The Horse:Your Guide To Equine Health Care provides monthly equine health care information to horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, barn/farm managers, trainer/riding instructors, and others involved in the hands-on care of the horse.
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24 TheHorse.com The horse April 2015 Roomy turnout areas for three horses I asked TheHorse.com's regular equine behavior commentator and veterinarian, Nancy Diehl, VMD, MS, who's based in Central Pennsylvania, for her recommen - dations on creating healthy turnouts. "Space!" she says. "Big, open pastures or paddocks provide the space for horses (living together) to keep to themselves or escape during aggressive introductions." Based on first-hand experience and equine extension specialists' advice, I wanted a minimum of 1,000 square feet of turnout per horse on drylot. This gives my horses plenty of space to self-exercise and enough space to escape from each other. Horse-safe fencing The worst horse accidents I've witnessed involved fenc - ing: A horse's leg degloved to the bone after kicking through wire; a mare cast on her side, legs caught in unsecured pipe panels; a gelding's chest ripped open after he leaned over barbwire to graze. Rose Nolen-Walston, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center, has seen her share of fence-related injuries, as well. "For fencing, the old gold standard of wood fences (post-and-board or post-and- rail) is good, but for my own animals, I use thick, plastic-covered wire with the top and third strand electrified," she says. "What you want is something that won't cause big lacerations if the horse gets a leg through. With my fence, the plastic in - sulators that attach (the wire) to the posts just pop off when horses get tangled." My fencing is similar to what Nolen- Walston describes, and those insulators popping off have saved my horses at least three times over the past seven years. After poring over project specifications (the literature product companies provide to vendors and contractors) we decided on an electric high-tension, nylon-cable fencing designed specifically for horses. In addition to the "quick release" type insulators, the fencing we selected is also extremely hot (which required a power - ful electric fence charger, an intricate grounding system, and—in our dry climate—a way to regularly water dirt around the grounding rods, ensuring its conductivity). Believe me, my horses would rather not touch it. Shelter or shelter-providing trees in turnouts Research shows that most ac- climatized horses do well with natural shelter, such as trees and geographic land - marks (hills, etc.), says Diehl. However, our property is flat, and our high- desert weather is extreme, with harsh summer sun and bitter winter winds. To offer our horses shade and wind blocks, we went with a three-sided loafing shed (also called an in-and-out or run-in). These shelters open to the east, which gives us a direct line of sight into them and blocks weather from the west and south (our area's prevailing wind directions). The barn For a long time I tried to con- vince myself I didn't need a barn. Horses really do prefer to live outside, and stalls mean more daily maintenance. Sure, it'd be nice to not to have farrier appoint - ments rained out, and it might be nice to groom a horse in a cozy barn aisle during the winter months. But, horses are health - ier when they live outside. However, when my gelding sliced his eye open as the sun set one evening, I finally acquiesced—my small horse property needed a barn. "Ventilation, ventilation, ventilation!" says Nolen-Walston about her main horse barn requirement. "I'd have lots of windows, at least one per stall, preferably Dutch doors to the outside so horses can hang their heads out. Consult with a good barn designer about roof caps and other ways to maximize air turnover to keep horses' lungs healthy." My barn requests included: 1. Electricity. 2. Water (we spent our first winter dragging hoses across the property and thawing them in the then-master bathtub, so we learned the hard way the importance of water access). 3. Heated automatic water fountains (also known as waterers) with meters to measure water consumption. 4. Natural light and ventilation. 5. Three 12-by-12-foot stalls with adjacent 12-by-24 runs that open into a large shared drylot. 6. Grooming, farrier, and veterinarian area with a safe spot for tying or cross- tying, possibly an aisle a minimum of 12 feet wide. 7. A slip-resistant aisle footing. 8. A heated tack room. 9. Fire-rated storage for feed, a minimum of 4 tons of hay, and baled stall bedding. 10. Stall dividers that allow horses to see each other inside the barn. 11. Cushioned stall mats. 12. Ground-level feeders. 13. Outdoor wash rack with heated water. Hay and feed storage Hay takes up a significant amount of space, especially if you have multiple horses that are limited to no pasture, like I do. According to the North Dakota State University Agri - culture Extension document "Weights and Measures of Common Feed," 1 ton of nonlegume (grass) hay requires 250 to 330 cubic feet (width by length by height), and 1 ton of alfalfa requires 200 to 330 cubic square feet of storage space. That's a car-sized stack! Horse trailer loading, unloading, turnaround, and storage area I wanted a safe place for my horses to load and unload. For me, that means no foreign objects for the horses to run into, and good, soft footing that's slip-resistant and easy to clean (not gravel, because I find it difficult to clean manure from it). Lastly, we needed enough room to maneuver the truck and trailer easily. Manure storage and composting area As sure as all horses eat, they all poop, too. One horse produces an average of 9 tons of manure a year. Multiply that by three, and there's a lot of manure to man - age. Not cleaning paddocks and taking care of poop can lead to health issues for Building a Horse Property from the Ground Up Dutch doors to the outside of stalls let horses hang their heads out and have proper ventilation. istocK.coM 1 ton of grass hay requires 250-300 ft 3 of storage space