Spring Care

It's spring tune up time for horses. (Think of it as getting the oil changed
on your car before the motor seizes up except more important because a car has no interest in its own well-being.)

Get the vet out to give your horse a checkup and vaccinations before the
mosquitoes hit. Except for tetanus, most diseases we commonly inoculate against are carried by biting insects.

Because of the way horses chew, their molars wear unevenly and can develop points that cut the inside of the cheek. An annual checkup catches potential problems before they affect your horse's comfort and health, and possibly your safety. If necessary, your veterinarian will float the teeth to smooth sharp edges. Why wait until your horse is dropping his feed or tossing his head while ridden?

Depending on your horse's feet and the kind of riding you plan to do, you might want to talk to your farrier about shoes. "Au naturel" is best for a lightly ridden horse with good feet, but when hooves wear excessively or split, or your horse moves gingerly on anything but soft ground, shoes are a necessary evil. In any case, proper farrier work is essential to your horse's comfort and soundness. Avoid problems with a regular six to eight-week trimming schedule whether the hooves look as if they need it or not. (Do you let your fingernails get long and ragged before you file them? Probably not and your fingernails don't support one thousand plus pounds of horse.)

With nice weather, we want to spring into riding and summer pleasures, but if we overdo it in the first flush of spring, we may not have such a good
summer.

Unless you've been riding all winter, you and your horse will both need to
get back in condition. And if you have used an indoor arena all winter, be
prepared for some high spirits the first ride or two outside. Start slowly
with lots of walking. Build up muscle and wind gradually over a couple of
months before you head out to the mountains. Consider also that your horse's skin will need to become re-accustomed to saddle and girth. Watch for signs that the girth is rubbing before a sore develops.

Spring is also the season to guard against laminitis. Introduce your horse gradually to pasture. During the transition to rich spring grass, continue feeding hay and limit the amount of grazing. It's a great temptation to simply turn the horses out on grass as soon as possible, but if your horse does founder, he'll be compromised for the rest of his life.