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September 2015 THE HORSE TheHorse.com
tendencies away. At a foxhunting barn,
for example, where all the horses live out-
side much of the time, the horses might
go as long as three years without needing
to have their teeth floated."
Feeding Challenges
More remains stationary than the
stalled horses themselves; impaction colic
can also result in confinement scenarios.
"Keeping your horse moving is impor-
tant," says Olson. "If you don't have pas-
tures you can turn horses out in an arena,
hand walk, and ride them, but none of
these are the same as turnout."
Zeytoonian stresses the importance of
good hay for colic prevention. "A chal-
lenge facing urban horse owners is some-
times a lack of large storage areas," she
says. "This means that hay and feed are
purchased in smaller quantities, resulting
in a higher turnover/transition rate. Many
of my clients face a regular challenge of
horses developing mild GI upset when
the hay changes. They have improved
this by making a slow transition between
batches, stocking up on as much hay as
possible, and sometimes supplementing
forage pellets for hay to provide a more
consistent feed source."
To avoid sudden dietary changes,
managers at Chateau Stables always buy
from the same hay producer and stick
to a timothy/grass mix. They also feed
crimped oats and mix with a senior feed
for their older residents. Every two weeks
Gerami purchases 2,000 to 3,000 pounds
of feed from the same Pennsylvania mill
and hauls it into the city with her six-
horse gooseneck trailer. "To maneuver
that through Manhattan traffic and the
Lincoln tunnel isn't easy!" she says.
Strained Neighbor Relations
The sight of horses grazing nearby or
the metronome sound of hooves clip-
clopping on city streets might be idyllic
to nonhorsey neighbors, but it's possible
that accompanying odors and flies aren't
so welcome. Generally, barn managers
in urban and suburban areas must have
manure removed professionally, often col-
lecting it in dumpsters and then having it
shipped away.
"We have a private sanitation company
that takes manure away six nights a
week," says Gerami. "We're next door to a
wholesale grocer on one side and Verizon
telephone on the other, so we want to
keep our neighbors happy. It costs $4,000
a month to haul out manure, but we're six