Cherry Hill's Horsekeeping Almanac

Keep your horse happy and healthy throughout the entire year. Veteran trainer Cherry Hill provides a comprehensive month-by-month guide to horse care that includes seasonal stable chores and maintenance procedures that promote equine health. Reminding you to check for ticks in April, buy hay in July, and set up winter bedding in October, each month's reference charts, to-do lists, and climate notes will help you establish routines that follow the natural cycles of the animals and the land. 
Cherry Hill is an internationally known instructor and horse trainer and has written numerous books, including 101 Arena Exercises for Horse & Rider, Horsekeeping on a Small Acreage, How to Think Like a Horse, What Every Horse Should Know, and Horse Care for Kids. Visit her at www.horsekeeping.com, where you can find information on her books, DVDs, and horsekeeping knowledge. Preface

We Horsekeepers

Long Tail Ranch

Using This Book



Late Winter

January

  Tracking your weather

  Latitude map

  Setting up records

  Monitoring vital signs

  Daily visual exam

  Good manners for farrier visits

  Cold weather feed rule

  Calculating your horse's weight and height

  Mountain lions

  Bobcats and lynx

  Internal parasites

  Deworming dos and don'ts

  Windbreaks

  Sanitation

  Saddle check

  Leather tack care

  Income tax overview

  Know your knots

  Rhino #2 for your mare

  Foaling kit

  Barn cleaning

  Maintaining your tractor

  Beet pulp mash

  Deworming

  Bots

  Winter weather patterns

February

  First-aid kit

  Finding and choosing a farrier

  Hay is for horses

  Hay amount

  Natural feeding

  Predators

  Pasture check

  Electric fences

  Spread compost

  Late winter grooming routine

  Shedding

  Bridle check

  Turnout halter

  Liability and property insurance

  Power outages

  Wood chewing

  Manure-handling equipment

  Pill prep

  Health food for horses



Spring

March

  Floods

  Time change

  Immunizations

  Mud season

  Thrush

  Beet pulp

  Chore sandwich

  Birds

  Time to let your land rest

  Manure management

  Grooming tools for early spring

  Halters and lead ropes

  Trailer (shipping) boots

  Budget

  Cost of raising a foal

  Breeding contract

  Stallion selection

  Life in the pen

  Choosing the right mower

  Natural horsekeeping

  Flooding in the South

April

  Lightning precautions

  Time change in Canada

  Ten skin ailments to avoid

  Hoof cracks

  Grains

  Eagles

  Turkey vultures

  Ticks

  Miller moths

  Tent caterpillars

  Spring pasture tune-up

  Handling manure

  Helmets

  Back in the saddle

  Rain sheets

  Buying a horse

  Ground training review

  Predicting foaling

  Hazardous wastes

  Spring cleanup

  Spring vehicle maintenance

  Pill paste

  Horse colors

  Conformation

  Midwest tornado season

May

  Hail

  To shoe or not to shoe

  Summer caretaker

  Giving horses treats

  Snakes

  Spring pasture

  Composting

  How to bathe a horse

  Clipping

  Tail care

  Saddle pad care

  Blanket storage

  Lessons

  Leasing

  Hay inventory

  Trailer loading

  Foaling

  Round pen size

  Fire strips

  Servicing equipment

  Rotary harrow

  Correct weight

  Mold and mildew

  A continent of pastures



Summer

June

  Hurricanes

  Solstice

  West Nile virus

  Laminitis

  Sand colic

  Psyllium

  Grazing

  Gophers, et al.

  Mosquitoes

  Poisonous plants

  Mowing

  Fencing

  Multiple manure piles

  Grooming on the go

  Daily visual checklist

  Knots

  Fly sheets

  Saddling revie