- Ponds on Horse Properties adds value and beautiful but may have some risk
- Wash Racks are a part of a great foothill horse property
- Hitching Posts ad Style, Safety and Convenience
Ponds and small lakes on a horse ranch
Ponds and small lakes are one beautiful piece of a horse property. They add value to the horse property. There are many benefits of having a pond for your horses. One of which is that when it is sweltering outside, horses can go in to the pond and cool off. Swimming is a low impact exercise that many people use when they are rehabilitating a horse. It is also a great “trust exercise” that a person and their horse can try.
Ponds also offer a consistent source of water for the horses. In the cold months of northern California pipes can freeze, watering troughs can be covered with two inch thick ice sheets. When there is a pond in the pasture they can easily paw the ice covering it and get a much needed drink. Since small lakes are usually much larger than most watering troughs they don’t freeze with such thick ice. Although ponds offer many great benefits such as a water supply, they do have some major problems.
Small lakes and ponds are breeding grounds for bacteria and algae. Some algae like Chara algae are harmless. It grows on the bottom of the pond and is just a nuisance to the appearance of the lake or pond. Chara algae along with a host of other types of algae are no problem at all to animals or people. However, there are some algae and bacteria that can be tremendously deadly to people and animals.
One of these is blue-green algae. Blue-green algae is a Cyanobacteria. This algae is usually a light bright green slime that floats on the top of the pond and disperses quickly when touched. This bacteria can bloom in the late summer when temperatures are high. When it blooms it releases a toxin. When a person comes in contact with it, they can show symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting as well as other problems.
Dogs like to swim in water and livestock such as cattle and horses often drink out of ponds where they can ingest a lot of this bacteria. When an animal ingests blue-green algae or licks it off of their coat they can have seizures and diarrhea. Most of the time people don’t catch these symptoms right away when they start or don’t get the animal to the vet in time. These animals will most likely die within twenty four hours. This bacteria will take many horse’s lives if it is not taken away or the horses are corralled away from the pond.
Another problem that ponds create is a parasite’s and flying bug’s hatching ground. Mosquitoes, as well as other bugs, have their young hatch in the water; still, not moving ponds make the best conditions for this. Some parasites live in the water and can easily be sucked into horses when they are drinking. Roundworms (ascarids) and Large Stongyles live in the water and can cause many problems for horses.
Most people say to fence off a pond so that horses can’t drink up a parasite, injure themselves when they are reaching down the bank to get water, or harm themselves with blue-green algae and other bacteria. When you look for horse property, weigh the risks of having a pond with the benefits.
Wash Racks are a nice feature of a horse ranch
There are many key elements to making a great barn in the Northern California foothills. One of them is the wash rack. A wash rack is a place to rinse off or give your horse a bath. There are many wash racks in the horse world. A wash rack can be just a post and a slab of concrete and a hose. But that is very elemental. There are several things that go into a great wash rack. The can be a good item to add to your horse property checklist.
The absolute main thing about wash racks is the location. Where it is placed is a big key aspect in gold country horse properties. The wash rack should not be placed by a high traffic area because there is a lot of water and it can create mud. Also you don’t want it on a hill; the horses could slip and could fall if it were very slanted. If the wash rack is at a barn where people board horses, it would be best if it wasn’t placed near the parking lot, because stray jets of water can hit the cars.
A vacant stall can be converted to a wash rack. Or it can be placed outside of the barn. Some benefits of it being in a stall are that you can wash them even if it is raining. When the horse is in the wash rack that was an old stall, the horse feels safer than if it were out in the open. The back if the stall can be the back board for the horse. In every wash rack there needs to be proper drainage. You never want your horse to be standing in water.
The flooring is probably the most important thing in the wash rack. Just plan dirt can get very muddy and slippery. Concrete works very well. It drains and it won’t get dirt on the horse and it isn’t too slippery. But in the off chance that the horse does slip and fall concrete is very hard and can be ruff. Rubber mats offer more cushion, and they still drain and can be cleaned easily. Rubber mats can help with cracking in the concrete, and they are quite durable.
All wash racks have to have some where to tie your horse. A hitching rail is one way. But I find that the most popular is cross ties. These keep your horse safe and secure. One thing that most people like is a bar that goes behind the horse so that if they were to pull back they would hit that instead of pulling back just on the cross ties.
The next major thing that goes into a great wash rack is the water. A common hose can and will do the job. But if it has the option to be heated, then that will be a great asset. Heated water helps if you need to run hot water on something on the horse. You can wash the horse all times of the year if the water can be heated.
Hoses can trip and spook the horse. If it were hung from the ceiling of the wash rack that is in the barn, then it would be off the ground. That way it wouldn’t trip the horse. And the last thing that is helpful, but not necessary, is a place to hold shampoo, brushes, and drying tools. A small shelf or basket hung on a wall or near the wash rack is very useful.
Wash racks are part of a quality northern California foothill horse property. Understanding the elements of a horse wash rack can add value to your horse property.
Hitching Posts are a nice convenience and safety feature of any horse property
What is one of the major things that horse owners can’t live without? No, it isn’t a pasture, nor is it a fancy barn; it is the hitching post that they tie their horse to. Horse owners don’t often think about where they are tying their horse. It is just there and they use it when they are tacking up, grooming, clipping, checking and doctoring wounds, when they are getting trimmed and shoed, and so on. What goes into these amazing and indispensable inventions?
Hitching posts have been around for a long time. If you have ever watched an old western movie you will see them outside the bars for the cowboy hero to tie up his horse. There are many types of hitching posts. The ones that you will see in the movies have two stout wooden posts that are dug into the ground and one wooded poll that connects them. They many have metal rings drilled into them or not. I have seen a modern adaptation of that with metal pipe that is cemented into the ground. Just a post of a wooden fence, trees, a lone poll in the ground, the trailer that you hall your horses with, and many more will work great. The list is endless of the things that you can use for a hitching post.
There are some things to take into consideration when choosing what to tie your horse to. It is best if there is some shade. They may be standing there for a while and if a tree is nearby and it offers shade, that may be a good idea. The thing that you use to tie your horse to must be strong and immobile. For instance, the light weight metal pipe fencing is not usually bolted into the ground and so if the horse got spooked and he pulled back, he could easily pull several panels of the fence on top of him and get injured.
The pretty white vinyl fencing often used around arenas is weak and they can easily break it, creating sharp strands that can jab them. Many horses like to paw when they are tied. Sometimes they can get their foot caught in their lead rope. In order to help prevent this, horses that are tied with the lead rope not lower then the beginning of their chest can’t paw and get it caught. Most hitching posts are about four feet high or taller.
The humble hitching post, a piece of wood, metal or just a helpful tree nearby is an essential part of every horse property. I would say that most every horse owner would say that life would be nearly impossible without a means of tying their horse. A good hitching post on the perfect horse property will be strong, shaded, have good ground for the horse to stand on, and tall enough so that their horse can’t hurt themselves. Hitching posts are just one piece of a horse property. They aren’t flashy and they don’t take up very much room, but they are a very key part.
