Blog
Blog.
Masks
Fly masks are simple devices. Buy one with multiple straps or zipper and is constructed of tough, mesh material. The thickness of the mask material is of little consequence to the horse, as we have used both light weight and heavy weight masks. The latter have held up much better. You can see the torm masks here.
As you can see from the picture below, the mask has one strap. We bought two and they both came off multiple times or often ended up being cockeyed on the horses head after they rolled or rubbed. We added a strap (black velcro) and it worked very well.
The last picture (blue mask) comes with a zipper and works very well.
Introduction to Waterers
WATERERS December 2010
Waters are like weeds, there are a lot of them for sale, but most are a pain in the bucket. Options galore make it confusing so here are aspects to consider:
1. How many horses will use the waterer?
2. Will the waterer be in a temperate or freezing climate?
3. Will it be in a stall or a pasture?
4. If placing in a pasture, can you use one waterer between two pastures or must each pasture have its own waterer?
5. If placing in a stall, can you use one waterer between two stalls or must each stall have its own waterer?
6. How much can I afford?
7. Will I have a water supply via a water line or will I have to bucket the water into the waterer?
8. Will the waterer require a electrical deicer?
9. If an electrical deicer will be required, what is the maximum size deicer the circuit will handle? This will impact the waterer size. Hint: Large waterers and low powered deicers result in frozen waters and tripped circuit breakers.
Waters are segregated into pasture and stall (barn) waters and from there, the options are numerous.
Mats
Where to start? The best point of departure is a question. “What type of mats do horses have in the wild? NONE. With that FACT, why do we use mats for horses. There are lots of reasons:
1. It makes us feel good!
2. It does help with the cleanliness of the stall; however, there are no stalls in the wild.
3. Helps prevent rain and wind erosion in and around a stall or well traveled area.
4. Gives us yet another opportunity to spend our hard earned dollars on our horses.
Mats come in various molds, makes and styles. So to help you determine what type of mat to use, ask these questions:
1. Do I want the fluids, urine, rain etc., to go through the mat or run off the mat?
This helps you to determine if you want solid or perforated mats.
2. What is the square footage of the area I need to cover?
This helps you to determine how much matting you will need.
3. How many pieces do I want to put down?
Mats come in various sizes, 1′ x 1′, 3′ x 3′, 4′ x 6′ and in rolls 6′ to 12′ wide. Hint: If you do not have a lifting vehicle like a tractor or fork lift, rolls of matting may not be an option. The smaller the size the more pieces you will have to put down; however, each small piece weighs less. If you plan on moving the pieces often, smaller pieces may be the best option. If you plan on not moving the pieces, then larger pieces might be the solution.
4. Are mats really necessary or will bedding be adequate?
In some stalls we did not place any mats, just put bedding on top of the ground. This has worked well.
5. Do I want to butt the mats together or do I want the interlocking pieces.
Interlocking pieces are more expensive, but keep the mats from sliding apart.
6. Will the mats be used indoor or outdoor?
Most mats are not affected by sun light, but be sure if the mats are going to be placed outside, they are outdoor mats.
7. Will the mats be placed on dirt/gravel or on a hard surface like a concrete floor?
Solid surfaces can use both perforated or solid mats. Again it goes back to the purpose of the mat. If you want to provide traction on a concrete floor, a thin, solid mat may be the best option. Remember, perforated mats collect debris in the holes.
8. Can I find the product I want at locations other than a horse supplier?
Often times a horse store will have higher prices for products that can be bought at other locations. You can purchase mats directly from a mat supplier.
We chose 4′ x 6′ solid mats for the 12′ x 12′ stalls. We also used solid mats for Andrew’s 18 x 24 stall.
We choose to put the 2′ x 2′ perforated (w/ holes) just outside the front of the stall, as the rain water would go through the holes and keep the area in front of the stall from turning into a mud pit. Hint: We dug out the area and put in #57 gravel with some drain tile to drain the water from under the mats to a run off area. We had to do this because the rock strata (base) here in Nokesville varies from bring on the surface to about 5′ to 10′ down. This means the water would percolate to the rock bed and sit.
We are considering redoing the stalls with perforated mats, but you must be vigilant in treating the urine as it will go into the soil that fills in the holes and be retained and develop a bad smell.
We are considering the perforated mats for the stalls, but we will have to engineer a good base and drainage because of the shallow rock strata here.
The first picture shows the 2′ x 2′ perforated mats in front of Andrew’s stall. We used zip ties to hold the mats together, but should have purchased the interlocking mats. 
The second picture shows the perforated mats by the waterer to prevent the ground from turning into a mud pit during a rain.
Fly Products
Many fly prevention products make wonderful claims, (to get you to spend your hard earned dollars); but results are mixed. Many factors contribute to how well or how poorly a fly prevention product performs. Forgoing the chemistry and other technical discussions, some factors are:
1. Cleanliness of the horse at application.
2. Product application.
3. Time between applications.
4. How often your horse rolls in the field.
5. How often and how much your horse sweats.
6. Whether the horse is in the rain.
8. Product quality.
We have tried several products following the application requirements, and most work for a day or two, even the ones that claims to work for 14 days. Therefore, we do not use fly spray that is sprayed on because of the variables listed above.
We recommend:
* Stalls be kept clean
* Disposed of manure properly
* Rake (with a harrow) your fields at least three times a week
* Install large, industrial fans (out of the horse’s reach) in the stalls (the fans not only help to keep the flies off the horses, it cools a stall considerably.)
* Install and change frequently fly strips.
Here are the fly products we have tried. We use the strips and round traps, as together with the above recommendations, keep flies to a minimum.
Fly Strip Fly Round Trap Fly Bag
(Picture) (Picture) (Picture)
Fencing: General
Good fencing is like a good cigar, lasts a long time and is expensive. Basically fencing is divided into board fencing and wire rope fencing. The former is very expensive to install, may not be the best option, and can require long term maintenance. Without a doubt it is always associated with a ranch and if installed correctly will last many years. The latter is much more horse safe, requires less maintenance and is far less expensive. If you are going to do it yourself we recommend wire rope. If you have a money tree, then board fencing might be your best option for your bag of cash!
We installed a combination of both at WCR, but with careful consideration as to the location. We installed plastic board fencing at the front of the property and to surround the yard. The wire rope is exclusively for the pastures.
Horses can get their legs caught in between the boards, get abrasions from rubbing or attacking it, in the case of stallions, and can be a haven for wasp/hornet/bee nests.
The wire rope fencing we installed was supplied by Kenkove and we have no regrets especially after the stallion charged the fence one day and came away w/o any abrasions.
Put in picture of fencing.
Hoof Supplement
There are an abundance of supplements for every part of a horse. The keys to choosing a supplement is to ask two questions: “What is the horse’s deficiency?” and “Why or what is causing the deficiency?” Once you have these answers you can begin to determine if supplements are required.
Compare yourself to the horse. When you have a deficiency do you run out and buy the first supplement recommended or do you seek advice first? You probably seek advice first. Again, your Ferrier, vet, other owners and of course this site will be your best sources of information for supplements and guidance.
Often, supplements are not required. Take a close look at hay and feed quality, feeding habits, amount of feed and hay and of course exercise. All these should be looked at first and determine if adjustments can be made there before supplements are researched and your hard earned money is spent and possibly wasted.
Once you have reviewed feed, hay, feeding, exercise and spoken with the professionals, consider having the vet do some blood work. Just as we use urine and blood to assist the doctor with the diagnosis, this will also help the vet. Of course depending on the ailment, it may not be required.
Once you have determine it is not necessary to adjust the feed, hay, feeding schedule and get the results from the blood work, now is the time the real homework starts.
A properly identified deficiency is the basis for identifying the required supplement. You can begin to identify what supplements will provide the necessary vitamins, minerals or nutrients, to correct the deficiency. YOU MUST look beyond the front label and read all the information on the product. YOU MUST understand how the supplement works on the horse and how it is processed by the horse. Avoid myths and wives tales, work on facts. Many vet schools and agricultural collegeshave access to a wealth of first hand experience on supplements and the results. One excellent location is the VA Tech facility in Blacksburg, VA.
Once you understand the composition of the supplement and how it will interact with the horses system, look for a reputable distributor of the supplement.
Do not look at brand names, as we all know from personal experiences, many prescription drugs work as well in a generic form as in the proprietary form. Look at ingredients then the manufacture. REMEMBER – labels and packaging are designed for three reasons:
* To entice you to buy the product!
* To provide the most cost effective product delivery method.
* To entice you to buy the product!
Product selection begins well before you enter the store. The distributor must not only be qualified to sell the supplement but they should have employees who are knowledgeable on supplements. We shop prices on-line, but enjoy the face-to-face discussion and rapport building that occurs at our local feed store, Southern States.
Go to the distributor informed, as this meets my dad’s old but wise guidance, “Ask the question, when you all ready know the answer!” This approach validates the information you have and tells you if the person at the store is knowledge and is being honest with you. Once you have determine the composition of the supplement, focus on the manufacturer. Once purchased, ENSURE you follow the directions. The directions are on there for a reason, not to just fill up label space.
Now a story and why we recommend this approach.
Both Andrew and Sassy, in late 2009, constantly had cracks in the outer hoof wall. We mentioned it to the vet and she suggested a hoof supplement, Ferrier’s Formula®, a produced by Life Data Labs ®. We followed the steps discussed above for product selection and selected the product. We diligently followed the directions, feeding the recommended amounts. The supplement started in February of 2010 and in about three months we still saw cracks in the outer hoof wall. We continued with the supplement because the ferrier, Dave Giza was telling us the hoof wall was building up nicely. The supplement is not designed to prevent all the minor cracks that occur on the outer hoof wall. Ferrier’s Formula® worked exceptionally well and the Ferrier, Dave Giza, has been very pleased with increased thickness of the hoof wall. We reduced the supplement to a smaller portion once the hoof was were built up.
Some other info we discovered along the path of hoof supplement selection includes:
For the same amount of supplement by weight, 11 pounds, the vacuumed packed package is a few dollars less than in the plastic bucket. (Remember the three rules of packaging!)
Read ALL the info on the supplement, if we had, we would have been taking pictures of the underside of the hoof not the outside!!
Some recommended putting the supplement on the top of the feed so the horse would eat it. Believe me when I write that when you put feed in the feed bucket a healthy horse will eat what is in there regardless of whether it is on the top or mixed in.
The vet’s guidance was excellent and the Dr. was a good source of information. Great results.
Know, in advance, what to look for to determine or measure the success of the supplement.
WCR Team
The WCR team includes:
Dave Giza, Genesis Farriers
Dave Yauch, Practical Equine Training
Jay Yankee, Yankee Farm Service
Dr. ????, Old Waterloo Equine
Peter & Karen, Ranch Management
Andrew, Championship Paint Stallion
Pres Mullins, W P Mullins
Pasture Waterers
Pasture Waterers
The first considerations are water and electrical access. Both can be expensive depending on the distances.
Installing a water line can be expensive, as it requires plumbing expertise and digging a trench. Trenchers are expensive to rent and are not the easy to operate. (Hint: If you run a plastic line place short strips of used electrical wire every few feet in the trench as these will allow you located the plastic line with a detector.) Ensure you know the frost line level for you area, as the water line must be buried below that level.
Running an electrical line will be expensive. We HIGHLY recommend you run the wire in plastic conduit. It will be more expensive, but it will prevent any compromise to the underground line. (Hint: Plan ahead as you may want to add other electrical devices to the line, which dictates the size of the line.
We have a well that supplies water to the waterers with shut-off valves interspersed in the supply line to allow us to shut-off the water supply to individual waterers while others remain on.
We also had W. P. Mullins, Inc. install electrical connections for the required deicers.
We installed what many refer to as a cattle waterer, pictured below, that we purchased from Southern States. We installed one (Hint: Follow the installation instructions carefully as these normally require a concrete pad to sit on.) in the stallion’s pasture and one in the mare’s pasture. They are extremely durable and the 20 plus gallons of water will not freeze in VA winters.
If your ranch allows two pastures to share a waterer, the one pictured here can be installed perpendicular to the fence line. You must consider how many horses will be drinking from it. We do not allow more than two horses to drink from this waterer. Remember, horses are protective of feed, foals and water. DO NOT use this technique for stallion pastures.
RECOMMENDATION: For large waterers you will have to install a concrete pad for the waterer to sit on and of course run the water line under and up into the middle of the pad. These waterers ARE NOT easy to install or quick to install. You must have concrete and plumbing experience to install, which is more than pouring a simple slab and installing a kitchen faucet.
You will have to train your horse to push the red ball down to access the water or you can remove the red ball. Start by using a tennis ball, then increase ball size. The red balls help keep derbies out and prevents the top half inch of water from freezing in the winter. Other than that, our horses love it.
We use a waterer deicer (pictured below) we bought from Southern States. It is from Farm Innovators, Inc, UPH-15 1500 watt deicer. It inserts into the drain plug for the cattle waterer. It heats the water and keeps the top of the water level ice-free. Ensure you have adequate current to run the deicer.
RECOMMENDATION: Rule #23, buy the waterer and deicer from the same location and ensure the two work together. I prefer a hands-on trial at a local store.
Location of Pasture Waterers
Give careful consideration to the location of the pasture waterer. We put ours to close to the building, which makes it difficult to put a weed whacker in there to trim the grass.
We put the mare’s waterer to far from the fence, creating a space small enough for a foal. As you can see from the picture below we had to add some T-posts and line to block the space.
Stall Waterers
STALL WATERERS (Includes buckets.)
If you opt for what many refer to as a “pale” waterer or wall mounted waterer, you will see more waterers than oil wells in TX. The top picture is an example of a pail water. Below the Pale Waterer is a wall mounted Large Capacity 16 Quart Dura-Mate Automatic Waterer and below that is a Model 250D, 200 Watts, 120 V Pail and Birdbath deicer.
We recommend you forego the regular pail, as the horse will kick them over and requires you to fill it by hand.
We initially chose the large capacity 16 Quart Dura-Mate Automatic Waterer and the Pail and Birdbath deicer, the former from Miller Manufacturing Company and the latter from Allied Precision Industries, Inc. Both worked as advertised, but I violated rule # 23, buy the waterer and deicer from the same location and ensure the two work together.
We had several issues with the Dura-Mate Waterer. This is still a decent inexpensive waterer.
1. The water connector is made of plastic and is prone to the threads stripping and the fitting cracking. 
2. The waterer does not easily accommodate the electric cord and the deicer-mounting device. We tried several different options to secure the deicer line to the waterer, but the horse defeated us at every turn. In the end I drilled a hole in the float cover and fed the electric line through the hole. 
3. The bucket has no drain plug, so you have to empty the water by hand to clean the bucket.
4. The filler valve has a small hole for the water to enter and is prone to freezing, even with a pail deicer.
We tried heat tape but the heat tape melted the water connector. (Hint: When using heat tapes do not overlap the heat tape, as it will melt the plastic coating.)
5. If mounted to high, the horse will push down on the bucket when drinking and crack the bucket where it joints the mounting bracket. Our fault.
6. We used heat tape to keep the water supply from freezing, and the plastic fittings that came with the waterer melted when the heat tape was affixed to the fittings. My fault as the heart tape does get hot.
7. You must supply your own shut off valve. Bottom picture.
About Feed
There are many manufactures of feed and they produce a variety. There are many factors to consider before you purchase feed such as:
- the horse’s sex
- the horse’s age
- the horse’s health
- horses size and weight
- breeding, pre, during and post
- quality of the grass in a pasture
- the horse’s breed
- time of year
- climate where the horse lives
- your goals for the horse
- whether the horse will be competing
- the type of competition
- cost and availability
- the quality and type of hay fed
Review these factors and an excellent Southern States’ Horse Feed Reference Guide in our library before you spend your hard earned money on feed. There are many reputable sources of feed information including your vet, farrier, local feed store, manufacture’s packaging and web site and our library.
Past Entries
RECENT BLOG ENTRIES
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Masks
December 3rd, 2010 -
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Introduction to Waterers
December 3rd, 2010 -
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Mats
December 2nd, 2010 -
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Fly Products
December 2nd, 2010 -
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Fencing: General
December 2nd, 2010 -
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Hoof Supplement
December 2nd, 2010 -
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WCR Team
December 2nd, 2010 -
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Pasture Waterers
November 30th, 2010 -
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Stall Waterers
November 29th, 2010 -
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About Feed
November 10th, 2010 -
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