Equine Health Operations LLC

Horse Facts:

If a horse gets too stressed out they can colic and die

If a horse doesn't eat enough they can get stomach ulcers

If a horse eats too much they can founder or colic and die

If a horse gets stressed out and doesn't eat at the same time they will get ulcers, colic and die

If a horse doesn't drink enough...you guessed it, they can colic and die

If they have a drastic change in diet, environment or routine they can indeed colic and die

If you ride your entire life it absolutely does not mean that you are a good rider

If you ask 100 equestrians the same question you will get 106 different answers all of which which will be told with 100% confidence especially from those who bought their first horse last week

Horses can live outside 24/7 and they also can not live outside 24/7

Horses eat hay, grass, grain, expensive supplements, apples, carrots and 100 dollar bills

The pants you wear to shovel s**t, fix fences and ride in the dirt are more expensive then any other pants you will own

Horses are athletes. Athletes that trip on nothing, fall while playing, need stitches from cutting themselves on something that is not visible to the human eye, colic and die under stressful (competition type) situations, are scared of absolutely everything and don't like to be told what to do

Rank, fresh, hot, spicy, wild all mean the same thing and describe a horse on a beautiful spring day when all you want to do is go for a relaxing ride to unwind

Beginner safe, schoolie, husband type, anyone can ride, Grandma's mount, kid safe normally means, this horse is bat s**t crazy but I'm hoping you'll buy it sight unseen if I describe it as a kids horse and then ghost you when you tell me it killed your Grandma

If you are riding a horse and they see a rock that wasn't there yesterday you are possibly in for a wild ride as they avoid this horse eating rock at all costs. Including the cost of your life

If you see a horse on the road slow down.. actually just turn around and go the other way. For some unknown reason a horse often jumps infront of moving cars in order to avoid the scary moving cars

If your horse comes up lame, no problem you just need to rule out a couple of the most common things that it could be. These include ulcers, kissing spine, founder, EPM, HYPP, Lyme, influenza, cushings, sharp teeth, broken teeth, rotten tooth, tooth abscess, knee chips, hairline fractures from head to toe, cancer, pulled muscle, hoof abscess, weak stifle, lice, worms, conformational defect, headaches, sinus infection, bruised sole, ribs or spine out of alignment, poor fitting tack, laminitis, dehydration, vitamin deficiencies, anemia, infection and strangles.

And they have a frog in their foot

If you aren't the one paying the vet bills these horse facts might seem funny but they are in fact, 100% accurate. So if you get a horse please also get yourself a good therapist.

CC:C.Steele

At a time when mowing all that spring grass is full swing. Here is some very important information regarding grass clippings!

Many people think that horses can safely eat grass clippings (grass is grass, right?) but that is a pretty common misconception and grass clippings actually pose a number of dangers to our equine friends.

While grass is meant to be slowly picked, ripped and chewed by the horse, grass clippings can quickly clump and cause choke if the animal ingests too many too fast. Grass clippings are also prone to fermentation which can cause colics, stomach and intestinal impactions, founder and laminitis.

Take-home message: Keep your horse away from grass clippings and in general never feed horses any food without the owner’s permission.

Source: Dr. Jenna Moline, a member of the AAEP Horse Owner Education member. In memory of Chula, a much-loved horse who recently passed away after eating grass clippings thrown into her pasture by a neighbor; shared with the blessing of Chula’s family with hopes to prevent this tragedy from happening to any other horse owners.