HORSEPLAY

PADDOCK INJURIES AND THEIR PREVENTION

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Your horse is a social animal and requires 24/7 access to grass for trickle feeding. However, many of us struggle to balance these needs against our very human desire to wrap our horse up in cotton wool and keep them out of harm’s way. Unfortunately, this leads to far too many horses missing out on valuable paddock time. Instead of cutting back on paddock time, the better option is to make sure that your paddock is ‘horse-proof’, so that it is as safe as possible for your precious equine steed, and also to make sure that your horse is kept content while he is in the paddock, to avoid any of that notorious ‘horseplay’!

Turnout is vital for your horse’s wellbeing, so allow him as much freedom as you possibly can. Whilst group turnout isn’t always possible, it is always best and, in fact, doesn’t necessarily result in more injuries than a horse standing bored in a paddock on his own.

With careful planning, the risk of injury can be greatly reduced.

CREATING THE SAFEST POSSIBLE ENVIRONMENT

Keeping your paddock safe is the easiest part of the process, and just requires a bit of effort. To keep your horse safe, you need to remove any unsuitable fencing, such as barbed wire; remove any poisonous plants; check regularly for any holes or big rocks; and remove any objects that your horse could injure himself on, such as litter. This needs to be done as regularly as possible, as your horse only needs turning out once when there is a hole in his paddock, for serious issues to result.