Horsekeeping & Management

Having been on numerous properties with my herd of up to 11 horses, I have noticed a few elements in barn or shelter design that result in a space that horses enjoy AND that provide protection from horseflies, while keepingRead more

Remember in the film, The Biggest Little Farm, where they spent over $100,000 building this massive worm farm, to produce compost tea to nourish the microbial life in the soil of their trees and vegetables? Well, today is a beautifulRead more

I’m sad to say, I did not compost my horse manure for 5 years because it just seemed too complicated to me. I had tried composting at home, read all about it, got a special composting unit sponsored by myRead more

One of my barn helpers couldn’t fill the hay net today, because he couldn’t get the knot untied. So I shot a video for him to show how easy it is to untie even a super stock knot! Sharing inRead more

Sometimes you need to remove a fence line, or even just a couple of posts, to reorganize a paddock area. My friend Rocky shows us his method for using a farm jack (maybe even a car jack?) to remove fenceRead more

WHY ARE YOUR HORSES SO MUDDY?? Humans use mud to draw out impurities. We drink bentonite clay to assist with detox. This all happened in one afternoon – a peek into what I get up to when I go hangRead more

We recently had to switch out some of our metal grate slowfeeders for haynets and I realized that most of my barn help didn’t know how to tie a slipknot. I went on YouTube to find them a tutorial videoRead more

What can you do when you know your horse hates his living conditions, is not getting his needs met, is getting anxious and grumpy as a result, but yet you cannot move him elsewhere? Sometimes we know our horse isRead more

This winter on our farm in Northern BC, we are experiencing hay-feeding season (and the costs and labour associated with it) as something much more than a necessary means to an end (ie keeping everyone alive through the cold months).Read more

It took me forever, searching on YouTube, to figure out how to open my manure bin! I had texted the dumpster company and they told me to just ‘twist the handle’ – what?? If that wasn’t difficult enough, when IRead more

In the good old days (when I was a kid) hay bale twine was made of natural substances. We re-used it for all kinds of things – I once made an entire harness out of braided sisal hay bale strings,Read more

Have you ever felt inadequate as a horse guardian? Did you ever wish you had more resources to care for your horses better? Have you ever felt despondent and discouraged about your horses’ living conditions? Personally, I can answer aRead more

I am an absolute rookie when it comes to pasture and grass management. For years I couldn’t really conceive of it; I guess I took grass for granted. Being the ongoing steward of a small piece of the earth hasRead more

Contract goat grazing is a new niche business that assists horse and cattle owners with pasture management. It is also utilized by cities to manage vacant lots, creek bed areas, or other public lands that need to be maintained withoutRead more

Have you ever watched guys working on your ranch or farm and wished you knew how to operate that machinery? Every year when a guy comes to dig out the manure pit, or spread gravel, I wish I knew howRead more

Some of you may remember the rather brilliant DIY scratching post I came up with a few years ago. Unfortunately, in my sodden climate, it only lasted a year before the horses had pushed the post (machine-pounded 3′ deep) rightRead more

Scientists have long been trying to figure out why Zebras have stripes. There’s been a lot of speculation/testing of theories related to confusing predators, social purpose, or heat regulation, but none of those have really panned out. Then a studyRead more

When Jax (Arab/Belgian) got a ginormous matted tangle in the middle of his tail, I posted a picture on Facebook and asked if anyone knew of a natural product that could untangle the mess. People told me about ShowSheen (notRead more

Stud piles are mounds of manure left by rival stallions in the wild. Poo is used to mark territory and so when rivals come along – just as you see dogs doing with urine – they poo on top ofRead more

Need a forest cleared of underbrush and great trails for hiking, biking, or riding? Just turn a herd of horses loose for a month or two! Forests are wonderful, stimulating environments for horses – much better than just a flatRead more

You may have heard the advice, over and over again, to allow your pasture grasses to reach 6-8 inches in height before you let your horses graze. And then you’re also advised to pull them off when those grasses areRead more

When you want to give your confined (non-pastured) horse a more natural experience of eating, or, you want to continue their natural grazing during the winter months, or, when they’ve eaten down their pastures – slow feeding is the solution.Read more

After numerous experiments with culvert drainage for my graveled horse paddock, I finally decided to start all over again and do it properly – from start to finish. My cousin Adam was in town and since he used to workRead more

During a recent trip to the UK, I was finally introduced to the New Forest – more importantly, I was introduced to the New Forest Ponies. My sweetie, Tim, a southwest UK native, had been talking about taking me thereRead more

Sometimes the simple solutions are the ones that work brilliantly! If you want to greatly reduce the frequency with which you have to dump your water troughs and scrub them out, OR, if you have an algae problem in yourRead more

Let’s take a look at a ground-feeding hay net called the Hay Pillow. I’m going to give you my review and what I think are the pros and cons of this slow feeding solution. And then, I’ve got a funRead more

Whether you’re looking for more games to play with your horses, or wanting to see if any of them enjoy jumping, I’m going to show you the easiest (and cheapest) way to make two different kinds of proper horse jumps:Read more

For those of you that live in rainy climates (like the Pacific Northwest or the U.K.), or, maybe you get a really intense rainy season that lasts for a couple of months, then you know how nasty your paddock andRead more

As a South-Coast bumpkin, I never really had my horses in snow, unless you count the usual one-day affair with a few inches of fun before the inevitable melt-and-muck. It never affected feeding, just made poo-collection more arduous. But whenRead more

As we head into winter, some of us are going to get lots of snow, while others are going to get lots of rain! As it’s much easier to protect your hay stack against snow, I’m going to give youRead more

This may seem like a weird topic for a horse blog… but since most of us with horses also have dogs, I figure it’s all good! I’ve had my female dog Tiah for two years now. And after going throughRead more

All horses like to itch, scratch and rub themselves on an ongoing basis. But during shedding season the urge to itchy-scratchy gets pretty intense. So if you can set up a sturdy self-scratching area (the edge of a barn, aRead more

Although I bought Jamie Jackson’s, Paddock Paradise book over 3 years ago, I have not been able to implement anything yet as I am still boarding my horses on other people’s land – where I have already sunk tons ofRead more

We’ve all heard about the different ways you can cover your hay stack with a tarp so it doesn’t get wet or moldy. But have you ever heard about using commercial-size dessicant pouches to absorb moisture under your hay tarp?Read more

Looking for a faster way to build a fence? A tractor-mounted post pounder does all the hard work for you. In this video, Ray and Will also show you how to make sure your posts are straight and all theRead more

You may have heard of equine permaculture systems and yes, most of the information and sites are based in Australia. Which is not too helpful for those of us in rainy climates like the Pacific Northwest or UK! However, youRead more

If your horse is not prone to laminitis, or other complications, the standard way to transition from hay to grass in the spring is to start with only 15 minutes of grass per day and gradually build up from there;Read more

First of all, regardless of which hay you feed, if you place it in a slow feeder (or hay net) and allow your horse 24/7 access to hay – you will have a much healthier, happier horse. If you putRead more

Although I have 2 stalls as part of my barn, I also wanted to get a portable shelter to put out in the horse’s field in case they wanted to lie down out there – since we live in theRead more

~ Updated in 2022 ~ Let’s start with these pictures of my first set-up, where I self-boarded my horses on a friend’s property, and my adventures in paddock footing began. There are 4 acres of fields here, and three horsesRead more