Horse Farm Equipment, Fencing, Pastures, Systems, Training and Waste Management
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Topic – Farm Equipment – An Introduction
Every barn has equipment specialized for a job. There are a lot of pieces and here are just a few. I suppose I could add another bunch here such as different types of pitch forks but this will need to wait for a while. It is just too personal a choice and the...
Topic – Farm Equipment – Barn Floor Sweepers And Blowers
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material When the gas or electric blowers start up, I take cover. There is no better way to kick up dust than to blow it all over the place. Sweepers at least don’t make the dirt airbourn. However, in barns with crevasses in the...
Topic – Farm Equipment – Blanket Racks
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Blankets have become a big part of horse life today. From fly sheets to coolers to turn out rugs, blankets come in all styles, purposes and sizes. It is rare that a horse only has one blanket and if one is not on a horse then it...
Topic – Farm Equipment – Salt And Mineral Dispensers
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Here are some images of ways to dispense salt and minerals that I have seen on many farms. Personally I use a mined salt block on the ground or having someway on a wall. I also believe that many minerals are found in the well...
Topic – Farm Equipment – Water Buckets
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material There are so many types of buckets to put water into and this gallery shows you some. Believe it or not, buckets for water and other materials have caused damage to horses when handles are exposed and the horse is spooked. Torn...
Topic – Farm Fencing – An Introduction
A horse farm requires fencing. It is often the most expensive part and usually requires a lot of maintenance. Selecting a type of fence is based on cost, maintenance requirements, availability, safety and aesthetics. There are also gates and latches that come in...
Topic – Farm Fencing – Gates
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material The gates used in a fence line on horse farms range from elegant to unsafe, hand made to mass produced and maintained to barely keeping together. Safety is the key here and is a recurring theme in this subject. Also ease of...
Topic – Farm Fencing – Latches
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material From simple to complicated, I have seen a wide variety of fence gate latches. I boil them down to only two types. You either operate them with one hand or with two hands. I prefer the one handed gate latch. In here I have a...
Topic – Farm Fencing – Safety
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Horses don’t normally live behind fences. They are inherently dangerous for the horse although being born and raised behind one, the young horse learns quickly to respect them. Yet injury from fencing occurs every day. There are...
Topic – Farm Fencing – Styles
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material For me, there are only two styles of fences: safe and unsafe. Most fences fall into the unsafe category and over time, a lot of the safe fences become unsafe due to poor maintenance. I will discuss here all the fencing styles I...
Topic – Farm Pastures – An Introduction
I am not an expert in agronomy but I know this much. Too many horses can destroy a pasture. Poor drainage is something I constantly see. Irrigation often helps in dry areas. Something I need to look at are track systems that require horses to move within a...
Topic – Farm Pastures – Flooding
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Good drainage in pastures is essential but when pastures are located near rivers, the chance of flooding is seasonal and can be extensive. Here are some flooded pastures which are useless. However the remaining 11 months of the...
Topic – Farm Pastures – Irrigation
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material In dry areas it helps to be able to irrigate pastures if water availability is an option. Here in FL we have an abundant water supply – usually. In other areas the water is restricted or needs to be separated from the...
Topic – Farm Pastures – Maintenance
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material There is little attention given to the health and maintenance of the pastures for our horses. Farm owners must realize two principles. The first is that there is a natural ebb and flow to the cycles between plant growth and horse...
Topic – Farm Pastures – Types
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Pastures are often an afterthought to horse owners. If it’s green then fence it and put the horses on it. But it’s not that simple because of several factors. These include the ability to nourish the horses correctly, the...
Topic – Farm Systems – An Introduction
I am a guy so maybe this is why I love the workings and systems of farms much more than the barn itself. These are the systems (fire protection, security, water, electricity, etc) I have found on some farms that show how people create solutions and work arounds. Use...
Topic – Farm Systems – Electrical Utilities
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Almost every barn I go to has some electricity wired into the barn. There are refrigerators, mobile device power chargers, music, fans, wi-fi boosters / routers and surveillance cameras. Ordinances are usually observed and the...
Topic – Farm Systems – Feeding Systems
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Systems to feed horses are developed to make life easier on the caretakers, keep the food in one place (efficiency), slow the consumption rate (slow feeders), keep the food from spoiling (weather) or automate the feeding time so...
Topic – Farm Systems – Fire Prevention
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Fire in a barn is unimaginable yet I have seen a few and the results afterwards. Fire scares me. The best thing is to prevent it from happening. The next best is to have a suppressant system in place. **CONTINUED IN ARTICLE...
Topic – Farm Systems – Generators
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material These noise makers are handy to have when the power goes out. The most common use is for the water pump but you can also keep a filled pressure tank in your water system for emergencies. Another good reason for backup power is...
Topic – Farm Systems – Heating And Cooling
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Believe it or not, I have seen and have worked in some barns that are heated. Some heat with overhead force hot air systems and others with radiant heat conducted through the concrete floor. Fans and water seem to be the cooling...
Topic – Farm Systems – Insect And Bird Control
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Vectors are flying insects like stable flies and mosquitos which not only annoy us and our horses but they also carry and distribute diseases. Birds soil our barn structures, dive at us when we get too close to the nest they have...
Topic – Farm Systems – Lighting
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material The primary purpose of electricity in a barn is to have lights but unfortunately the placement of lights have been left to the discretion of architects and electricians – not horse professionals. The results give us poor...
Topic – Farm Systems – Security
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material The advent of inexpensive outdoor cameras and electronic sensors have led to this topic. The visual recording helps to prevent theft and worker abuse of horses. They are watching…. While door and barn entrance monitors will...
Topic – Farm Systems – Shades And Wind Barriers
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Blocking direct sunlight using shades is important in hot climates. The direct heat on the horse or barn areas make life uncomfortable and even dangerous. Wind, on the other hand, is welcomed in the south while it is bone...
Topic – Farm Systems – Solar Panels
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Solar panels are improving in their ability to generate electricity and usually require a lot of roof space to become useful. Barn and arena roofs are large enough to generate the electricity needed to power a farm. In the...
Topic – Farm Systems – Ventilation
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material My large animal veterinary medicine professor told us a story of a visit to a dairy barn in the middle of winter filled with milking cows all with pneumonia. The farmer was perplexed but my professor knew the answer. He took a...
Topic – Farm Systems – Water Systems
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Water either comes from the ground or from the sky. It is then tapped into and poured into a container for our horses to drink. While simple in concept, the different systems devised by humans to get this heavy liquid necessary...
Topic – Farm Training Equipment – An Introduction
These areas and pieces of equipment are needed to support the training and development of horses for athletic endeavors. You might find some other training equipment in the therapy section such as vibrating plates. These topics are specific to training the horse and...
Topic – Farm Training Equipment – Exercise Machines
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material The purpose of exercise machines for horses is to create controlled movement. This is useful when winter prevents turn out or when traveling and there is no turn out at competition events. They are also useful for recovering from...
Topic – Farm Training Equipment – Extreme Trail
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material There is a sport that has developed where a trail is made like an obstacle course. This type of trail is called an Extreme Trail with various degrees of difficulty. This encourages the horse to focus as they are asked to clear...
Topic – Farm Training Equipment – Jog Tracks
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material LSD is important in recovering horses from injury. LSD is Long, Slow Distance (see the article on this elsewhere) and jog tracks are perfect for this. All connective tissue responds and strengthens from the Piezoelectric...
Topic – Farm Training Equipment – Jumps
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Jumping horses requires jumps. The varieties are as many as our imagination. **CONTINUED IN ARTICLE TAB** Related material – Sometimes I have a lot of material here that I have written, podcasted, video blogs and other things. ...
Topic – Farm Training Equipment – Round Pens
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Training horses within a confined space without corners has been used since the beginning of our time with horses. Stakes in the ground with tree branches as sides work but has some dangers. **CONTINUED IN ARTICLE TAB** Related...
Topic – Farm Waste Management – An Introduction
This is an important area of horse ownership. I attended a seminar a long time ago that discussed this very topic at Cornell University with speakers from around the globe. With all the new technology it still boiled down to removing the waste from the stall and...
Topic – Farm Waste Management – Cleaning
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Where ever horses are, poop and urine happen. Daily. It is the most basic of horse care to clean the areas where they spend time, yet some people skimp on this needed process. There are several reasons for cleaning up horse...
Topic – Farm Waste Management – Composting
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Composting of horse waste is done on several farms I visit. This has several benefits that are discussed here with pictures of some set ups on a few farms. **CONTINUED IN ARTICLE TAB** Related material – Sometimes I have a lot of...
Topic – Farm Waste Management – Containers
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Containment of horse waste is needed where it will be hauled away in the future. Many keep it in a trailer or a manure spreader where once or twice a week it is emptied. Waste containment is important and in some areas are...
Topic – Farm Waste Management – Spreading
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material There is one rule when spreading horse waste. Avoid spreading it on a pasture where horses live. This is not sanitary and encourages the spread of parasites. It is true that periods of dry heat will kill the larvae but few areas...
Topic – Farm Waste Management – Vacuums
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material The first time I heard of a manure vacuum was when it was used in a study about parasite control in the early 1980’s. It was driven off of a PTO drive shaft from a tractor. Since then there are a few companies making gas...
Topic – Injury Prevention – Water Bucket Safety
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Water bucket safety is one of my favorite topics about injury prevention on horse farms that can be practiced by everyone. Look at the images in the gallery and watch my webinar on this subject then start using the ideas right...
Topic – Farm Equipment – An Introduction
Every barn has equipment specialized for a job. There are a lot of pieces and here are just a...
Topic – Farm Equipment – Barn Floor Sweepers And Blowers
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material When the gas or electric blowers start up, I take cover....
Topic – Farm Equipment – Blanket Racks
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Blankets have become a big part of horse life today. From...
Topic – Farm Equipment – Salt And Mineral Dispensers
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Here are some images of ways to dispense salt and minerals...
Topic – Farm Equipment – Water Buckets
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material There are so many types of buckets to put water into and this...
Topic – Farm Fencing – An Introduction
A horse farm requires fencing. It is often the most expensive part and usually requires a lot of...
Topic – Farm Fencing – Gates
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material The gates used in a fence line on horse farms range from...
Topic – Farm Fencing – Latches
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material From simple to complicated, I have seen a wide variety of...
Topic – Farm Fencing – Safety
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Horses don’t normally live behind fences. They are...
Topic – Farm Fencing – Styles
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material For me, there are only two styles of fences: safe and...
Topic – Farm Pastures – An Introduction
I am not an expert in agronomy but I know this much. Too many horses can destroy a pasture. Poor...
Topic – Farm Pastures – Flooding
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Good drainage in pastures is essential but when pastures are...
Topic – Farm Pastures – Irrigation
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material In dry areas it helps to be able to irrigate pastures if...
Topic – Farm Pastures – Maintenance
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material There is little attention given to the health and maintenance...
Topic – Farm Pastures – Types
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Pastures are often an afterthought to horse owners. If it’s...
Topic – Farm Systems – An Introduction
I am a guy so maybe this is why I love the workings and systems of farms much more than the barn...
Topic – Farm Systems – Electrical Utilities
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Almost every barn I go to has some electricity wired into the...
Topic – Farm Systems – Feeding Systems
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Systems to feed horses are developed to make life easier on...
Topic – Farm Systems – Fire Prevention
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Fire in a barn is unimaginable yet I have seen a few and the...
Topic – Farm Systems – Generators
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material These noise makers are handy to have when the power goes...
Topic – Farm Systems – Heating And Cooling
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Believe it or not, I have seen and have worked in some barns...
Topic – Farm Systems – Insect And Bird Control
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Vectors are flying insects like stable flies and mosquitos...
Topic – Farm Systems – Lighting
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material The primary purpose of electricity in a barn is to have...
Topic – Farm Systems – Security
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material The advent of inexpensive outdoor cameras and electronic...
Topic – Farm Systems – Shades And Wind Barriers
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Blocking direct sunlight using shades is important in hot...
Topic – Farm Systems – Solar Panels
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Solar panels are improving in their ability to generate...
Topic – Farm Systems – Ventilation
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material My large animal veterinary medicine professor told us a story...
Topic – Farm Systems – Water Systems
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Water either comes from the ground or from the sky. It is...
Topic – Farm Training Equipment – An Introduction
These areas and pieces of equipment are needed to support the training and development of horses...
Topic – Farm Training Equipment – Exercise Machines
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material The purpose of exercise machines for horses is to create...
Topic – Farm Training Equipment – Extreme Trail
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material There is a sport that has developed where a trail is made...
Topic – Farm Training Equipment – Jog Tracks
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material LSD is important in recovering horses from injury. LSD is...
Topic – Farm Training Equipment – Jumps
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Jumping horses requires jumps. The varieties are as many as...
Topic – Farm Training Equipment – Round Pens
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Training horses within a confined space without corners has...
Topic – Farm Waste Management – An Introduction
This is an important area of horse ownership. I attended a seminar a long time ago that discussed...
Topic – Farm Waste Management – Cleaning
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Where ever horses are, poop and urine happen. Daily. It is...
Topic – Farm Waste Management – Composting
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Composting of horse waste is done on several farms I visit....
Topic – Farm Waste Management – Containers
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Containment of horse waste is needed where it will be hauled...
Topic – Farm Waste Management – Spreading
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material There is one rule when spreading horse waste. Avoid...
Topic – Farm Waste Management – Vacuums
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material The first time I heard of a manure vacuum was when it was...
Topic – Injury Prevention – Water Bucket Safety
SummaryArticleVideosRelated Material Water bucket safety is one of my favorite topics about injury...