The wide variety of equine diseases and when best to vaccinate against them can be a bit overwhelming for the horse owner. However, The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) has endeavored to make things simpler with these guidelines for fall shots in adult horses.

Ah, remember summer? Long days for turning horses out to graze and play. But now that winter is slowly approaching, you and your horse will be spending more time inside the barn. Do a barn safety walk-through to be ready for extended inside time.

Horse health terms can be confusing, especially those about hock, made up of four joints and six bones. Two conditions that are often confused are capped hock vs. curb. Both of these conditions involve the very back or top of the hock.

Incorporating technology in your barn can make it safer and your work more convenient. Consider adding one or more of these devices this year.

Your horse’s ears are large, shaped like a cup and act like a satellite dish to capture sounds and funnel them to his inner ear. This is one reason why you may think that everything is perfectly fine, but suddenly your horse spooks for no apparent reason. As a prey animal, hearing acuity in a horse is a form of an “early warning system” for any sounds that a predator could be approaching – the snap of a twig, the rustle of grass, or the creak of a tree branch.

It’s about that time of year. Days are starting to get darker sooner. In order to get all your riding, horse care and barn work done, it’s a good idea to start looking at ways to add more light to your barn. I mistakenly waited a few months before adding lights to my new barn and remember wrapping my horse’s abscessed hoof with a flashlight in my mouth.

Thrush, a disease of the hoof, loves to live in the most airless clefts of a horse’s frog and other tissue. Winter is one of thrush’s favorite times of year because it thrives in wet, dirty bedding and areas where mud, mixed with manure, can be found. Thrush has a very strong odor that comes from dead, rotting tissue. You will usually also see a dark-colored slimy substance along the edge of the frog.

The most common use of bedding for stalls is to absorb urine and make cleaning manure easier in your horse’s stalls. Shavings is the most common material used. It will absorb the urine and often help with odor control. However, be careful when you select your shavings – e.g. black walnut shavings can be dangerous to your horse.

With cooler days and the leaves getting ready to change fall colors, this seems like the perfect time for a trail ride. But it’s also the perfect time for other fall activities so finding a buddy to go on the trail with you isn’t always possible.

Many barns use muck buckets as a way to clean stalls and transport used shavings and manure to a pile for composting. But while they are sturdy, sometimes these faithful muck buckets can crack or tear or lose a handle. Before getting rid of them, consider these other uses.