I need help with Winter stuff (horse care, etc)

[lovesfortune]

This winter will be our first winter with our two Appy's and our first full winter with horses. We are trying to prepare best we can. We have been checking fencing, making the winter pasture bigger, making sure everything is horse proof as well as cattle proof. We have our entire stock of hay for the winter already put up. We are worming them this week yet since we've had our first frost.

I know I need to schedule a vet appt. but what do I all need to make sure they get done? Norman's sheath cleaning is definitely on the list.

I know they'll probably figure it out, but they haven't yet - How do I get them used to the barn and the horse shed/shelter? I am 100% sure they have NEVER seen the inside of a barn or run in of any kind before they came here. They were always out to pasture, in any kind of weather with their previous owner. They both came from the same place and have had no previous owners.

This winter we'll have the barn open (old milking barn) with the automatic waterer in there so it doesn't freeze, etc. The water is outside now. Then the horse shed is a large 3 sided building for shelter from the wind/snow etc.

Any suggestions on how to get them comfortable with going in there? Or when they are cold enough they'll just do it? I guess I'm a little worried about the water in the barn (no other place to put it) and them not going in to drink. Will they go in if they get thirsty enough? We've had some wind sleet and a bit of snow already and they just stay outside.

I guess I'm just nervous about our first full winter being horse owners. Also, what do you do with all your tack in the winter? Keep it inside your house somewhere where it's warm? While I do want to ride some during the winter, I will probably do it bareback and won't need my saddle, etc.

[Horserider]

Couldn't you just take them in and walk them around inside the barn before winter sets in? Show them around the inside, make sure they're comfortable. Maybe feed them inside so they associate the barn with good things? :huh:

[WashingtonBay]

I'd bring them in and show them... feeding them in there is a good idea, particularly if you can close the cows out if they are a problem.

[OneHorseRanch]

I agree with Horserider, I would start feeding them in the barn. I have had my appy since July 2005, he is out 24/7. I put him in a stall on the really cold nights a couple of years ago and he hated it! So last fall we got a shelter and when he needs it he uses it. The only time Skippy has been cold and shivering is when it was raining nonstop then got cold. When it gets really cold (10 and below) I go out before bedtime and put hay in the shelter so he can keep his internal furnace going:). Also, when it starts to get gets below 20 you should increase the amount of hay you feed them.

[magayle]

do you have stalls or some kind of partioned off area where you can lock them in if the weather is really bad or for any emergecy care? i would think it would be kinda difficult having cows in with horses 24/7...do the horses get grain or supplements daily? i'm just wondering what your routine is with everyone together

[lovesfortune]

Well they just get hay/pasture. No sweet feed/grain because they are tubby. But I will try to coax them in with a treat or flake of hay and see where that takes us.

As far as feeding them more when it's colder... they will be on free choice hay for the winter months so that's not a problem.

[lovesfortune]

do you have stalls or some kind of partioned off area where you can lock them in if the weather is really bad or for any emergecy care? i would think it would be kinda difficult having cows in with horses 24/7...do the horses get grain or supplements daily? i'm just wondering what your routine is with everyone together


If we needed to close someone off for emergency care or whatever, we would be able to close off the horse shed and make it one big huge stall or two if we put up a gate inbetween. The cows don't need to be there.

As far as locking them in when it's really bad. Not really. But I figure if they have been out on pasture for the last 13 years with just trees as shelters, no blankets... they should be okay with a shelter and lots of hay. Right?

And our routine is basic. Everyone gets as much hay as they want. Everyone gets along really well. It's a big pasture with 3 different feeders we can put large square bales in. about 20 cows and 2 horses. And as I mentioned above, they are easy keepers and don't get any grain, so seperating them isn't an issue. But when we had the two fosters that got grain the cows never seemed to be interested either.

[magayle]

i would just be worried about not having places set up 'just in case' before winter.. a few years back we had a terrible ice storm....ice was an inch thick on everything....the horses were stuck on a hill and couldn't take even one step to get down....i always keep big tubs of barn lime in the run in's, and barn....i had to sprinkle barn lime to make a path to them and to the run in's and barn so i could get them in....they were on lock down for a week before it was safe to go back out.....i was sure glad that i had everyone's 'spots' ready and only had to shut the gates and put the heated water buckets in.....we have both run ins and mini's barn all set with electric and bucket brackets and lights...not only bad weather but when we went thru a few founder episodes did i appreciate being ready for anything....i'm not trying to scare you, just giving you an idea of what a problem could be like when it's 25 below zero and 2 feet of snow on the ground

[Gypsy Rose]

So far as your tack, if you can store it in the house, that would be best, especially if it's leather. All tack seems to do best if kept in a warm, dry environment.

[WashingtonBay]

Yes, I bring my tack in the house for winter.

It's decor. :)

[dustys_girlly]

i hate my kitten, i just had something all typed up and she stepped on my keyboard and now its all gone.

but it sound to me like you have mostly everything under control. if the horse are having problems going into the barn, just hand walk them in a few times and feed them in there, dont just put food in and think that if they are hungry they will go in because most times that wont work. i would say keep a bag of salt or anything to help with ice handy just in case you get a really bad freeze and you have plenty of hay. what i do is when its really cold, instead of just feeding more i feed alfalfa at night ( i feed just grass hay) or a grass alfalfa mix a night, the alfalfa will help give them more energy to burn keeping warm. that and keep an eye on how much they are drinking. but i am right with you, this is my first time having my horses home with me and i live in the mountains at 4800' elevation. im going to get snow and the weather report is saying this weekend.

[lovesfortune]

Okay. You aren't scaring me maygayle. I like being prepared. :) Our winter pasture is very flat for this very reason so there aren't any big hills or winter hazards. But we will have to get bags of sand, etc. on hand to throw out on the step up to the barn.

If an emergency would take place, we would just have to move one gate in and the horse shed would be closed off. We have had to keep 2 horses closed in overnight for a few nights when we were making introductions to the cows so that shouldn't be too big of an issue if we had an ice storm, etc. The horse shed already has electric and the hay is right there so I would be able to just toss over large flakes off a square bale. And I would have to bucket water in, but we already have the big water trough and a heater that we used last year for a bit so that is on hand.

Thank you for making me go through other situations in my head. Do you think we should have horse blankets on hand or they should be okay with shelter? They both already have pretty thick winter coats.

And I will make a note to bring the saddles in this weekend, clean them up, oil them and then figure out somewhere in the house to put them. lol. It might be the kids' new favorite toy!

[Remali]

Most horses are OK without blankets...and if you blanket too much they won't grow enough of a winter coat....only time I ever blanket is if a horse is sick, or shivering.

I would try feeding them their hay inside for a while if you want them to go inside more often, that way they'll be comfortable with going inside, but, oddly enough, a lot of horses will just stand outside even in lousey weather, rather than go in a shelter.....but I bet they will get used to it just fine.

I always bring my tack indoors in the winter too. :)

[WashingtonBay]

Most horses are OK without blankets...and if you blanket too much they won't grow enough of a winter coat....only time I ever blanket is if a horse is sick, or shivering.

That's actually a myth. Horses don't grow less coat if you blanket. They grow coat based on the changing seasons and shorter hours of daylight, not whether they are blanketed or whether they ever feel cold. It may lay flatter under the blanket, but take the blanket off, it puffs right up and is as thick as it was ever going to be.

Loves... I've seen this barn of yours in pictures and it's perfectly fine. They'll do well with that if they learn to use it! It's a nice big area, they can get well out of the weather, much better than many small shelters. My complaint about the communal arrangement with the cows would be that cows are such pigs it must get messy in there in a hurry.

I blanket mine all winter. I just think they're better off dry than they would be wet. Our weather is different than yours. We get weeks and months where it never stops raining or snowing. Left out and unblanketed, they would never dry out. Blanketed, mine actually go outside more instead of huddling inside all the time, and that's better for them.

I guess as a contingency it would be beneficial to own blankets for them, even if you don't plan to use them regularly, just in case there is a bad storm where they get wet and cold or an extreme cold snap and someone needs it. Medium weight waterproof ones. The first winter I was here we had an ice storm with freezing rain and when that happens here, the horses actually won't use the barn for fear of ice and branches hitting the roof, they get spooked. So they were out in it and my pony got really cold. I had to warm the pony with a comforter off the guest bed, holding her in the barn until she dried off and warmed up and the ice stopped. That was a long night. Bay had a blanket and he was fine.

[shynbvs]

i think a few ppl have said this, but do as much as you can with them inside. Feed them, groom them, etc..

[lovesfortune]

Well I was going through my pictures and found a nice picture of the horse shed so you can see what I'm working with. And a picture of the outside of the barn.

The horse shed is closed 1/2 off and our hay for the winter is now on one side, gated off.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj14/lovesfortune/Reggieleg2013.jpg
This door they are standing at slides shut, and another door to the left is open to the pasture 24/7 like this shows:
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj14/lovesfortune/pasture010.jpg

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj14/lovesfortune/house002.jpg

[JackieB]

It looks to me like you've got everything covered. However, you do want to own a blanket for each horse anyway. Medium weight as WB mentioned. You may rarely need them with your great set up, but they are important to own. If you can't afford four at once, then perhaps buy them over time.

But your set up and plan is so good that your horses should be in fantastic shape all winter. Just make sure that they will go in and out of that shelter and that nobody is forced to stay out due to herd dynamics (this happens).

Then, I'd keep an eye on the weather report for freezing rain or bitter cold. And you need to observe your horses every day, of course.

Their water needs to stay unfrozen not just so that they are physically able to drink it, but also so that it's not too cold for them to want to drink. Horses can get dehydrated and colic. A tank heater is mandatory in our part of the country.

Good plan, though.

[vicklynn]

Looks like a nice dry place.
As far as hair growth, it has to do with seasons, not blanketing. IF you have your horses in a barn, lights on for a longer period, their hair growth will be different. It took City until this yr, to start an early growth, and Im thinking he will have a nice coat this yr. He was used to the plush life, barns, lights and blankets. Always looking slick. If the wind blew the barn horses were blanketed, windows and doors closed. Not a bad thing when ya got high dollar horses and you show, or use them in tours/clinics yr round.
Citys gone Country...LOL They are out 24/7, have a run in, and blanketed on windy cold, or wet days in the winter.

[Remali]

I love your barn Jessica, it's so pretty there!

Well, all I know is my friends who blanketed their show horses, their horses did not grow much a coat.....mine did grow a coat and they were all subjected to the same amount of light (boarded at the same place), and same seasons and turn-out (maybe it all depends on the horses).....so....I dunno...

[WashingtonBay]

Genetics plays a big role. Cyn doesn't grow any coat, Bay does. I wished I'd have had Cyn when I was showing, I always struggled with the fuzzy kind :)

Bay's will look shorter on his body than his neck when he's been blanketed, but it's just because it's laying flat.

[lovesfortune]

Okay.. so I will start my search for blankets. That picture with the 4 horses was from a while ago and we only have to two Appy's. (Oh how I miss my Reggie! :( ) And they get along great together..in fact they are buddy sour so herd dynamics of who gets to stay in or out... they'll most likey be together! :)

I guess the only thing I'm worried about with the barn is that it's an old milking barn (which is why the water is hooked up in there ready for winter) so there is a main wide isle down the middle and then "stalls" for cows on the sides. There is also a gutter on either side of the isle where the cow poo and horse poo gets pushed into and cleared out (like they do with working barns). Last year we didn't have any issues with the gutter and the horses. It's easy to see, kept clean, nothing to get hurt on, just a step down. It's just not the best set up. The horses have to walk down the isle to the end to get the water.

Any suggestions? Or nothing to worry about. The cattle have been handling it great for years, and I know most everyone says if a cow can work with it, then a horse can.

[WashingtonBay]

When you charge your batteries back up.... take some more pics :)

[lovesfortune]

When you charge your batteries back up.... take some more pics :)

Will do! :cowboy:

[vicklynn]

blanket sale

www.tackoftheday.com

Man Im annoying hu???...lol

[lovesfortune]

side note: how do I measure for a blanket?

[magayle]

:)oh loves ya got nothin' to worry about!!! your place looks wonderful for your lucky horses!!!!

[lovesfortune]

well, attempt #1 with a nice bale of hay did NOT work to get them in the barn. But they did go 1/2 way up the steps... which is good enough for today. tomorrow we'll try again.