A Day in the Life of Lilo and I

On a normal day, I will first head out to the pasture to get Lilo. Once I am able to see him, I call his name. He will normally come walking up to me and out of the pasture! Before we leave the pasture, I put his halter on, and then we head out to start our day together. 

First, I bring Lilo into the wash rack and clean and treat his hooves. Then, I brush him off a bit, and then I feed him. After he is done eating and he is all brushed off, its off to playing! One of our favorite things to do is go for walks and small runs. We will run around a little bit, and then head off to the arena or round pen where we will practice our tricks. 

After playing for a while, I will bring Lilo back into the pasture and spend some quality time with him. I will read to him, sing to him, pet him, or even just sit with him and take in all of his beauty. 

I hope you've enjoyed this weeks post!

How to Get Your Horse to Take Medicine

When your horse needs to take medicine, such as the monthly de-worming paste or antibiotics, it is not something to mess around with. It is very important that your horse takes his medicine to stay healthy, just like any other human.

One effective way to get your horse to take his medicine is to have him associate the medicine with a reward. So, when you give him his medicine, you can reward him with food. This lets him know that it is a good thing when he takes his medicine. 

Another way is very similar to the method above. You simply fill your syringe with something tasty, such as apple sauce or a smoothie. This will show him that the syringe does not always mean that he will get something that has a bad flavor! 

I hope you've enjoyed this weeks short (but somewhat informative) blog post! 

How to Keep Your Horses Hooves Healthy

As you may know, horses need four good legs and hooves to survive. On todays post, I will be giving some tips on how to keep your  horses hooves strong and healthy. 

1. Clean out their hooves! 

It is mandatory that you pick all of the dirt and rocks from your horses feet, otherwise, they could develop an abscess or an infection. 

2. Use a hoof hardener. 

I like to use a liquid called Durasole on Lilo's feet to keep them strong and hard. 

3. Soak their feet every so often. 

Soaking your horses hooves in epsom salts and betadine is extremely beneficial for them. The betadine kills bacteria in their hooves, and the epsom salts help to strengthen their hooves as well. 

4. Get their hooves trimmed often.

To keep a horses hooves healthy, you must get them trimmed about every 6 weeks or so. 

Unhealthy hoof

Healthy hoof

For more information, you can visit these websites:

https://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/AG_Equine_2006-03.pdf

http://practicalhorsemanmag.com/article/eqhooftips837-11352

Types of Markings

It is extremely common for horses to have some type of marking on them. Whether it is a face marking or something on their body, most horses have at least one!

Face Markings:

Stripe - 

Blaze -

Star -

Bald - 

Snip - 

Feet Markings:

The Importance of Blanketing

On this weeks post, I will be explaining to you the importance of blanketing your horse. 

Living in a place like Hawaii, where there is lots of rain, it is very important to blanket your horse (when its raining). Putting a rain sheet on your horse will prevent them from getting rain rot, or even simply getting too cold. 

If you live in a place where it snows, you must have a blanket ready for your horse! On days where it gets very cold, you will need to put a blanket on him to stay warm. 

The downside of blanketing is that, in a very cold place, you may have to blanket your horse frequently. This is because your horses body becomes dependent on the blankets warmth, and their coat will eventually fail to provide enough warmth for them. 

For more information, please click the link below:

http://www.horse.com/horse-articles/why-your-horse-needs-a-blanket/9944/

My Opinion on Horse Racing

I am not, and I never have been, a fan of horse racing. On this post, I will explain why I feel this way.

Most horses in the racing industry are started at around the age of 2. This is much too young to be starting a horse, especially for something as harsh as racing. A horses bones are not fully developed until they are about 7-10 years old. So, when they are ran so hard at such a young age, they can develop hoof and bone problems in the future. 

Many people who are apart of the racing industry treat their horses as investments, and throw them out once they no longer have any use to them. 

Many of the horses that are bred for the horse racing industry are not raced even once, and lots of them get sold to slaughter houses. 

I hope I have helped to spread awareness to the cruelty of horse racing. Watch the video below for more information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfUPC_Bho5M&spfreload=10 (this video contains graphic content, watch at your own risk)

Best Ways to Keep Your Horse in Shape

Keeping your equine companion in shape is extremely important for their health. When they are at an ideal weight, diseases such as laminitis and founder are well prevented. They also have a lower chance of colic. 

For your horse to be able to keep an ideal weight, you must make sure to balance feed with exercise. You also must be sure that they are getting the right amount of nutrients from their feed. If they are not getting enough nutrients, they can become undernourished. If their nutrients intake is too high, they can develop things such as founder, laminitis, or colic. 

Many people use the one-percent rule for feeding their horses. This means that they feed their horses a minimum of one percent of their body weight in forage per day. 

In my opinion, the healthiest thing for a horse to eat is what is most natural for them, grass. So, Lilo lives in a big pasture with a mix of different grasses. Some of the grasses are high in nutrients, and some are low. This helps to balance his diet. He also gets fed one cup of alfalfa pellets twice a day, and one cup of Timothy pellets once a day. Alfalfa is very rich and contains lots of protein, and Timothy has low protein. 

Some of the best exercises to do with your horse to keep them in shape include going for long walks and trots, walking and trotting up and down hills, trotting over poles, and stretching. These exercises build muscle and help the horse to lose weight. 

I hope this weeks post has been helpful!