HOW TO CARE FOR A HORSE (Complete Guide)

hey everyone so today i'm gonna give you a crash course on all the basic information you need in order to care for a horse so whether you're buying a horse for the first time or maybe you're just starting to get into lessons and you just like to know how you care for a horse this is a great place to start so if you are getting a new horse why don't you comment below and just let me know some more information about your horse and what you plan to do with them and as always be sure to like this video and subscribe to our channel [Music] so the first point we're going to talk about is what your horse eats so your horse may eat a few different things the main thing they're going to eat is grass so grass is a horse's natural diet in the wild so it's the thing that they need most of ideally your horse's main sustenance will come from grass and the reason that is is because there's lower sugar content compared to grain so it's better for them and they're made to be eating all day and so grass has that abundance to where they could be grazing all day as they need to so there are different types of grasses that your horse will eat and some grasses have more sugar than others that's just something if you want to know more you can research some horses can get super fat off of grass these horses are called easy keepers meaning they don't need that much sustenance in order to stay a healthy weight tucker here is an easy keeper he stays pretty much the same no matter what he's on so that's pretty nice so the next main thing your horse may eat is hay so hay is basically just dried grass and there are many different types of hay there's alfalfa hay timothy grass and the list goes on so you can sustain your horse's diet with hay we feed it in the winter just because the grass dies off and so the horses need that forage if you are stalling your horse or maybe your horse is injured so they have to be kept in a stall you will want to provide the horse with hay and this way they can just have that food because you know horses are used to eating all day and so hay gives them the opportunity to constantly be munching instead of just eating grain which they eat in you know five minutes and then they're done if you're going to be purchasing hay it's important that you purchase horse quality hay horses and cows are different so they can digest different things cows can pretty much eat anything and they're fine horses on the other hand there are a few things they can't digest as well as cows so you want to make sure you're getting horse quality hay we one time got hay and it unfortunately wasn't the best quality and it had this thing called fox tail in it and the fox tail is like a thistle almost and it completely ripped up tucker's mouth and so that's just one example of how you need the horse quality hay and you need to even check that horse quality hay for things like foxtail and other weeds that may damage your horse's mouth or not be good for them to digest so many people also like to feed their horses grain when it comes to feeding grain it's important to feed grain that will benefit your horse's diet and your horse's overall health so in my personal opinion not every horse needs grain grain can be high in sugar and it's just unnatural for the horse to digest because horses are used to getting natural sugars from grass compared to grain that has a high amount of sugar that being said some horses do need to sustain their weight with grain it just is up to really the horse's needs so this is a great thing to talk to your vet about and they'll be happy to guide you in the direction of what your horse needs to eat so your horse might not even need grain for the longest time i didn't feed my horse any grain and they stayed fat and happy just off of grass so if you're working your horse hard every day or you have a rigorous routine supplementing their diet with grain may be beneficial and there's also supplements you can give them with that like electrolytes that can help them you know retain their water and things like that so my horse tucker keeps his weight well he is an easy keeper that's what we call him so he just gets really imbalanced here that balances out minerals in his body and that just helps him be more healthy and so if you have a fat horse that's one option you can choose but like i said always talk to your vet and they'll be happy to guide you in the direction you need to go when it comes to feeding your horse so another thing your horse is going to need in order to survive is water so horses need between 5 to 10 gallons of water a day so you want to make sure that they have enough water to get them through their day if your horse is out in the field with other horses you want to make sure you have a water bin that will be able to hold enough water for all of them so one thing to note is in the winter water buckets can freeze even the water buckets kept installed so it's important that you make sure the water is staying unfrozen you can get water heaters for these or you can even try some things like there's a bunch of different home remedies and natural remedies you can try to keep the water from freezing over that aside it's just very important that your horse stays hydrated if they're not hydrated they can colic and that can lead to more health issues and even death sadly so it's important that you make sure your horse has adequate water and that they have access to it and they know where it is so we've talked about what to feed your horse now let's talk about some options for where to keep them so naturally horses are out in the wild and they're free to roam wherever they go and they are constantly moving throughout the day even if you sit and watch a horse race you'll notice that they're never really standing still for too long they're always moving and so naturally a horse needs to be out and able to move this is why it's important that they have a turnout so that they're not kept in a style 24 7. so for me personally i like my horses to be out in the field 24 7 just so they can move as they need to and that they can graze the whole day and that they can eat hay and all that stuff if your horse is out 24 7 it's important that they have adequate shelter from the elements just like a running shed or you can even bring them into a stall if there's going to be really bad weather i feel like this is a really tall stall door yeah you do too so the next option is you can keep your horse in a stall stalls can provide your horse with good shelter out of the elements on days where there's bad weather and it can also just be a way they can stand inside and get a fan blown on them or something like that when it comes to deciding whether or not you want to keep your horse in the stall it's important to remember that a horse's natural habitat is out in the wild where they can roam so keeping them in a stall is kind of the opposite of what they're used to this is just important to remember because some horses can get stocked up legs if they're standing for too long in a stall or it can cause their joints to lock up so this is just a very important thing to be aware of and to know when it comes to deciding where you want to keep your horse you can always consult a vet and get guidance from them about this as well if your horse does live in a stall it's important that they get turnout at least once a day a lot of people rotate their horses so the horse will be in the stall for 12 hours a day and then turned out for the other 12 hours like at night or something but it's important that that horse does get exercise and get movement to maintain their health if your horse is in a stall because they're injured you can hand walk your horse so just lead them around so they can get that exercise and be moving so another thing to note is if you're keeping your horse in a stall it's important that the stall gets cleaned out at least once a day and the reason for this is if your horse is standing in their own waist for too long that can cause some serious health problems with their feet so that's something to know and it's important to keep your horse's stall clean and nice for them to live in so the next thing we're going to talk about is making sure your horse is getting exercise so if your horse has turnout that's a great way for them to get just natural exercise by moving throughout their day but there are other ways you can make sure your horse is staying healthy and getting the exercise they need so one way by doing this is the most obvious is by riding them riding is great exercise for your horse another thing you can do is lunge them and this is a great way to work them without having to ride so maybe if the weather's bad for whatever reason if you can't ride this is a great option for working your horse so just some things to remember there if your horse isn't getting good exercise this can cause you know their joints to get stiff or their legs to stock up and just some bad health problems they're getting fat and stuff like that so you want to make sure your horse does have good exercise so there are certain things about your horse's health that will need daily attention and one of those aspects is your horse's feet so the horse's feet are very important to your horse's body not only is your horse walking on them 24 7 but they also help with your horse circulating things through their body so you want to make sure your horse's feet are staying healthy because it can really be bad for them if their hoof is injured or something goes bad and they're not able to stand on it or put weight on it or it's not able to help with the circulation of the horse's blood so the best way to care for your horse's feet is just to simply clean them out on a daily basis this allows you to check for rocks or other debris that may be stuck in their hooves you can also check your horse's hooves for damage or maybe something that doesn't look quite right uh like thrush or maybe an abscess so you can just tell that they're sore so we actually have a whole video about how to clean a horse's hoof so we'll put the link in the description just so you can see how to do it and you can use that information if you need it so just how we need our fingernails clipped on a regular basis horses need their hooves trimmed on a regular basis so this is one important thing to know is if you own a horse this is something that you're also going to have to invest in how often you need your horse's hoofs trimmed can vary just depending on the climate you live in and also the specific time of year so where i live in the winter it gets dry and so the horse's hose won't grow as fast and they're not stumping the way it flies so then they can go a longer period of time without needing their hooves trimmed in the summer when it's really wet and they're constantly stomping at flies they're going to need their feet trimmed more often just because the hooves are going through more trauma and they're also absorbing all that water which is going to help them grow faster with all this in mind horses usually need their hose trimmed every four to eight weeks so if it's a particularly bad summer where it's raining a ton the horses are just absorbing water into their feet they're stomping it flies i'll get tucker looked at every four weeks on the other hand in the winter if it's dry and it's slowed down it'll be about every eight weeks another thing to note when it comes to the farrier is whether or not your horse will need shoes so i personally don't put shoes on my horse unless i absolutely need to like if they need corrective shoeing or something like that however there are times where the horse will just need shoes they may have really soft and fragile feet or they may be competing a lot and so they need that extra support so that their hoof isn't constantly you know being traumatized when it hits the ground so that's something you need to talk to your farrier about or talk to your vet about and they'll be able to guide you in the right direction so let's talk about the equipment you'll need to perform basic horse care for your horse so the first thing you're going to need and most obvious is a halter that goes on your horse's head and a lead rope this is just so you can catch them and lead them around tie them up all that good stuff so another thing you're going to need is brushes and this is just to keep your horse clean and a hoof pick to pick out their hooves and brushing your horse is something you'll probably do on a daily basis so it's important that you have this stuff so if you want a rundown of all the different brushes you can have for a horse we have a video on how to groom a horse where we go through all of that so i'll put the link in the description so some other stuff you may want to have on hand when it comes to owning a horse is just basic medical supplies this can include like leg bandages gauze certain ointments and medications now for some optional things that you may want but your horse doesn't necessarily need a fly spray a fly mask any fly products to keep the flies off of your horse flies can be such a nuisance to your horse and so just to keep your horse comfortable you can use those pieces of equipment another thing i highly recommend getting for your horse even if you don't plan on blanketing them in the winter is a horse blanket so something that would cover them in the winter if they get cold there's a lot of controversy about whether or not you should blanket your horse in the winter and to me it really just depends on the horse so tucker here i've seen him in like the worst weather possible and he's fine he's just like okay whatever on the other hand i had another horse so it would be like 50 degrees and rainy and she would be shivering so for example she would get blanketed basically once it hit 50 because she would she was kind of a wimp about the cold it's important that you watch your horse and see how they handle the cold to decide whether or not they need a blanket i do have my blanket on hand so if there is going to be really bad weather i will put the blanket on him just for peace of mind and also just to give him that protection so if you plan on riding the horse you're going to own it's important that you have tax to do so so you're going to want a saddle a girth a helmet saddle blankets you know a bridle all that stuff so you can ride your horse and have fun it's also important to remember when you go to purchase your horse purchasing your horse isn't the only expense you're going to have you're going to need to buy that tag and tech can sometimes be expensive so once you buy tack it's also important that you keep it maintained so it can last a long time this means you can clean and shampoo your leather pieces of tack and this will help you know make their life last longer and also make them more flexible so that they can deal with stress a lot more if your saddle or your girth or something like that gets wet it can dry out the leather and it can become cracked it can also be a potential safety hazard if you don't keep your tack maintained strip leathers can break pieces of the bridle can break if you want to maintain your safety as a rider it's very important that you check your tack on your regular basis and also take care of it properly so now that we've covered all the essential and optional supplies for caring for your horse i've linked some down in the description so go check those out as a horse owner it's also important to stay on top of your horse's medical needs so this means having a vet's contact info on hand if you need it it also means being able to recognize when your horse does need medical attention so this means being able to recognize out of the ordinary behavior from your horse that may demonstrate that they need attention right now so this can look like a horse being a little bit more frantic than usual lying down standing up laying down standing up maybe your horse has a running nose and they just seem down so just being able to recognize things like this and when your horse may need medical attention another thing to stay on top of is your horse's regular medical needs this means shots they'll need shots deworming teeth floating and getting their coggins test so all these things are stuff that they're going to need done regularly usually on a biannual or an annual basis so for more specifics on this i've linked an article in the description below that you can check out when it comes to getting a new horse it's important that you have an experienced horse person that you can trust and go to if you need help one of the most frustrating and overwhelming things about having a horse is that the horse world is so vast that you don't know everything and so it can be really stressful if you're in a situation and you don't know what to do so having that experienced horse person whether it's your instructor or your trainer that you can go to and talk to can help you work through that situation i want to thank you guys for watching if you found this video helpful please be sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel for more weekly horse videos [Music] you

Channel: Equine Helper

Views: 94,240

Rating: 4.9617624 out of 5

Keywords: How to Care for a Horse, Horse Care 101

Id: zI8JSTGtRQc

Length: 16min 29sec (989 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 31 2020