Horse Health Tips For Students includes information for our students about common horse health care issues.  These posts are to bring awareness to horse welfare issues - always ask your veterinarian for advice and treatment protocols for your own horse!

​This year we decided to make our own home-made fly spray!

Typically in the summer we go through 1.5 to 2, 4-L jugs of fly spray each week.  At a cost of $60 to $90 per jug, we decided that this was the year we needed to do something different.

So we researched a few different recipes and made our own from a combination of a few recipes we found.  We were surprised to learn that in-fact apple cider vinegar should not be used for fly spray as it attracts flies!  Here is our recipe:

Ingredients:
- 2 litres of vinegar
- 1 litre of Pinesol (regular scent)
- 2 tablespoons dishsoap
- 25 to 30 drops of eucalyptus essential oil (or can substitute for lemon scented essential oil)
- approx. 1 litre of water

Directions:
In an empty 4-L jug, mix the first 4 ingredients.  Add water to fill the rest of the jug.  Put into a fly spray bottle or wipe on horses with a rag. Avoid getting spray in or around their eyes.

So how did it work?  I think it actually worked quite well at repelling flies for the horses for the short-term anyway. To be honest, I couldn't tell much difference between using our home-made version and store bought fly spray.  It worked well enough for farriers, vets and students to get relief from flies on the horses while working with them and riding.  How long it lasted out in the field I couldn't say, but I didn't feel the horses were overly bothered by flies this summer.  Maybe the most important part is that is cost less than $10/week to supply fly spray for 25 horses.  We will definitely use it again next year.

Horse Health Tips For Students includes information for our students about common horse health care issues.  These posts are to bring awareness to horse welfare issues - always ask your veterinarian for advice and treatment protocols for your own horse!

​The muddy conditions this spring caused many horses hooves to become very soft.  The clay soil then dried quickly, creating rough, rutted and pitted surfaces.  The horses hooves did not dry out as fast as the soil, meaning the horses soft hooves were walking on the hard, uneven surfaces.  This has resulted in a few abscesses showing up in our horses feet.

​Abscesses can seem very scary the first time you see them because a horse will suddenly become severely lame. 

Horse Health Tips For Students includes information for our students about common horse health care issues.  These posts are to bring awareness to horse welfare issues - always ask your veterinarian for advice and treatment protocols for your own horse!

​This past month we had a saddle fitter come and look at our saddles and lesson horses!  It is the third time in the past 6 years that we've had this particular saddle fitter out.  I'll even give her a name drop!  Her name is Linda Ridley and her business is called The Level Headed Horse!

There are a few reasons why I like using Linda in particular that I want to share with students.

Number one is that Linda is not associated with a particular saddle maker and is not trying to sell us saddles.  She is only concerned with the welfare of the horse and making sure you have a proper fitting saddle.

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Horse Health Tips For Students includes information for our students about common horse health care issues.  These posts are to bring awareness to horse welfare issues - always ask your veterinarian for advice and treatment protocols for your own horse!

​After a winter with record snowfall, we are now into a very wet spring.  This brings to attention a couple of health issues that anyone working with the schoolies needs to know about and watch for!  One of them is thrush.

What is thrush?
Thrush is most commonly a bacterial, and sometimes fungal, infection of the horses frog. Remember, the frog is the living, growing, soft tissue on the bottom of the horses foot.  Thrush occurs more commonly in wet conditions.

How can you tell if it's thrush?

Horse Health Tips For Students includes information for our students about common horse health care issues.  These posts are to bring awareness to horse welfare issues - always ask your veterinarian for advice and treatment protocols for your own horse!

After a winter with record snowfall, we are now into a very wet spring.  This brings about a couple of health issues that anyone working with the schoolies needs to know about and watch for!  One of the is scratches.

What is scratches?
Scratches (a.k.a. mud fever and pastern dermatitis) occurs when the skin on the lower part of the horses leg becomes infected. The infection can be bacterial, fungal and/or parasitic in nature (and often in combination).  Scratches most commonly occurs on back of the lower leg, particularly on legs with white hair (i.e., horses with socks) and when conditions are wet and muddy.  That being said, we have had it occur on horses when the pens are extremely dry as well and the infection may start with a cut or abrasion.

How can you tell if it's scratches?