Tips on how to take care of a horse-and fun horse toys for kids!!!!

When you are cleaning a horse's hoof, be careful not to put your foot under the horse's hoof. Put your foot to the side of the horse's hoof - or else, if the horse wants to put its foot down, it will land on your foot. Believe me, it is not fun one bit. It happened to me yesterday and I hope it does not happen again. Also, when you pick a horse's hoof you want your butt facing the horses side and your face not right in front of the hoof or else if the horse tries to kick, guess what, your face is a perfect aim.

[This diagram of a horse's hoof is from Equine Anatomy on Wikipedia.]

1. Use a curry comb to loosen the mud on the horse.
2. Use a hard brush to really get all the junk of the horse's skin and hair.
3. Use the soft brush to finish it off.
4. Finally use a hoof pick to get out all the dirt and maybe even pebbles.
5. If your horse is super dirty there is a type of spray that removes tuff stains..

You will need:

1. A wheelbarrow to carry out the horses business for you.
2. A pitchfork to pick up the poop and pee for you.
3. A four-pronged pitchfork to loosen the shavings.
4. A shovel to clean up.
5. And a broom is to make the stall neat.
And I want you all to know that there are plenty more choices for bedding than just shavings.

[Photo of equipment is from Stall Cleaning or Mucking Out by Katherine
Blocksdorf, at About.com.]

You know, there's something to be said for doing a good job mucking a stall. Doing a good job with it gives you a sense of a job well done and the satisfaction of knowing that your horse will enjoy it. You will also grow a bond with your horse because, he will now that you care about him.

Now it's time to learn how to muck a stall
1. First use the pitchfork to pick up the droppings that you see. Toss them in the wheelbarrow.
2. Try to loosen the shavings and then neatly put them to the side so you can see if there are any loose droppings.
3. Pick up the shavings that are still wet on the floor with the shavings pitchfork. You will be able to tell whether or not it is wet because, it will be darker than the other shavings.
4. Your horse will be nice and comfy now that the wet shavings have been removed. Shovel up the rest of the manure and, if you want to make it look neat you can sweep a little were the front of the stall is.
5. If you need to add new shavings, cut the tape on the bale carefully with a safety barn knife or scissors.
6. If you do not need the whole bale, you will need the four pronged pitchfork to loosen it up and spread it around the stall.
7. JUST TO GIVE YOU A HEADS UP, MUCKING OUT A STALL TAKES 30 MIN.

If you can, keep the manure pile neat.

You really should keep the manure pile into 3 sections:

1. One that you are going to tip the manure onto each day.

2. One that you're leaving to rot down.

3. And, one that has already rotted down - and will be used as compost or thrown out.

[Photo by Alayne Blickel, posted at www.MyHorse.com - Composting Controls Horse Manure.]

You should strech before you get on a horse. The reason it is good to strech is beacaues a horse is realy strong and you may need to use all your strength to control it. You might pull a muscle when you use all that strength,and streching might prevent that. Also, when you stretch it loosens your musculs so even when you do not realize it you grow muscels every time you ride and if you do not stretch, those musels get tense and so when you ride you start to get sour.
Hear are some stretches that you can do:

1. Sit on the floor and spred your legs out as far as you can ( but do not hurt your self ), then stretch up to the sky and then stretch to one leg, stretch to the sky, stretch to the other leg and then stretch as far as you can in between your legs, repeat this exersice 3 times.