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| An extra person may be helpful to keep the horse calm and hand you the file when you need it. If you have a mouth speculum, which holds the mouth open while you work, insert it and adjust the straps to hold it in place. |
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Floating usually is only needed about once every two years or so, so depending on how many horses you have, it may or may not be beneficial to invest in a speculum. They are however, far less expensive than the cost of one teeth floating!
Now feel for the sharp points with your fingers. Slide the rasp into the side of the horse’s cheek and gently file the sharp points off. Rinse the rasp or file occasionally in a bucket. Check it again with your fingers to make sure the points are gone.
If your horse won’t let you do this, start training him in baby steps. Eventually, most horses will learn to allow this.
- Learn how to trim your horse’s hooves yourself. For the cost of one trimming, you can buy a video teaching you how to properly trim your horse’s hooves, a hoof knife and a file. You won’t even need hoof trimmers if you keep them properly filed all the time.
It might seem like a tough, back-breaking job when you aren’t used to it, but you don’t have to do all the hooves at once and you don’t have to trim all of the hoof at once. If you file just a little here and there as it grows, you don’t ever have to do any major trimming.
Just be sure to keep the hoof in the proper shape and keep the four hooves as even with each other as possible as you are doing this. You can build it right into your daily grooming routine. Think of how you file your own nails a little here and there as it is needed. Don’t wait until it becomes a major, overwhelming and intimidating job.
If it makes you feel more confident, have your farrier trim your horse’s hooves one last time. Watch carefully and ask questions. Then start that very week and keep them filed in the same shape and angle. You will find that with very little effort, you can keep them in perfect condition this way.
- Muck out directly in to bags (bedding or feed bags) and offer it for sale. Many people will pay for manure to add to their gardens.
- Compost the manure to get even more for it. This involves some maintenance, but the resulting compost will be in high demand. Contact nurseries to see if they want to buy it. The older the manure, the more demand there will be for it.
- Burn manure to keep from having to pay to have it hauled off. This is an effective and inexpensive way of getting rid of manure and there is no bad odor. Make sure it is not illegal in your area before you burn.
- For even more efficiency, you can burn manure as a fuel to heat your home or your barn.
- Pasture is less expensive than hay and grain. Most mature horses can meet their maintenance requirements on good quality forage alone, without additional grain. Grazing adds bulk to the diet and slows the rapid fermentation of grains in the gut which can help decrease the risk of colic and laminitis, and the resulting expensive vet bills.
- Feed The Horse, Not The Worms. Worm your horses every 8 weeks if possible. Parasitic infections can rob your horse of vital nutrients, requiring more food to combat the loss. Regular worming can save on feed and vet bills
- Worm your horses yourself. With today’s safe paste wormers, it’s easy to worm your horse. Daily wormers that are added to feed are very convenient, but also very expensive. If you have difficulty paste worming your horse, ask a friend to show you how.
- Keep your equipment in good shape. Maintain your vehicles and tractors to save on gas as well as repairs. Clean your tack and store it properly. Good quality equipment can last for years if you take care of it properly.
- With a few simple tools and some skills, you can make your own jumps, tack boxes and horse clothes. And everyone can make horse toys-it's as simple as stringing up a turnip!
- Visit your local tack shop and ask if they ever sell used equipment. They may have gently used items available for purchase. Blankets, tack, even clothing may be waiting for your keen eye.
- Take a good look at your own gear and show clothing. If you haven't used it in a year, think about consigning it or selling it on EBay yourself.
- Do you have a special skill? Something you could barter in exchange for horse care services? If you can fix a car, design a website, setup a home theater, drive someone to the airport, babysit...you've got a skill you can offer in trade. Don't be afraid to ask!
- When buying hay, buy in bulk if possible. Compare the cost of hay per ton versus the cost per bale. Be sure you're able to store the hay correctly to preserve the quality and reduce waste. This is a great way to reduce feed costs if you have the right facilities to store it.
- Buy hay by weight and be sure it's the best quality horse hay available. Good quality hay usually is green, has a soft texture, and is free of dust, mold, and weeds. Better hay may cost a little more, but you'll reduce feed costs by feeding less.
- Save on grain or sweet
feed by reading the guaranteed analysis on your feed label
and know what you're getting. Sometimes a feed will
exceed the nutritional requirements of your horse and you'll
be wasting money on nutrients your horse doesn't need.
The label should list the percentages of crude protein and crude fat and the maximum percent crude fiber. The more crude fiber a feed contains, the less carbohydrates it will provide.
Feeds with a high crude fat content are usually more expensive. But fats provide more energy than carbohydrates, so you may reduce feed costs by feeding less and getting the same value.
- Compare “Balanced”
feed to “Complete” feed. Feed that is labeled
"Balanced" contains all the nutrients need for its
stated purpose (lactation, growth, etc.). It assumes
you will be adding hay/pasture and water. Feeds that
are labeled "Complete" are formulated to be the
only nutrient source except for water. Be aware that
"complete" feeds contain fiber but your horse
should still get 1 percent of his body weight in roughage
each day to keep his digestive tract functioning.
- Save money on supplements. If your feed is balanced or complete and your horse is healthy, he probably doesn't need extra nutrients. Your horse will just excrete excess nutrients. Some vitamins and minerals can even be harmful in large amounts
- Reduce waste of hay by feeding it in a large water trough or bathtub. You can also build a corner hay feeder into a stall that has a solid bottom to catch the dropped hay.
- Prowl the dollar stores for great bargains on things like towels, storage containers, wipes, combs and measuring cups. Never pass up a garage or yard sale. These can be great sources of used tools, vacuums...you never know!
- Your farrier or equine dentist will usually be willing to reduce fees if s/he can see more than one horse at a visit. See if you have friends that may want to participate in a group visit.
- A group can help reduce hay costs, too. If you can gather a few horse owners together to purchase a larger quantity of hay, you should be able to negotiate a better price.
- Offer to exercise someone else's horse for a fee or trade for services. You can make money doing what you love!
- Spring clean regularly, once or twice a year. Things will run more smoothly on a day-to-day basis if everything is clean and well organized. This will help cut down on re-purchasing "lost" or misplaced items.
- Find repairs that need to be done, and do them as quickly as possible. Small repairs usually turn into big repairs if you leave them. Fill in potholes that might tip over the wheelbarrow, re-hang gates and doors that are difficult to open and close.
- Ask about working boarding or livery trade offs. If the horse is suitable for the job, some riding schools will offer a reduced boarding or livery fee in return for the horse being used in lessons.
- Ask for any work you can do at the boarding stable for a reduced fee.
- Buy a calendar for the tack room to help keep on top of worming, trimming or shoeing and vaccinations. These are important to avoid expensive complications later.
- Learn equestrian first aid. This will reduce the amount that you have to call out the vet mistakenly, or for minor problems.
- Buy the best you can afford. Buying the cheapest products is sometimes a false economy. Canvas or ballistic nylon blankets or rugs can last 10 years or more, while cheaper blankets or rugs may not last a season
- Buy at the end of the season i.e. winter blankets or rugs in spring
- Buy synthetic tack. It's cheaper and easier to care for and store.
- Buy essentials from local non-horse related shops. This can include Vaseline, sun block, baby wipes, nappy-rash or diaper rash cream (this is interchangeable with udder cream) buckets, brooms, shovels and hair brushes. They will be cheaper than products aimed at the equestrian market.
- Use disposable diapers or nappies as a poultice. They can be used as a very effective and cheap poultice for the hoof
- Buy expensive equipment co-operatively. Things like clippers are expensive but are used infrequently so are easily shared with a friend. Alternatively rent them out to others to re-gain some of the cost.
- Make your own jumps. Use tires and milk crates as makeshift wings.
- Mark your smaller equipment, like grooming kit, with your horse's or your own name, to help stop things from going missing, especially in a boarding stable or livery yard.
- Mark turnout blankets or rugs with your horse’s name in big letters. Although this isn’t attractive, turnout rugs are expensive and can be easily stolen.
- Turn out your horse as much as possible. This will reduce mucking out stalls, and your horse will be healthier.
- The cheapest beddings are those that are a by-product of another industry. Shredded paper and cardboard are cheap, but they are difficult to handle. Commercially packed wood shavings are easy to handle, but often compost badly. Straw is cheap and the best for composting, but is often dusty therefore unsuitable for some horses.
- Install rubber matting in stalls if you can. This is initially expensive, but will reduce the amount of bedding you need to use, saving time and money.
- Consider managing a deep litter bed. This involves removing only the droppings and putting fresh bedding on the top when necessary. This reduces the cost of bedding, the daily workload, and the whole bed will only have to be stripped monthly to yearly depending on how well you manage it.
- Care for your pasture to get the most out of it. Pasture is proper grazing, not just a paddock for turnout. If you are lucky enough to have some, treat it as a crop. Poo-pick, rotate, cross-graze, rest, roll, harrow, re-seed and manure. Keep your horses off it in wet weather.
- Weigh feeds. Feeding by eye or by the scoop usually isn’t very accurate. Over feeding wastes food
- Keep the horse suitable blanketed or rugged in cold weather. This will reduce the amount of energy the horse uses to keep warm and help him keep in condition with less feed.
- Make your own hoof moisturizer by mixing together vegetable oil and olive oil 50/50. You can also use Peanut oil. Use a hoof oil brush or pastry brush to apply it to the hoof.
- Use non-stick
cooking spray in a thin layer to keep snow from balling up
in your horse’s hooves during the winter and causing hoof
problems. You can also use a light coat of Vaseline or
petroleum jelly.
- In cold weather, bank your horse's bedding up against any doors that lead out to the pasture so drafts don't chill him. This will help prevent costly colds and vet bills
- Trim any fetlock hair in winter to prevent mud fever
- Make your own hay net. You can use any suitable string, but bailing twine is recommended because it's free. Tie the ends together in one tight knot. Hang the knot on something so you can work with the hay net. Divide the strings into pairs (paper clips are useful to keep them together). Measure 4 inches down and tie a knot there in each pair of strings. Get 10 pieces of string that are about 7 feet long each.
For the next row, measure about 5 inches down and tie a knot again, but with one string from the two pairs beside it. We are aiming for a diamond pattern. Continue this for each row.
When you get to your last row make sure you have 2-4 inches of string left after your last knot. Instead of tying a standard knot, tie a quick-release knot (the same as when you tie up your horse).
Trim the ends if you need to and burn the ends to stop them from fraying. Thread a drawstring through the loops. This is where you will insert the hay. Now you are done!
- Learn to groom and braid your own horse. It is easy. See www.fairytale-horses.com for help with manes and tails if you don’t know how.
- Share horse transport with other people whenever possible.
- Find a talented amateur rider who is willing to help you with minor training of your horse. They might do it in exchange for riding privileges.
- Lease half of your horse out to share the cost of care. You can set up a schedule and duties that each will do. This can cut your cost by more than half.
- If you're having temporary financial difficulty, consider leasing your horse out to someone else or a school if the horse is suitable, until you get in a better financial position.
- Use a small amount of fabric softener as conditioner in your horse’s mane and tail. This is much less expensive than traditional conditioners. You can also use this on your horses legs if they have feathers. The next time you groom your horse you will find it much easier to remove mud and dust.
- Use medicated dog shampoo to bathe your horse. This removes mites, lice and other horrid things like bot fly eggs and can help alleviate sweet itch without the expense of buying a medicated horse shampoo that does the same thing.
- Make your own inexpensive horse body glitter. Buy a tub of human hair gel. Spot test on your horse's coat to make sure that he isn’t allergic to it. Add as much loose glitter as you want and mix it up. You can add the little hearts or shapes too.
- Another idea is to mix glitter into coat polish or even water and spray it on with a spray bottle. This creates a fine glittery mist on your horse's mane, tail, coat and legs. You can also add some washable, non toxic poster paint to the water if you want to add color.
- Make your own glitter hoof polish. Take a bottle of black or clear hoof polish. Add glitter and shake it up. Polish over your horse's hooves using a pastry brush. Re-apply a coat of clear hoof polish over the top to seal it or you can spray it with hair spray to help hold it on.
- Spraying a horse's tail with Listerine mouth wash (regular flavor only as flavored kinds will attract flies) will often stop him from rubbing.
- Cheap waterproof sleeping bags can be turned into a blanket. Remove the zipper and cut out a semi-circle for the neck. Stitch around the edge and add binding up the middle of the back. Use big strips of velcro for across the chest, under the belly, and the legs.
- A pair of cheap rubber gloves are great for removing dead hair during shedding season.
- Buy generic human shampoo at the Dollar store for bathing horses. It’s much cheaper than horse shampoo and just as effective.
- Cheap human hair brushes make the best mane and tail brushes and are far less expensive.
- Make your own coat shine spray. Mix 1/4 cup baby oil, 2 cups of water and 4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Shake well and spray on.
- If you board at a busy barn, write your name on all of your grooming gear. It's much cheaper than replacing "borrowed" items.
- Watered down efferdent (denture cleaner) will remove yellow stains from white legs in place of special whitener shampoos. Rinse WELL to prevent irritation.
- Used dryer sheets can be recycled to wipe the dust from a horse's coat before entering the show ring.
- When it is too cold to bathe your horse use Go-Jo mechanics hand cleaner to remove manure stains instead of pricey specialty spot cleaning shampoos.
- A crushed aspirin added to an ordinary shampoo makes a good inexpensive anti-dandruff shampoo for your horse.
- If your horse suffers from cracked heels, here is a recipe for an ointment that is less than $2 per tub:
1
jar of petroleum jelly
3 tablespoons olive oil
5-6 drops tea tree oil
5-6 drops lavender oil
splash of citronella (for nice smell)
Heat to mix well and then cool for 10 minutes. Refrigerate to thicken for easier application. Rub in every 2-3 days.
- Use Band-Aid or store brand wound wash for cuts and scrapes. It has the same ingredients as Wound Relief Spray (Benzalconium chloride) for half the price, and has a pain reliever in it.
- To speed up healing of a wound, disinfect the wound with hydrogen peroxide and then apply an antibacterial cream for the first two days. Cover with vet wrap or elastic wrap if possible to keep it clean. On the third day mix betadine with table sugar to create a paste and apply it to the wound 2-3 times a day.
Betadine will act as a disinfectant while the sugar encourages re-growth of the "good" bacteria and tissue. It also stimulates hair re-growth while preventing proud flesh. Continue this routine until the wound begins to heal. Then apply antibacterial cream to the area twice a day until completely healed.
-
Preparation H can be used to prevent scarring and proud flesh from kicks, bites, etc
-
Toothpaste is wonderful for cleaning white stirrup pads and will also shine silver bits, stirrups. and buckles.
-
Glycerine soap can often be found inexpensively at supermarkets and is great for cleaning tack.
Another Helpful Article by Beth Moore - Author of
Keeping Horse Manes and Tails Beautiful
It’s a popular notion that the hair is a person’s crowning glory. If you spot someone in a crowd that may not be considered pretty by normal standards, a great hair cut and lustrous tresses can almost always sway a judgment. Gorgeous hair is a priceless asset, and the dozens of hair salons in every city are a testament to this.
Keeping your horse’s mane and tail beautiful is one of the most important steps in having a gorgeous horse. The difference between a beautiful mane and tail and a scraggly, thin mane and tail can make as much difference in a horse’s beauty as a person’s attractiveness.
The first step is to untangle the mess that often happens over winter. Start by untangling the hair and getting out all the dreadlocks. Don’t rush this process, as you don’t want to pull the hair out.
Work your way through the matted mane and forelock first. Start at one end of the mane and work your way slowly down the mane untangling one section at a time. Saturate sections of the hair with any over the counter detangler. Choose a large tangle, and slowly apply the product and separate the tangles with your fingers.
Start at the bottom of the tangle and work your way up to the roots. Work the product into the hair by using your fingers, and gently pull the hairs, a few strands at a time. Keep doing this until the knots and tangles get smaller and then are gone.
Repeat the same process with the tail once you have the mane and forelock untangled. You should stand to one side while detangling their tails, so you avoid being kicked by the horse. Help them maintain a calm and relaxed attitude by patting them gently, and then slowly move your hands down their necks and sides until you get to the tail.
Once their hair is free from tangles, it is now safe to brush their hair by using a stiff bristle hair brush. Never use a comb, which does nothing but pull hair out. Start brushing the bottom of the hair and then work your way up to the roots. Don’t use too much force, and make sure that you don’t stretch the hair while brushing.
Try to brush as gentle and slowly as you can. Patience is the key to leaving the most amount of mane and tail possible. It takes a long time to grow, so you don’t want to pull out what you have already grown by rushing this important step.
Beth Moore has been a leading authority on horse grooming and especially on growing long, thick manes and tails on horses for over 20 years. You can learn more about her methods and claim a free report on the benefits of owning gorgeous horses at www.fairytale-horses.com
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