We share a few of our favourite things that we look forward to with our horses this spring. Five little tips to enjoy Spring with your horse.
Early Morning Hacks Before Work
Go for a morning hack. Fitting in a cheeky hack before work is one way to start your day the right way! Rise and shine early enough to catch the first light and be back in time for a quick spruce before heading into work or at your home desk. Enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside and feel energised for the rest of the day.
Evening Chores In Daylight
No more risking life and limb trying to navigate your way to muckheap with a wheelbarrow and head torch. Lighter evenings are here! There is enough time to groom, ride, and skip out before daylight fades if you’re organised. Get your chores done during the week, and you’ll have the weekend to enjoy playing ponies! Hurray!
Plan Your Competition Schedule
With more daylight and better weather to come, now is the perfect time to plan your schooling sessions around your competition schedules. Creating a goal is a great way to get motivated, whether it’s moving up a level, trying something completely different or just getting your horse fitter so you can enjoy longer hacks come the summer. Don’t forget to update your Competition Check List too!
Review Your Horse’s Diet
With lush spring grass and increased exercise, now is an excellent time to review your horse’s nutritional needs post-winter. Get some expert nutritional advice, review your supplements and give their tummies some TLC with Aloeride. Aloeride is the perfect remedy for supporting a healthy digestive system and enhancing coat shine, healthy (healthier) hooves and skin wellness.
Get Fit & Feel Fabulous
As riders, we tend to focus on our horse’s fitness rather than our personal fitness. Take advantage of the lighter mornings and evenings, team up with some barn buddies, and organise a weekly boot camp, where a few go for a run or do some exercise. Participating with friends makes exercise less of a chore and more fun. Set yourself an exercise goal, and if rain stops play, you can always exercise at home with the great rider exercise video shown below.
Enjoyed This Blog? You Might Like Reading 10 Things To Remember When Feeding Your Competition Horse.
In case you wonder about the lovely header picture: Meadow, Creeping and Bulbous Buttercups are poisonous when crushed. The ranunculin released from them is an unstable glucoside that is enzymatically broken down into glucose and the toxin protoanemonin which is an unpleasantly bitter oil. Contact with protoanemonin causes burning and itching with accompanying rash and blisters. Thus it will not surprise you that horses avoid eating buttercups and instead will graze the grass around the plant. However, horses on overgrazed or restricted grazing may revert to consuming buttercups when no other forage being provided… Normal equine husbandry avoids that problem.
