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Build Your Own Permanent Mounting Block – A Simple and Essential Fixture for Riding Facilities

Helyn, Jasper & the new mounting block. Photo from Alayne Blickle

I discovered the joys of a “real” mounting block about ten years ago when I tore my right anterior cruciate ligament and several other key ligaments that stabilized that knee joint. After the requisite surgery, my wait to get back on my horse was going to be six or more …

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Footing Options for Confinement Areas – Gravel, Sand, and Hog Fuel are the Most Common Choices

Gravel works well particularly in wetter conditions or with more organic soils. Photo by Kim Roe

Footing is an important consideration for confinement areas. Using some type of footing, at least in the high traffic areas, will reduce mud by keeping your horse off the soil surface and avoiding erosion. Less mud equals less chance of nutrients and sediments running off and polluting surface waters, too. …

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Safety Tips for Trail Riding During a Pandemic – Getting Out is Possible if You Use Caution

Photo by Alayne Blickle

Park with extra distance between rigs so no one is tempted to visit closely and so you can comfortably maintain a six to ten-foot distance from others. Avoid trailering with others in the same vehicle by driving separate rigs instead.   Typically, this monthly column focuses on smart, healthy, and …

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Make the Most of Your Social Distancing

by Alayne Blickle (From March 2020 Horses for Clean Water Newsletter)   Over the 40 plus years I’ve owned horses, I have experienced a variety of what were (at the time) frightening outbreaks of equine diseases—Potomac horse fever, Equine Protozoa Myolitis, West Nile virus, and Equine Herpesvirus Neurologic, to name a …

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Above-Ground Burial Options for Equines – An Interview with Michelle Melaragno of Compassionate Composting

Photo by Alayne Blickle

This past fall I was a presenter at the Best Horse Summit in Maine. While there, I had the opportunity to tour a unique equine business, Compassionate Composting, which deals exclusively with composting dead horses. Before you wrinkle up your nose and turn away, ponder the fact that in many …

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Small Farm Makeover: Shelter Requirements for Horses

Small Farm Makeover: Shelter Requirements for Horses

Begin with the Essential Basics when Designing a Home for Your Horses By Alayne Blickle   Providing shelter for your horse can mean anything from a tree in a pasture to a nice, big barn. In this article I will consider the basic shelter requirements. Future articles will review considerations …

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Slow Feeders for the Health of Your Horse

Exploring Options By Alayne Blickle   A lack of enrichment opportunities and boredom in horses can contribute to health issues such as weight gain, ulcers, stall vices (chewing, pawing, weaving, cribbing), fighting between horses, crabbiness under saddle, even colic. An increased exercise schedule, more turnout time, utilizing track paddocks, or …

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