall (cast) -- even in a large box
stall -- and because of their size and anatomy, be unable to free
themselves. You could be badly injured or killed as the horse thrashes
about.
Pastures need to be maintained properly, with droppings and toxic plants
(of which there is an endless variety) removed regularly to avoid worm
infestation or poisoning. Fencing must be safe for horses, and should
not consist of barbed wire, anything with sharp edges, loose boards or
post, or splinters, anything low enough to be jumped, anything high
enough that the horse can roll under it and get loose or become trapped,
and must be strong enough to withstand a blindly panicking 1000 pound
animal running into it at 30 to 40 miles an hour without breaking or
injuring the horse.
Being kept in a stall is no assurance of protection from injury -- as
other posters have recently pointed out, some of the worst injuries have
occurred while the horse is alone in its stall.
Horses are prone to respiratory allergies and infections (asthma,
heaves) from dust and fungal spores in hay. This requires ongoing
medication and special diets. Horses can also get skin allergies (hives)
and infections (rain rot), making them miserably itchy. Their attempts
to relive the itching can cause further injury and widespread infection.
Male horses need to have the smegma and dirt removed from their penises
a few times a year. If left unattended, the smegma can build up within
the urethral opening, causing obstruction of urin flow, leading to
inflammation, infection, and extreme discomfort to the horse. Mares also
need their udders cleaned of smegma and dirt. This is a nasty and
disgusting job, and horses dislike it even more than people. The vet
will do it for a fee, but if the horse must be sedated, a side effect of
the sedation may injure the nerves that allow the penis to extend and
retract, causing the penis to dangle permanently outside the body,
exposing it to injury.
Horses need sufficient exercise of the proper type to keep them mentally
and physically fit. If they are exercised irregularly, they are prone
not only to developing bad behaviors, but also to "tying-up", an
extremely painful condition caused by breakdown of muscle tissue that
overwhelms and damages the kidneys and other organ systems.
They need competent handling and training, otherwise they will quickly
develop bad habits that are invariably dangerous to their handlers,
their riders and themselves. Poorly fitted bridles and saddles, as well
as poor riding technique, can cause painful injuries to the mouth, neck,
back and legs.
Horses essentially have two brains that do NOT communicate well with
each other, meaning that anything you teach on one side of the horse
must also be taught from scratch to the other side of the horse. If a
horse is accustomed only to being approached and handled on the left, if
you attempt to approach it on the right it will not know what to do. It
may not even recognize you. When a horse does not know what to do, it
either panicks and runs away, or panicks and attacks in order to defend
itself.
You may want to consider finding a proper boarding facility for this
horse where it can be taken care of. Stables that provide lessons to
students can sometimes arrange a lower boarding fee in exchange for
using the horse for riding lessons. But only if the horse is sound and
temperamentally suited for the type of work it will be doing. Of course
you will still be required to pay for the usual farrier and vet care,
and the horse will still be prone to accidents, inuries, colic, founder,
and all the other disasters and diseases that can happen even with the
best and most experienced care.
Enjoy your new horse!!