Horse care and management
How do I deal with flies? How do I find a good farrier? How do I prevent unwanted behaviors?
Find useful information from University of Minnesota Extension equine experts on caring for horses and managing their behavior at all stages of life.
Basic care and management
Weight
Estimating actual and ideal bodyweight of adult horses
- Determining a horse's bodyweight is important for managing weight, nutrition and health.
- Make use of improved equations that help predict bodyweight accurately.
Guidelines for weight-carrying capacity of horses
- Conformation, fitness, activity level and equipment affect the weight-carrying capacity of horses.
Conformation
- Conformation refers to the shape or structure of a horse, and it can impact a horse's athletic ability.
- A horse can move best with a short back and long neck.
- Correct legs structure can improve desired performance and reduce lameness.
Caring for your horse's hooves
- How often your horse's feet should be trimmed or shod.
- How nutrition impacts hooves.
- Learn about common problems such as cracks.
Selecting a farrier for your horse
- Routine hoof care is essential to your horse’s health.
- Horses usually need a trim every 6 to 8 weeks.
Learn how to deal with hoof problems, such as an abscess.
- Be prepared. Have a first aid kit, evacuation plan and other essentials ready in the event severe weather, fire or other emergencies.
- Learn ways to prevent barn fires.
- Proper moisture at baling is the single biggest hay fire risk factor.
- Baled hay becomes a potential fire hazard when the temperature inside the bale doesn’t decline.
How to care for your horses during Minnesota’s "stay-at-home" order and COVID-19 restrictions provides timely information on caring for your horses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Download these forms to help you plan for emergencies
- Operations Contingency Plan for Privately Owned Horse Farms
- Operations Contingency Plan for Horse Boarding or Training Farms
- Fillable PDFs to outline essential livestock care if you or your managers experience illness, injury, or another emergency when you may need outside people to provide care.
- These contingency plans cover essential care only. They are not comprehensive care plans.
- Use the appropriate form to complete your farm’s Operations Contingency Plan.
Constructing and managing a horse carcass compost pile
- When managed properly, composting can be an environmentally friendly and low-cost option for carcass disposal.
- You can use the end product of carcass composting as a soil addition in agricultural fields or flower gardens.
Coping with the loss of a horse
- If you are working through a loss, treat yourself kindly and find others who can do the same.
- If you know of someone who is grieving a horse, reach out, even in small ways, to let them know you are available to listen.
- Legal options in Minnesota include burial, composting and cremation.
Horse biosecurity tips for peak riding season
- Biosecurity measures are key to keeping your horse healthy while traveling during the show and trail season.
- Vaccinating your horse, keeping equipment and facilities clean and avoiding contact with other horses are all good biosecurity practices.
Managing and composting horse manure
- Good composting locks in the nutrients, speeds up the breakdown, and kills weed seeds and fly larvae.
- Don’t spread manure on pastures with more than one horse per two acres.
- Taking preventative measures to manage mud on the farm can save time and keep horses healthy.
- Be sure horses have clean water to drink by disinfecting water tanks.
- Learn how often to clean your water tank.
Seasonal
Caring for your horse in winter
- How to prepare your horse and facilities for winter.
- How to adjust feed and water.
- Horse blanketing strategies.
Caring for horses during hot weather
- Tips to keep your horses cool and comfortable.
- How to cool an overheated horse and recognize dehydration or other issues.
- Many horses and ponies can live into their 20s or 30s with good health care.
- As horses age, their health needs change. Thus, you should change your care to meet your senior horse’s developing needs.
Common flies around horses and how to control them
- Learn about common flies in Minnesota.
- Learn what works and what doesn't in controlling flies around your horses.
- Which products best help horses avoid flies including sprays, leggings and leg wraps.
Fly control basics
More detailed fly control information
Lifecycle of flies and how to interrupt it
Fly control options
Research update
Behavior
- Common examples include cribbing, biting and weaving.
- Horses sometimes pick up unwanted behaviors from past events.
- While these behaviors may never stop, we have some tips to manage horses with unwanted behaviors.