[RC] How Do YOUR Endurances Horses Live? - Sherman
Hi Karen,
Welcome to Ridecamp & Endurance.net. Have you
checked out the Newbie section yet? also very good reading on AERC.org,
Education, Decade Team Interviews and 100 Mile Rider Interviews.
Our horses have 24/7 turnout, with access to either
a shelter or their stall & paddock, which has a gate that I leave open so
they go in & out as they please. They have access to hay 24/7 as well. We
don't irrigate, but we have green pasture most of the winter, lush pasture
from March through May/June, dry pasture that usually doesn't get too dusty
until it starts raining again in late October.
I don't ride on my property, but have direct access
to approx. 15 miles of trails, it gets boring fast, so we trailer out a couple
times a week. We may have to cut back with gas & hay going up 75% over
the past 2 years.
When you get a shelter built, make it easy on
yourself & allow the horse to go in & out without you having to get
involved. Mine like to stand in the shelter on hot days as well as on rainy
days. They're happy making their own decisions about when they want to go in
& out.
Kathy
Grass Valley, CA
More newbie
questions!
I'm very interested in learning how your horses are housed...
Barns, 24/7 out, or some mix? At your home or boarded? Dry
pasture? Irrigated?
Do you ride on your property? Ride off to
trails? Trailer off to trails?
Right now Kid is at a neat facility
where he has AM to late afternoon irrigated pasture turnout... Otherwise he's
in a pole barn, or "mare motel," with a 12x24 covered stall.
I have 5
acres, and want to get 1 or 2 pastures set this summer and autumn... And
perhaps have a shelter, but not a "barn." Coming from a "show barn"
background, where horses are kept in box stalls 22 hours, turned out 1 hour,
ridden 30 minutes, groomed 30 minutes, this is WAY different.
