101 tips and Hints on Horse care/riding.

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shadowboy

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I dont know if this has ever been done before but I would like to give it a go- and if it works I will type it up properly and email it to anyone who wants it. Please could you add a tips or hint that you would be willing to share with others. I was hoping to reach 101. You can add as many as you like.... (I hope this works....)

Here is one
1. To get rubber treads/ over reach boots/inside of brushing boots etc spotless and white again clean them with whitening toothpaste. Leave toothpaste on for 5 min then rinse off....
 
For getting rubber bit rings and martingale stops on...... hot water, 2 hoofpics and two people.... work the rest out yourselves
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Link MH reply . . a summer sheet under the horses duvet or thick rug in the winter. Saves washing the main rug, as the sheet can go in the machine!!!
 
If your hosepipe won't stay in your water bucket steal a big bulldog clip from work and use it to clip the hosepipe to the side of the bucket.
 
non bio washing up powder is a really good for getting rid of stable stains just before a show, especially for grey horses or those with white patches!
 
A tub of petroleum jelly can be used for : smearing on legs to prevent mud fever, smearing inside hooves when it snows to stop snow balling up inside, rub it all over your hands and put some gloves on whilst you do chores (your hands will be really soft at the end), lubricating thermometers, for sheen around eyes and muzzles at shows, plus loads of other stuff.

Lard on hooves is fab.

Use an old duvet instead of a pricey stable rug. Or an old sleeping bag works well too. You can even add X surcingles and front buckles off an old rug.

Two dustpans and a washing basket are great for poo picking or skepping out a stable.

Put the water bucket at the edge of the bed on cold nights. Pack some bedding round it and it won't freeze.

Buy a roll of "duck" anti slip mat from wilkinson (about a pound a roll). It can be used under numnahs (or instead of) on fat roly poly ponies to stop the saddle slipping. Or failing that, a chamois leather (I've used both sucessfully
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A tennis ball or a piece of wood floated on top of water troughs wont stop the water freezing, but it makes it easier to get the ice out.

Use a thigh lenth sock to keep your horses tail cleen while travelling ( roll it up on your hand then hold top of tail with sock over your hand then pull tail through then secure with tail bandage
 
very interested in the duck anti slip mat thing for the saddle? being thick though, please detail more? thanks
trying to think of a contribution but mind gone blank, oh home made fly spray, tea, citronella, vinegar. easy peasy and v v effective whilst v v cheap.
 
use old Horsehage bags with lots of Vs cut out of the bottom edge for soaking flaps of hay. easier to fill than haynets, plus easier to pull out of water and empty, and won't wreck the skin on your hands the way wet nylon does.

conkers keep spiders away from stored rugs. honestly.

make up your own stable disinfectant with a large bottle of water (6 litre plastic milk bottle is ideal) + a few drops of any of these essential oils - Tea Tree, Clove, Lemon, Citronella, Mandarin, Lemongrass, Lavender, Eucalyptus, Red Thyme. Any mix of a couple of those, they're all good antibacterial/antibiotic/antiviral. They're a couple of pounds each, but will last for ages and ages.
Just shake it up and pour a bit on any wet areas of the floor before putting bed back down. very cheap, very effective, makes stables smell nice!
 
23 tips so far
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Tip 24. If you water bucket freezes at night then drop some large apples into it. Great to keep your horse occupied as they try to 'bob' for apples and the movement should stop the water from freezing.
 
If you have to give bute to a horse that won't eat feed with 'stuff' in it, mix the powder with a little water in a big syringe and squirt it to the back of the mouth. Follow it quick with a piece of apple or carrot to take the taste away.
 
thread elec fencing wire through a length of old hosepipe to run across gateways and maintain the contact. have the hosepipe run upwards about a foot and half on both sides of the gate, too, so elec doesn't short on the grass.

test elec fencing with a piece of grass. it's a bad conductor, so you will just feel a slight tingle instead of a belt!

protect horses from dangerous metal 5-bar gates by fixing close mesh to both sides with cable ties, and bending the ends of the mesh round carefully with pliers.

hang old buckets or cones on the sticky-out metal bits that some gates shut to, to prevent horrific injures when horses run into them. or, better still, get someone to cut them off with an angle-grinder, and use a chain to secure the gate.

fill an old sock with garden lime and bash it onto the bottom of horse's feet (like talc) to keep them sweet, esp when it's wet.

buy a trickle charger for your lorry through the winter, if you have access to a plug point. no more worries about whether she'll start on a cold damp morning.

if your lorry has a metal fuel tank and isn't going to be used very regularly through the winter, fill the tank to the brim with fuel. prevents the empty part from rusting due to condensation.

ideally run your lorry once a week through winter, even if it's only for 5 mins up the road and back.
(all told to me by a nice friendly mechanic!)
 
fill a weeks worth of haynets at the weekend so its quicker to get sorted after work...I also do this with my feeds and mix them up at the w/e in old supermarket bags and then just empty when needed..
 
The haynet tip is one I couldn't live without - I buy clips off Ebay, can get 10 of them for no much money. I never tie haynets anymore, way too awful in the cold and wet winters with freezing fingers!

Babywipes(unfragranced) - use for everything! Excellent for cleaning eyes / noses / bums, cleaning tack / bits / stirrup irons, horse and rider boots at shows, leather girths, getting dust off a dark horses coat, scrubbing the odd stable stain. The list is never ending! Couldn't live without them.

Plait horses tails during the winter, keeps them cleaner for longer and much easier to brush them out (especially for turned out horses).

Duct-tape foam round any gate hinges / edges. Had a big incident with a horse taking a big chunk out of his hip when he galloped through an open gate catching himself on the hinge!

If you want a clean horse - let them out in the snow! Great for getting them spotless with no effort!
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For events - buy a large plastic box from B&Q and keep a set of rugs in the trailer / lorry permanently. That way you don't have to remember to take rugs yet you'll never be caught on a rainy day without a rain sheet. Also means your shows rugs will always be clean.
 
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