Friday, June 17, 2011

Clean paddocks, happy horses, tiling, drainage...



So there, we decided to clean up our paddocks and corrals from the rich, tomato growing top soil, rendered over the past thirty (or more) years. As any blogging, eccentric horse owner knows, this type of soil turns to knee deep sludge, depending on the amount of rainfall in the season. Nevermind the fact that an average horse produces 50 lbs of manure a day. 

We, the Adirondack Equine Center began this blog to have our readers and guests visualize some of the daily responsibilities a horse rescue farm of 36 horses and limited staff, endures. We will try our best not to sound overwhelmingly boring :) Keep in mind, whether the horses work or not, they are all on our rather small budget.

The Adirondacks are particularly an "inhabitable"environment for the horse's hoof, inducing rot, white line, central sulcus  and other,both fungal/bacterial infections. The space is limited, and many of us, local horse owners are forced to house horses on small acreage or have limited access to acreage due to the topography. The lack of drying, sunny weather, among many other factors, is the least appealing to the horses' health.


So.. where is the best place to keep and raise horses ?                                                                                                                                                                                               The answer is: The South, the Midwest. Once you are lucky enoughto be in a "horse state",keep costs low, especially when it comes to forage, find the best hay for the lowest price (unless you own only about one to two horses - then you can splurge !). The drier the State the less likely it will have the most reasonably priced forage.
In New York, especially up North, in the Adirondacks, the climate changes drastically, and winters are often long and frigid, reaching -36 to -40 below - and that translates into a 
whole different book of horse care tips (Look for To Wear or Not to Wear in our blog) 
                                                                                      Hay is moderately low in price, but that changes with the increase in fuel prices. More horses = more money spent on forage purchased from other sources than your farm.  
 
The best solution for rescue or large equine farms is to produce your own hay, lease a field or buy a field, purchase new or used equipment (used in our case) and instead of paying anywhere from $20,000 to $38,000 in hay costs, you can cut that right in half. Sounds simple ? Takes Planning. :-/ 






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Casper's foot when he arrived in Spring of 2010 and his foot progressing throughout summer of 2010.