Horse care tips

A healthy adult horse is comfortable between about 5°C and 25°C. Below 5°C it warms itself by eating more forage, seeking shelter and moving.

Keep stables well ventilated all year, winter included. Fresh air reduces the risk of breathing problems such as equine asthma.

Maximise turnout and free exercise, and keep stabled hours to a minimum — long periods stabled are a colic risk factor.

Choose good-quality, low-dust bedding with no mould spores — it helps prevent breathing problems for your horse and for you.

Poor urine absorption lets ammonia build up in a stable, which harms a horse's airways. Pick bedding that absorbs well, and muck out thoroughly.

Good high banks and a thick bed help protect a horse that gets cast against the wall. Rotate the banks regularly so they don't turn mouldy and dusty.

A full muck-out every day gives the healthiest stable. Deep litter saves time but exposes horses to more ammonia.

Store loose bedding such as straw in a dry, weatherproof barn so it doesn't go mouldy or dusty — and keep it secure against theft.

Minimum stable sizes: 12ft × 12ft for a horse, 12ft × 14ft for horses over 17hh, 10ft × 12ft for large ponies and 10ft × 10ft for ponies.

For good airflow, leave at least 2–3 ft (60–90 cm) of clear space between the eaves and your horse's ears when it stands normally.

Cover the whole stable floor with bedding or matting — especially by the door, where horses stand most — to save their legs from bare concrete.

Put water buckets in a corner so they're harder to knock over. Buckets also let you see how much your horse is drinking.

Keep a separate muck heap for horses in quarantine, including bedding that looks clean.

Thoroughly clean feed bowls and water buckets at least once a week; a correctly diluted disinfectant can be used for a deep clean.

Horses only lie down fully when they feel safe. Give stabled horses enough space and bedding to stretch out flat.

In freezing weather, check water troughs and buckets two or three times a day and break and remove the ice.

In hot weather, check automatic water troughs twice a day to make sure they're working and clean — and add an extra bucket if needed.

In very hot weather, horses in wooden stables may be better turned out by day unless the stables are well ventilated. Brick stables tend to stay cooler.

Fly rugs and masks help, but clean stables and regularly poo-picked fields make the whole yard less attractive to flies.

Midges are most active around dawn and dusk. Bringing sweet-itch-prone horses in, or rugging them, at these times reduces bites.

Fine insect mesh over stable doors and windows reduces midges indoors. Introduce it gradually if it limits your horse's view of its neighbours.

In cold weather, adding some warm water to buckets slows freezing and may encourage a horse that dislikes icy water to drink.

Automatic drinkers can freeze in cold snaps. Have buckets ready as a backup.

In hot weather, stable buckets can turn warm and stale. Change them more often to keep the water fresh and appealing.