Many, especially around Halloween,  have heard the spooky tale of “The Headless Horseman” and his rides into Sleepy Hollow.  But the original story from which it was derived is actually much scarier – and much more gruesome.  So read on about “The Dullahan” of Ireland – if you dare…..

Making your barn more environmentally friendly makes good business sense.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture has Cooperative Extension programs across the country.  Congress created the Extension system nearly a century ago to address exclusively rural, agricultural issues. At that time, more than 50 percent of the U.S. population lived in rural areas, and 30 percent of the workforce was engaged in farming. Today, fewer than 2 percent of Americans farm for a living today, and only 17 percent of Americans now live in rural areas.  But Extension agents still serve a purpose by helping farmers grow crops and small farm owners plan and maintain their acreage.

Depending on the part of the country in which you live – and your weatherperson’s forecast for this winter - you may be considering blanketing your horse. Horses actually can do quite well without a blanket in even the most harsh winter storms.  Their coat fluffs up like a down blanket and can provide extra warmth and insulation.  But before you decide, here are some things you’ll want to consider are:

Did you know that there are other uses for stall mats besides providing comfort for your horse in his stall?  You can use full or partial stall mats in non-traditional ways to make your barn and home safer, cleaner and more user-friendly. 

Two events that have something in common took place recently - the start of professional football season and Riders4Safety International Helmet Awareness Day.  The common factor?  Concussions.

Every day, horse business owners are inundated with stories about social media marketing: Facebook and fan pages, Twitter and tweets, blogs, videos and always something that’s even “better.” They read success stories on how social media can help them grown their business, provide better customer service and position them as the expert in their field. They feel increasingly pressured to become a part of this.

As the days start to get shorter with corresponding longer nights, now is a good time to start thinking of adding some additional lighting to your barn to chase away the gloom for both you and your horse.  Horse's eyes are sensitive to weak light. They can see fairly well at dusk, but they don't have the ability to adjust their eyes to darkness quickly, which is why they will often refuse to enter a dark building from bright sunshine. In addition, shadows and poorly lit areas make stall cleaning cumbersome and inhibit observation and care. A combination of individual stall and general aisle way lighting is preferred. Place fixtures where they won't create shadows for the horse when he enters his stall.  

A sustainable pasture depends on proper management of both the fertility needs of the soil and good management of grazing animals.  One of the most critical periods is fall.  Management decisions made at this time can have a strong effect on the plant’s ability to overwinter, which then determines when new growth begins in the spring and how much total growth will be produced over the entire season. 

If you have a background in showing your horse, you may want to consider a job as a Technical Delegate (TD).  You can find them at horse shows for most every discipline.  Sometime they are called “Stewards.”  But no matter what they are called, their job is the same:  to make sure that horse show where they are stationed complies with the rules established for that discipline.  This, in turn, makes sure that all competitors have an equal opportunity to succeed at the show.

Horses have binaural hearing meaning they hear out of both ears at the same time, the same as people and most other animals.  However, unlike humans who have small, flat ears, a horse’s ears are large and shaped like a cup.  These ears act like a satellite dish to capture sound waves and funnel them to his inner ear.  Because of this, very little sound is missed and the horse might hear noises that you can’t.  This is one reason why you may think that everything is perfectly fine, but suddenly you horse spooks for no apparent reason.  He may have heard something that sounded like a predator to him.