Safety Recommendations For Horse Property

If you own a horse property, you want to ensure that everything about it is as safe as possible for humans and animals that will be using the land. There are quite a few places on a horse property where things can go wrong, and someone can wind up hurt, so you need to double-check that everything is safe. If you want to make sure you have everything covered, have a look at a few great safety recommendations for your horse property. 

1. Fencing

Good fencing is easily the most essential thing to consider when it comes to keeping everyone around you safe, and you need to make sure you are using the right fence for the right area. Your fence height will likely depend on the type of horses you have, but for regular-sized horses, the average fence height is about 54-60 inches off of the ground. If you have larger horses adept at jumping, you might need to adjust the height to ensure they stay inside your fenced areas. 

Wood is the most common as it gives off a beautiful look while being easy to maintain and repair, but electric fences are another top contender. An electric fence will require a bit more work, but it is often considered much safer, simpler, and less expensive to build and maintain. You also need to make sure you are using good quality materials that will stay solid for years to come. 

2. Layout

The fencing layout is another important thing when it comes to keeping your horses safe, so it’s a good idea to plan it out before you start placing it. Some things you want to avoid for your fenced-in areas include;

• Large bushes (horses can easily get tangled or injured on small sticks)
• Rounded corners (this minimized places where horses can become trapped during grazing periods) 
• Hills (horse can become easily injured or get tired from going up and down an incline) 
• Ponds or still water (Horses hooves can become rotten when they are exposed to too much water for too long, and still water breeds bacteria and insects that can be bad for horses to ingest) 
• Tight corners or small spaces (these can become difficult to mow and also trap those who are grazing) 
• Food or water in corners (horses like to have the freedom to eat without worrying about what is behind them)
• No shade or shaded areas in poor places (horses need to be able to escape the heat whenever they’d like, so a shed needs to be in an accessible location that is dry and free from excessive sunlight) 

Your layout must benefit the horses and allow them to be able to move freely between each area without being caught up in a bad spot. Horses will often bully each other, so putting in places where the horse can not easily escape will result in injuries, damaged fencing, or even a runaway horse if the horse gets spooked enough by the others and attempts to bolt. 

3. Preventable issues

Horse farm is something that needs to be maintained daily, and if you fall behind on it, you can end up with some very injured horses on your hands. One of the most common ways horses injure themselves is by becoming trapped in fencing or other objects. This can happen if you don’t check your fencing often for things like loose wires, errant nails, or rotten boards. There are a few things you need to keep up on and this is an important one. 

Another way that horses end up hurting themselves is from wear and tear on their grazing areas. Check the ground your horses hang out on for holes and fill them in as quickly as you can. A spot that’s a few inches deep can cause a horse to break their leg if they get stuck in it the wrong way as they’re running. 

4. Nature

Nature can sometimes be your worst enemy when it comes to keeping your horses safe, and there are so many natural issues you need to watch out for. 

Plants: 

Horses love to chew on plants, and they can’t distinguish between what’s toxic and what isn’t, so you will need to identify the plants growing in and around the horse’s grazing areas to ensure they aren’t snacking on poison.

Sticks and stones: 

Both of these items will often appear in your freshly cleaned pasture out of nowhere, and neither are good for your horses. Horses can easily trip over errant stones and impale themselves with smaller sticks, so make sure you keep them out of their rest areas. The horses can sometimes uncover stones after they have tread over the same spot many times and sticks and fly off nearby trees. 

Water: 

We already talked about how small ponds are not the best for horses, but many people enjoy putting their pasture against a nearby large pond to allow the horse to drink and splash in the water. In the wintertime, these ponds will usually freeze over, and horses are naturally curious sometimes, so this results in many rescue situations. If you have your pasture near a pond, then make sure the fencing is solid and reliable so the horses don’t end up on a winter wander. 

Air: 

While we’re on the topic of the winter months, let’s talk about air quality. In the wintertime, most people keep their horses in the stables more often to keep them warm and comfortable. To keep the stables warm, you will likely need to close off any open spaces and close the doors to trap in the heat, but unfortunately, you’re also trapped in bad air. Air can become polluted with ammonia from the horse’s waste and dust from the copious amount of hay, which is not good for your horses to breathe in for months. Look at installing a good ventilation system in your stable so you can keep the heat but get rid of the funky air in the wintertime. 

Treating your horses like family is one of the best ways to make sure they are safe. Stay up to date on their maintenance and make sure their space is hazard-free so you can have peace of mind when you see your horses running freely in the pasture.