How To: get your horse ready for spring

The time is here, spring is finally upon us! The dark afternoons and grey mornings are soon to be but a distant memory, replaced with lush grass, shining sun, and little lambs bouncing around their fields.

This is the season that represents growth and new beginnings. If you’ve been wanting to challenge yourself and try out some new dressage movements or make the jumps a little higher then now is the time to do it. With the better weather comes optimism and motivation, so make sure you’re channelling all those positive emotions when you’re making your plan for the spring and summer.

As we breathe a collective sigh of relief and journey into the warmer months, there are still a few things that can be done to ensure a smooth transition for both you and your horse. With the longer days and better grass, it’s likely that your horse will be spending more time out in the field so it’s important to be on top of your routine to make sure nothing catches you out. Spring is a great time to deep clean your stables, run some maintenance on your horse, and make a new training plan. Here are a few things you can add to your to-do list to make sure that you’re ready to have the best spring yet…

 Spring clean

This one sounds a little cliché, and it probably is, but this is the best time to give your stables a little spruce up, mend that bit of broken fencing that’s been bugging you all winter, and make sure everything is tidy and organised. Winter feels like a bit of a survival month for horse people, just trudging through one day to the next waiting for better weather to arrive. Jobs like de-cobwebbing your boxes or cracking out the summer sheets and fly masks aren’t really on the agenda whilst you’re battling through knee-deep mud, so now is your chance to get ahead on those tasks.

Spring cleaning isn’t just reserved for your home, and if you’re anything like me, then your stables could definitely do with a little TLC after the winter. This is your opportunity to get rid of that thick layer of dust, get into those harder-to-reach areas, and give your stables a little lick of paint to freshen them up. You’ll hardly be able to recognise them once it’s finished, and both you and your horse will breathe a sigh of relief. Having a good clean-up is a great way to create a blank canvas and symbolise a fresh start to kick off the season.

Run some maintenance on your horse

The transition to spring is a great time to give your horse a little MOT ahead of a busy few months. Making your horse feels fresh and ready for action is super important to make sure you get off to a good start, even if competing isn’t your MO. Here are a few things you can do to make sure you’re horse is feeling his best self:

·      Have your saddle checked

·      Get the dentist out

·      Take a faecal egg count

·      Organise for an equine osteopath or massage therapist to come and treat your horse

·      Make sure your vaccinations are up to date

·      Sheath cleaning if your horse is a gelding

·      Have a dietician look at their feeding routine

Manage their grass consumption

As the grass starts to grow again and fill with nutrients, it’s important not to let your horse guzzle down too much in one go. In the winter, the grass is often less rich (or non-existent) and your horse might even have been stabled for the winter months.

As much as we might want to, it’s important to expose them to the rich grass slowly so they don’t make themselves sick. As the spring grass comes through, it’s much higher in sugar than it would have been throughout the winter, which can cause fermentation in the gut leading to a build-up of gas or an impaction, resulting in a bought of colic. Colic is one of a horse owner’s worst nightmares, so to minimise the risks it’s important to wean your horse back onto the spring grass slowly so their bodies have time to adjust to the higher sugar concentration. Whether it’s limited turnout for a little while or condensed paddocks, there are lots of ways to ensure your horse isn’t guzzling too much grass.

 Prepare for the flies

If it isn’t the mud in winter, it’s the flies in summer. Every year we face the same trials and tribulations throughout the changing seasons yet somehow always seem to sneak up on us. Make sure you’re properly prepared for fly season to strike, so you aren’t scrambling last minute when your horse becomes a buffet for the pesky flies.

Flies are attracted to horse’s manure and will use it to breed as well as attach themselves onto your horse to drink their blood or other bodily secretions. For the most part, these flies are simply very annoying for your horse, but they can contract some diseases from flies if you’re not careful. Make sure you’re well stocked up on a powerful fly spray and have the mesh fly masks and rugs at the ready.

Make a training plan

If you’ve got your eye on a few shows in the spring and summer months, this is your sign to get training. Whatever your discipline, getting your horse fit enough is a super important aspect of training not to overlook. Factor in lots of hacking, hill work, and some fast work to make sure that they’re at the top of their game. Having a fit horse isn’t just about stamina, but also about injury prevention. If your horse is fit enough to perform the tasks you ask of him, they will be able to use their body correctly and avoid putting any unnecessary strain on their joints, tendons, and ligaments when they get tired.

This is the time to start trying out new exercises like pole work or some lateral movements. If you’ve been really wanting to nail your leg yield then there is no better time than the season of new beginnings. Get your train on board and schedule some lessons to get yourself going, they will be able to help you come up with a good training routine to make sure you’re ready to smash your competitions.

 I, for one, am very excited about the start of spring, who’s with me? Make sure you’re organised for the months ahead and get everything checked off your to-do list.  Making sure your horse has a smooth transition into the warm weather is super important to maintain his health and routine. Not to mention getting everything tidy and organised will give you a kick to make your goals happen.

With love,

Px

P.S. Spring is a great time to revisit your marketing plan and an even better time to start sprucing up your content. As people’s moods improve as they emerge from hibernation, this is the time to dust off those e-cobwebs and get your website up to scratch. Your brand could do with a little spring clean and refresh, and blogs are the way to do it! Interested? Get in touch and together we can come up with the perfect spring and summer content plan!