An Affordable Round Pen Option

Round pens are great for training and lungeing. Unfortunately, all those panels needed to create one can add up quickly. This summer my husband came up with a cost effective alternative to the traditional round pen.

We used poly tape and t-posts left over from fencing our pasture a few years ago. The round pen is, of course, not "hot" or hooked up to an electric current. However, we did include two strands of the poly tape to create a strong visual barrier. For most horses, this visual barrier is all you need. Especially if you use poly tape around your pasture and it is hot. The horse will associate the pasture poly tape with the round pen poly tape and assume both are electrified.

To cut the cost even more, we simply picked up a rubber gate handle for poly tape fencing at our local farm supply store. Since we already had the left over t-posts and poly tape we only had to buy more t-post caps, tape connectors, and the rubber gate handle. The grand total we spent was $10.00.




I am very satisfied with my round pen, and it has served its purpose well. The only problem I have with the round pen is that my cow uses it as a scratching post and play pen. So about once a week I have to go put the fence caps all back on. But if you don't have a nutty cow in your pasture this shouldn't be a problem for you.

Home Remedy for Ear Mites

Here is a simple, affordable home remedy for ear mites. Rub Vick's Vapo Rub in your horse's ears. Don't apply too far down into the ear canal. I have heard of people using Vaseline for the same purpose, but I think the menthol in the Vick's really helps kill the little critters.

After the Vick's has been on for a few days, wash the inside of the ears with a washcloth and warm, soapy water. (If your horse is sensitive to getting water in his / her ears place a cotton ball in the base of each ear for extra protection.)

I usually treat my horses with this remedy twice a year whether they have ear mites or not. Once in the spring and again in the fall is best.

Saving Money on Wormer

Frugal Equestrian doesn't have to be an oxymoron. I'll regularly be posting about how to save money on all your horse's needs. One of the money pits of regular horse ownership is buying wormer every month or two.

If you buy your wormer at your local feed store the average cost is between $7 and $12 a tube. Over the course of the year that adds up to quite a bit - especially if you have multiple horses. Valley Vet offers a package of rotational wormers (enough to worm one horse every other month for a year) that costs $33.80 - plus shipping. That figures out to be about $5.63 a tube for name brand wormer (the ivermectiin is generic, but all the others are name brand). If you pay an average of $10 a tube and worm once a month you'd be saving around $80 per horse a year with shipping included. Not to mention the gas would you save by not making extra trips to the feed store.

Here is the link to the Premium Wormer Pack at ValleyVet.com: http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=584eb085-1ac4-4111-b25c-a5e25af4b8c7

More Harm Than Good...

I recently purchased a new horse and sold the horse I'd had for several years. When I got her she had a wound on her leg that was still in the process of healing. (The previous owner was very upfront with me about what had happened and the horse had been seen by a vet.)

When I got her home I started cleaning the wound daily with some diluted iodine and treating it with an antibiotic cream. I thought the antibiotic cream would keep the flies away and help provide some protection from dirt and germs. But a few days later I noticed that wound was getting infected. After a few days of the same treatment it was getting worse. Since the previous owner knew the history of the wound I contacted her for advice.

She suggested I just clean the wound and not put the antibiotic cream on it. She thought maybe the cream was holding in dirt and germs that the horse picked up after it was applied. So last night I cleaned the wound with a simple saline solution and left it as it was. Today the wound looks better than it ever has. The swelling has gone down and there are no further signs of infection.

The moral of the story - sometimes too much medicine can be worse than no medicine.

An Introduction

My name is Brittany and I live in Indiana with my husband on a small homestead. Right now I have one horse, a chestnut mare that I call Lady. She is a Quarter Horse mix - the mix being a little bit of Thoroughbred blood. From time to time you may see a picture or two here of our current cow, Francis. With any luck you'll see several more cows popping up in pictures in the near future.
I have been riding since I was six, but didn't get to own my first horse until I graduated from college. While riding is a passion of mine I won't ever claim to know all there is to know about horses. I hope to share with you what I've experienced and also invite others to share their experiences as well. The topics will be wide and varied. Although I ride Western I will also post about subjects that will pertain to English riders as well.