Horses Hoof & Skin Health

As an equine owner, it is important to maintain your horse’s hoof and skin health. Given that we live in the Maritimes, we sometimes see a lot of precipitation and moisture. Keeping our barns and equine companions as clean and dry as possible is essential. Anything we can do to minimize mud, puddles and manure around the barns and paddocks will help reduce precipitation and moisture. If left unattended, it can cause health issues with horses’ hooves and skin and create a nesting ground for flies. Issues such as mud fever, white line disease, thrush and rain rot can become a serious concern as a horse owner.

To prevent severe concerns for your horses, ensure that you manage your property to the best of your ability. Here are some tips to help you minimize precipitation and moisture:

• Proper drainage around the property is critical to ensuring dryer ground, which will lessen stagnant water.
• Weekly paddock maintenance helps remove old manure and excess hay. This should include run-ins as well, not just pastures and paddocks.
• Ensuring that your horse gets to dry off at least once per day will significantly reduce the risk of health issues.
• Routine grooming gets your hands on your equine companion to ensure you are not missing any signs of skin issues or irritations. Remove any thick mud from their legs or body and ensure proper attention is given where needed.

By providing your horse with the best maintenance, you’re not just ensuring their health, but also their soundness and ability to perform their job for years to come. This reassurance should give you the confidence to tackle any challenges that come your way in maintaining your horse’s hoof and skin health.

For more advice on maintaining your horses’ health, check out our related blogs or ask the Experts at your local Feeds’n Needs!
Deworming Your Horse
Maintaining Your Horses Health

Deworming Your Horse

Deworming your horse four times a year is ideal. It is recommended to do it once per season, alternating between various types of dewormer to help keep the parasites from becoming immune to the ingredients. If symptoms persist, contact your veterinarian. 

Our Equine Worming Products:
Panomec (1.87% Ivermectin):
Treats large and small strongyles, threadworms, pinworms, ascarids, hairworms, large mouth stomach worms, and bots.
Safe for horses of all ages, pregnant mares, and foals over eight weeks.

Strongid P (6.6% Pyrantel Pamoate):
Treats large and small strongyles, pinworms, ascarids, and tapeworms.
Safe for horses, pregnant mares, and foals over eight weeks.

IVL Ivermectin Liqiud (Ivermectin):
Treats internal nematodes and bots.
Safe horses of any age, pregnant mares, foals over eight weeks

Quest (2% Moxidectin):
Treats large and small strongyles, roundworms, stomach worms, pinworms, hairworms, integumentary microfilariae, tapeworms, and bots.
*MUST HAVE SPECIFIC WEIGHT OF HORSE AS YOU CAN EASILY OVERDOSE ON QUEST PRODUCTS*
Safe for horses, ponies 16 weeks +, and pregnant mares.

Quest Plus (2% Moxidectin & 12.5% Praziquantel):
Treats large and small strongyles, roundworms, stomach worms, pinworms, hairworms, integumentary microfilariae, tapeworms, largemouth stomach worms, and bots.
*MUST HAVE SPECIFIC WEIGHT OF HORSE AS YOU CAN EASILY OVERDOSE ON QUEST PRODUCTS*
Safe for horses, ponies 16 weeks +, and pregnant mares.

Safeguard (10% Fenbendazole):
Treats large and small strongyles, roundworms, and pinworms.
Safe for horses, ponies, foals, and pregnant mares.

Eqvalan Gold (1.55% Ivermectin & 7.75% Praziquantel)
Treats tapeworms, large and small strongyles, threadworms, pinworms, roundworms, hairworms, large mouth stomach worms, and bots. 

Eqvalan Gold is the most popular broad-spectrum wormer we sell.
*NOT SUITABLE FOR PREGNANT MARES*
Safe for foals over eight weeks, horses and ponies.

PowerMectin (1.87% Ivermectin):
Treats large and small Strongyles, intestinal threadworms, pinworms, ascarids, hairworms, largemouth stomach worms, neck threadworms, and bots.
Safe for horses, pregnant mares, and foals over eight weeks.

Worms by Season:
Spring: Roundworm/Tapeworm
Summer: Roundworm/Small Redworm
Fall: Encysted Redworm/Tapeworm/Bots
Winter: Tapeworm/Pinworm

At Feeds’n Needs, we think your horse deserves the best care! Stop by your local Feeds’n Needs, and one of our Experts can show you our selection of worse dewormers and help you find the right one.

Check out our other horse blogs!
Maintaining Your Horses Health

Maintaining Your Horses Health

Yearly veterinarian checkups are highly recommended for every species of animal, horses included. Your vet can administer vaccinations to prevent illness, assess and provide insight on your horses’ condition and overall health, and evaluate their teeth condition and float your horses’ teeth when needed. Here are a few subject areas that are crucial to maintaining your horses health.

Floating Teeth

Floating the teeth is important for the overall health of your horse and to ensure its comfort. The process of floating the teeth is done to remove any sharp hooks made in the teeth by the horses’ way of chewing. These sharp hooks can cause sores within the mouth tissue. Signs that your horses’ teeth need floated can be that he is losing weight unexplainably or dropping food while eating.

Hooves

Horses hooves require trims every 6-8 weeks to maintain healthy feet. Hoof trimming can be done by a professional farrier or blacksmith, or can be learned by horse owners through hoof care courses or through the teachings of a professional. Healthy and cared for feet keep horses sound and happy. For most horses, when they are travelling over different surfaces or being used for sport, will require horseshoes to protect their feet from damage. Your veterinarian will have the best recommendations for local hoof care providers.

Deworming 

It is important to deworm your horse regularly to prevent the accumulation of internal parasites. Rotating deworming products helps to provide full coverage for every species of worms. It is usually recommended to deworm your horse once per season, unless your horse develops symptoms of worms such as weight loss, rubbing of tail, diarrhea or constipation, rough hair coat or trouble shedding winter coat, and more. Talk to your veterinarian about your horses’ personal deworming schedule, or if you suspect your horse has a severe infestation.

Feed

A consistent feed program that provides maximum forage feeding options will have the best impact on your horse’s overall health. Your horses’ digestive health and general ability to meet his performance demands depend on the quality and quantity of feed provided for him. A diet of at least 1% of his body weight in hay or grass, with additionally a complete balanced feed supplementing his vitamins, minerals – and requirements of protein, fat, and fiber, will ensure he is at the top of his condition and capabilities.

Providing your horse with the best maintenance to support his health will ensure he stays healthy, sound, and happily performs his job properly for years to come!

Livestock Bedding Options

When it comes to providing your livestock with bedding, making sure it’s clean, absorbent and comfortable is a must. There are several options for materials that you can use to place under your animals in their enclosure to ensure overall well-being. Organic materials are usually best, as they contain lower levels of bacteria counts, resulting in better air quality and less discomfort (and will consequently result in less sores and other harmful ailments). While the type of flooring, animal breed and population density of animals in the enclosure matter when choosing the right bedding, here are a few good organic options to consider when making an informed decision for your furry friends.

Vegetable Litter for bedding

Plant litter is arguable the least harmful option for the environment, as it’s ecological and biodegradable and can be a great solution for your poultry flock! It’s mainly composed of natural elements, like wood chips, hay or pellets and is mainly used for animal enclosures.

Ripe wood

If you opt for a wood-based litter, it’s recommended to use soft wood that’s specially treated for composting purposes if you want better absorption quality. Like wood shavings, which are both absorbent and comfortable for farm animals. An interesting aspect of plant litter is that it doesn’t produce much dust, which benefits the respiratory health of the animals.

Hay and straw

Hay or straw are also materials used to create bedding for farm animals. Hay is cut and dried legumes and or grasses and is commonly used for feed, but lower qualities of hay are great for bedding purposes. Ensuring the quality of the hay is not palatable so animals don’t consume it.

If you’re considering using hay or straw, it’s important to know that there’s a bit more upkeep required due to the lower levels of absorbency than some other litter options. Another thing to consider is to ensure the quality of the hay or straw is older and dry when you are spreading it, as old hay may give off dust, resulting in potential respiratory damage in animals. When they have a high level of humidity, the risk of mold increases which rapidly grows bacteria that can be harmful to your animals.

Peat moss

Within the vegetable little category, you can also find peat moss as an option. This type of litter is becoming increasingly popular, as it tends to be more absorbent than wood or hay and it helps eliminate the amount of flies in facilities. Peat moss has a controlled PH, which helps to reduce odors and the amount of ammonia in the litter. This bedding has even been known to help improve areas of animal health, including udders, legs and airways. 

Animal Welfare During a Heat Wave

On hot days, it’s important to think about our four legged friends because chances are, they are probably hotter than you are.  This article offers a few tips and solutions to help you keep your animals comfortable and cool during hot weather. Be sure to think about animal welfare during a heat wave!

Keep your pet well hydrated

No surprise here! Like their owner, animals must stay hydrated at all times and even more during hot periods. Make sure to give your pets water as often as possible during the day. The same goes for animals on farm. Think, for example, of cows, pigs or even horses, who drink large amounts of water on a normal day. Add a heat wave or drought in there and their water needs significantly amplify. Offer several areas on your property that allow for animals to have easy access to water, either on the ground, around the building or in your home. 

Place ice cubes in the water to keep it cool. One trick to encourage your pet to drink more frequently: put bowls of water throughout your house, instead of having one spot they can go to drink. When going out with your pet, bring more water than you think is enough for yourself and your companion. Also, try to avoid going out in peak heat times (afternoon) and aim instead to go in the morning or the evening when the weather cools down.

If the pavement is too hot, consider putting booties on your pet so they don’t injure or burn their pads. If the weather is too hot, indoor activities are best. Consider playing games to develop the animal’s mental faculties, to allow them to burn energy while avoiding the hot sun.

Avoiding the sun

Close curtains and blinds to prevent the sun’s rays from entering and heating the house. For bird owners, try as much as possible to keep them away from the windows. If allowed, installing a small shaded kiddie pool can prove to be the perfect refreshment tool for dogs who love the water and swimming. 

If you are on a farm, try to have a few places on land where animals can shade, like a shelter.

Identifying heatstroke in your pet

It is crucial to know how to recognize heat stroke in a pet! In case of heatstroke, the animal should see a veterinarian without delay. Here are some important symptoms to watch out for:

• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Bright red gums
• Disorientation
• Body temperature exceeding 40 degrees Celsius

When transporting your animal to the vet, cool it with a cold towel over their body. Do not use ice cubes.

Also, watch out for dogs with flat noses, older animals and young people. They are more at risk of having difficulty breathing during heat waves!

Other tips and tricks

Here are some additional hips to keep your pets cool at all times:

• Freeze a bottle of water and wrap it in a kitchen towel. Then place the cold bottle near the places where you pet is resting.  Your animal should stay near it to cool down.
• Brush your pet often. A tangle free coat will be more comfortable for your pet, especially on a really hot day.
• Leave a cold water base in the bath so that your companions can soak their paws from time to time.