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Middleton Place Equestrian Center Blog

Getting Ready for a Horsey Holiday and Horsey New Year! (Part Two!)

12/24/2020

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In part two of this blog series, we are going to finish talking about preparing your horses, barns, and stables for winter!

Hello trail friends, and welcome back to the blog! We hope that you've been working on going through the checklist we shared with you in part one of this blog and putting it to good use for your horses, stables, and barns! We also hope that it helped prepare you with any last-minute items you might have forgotten or might have not even thought about. For all of our first-time horse owners, we know that every changing season brings another lesson to learn, more excitement, and even more surprises. Owning a horse for the first time is very similar to having a child. It is a beautiful and magnificent creature that needs your help, dedication, and care. The longer you have your horse you find out more and more things that all the manuals and books never mentioned. They're worth it though, aren't they?

While so many people might hate the cold weather, especially for those not used to it here in Charleston or the South East, it might surprise you that it can still be a very wonderful and beautiful season with your horse. There is nothing quite like seeing a horse crunch its way through a frosty field in the morning while their breath puffs up around their head. There is also nothing like watching a horse play in the snow, but that might be an even rarer event here in Charleston. You might have to make a trip up north to see that! To make this winter season as special as it can be, make sure to take this blog to heart. Make sure to follow all of the tips, suggestions, and ideas we are providing in both of these checklists to allow both you and your horse to enjoy this chilly season. If you put the work in, this will be an easy winter to navigate and work through. After this crazy year, that is something we all need, right?

For all of our horse owners, don't forget that we have some of the best horse boardings right here in Charleston. We are here to help care for your horse when you need it most. If your stables are barns are ill equipt for the season, if you need to go out of town on an emergency, or just need an extra pair of hands Middleton Equestrian Center boarding is here for you. Please don't hesitate to reach out and talk with us if you have any questions or comments about our horse boarding! Also, we are still open for our historical trail rides! Dress in layers and come see the Lowcountry in a way you never have before! We are still following all COVID precautions, and what better way to adventure out and stay socially distant than on the back of a beautiful horse? If you are still looking for a wonderful holiday or end of the year gift, shop small and give big with Middleton this year! Gift cards are available to give to all of your loved ones. Introduce them to the best horseback riding in Charleston, and share some of the best horseback riding trails in Charleston with your loved ones. Make sure to visit our website to learn more, and we are always here for all of your questions!

Let's get back to the blog series, shall we? We still have a little wiggle room for these last-minute additions for winter preparations since it has been a mild winter here in the Lowcountry so far, but as we all know that can change in an instant. Let's get back to work!

COMFY AND COZY!
As we mentioned in the first part of this blog, your horse will be burning a lot more calories during the winter months to keep them warm. While they are burning these calories to stay warm and eating more to help with this, they will still need a little extra protection from the cold. Allow their natural coats to grow out as much as possible, but keep up with their grooming habits and schedules. If you plan or working or training your horses hard during these cooler months, keep them trimmed. This will make sure that they will not get overheated during their training and work sessions. In either of these situations, make sure to have warm, waterproof, and lightweight blankets to provide extra warmth throughout the winter. Make sure to check your horse's skin often when they wear their blankets for extended periods. Blankets, while extremely helpful, can cause irritation and sores from rubbing or long term wear if not properly taken care of. Before blanket wearing weather arrives, make sure to inspect and clean each of your blankets, since it has been almost a year since they were last used or touched. Replace and repair them if needed before it gets too cold. Also, make sure you have enough blankets for all of your horses. Your younger horses might have had a growth spurt since the last time they wore their blankets, and your older horses might have lost some weight due to their age. If more blankets need to be purchased for these reasons, make sure to do so! Blankets need to fit your horses properly. Ill fitted blankets can cause irritation, be unsafe, or not provide the warmth your horses need while wearing them.

The cold weather will attack one of your horse's most fragile parts of their bodies, and that is their feet! Make sure if they are going to be shod all winter that you pick the proper shoe fittings with your Ferrier. You can choose shoes that will help them navigate the snow and ice much easier and help them prevent slipping. Regardless if you are going to be choosing to keep your horses shod or not, their hooves need to be cleaned of cold wet mud and ice every day to avoid infection and irritation. Make sure that they are also dry at the end of their day when they are put back into their stables. If you are choosing to go without shoes for the winter months, make sure to do so before it gets too cold, and give them time to acclimate to this change.

HEALTHY CHANGES!
Make sure your horse has a proper and thorough visit with the vet before the cold weather hits and stays around for a while. It might have been a minute since their winter or spring checkup, and this is a good opportunity to catch any early issues or help prevent anything that could potentially happen to them during the cold months. This can be a great time to ask for other supplements and additives for your horses from your vet to help make the winter months healthier and happier for them. Make sure you give your horse a good balance of indoor and outdoor time throughout the winter. However, it is important to make sure that they are kept away from deep snowdrifts and extra icy paths to prevent slipping and damage done to their legs. Make sure the ventilation in your barns and stables is enough to keep fresh air flowing throughout, enough to limit dust and debris build-up, but not enough to cause drafts in the barn. Your horse's skin can become extra sensitive through the harsh cold months so if it is possible, exercise them in a dry and clean area through the winter!

Also, consider your health, safety, and comfort this time of year. If you get sick and you're unable to care for your horses, what will they do without you?  Make sure you have the proper winter clothing to keep you warm and safe while being comfortable enough to do your job and daily tasks of caring for your horse.  Also, think about your day to day tasks and duties, and ways to make them easier. One way to help is to insulate your hand tools. You can cover them with blankets when they're not being used, store them in styrofoam, or you can even slip styrofoam pipes over the handles of all of your hand tools to create a little extra insulation. Grabbing or using very cold hand tools can be cold enough to burn, even when wearing gloves. Make sure to properly clean all of your hand tools before these winter months and before the new year. When you get into the depths of winter, you won't want to stop and make time for doing simple tasks like that, you will want to get your work done and get back inside.

This is also an excellent time to service all of your power equipment on your property. Check all of the engines, oil levels, lubricants, and tires on your tractors, mowers, trucks, snowblowers, and all of your powered equipment. When stocking up on equipment and supplies for the winter, don't forget back up items to help with broken hand tools, power tools, and all of your vehicles. Again, you want all of these items to be working properly so when the bad weather comes, you won't get stuck with a broken-down tractor, truck, or snowblower on the bad weather days.  

Time to get to work friends! We have been busily working on all of these things ourselves; preparing our horses, barns, stables, tools, equipment, and ourselves for what's to come. Our staff has been working as hard as ever to not only prepare for this but to keep up with keeping our stables and riding equipment sanitized to help keep us all safe during the cold weather. We are thankful that the temperatures during the first few weeks of December have felt more like fall, but who knows when that will change. We also want to thank each of you for what this year has been. You have helped us continue to share our passion and love for our horses and our horse trails. You have helped us continue to show off the beautiful land of the Lowcountry, and you helped keep all of our staff and fellow guests safe and happy. We couldn't be more thankful for all of that! We aren't sure what 2021 will bring, but we hope it's truly a year to celebrate. Stay safe and healthy friends, we can't wait to see you on our trails in the new year! From all of us at Middleton Equestrian Center, we wish you a very Horsey Holiday and a very Horsey New Year!


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Deep Cleaning Your Barn

5/19/2020

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Due to the current state of things, you may or may or may not have been able to get a start on your barn's spring cleaning. Since the Lowcountry is starting to open up again, it is the perfect time to get started! 

Hello Lowcountry friends and fellow horse lovers! We are so excited because it looks like we will see you back in our barns and back on our trials sooner than many of us thought possible. With that becoming a reality more and more every day, we have started on our barns and stables deep cleaning and have continued to follow safety guidelines to keep our employees safe. We also want to make sure that when you come and visit us again, you'll stay healthy and safe too! Since we are digging into the deep cleaning of our barns and stables and are continuing to sanitize everything, we wanted to share some tips and suggestions on how to give your barn the best deep clean possible! 

If you are are a farmer or a horse owner, deep cleaning and disinfecting has always been apart of your cleaning schedule. Horses are so susceptible to bacteria and germs that are found on all surfaces in a barn and anything they can come in contact with, that it is always important to keep up with a consistent cleaning schedule. When this pandemic set in, the need to clean and sanitize was nothing new to us! Regularly disinfecting your barns and stables have always been important to help with the care and health of your horses. It has always helped with keeping your horses and employees healthy. But, with the world in the state that it is, it's more important than ever. As many of you know, this is hard work. It takes time, and a lot of extra elbow grease to do it well. But it is always worth it. 

When you get started, it's important to move your horses away from the area that you will be cleaning, and relocate them until you're finished. Also, it is important to remove their bedding from their stalls to maximize the deep clean. When cleaning with soap, detergent, and disinfectants of any kind, make sure that you choose based on how it could affect your farm, your animals, and yourself. Always wear the proper clothing and safety gear to keep yourself safe when using chemicals of any kind. 
  • As you're getting started, it's important to remember that you are cleaning more than just your barn and stables. You need to make sure to clean the barn walls, doors, paddocks, fences, and gates. You need to make sure to clean and pay attention to any tools, equipment, farm equipment, vehicles, trailers, down to the very last horse toy. Make sure to go through this process consistently to help avoid the spread of any sickness in your horses, to keep your employees safe, and to help keep the current pandemic away from your farm. 
  • Move any equipment out of the barn and stables that could potentially block the surface space of the barn itself from getting a full deep clean. Move these items outside and to another location where they can be cleaned and disinfected at a different time. 
  • Muck out all of the stables as you normally would, paying extra attention to get everything out. This can be a good time to get rid of all the bedding in your horse's stall. 
  • Now it's time to get out your power washer! Start in the back of your barn and work your way forwards. Start at the top of the walls/ceilings and work your way down to the floor. Push the dirty water towards the drains in your barn. 
  • If your barn has dirt flooring, along with moving or getting rid of your horse's bedding, remove the top layer of dirt as best you can. Go down a few inches if possible. 
  • Once this process has been finished, to help with bacteria coming back due to the use of hard or well water, or possibly using too high of pressure with your power wash, it's time to scrub your stables down. This might seem tedious, but it is very important. 
  • Scrub all of the stables surfaces with water and detergent, and spend the time to rinse everything thoroughly. 
  • Allow the stables to completely dry out. Opening the barn doors and windows will help with this, along with the use of fans. It is very important to let everything dry. This can be the longest part of the process. 
  • Once this has been completed, create a solution of 10% bleach and 90% water and spray each stall with it. Once that has been done, clean each stall and the rest of the barn with the proper disinfectants of your choice. This process allows more bacteria to be cleaned away before the disinfectant is applied. The disinfectant will then be able to kill even more germs. 
  • Make sure you are disinfecting everything from their toys to their feed buckets! While the barn is drying or has been disinfected and is drying, it is the perfect time to work on the barn's accessories and these other objects that need a deep clean just like the barn. Make sure they are cleaned and disinfected before you put them back into the clean barn. 
  • A second round of disinfectant spray doesn't hurt! 

Like we mentioned above, keeping a barn and its horse stalls clean and disinfected takes time and serious work. But, the horse's health and the health of your employees is worth that time. Also know that when you are getting ready to head back out on our trails and to visit our horses again, a deep clean like this has always been normal for us. It is nothing new. It is something that we take very seriously. We have been and will continue to apply these ideas to helmets, saddles, and any other riding gear that is used by our guests and visitors. Remember, once we do get back to normal we offer the best horseback riding in Charleston, the best horse trail riding in Charleston, and more. During this break, take the time to visit all of the pages of our website, and enjoy learning more about Middleton trail rides! We will see you soon!

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