David's Field and Stable Tips

People have often commented on some of the handy things that we have made around our field and stables so I thought it might be useful to share them and to collect more ideas.  If you have a really useful, time saving or just plain neat idea that you'd like to pass on to others, just let me know by sending me an e-mail, preferably with a picture to illustrate it, and I'll include it here with an acknowledgement.

1.  Storing Jumping Poles

Do your jumping poles have a mind of their own when it comes to storage and retrieval?  Well here is a simple and cheap idea that will keep them under control and out of the mud and the worst of the wet.

The poles are held by standard gutter brackets, available from DIY stores for about 50p each.  Just attach two for each pole to a wall or fence.  Ours are shown on the end wall to Claude's stable.

Horse feed usual comes in large squishy bags that are very convenient to handle in and out of the car but not so good once you get them to the feed store where they are opened and become a temptation to mice.  Our solution to this problem is to transfer the feed to industrial plastic barrels with well fitting lids.  Our particular barrels were new and intended for human food products so they didn't even need a clean before use.  I do not know exactly how to obtain these now but keep a lookout, put the word around and let us know if you find a regular supply.  

2.  Storing Horse Feed

Kate comments: For those searching for barrels, Atlantic Country Superstore sell them and have a sale on at the moment.  A 45 gallon, plastic with screw lid, ex-fruit barrel costs £7.  I have used this company for years and they give a very good service.  I’ve just ordered some more electric fence posts and they came the next day; they are also the best posts I’ve seen and the cheapest I could find. 
Phone 01986 891032 or 01986 891074
E mail: sales@atlanticonline.uk.com

Selina comments:  I got my barrels from Smiths of The Forest of Dean Ltd. and they deliver - even one, if that is all you need. (Also, I found them very friendly).  They sometimes appear for sale on eBay.

To make the bins easier to move around, from under the feed preparation bench in our case, we have mounted each one on a trolley with castors that is intended for moving large plants in pots around the wooden floors in your conservatory or living room.  They are often advertised in gardening and home magazines and in the weekend supplements to national newspapers.  We paid about £10 for four, I seem to remember.

Row comments: As an alternative to barrels, it may not have occurred to some folk how good old chest freezers are for the job.  Of course I got the idea originally from a friend, so it may be worth passing on, especially in view of the fact that disposing of old fridges/freezers is an ecological nightmare.  By recycling it will help the environment as well as being a very economical way to store all feed bags and supplements required, in a compact efficient space which is totally protected from vermin, the elements - and the horses!  They can also usually be padlocked, if that is an issue.  Even upright models would be useful for keeping first-aid items, grooming kit, etc. in, if you have sufficient space, and convert the door into a notice board by use of fridge magnets!  Try your local white-goods suppliers who have to pay to dispose of the old freezers, so would probably let you have one, and deliver it, for naught, or take a visit to the tidy tip.

3.  Feeding Hay in the Field

 Our horses were very wasteful with the hay that we used to put out loose in the field for them during the winter; the wind would blow it all over the place, they would then tread it into the mud, and dogs and foxes would leave their mark so the horses would not eat it.  We have solved much of this problem by putting the hay in nets on posts at the edge of the field.

We used to do this by driving oak posts into the ground each winter and then removing them in the late spring - if they had survived that long and not had to be repositioned in the mean time!

However, we have hit upon a better solution using short concrete posts, which are buried for about two thirds of their length in the ground, with the original wooden posts fastened on top.  Our concrete posts are 40" x 3" x 3" (1m x 75mm x 75mm) and cost about £6.50 each from DIY stores.  The concrete posts have two holes cast in their upper ends to enable the oak posts to be fasted to them with M8 studding (screwed rod, about 90p per metre in DIY stores), washers and nuts.  Our posts need to be removable because we bring cattle into the field during the summer and I'm sure they would not survive long as cattle itching posts!

In a previous year, we did try using Metposts, which are about the same price and very easy to drive into the soft ground, but they did not stand up to the rigours of horses pulling on the nets and scratching themselves on the posts.  They became bent and twisted and two eventually broke off altogether.

The haynet is fastened to the post with a tie ring - the type that pass right through with a washer and nut on the back are the easiest to use.  (For safety, the string from the haynet should normally pass through a loop of twine on the ring, rather than directly through the tie ring itself.)

Row comments: I don't use nets as I feel feeding from ground level is best.  It has been suggested that nets can cause muscle problems in neck and poll, as the persistent tugging action usually includes a twist in order to pull the hay free.  Maisie already has stiffness in those areas, so I am anxious not to make things worse.  I have a heavyweight square black plastic water tank, which I bought from a builders merchant many years ago, originally to use as field trough.  I can't tell you the capacity....  Anyway, I lay the required sections of hay, flat, in there and pour over a bucket of water, and leave until the next meal time weighted with an old tyre, in a sectioned off part of the paddock.  At night, in my case, I will quickly turn the hay over so that the wettest part on the bottom is now at the top and the water will drain back down as the hay is eaten, and let the horses at it.  That's it.  I leave the hay in the tank, so it stays cleaner and less is wasted. Even in the recent windy weather, the weight of water at the bottom helps to keep it stable so it doesn't turn over or get blown away - you could also put tyres/bricks in to increase stability, but I haven't needed to.  If there is still water there in the morning (and sometimes it has been drunk!), I will tip it out and start again.  May not be viable with more than a couple of horses, or those more likely to beat the heck out of the container, but this has worked for the last couple of winters. Wish I'd thought of it before!

And a winter tip from Row: Use an old tractor tyre as a hay-feeder.  Stops it blowing around, several horses can eat around it, and it can be moved periodically to avoid poaching.

Where there is particularly heavy horse traffic, the heavy clay soil in our field becomes extremely muddy during the winter so establishing a permanent position for the hay posts was inviting trouble.  A simple solution has been to make a 'hay terrace' by putting down about 6" to 8" of builders rubble topped with a layer of road planings (old lumps of tarmac from road mending).  The planings fill in all the holes between the rubble and leave an acceptably dark surface that soon collects some soil from horses feet and then starts to grass over with seeds from the hay.  Although there is some spilt hay to clear up, it is far more easily picked up than when it was mixed with mud.  The builders rubble is easily come by for free - just put the word around - and the road planings are about £6 per ton delivered - ask local farmers and mention your need for rubble whilst you're at it.

4.  Somewhere Dry to Stand and Eat

5.  Filling Haynets

OK, I know, this is not a new idea - and it certainly wasn't mine - but, after so many years of filling haynets unaided, this year we finally bought a haynet holder and what a difference!

Thoroughly recommended.  About £10.

Alison Franks suggests a quick and easy way to fill haynets: put hay in a big bucket such as those sold as pooh buckets or a cheaper version for storage, etc. (eg from DIY outlets, etc) then put the haynet neck over top of the bucket and invert.  Easy and quick!  I use several of these buckets for feeding hay on my area of hard standing and don't feed any hay on the field - the horses spend the day time on the hard standing area (a total of ~ 300m² including shelter) with some rubber matting too especially for lamanitic pony, with ad lib hay, thistles (when I've had time to pull them!) and vegetable trimmings from the village pub.  At night they're on the field thus trashing it less especially when it's frosty and also, if I want to ride, I don't eat into their grazing time.  Seems to work well for us.

6.  A Scratching Post

7.  Hairy Legs

Row offers another tip:  Some of us saw this at Dan's barefoot clinic, for those with hairy legs - horses I mean!  If you need a clear space around your horses hooves for any reason, just slip on a crepe tubular bandage (the sort for sprained wrists ankles or knees) over the foot, and up to fetlocks to contain the feathers and keep them out of the way.

Although our stables are less than 100 yards from our house, we do not yet have mains electricity there.  However, we have made a start with lights.  I put all the wiring in as if the lights were to be mains powered so that if we do ever get round to a mains supply, I need only change the light fittings and couple up. The mains wire (1mm twin and earth), switches and junction boxes are very inexpensive from DIY stores and the installation is quite straight forward DIY stuff.

At the end of the wiring run in each stable, where normally there would be a light fitting, there is a simple block connector fastened to a convenient rafter that connects the wiring run to a standard 12 volt 21W car stoplight bulb.  I have used a couple of old 12 volt camping light fittings (the fluorescent ones sold for boats and caravans would be quite superior) but for the others I merely soldered two bits of stiff wire to the contacts on the back of the bulb (or one of the contacts and the bayonet case, if it is a combined stop and tail light) and poked them into the connector.  For added reflection, I put a small disposable aluminium pie dish behind the bulb, held in place with a couple of drawing pins.

8.  Stable Lighting

At the feed end of the wiring (where there would normally be a mains consumer unit [fuse box] ) there is a junction box and a flexible cable with big crocodile clips at the end that are clamped on the battery terminals - it doesn't matter which way round.

We get the old batteries from our local garage.  We take any that he has but he tells us which ones he thinks are best, so we tend to go for batteries out of big diesel vans.  Nobody should begrudge giving you these old batteries because, to dispose of them commercially and legally, costs about £3 a go at the tip.

We generally have three batteries available at any one time.  Typically, there will be one battery coupled up in the barn, one along with it charged up ready, and one in the garage charged up ready or being recharged. 

There are seven 21W lights and one battery can easily cope with this, although I doubt that we've actually ever put them all on at once.  Some batteries will last three winters whereas others only one.  We've never really worried too much about it because there's always been 'more where that came from'.  One recharging will last all winter, unless Claude (bless him) turns his light on during daylight and no one notices, as happened last year!  Quick swap of the crocodile clips from flat battery to fresh battery and light was restored.

We always let the batteries go almost flat before recharging them, as I understand this helps reform the deposits on the plates of batteries that are used infrequently when they are recharged.  If you are to buy a battery for the job, you should definitely go for a leisure battery, rather than an automotive battery.  The former is designed for a long draw of low currents (a few amps) before recharging (eg camping lights, sailing boat nav lights, electric scooter, and so on), whereas the latter is designed for a short, sharp draw of a very high current (a few hundred amps) followed by an immediate recharge when the engine starts (hopefully!).

William Musson of Ecofreak has written to me to say that he is able to supply solar powered lighting kits that are particularly suitable for stables and other remote buildings where mains power is unavailable; as he is a farmer himself, he knows.

9. Aid To Barefoot Trimming

To use as a hoof stand; take one patio umbrella stand (says iron, but plastic may work) put huge bolt in hole where brolly would go, and pad top with foam (my idea - a small plastic ball, split, should fit over the top).  I'd tried a traffic cone, but not really stable or strong enough - this sounds much better!  Someone says umbrella stands are about £10 from Asda.
Row

Axel stands from Halfords work well too!
Vicki

£10 per pair from Halfords, see: www.halfords.com
David

Peter Laidley, the barefoot trimmer for Oz, recommends the plastic agitator out of a top loading washing machine.  My hubby got hold of one for me and it works a treat.  Similar to a traffic cone but stronger and more stable and shorter.  I just taped an old sponge to the top to cushion it.  Very cheap (or nothing if you know someone who is chucking one out).
Jane

10. Managing Thrush

Alex offers this tip: I seem to remember seeing some conversations about thrush generally in the e-mails on the site and I would like to remind you to carefully wash all equipment you use on it.  If you have athletes' foot or thrush yourself, washing socks and pants in the washing machine doesn't kill it off and you can re-infect.  I believe putting such items in the microwave works.  Therefore, any cloths and non-metallic tools can be subjected to a blast but boiling water and laid out in the sun to dry seems the answer for the rest.

11. Managing Mud Fever

Branwen offers this tip: To avoid mud fever I bring in my horses every night and never hose legs off.  Mud fever can only occur if the germ in the mud is in contact with the skin and has sufficient moisture to multiply.  The horse's feathers and leg hair keep any mud and moisture away from the skin - until we blast it with a hosepipe of course. Hosing soaks through to the skin and can drive mud in between the hairs.

Rub only in the direction of the hair with a handful of hay or straw until all the mud is removed.  It takes me less than five minutes to do two horses (a lot quicker than hosing).  This will also help to dry off any excess moisture held in the coat and not force any mud or water into contact with the skin.  Any white socks may still look a bit brown, but will be glistening by morning.

We've had terrible trouble at our yard with mud fever and mine are the only horses that don't get hosed and don't have mud fever.

If you're unfortunate enough to catch a dose there are very few effective chemicals - iodine (which stains everything yellow) or chlorhexidine (the main ingredient of Hibiscrub) are the main ones.  If you use Hibiscrub as a wash, you'll end up soaking the skin and removing any natural oils - so not a lot of help!  In the past I've treated mud fever using another common product containing chlorhexidine - mouthwash!  You can spray it on (from a plant mister) so you don't have to mess about scrubbing or rubbing very sore skin and it's alcohol based so dries quickly.  I found it penetrates the scabs well too.  And your horse smells beautifully minty!

Please note - only some mouthwashes (generally the more expensive) contain chlorhexidine.

Hope this is a help.  I also read that flowers of sulphur (which is brilliant as a feed additive for strong hooves and supple joints) mixed with glycerine has been used on American racehorses for over 100 years with great effect.

Remember:  Prevention is better than a cure.

Lewis has been asked about methods of dealing with Mud Fever and what he has verified from the veterinarians that he checked with back in Texas and in the UK, as well as other trainers with MF experience is explained on Lewis's website.