Some Useful Tips for Horse Agistment

So you have a new four-legged member of the family. The horse you have always wanted. But you don’t have enough pastureland at home to keep it as close as you would like. Horse agistment is your only answer, but you want to spend as much time as possible looking after and being with your horse at the horse agistment place. Here are some top tips to make the most of your horse agistment time.

Horse agistment isn’t an ideal natural way of life. Horses naturally want to graze in open pastures. This is how they keep themselves occupied. In horse agistment however the domesticated horse may be stabled for long periods, eating and drinking only when provided for and exercising only when you take them out. Look for signs of ‘cribbing’. This is when the horse's natural grazing instincts are met by alternative behaviors, such as chewing wood in its stall.

Other behaviors, besides cribbing, that are probably linked to agistment are "crib-biting" and "wind sucking." The symptoms of these are clear and obvious but can be quite distressing to the new horse owner. A cribbing horse will set his upper front teeth onto the stall door or other woodwork. Then it tenses up the neck and facial muscles, retracts his throat/voice box, and sucks in air. A ‘wind sucker’ flexes his neck, gulps air and gives out a distressing grunting noise. A cribbing horse is a horse under stress or possibly suffering from physical (particularly abdominal) pain.

Ways to help your cribbing horse are to cut way down or eliminate grain and give them more opportunity to run free in pasture and or hay. Keep your horse turned out with company form the horse agistment place for as long as possible. Give your animal regular work to fill its time. Get hold of and use a cribbing collar. If the symptoms persist consult your vet for possible treatment for gastric ulcers. Also under veterinary supervision you could try a dietary supplement for a short time to see if this de-stresses your cribbing horse.

If you are stressing your horse will pick up on it. Get control of your agistment life and you can make the most of your time with your horse. Here are some tips to make your life easier too;

Ø Be sure to label all items of your horse equipment so it can be identified and set aside for you.

Ø Take photos of your saddle, tack room, trailer and any other stuff that you may need to identify at some point should it get stolen or confused with others.

Ø Set up a document file for each of your horses—‘Coggins’ papers, photos, vaccination/ medical records and any other important papers. Keep emergency number handy.

Ø Take photos of your horse from all angles and be sure to include any scars or identifying marks and keep them safe.

Ø Make a full copy of your horse's file, your truck registration and put them in a separate safe place.

Ø Be sure to have; extra halters and lead ropes, tool kit (screwdriver, pliers, wrenches, hammer and crowbar), first-aid kits--equine and human, fire extinguisher,?sharp knife, mobile phone (fully charged) and finally change for pay phones just in case.

When you’ve done all this you can relax and enjoy your happy horse agistment time.