30 July 2010
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HORSE Magazine
Perfect your stable routine
Wednesday 7 January 2009
Are you struggling with your winter stable chores?
If so, these useful tips from Michelle Pack, head girl at South Medburn Equestrian Centre, should help make things easier.
- If your horse covers his face in mud, use baby wipes to clean the delicate areas around the eyes and nose that you can't brush.
- Rugs should be hung on pegs to dry out – or on a rug dryer if your yard has one. Knot the belly straps and do up the neck straps before you hang them to stop them flying about and hitting you when you throw the rugs up to dry or pull them down for use.
- Try to keep your tack room reasonably warm – if it gets really cold and damp, your tack could start growing mould. Also, make sure reins and stirrups aren't dragging on the floor and keep your kit as tidy as possible. Equipment lying about is a trip hazard.
- Try the fork test to see if your horse's bed is deep enough. Stab it at the floor hard while thinking of your worst enemy. If you hear it hit the concrete, it's not thick enough!
- A coating of Vaseline on your horse's legs before turning him out will help protect him from mud fever as it creates a barrier against the wet, and is good value for money.
This is an extract from the feature 'Clean up your act' – in which a horseowner gives her account of a day spent working on a livery yard and learning from the professionals how to do things quickly and properly, in order to speed up her stable routine. To read the article in full, buy the February issue of Horse magazine, on sale from 8 January.
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