Depending on what part of the country you live in, the temperatures are warming and signs of spring are popping up. The days are getting longer which means more time to ride in the daylight! But before you jump on your trusty steed and run through a meadow of wildflowers, you might want to start preparing your horse for the warmer weather and make sure they are ready for the (likely) increased activity levels. Read on for some tips on preparing your horse for spring!

Tips for Preparing Your Horse For Spring

1. Get Back on a Deworming Schedule

• Everyone has their own deworming schedule, but it’s important to deworm in the spring as that’s when the number of insects starts to increase.
  • The Veterinary Teaching College at Colorado State University has a printable recommended deworming schedule available online.
• We have found that using Foundation Daily Detox helps keeps the parasite presence down thanks to the diatomaceous earth.
  • We have a blog coming out this month about why we use D.E. in our products. Keep an eye out for it!
  • NuTrack Digestive Supplement can also aid in your deworming program since it flushes the digestive tract on a daily basis. This makes it hard for parasites to latch on. For more information on how NuTrack works, read this blog.
    

2. Evaluate Your Horses Physical Condition

• Some horses are ridden regularly throughout the winter, and others are kept more inactive. This can be thanks to extreme weather conditions or owner’s preference.
• Before jumping back into a training program in the spring, take into consideration the horse’s activity level through the colder months. Also consider their time spent outdoors and their weight gained or lost.
  • Cissus Quadrangularis supplement is great for joint support and collagen production. It can help to ease stiff and sore joints and prevent injury- especially when increasing activity level. 
• Make sure to double-check their hoof health and shoes so they have a solid foundation to walk and ride on! As the old saying goes, no hoof, no horse. Many horse owners choose to take shoes off in the winter months. If that’s your schedule, you may need to get back into your farrier on your typical 8-week rotation. 
• Depending on their physical activity throughout the colder months, it’s best to start with easy exercises, gently building up to more exertion
  • Even if all you do for the first week of getting back in shape is to walk your horse for 30 min, that will do them more good than overtaxing their out-of-shape muscles and potentially putting extra strain on their joints. 
    

3. Make Sure They Have Proper Nutrition and High-Quality Feed

• Much like humans, horses can’t reach peak physical condition without the proper diet and adequate nutrition
  • This means free-feeding high-quality forage to keep the horse’s stomach full and stomach acids busy
• Use supplements that are made with top tier, all-natural ingredients that give your horse nutrients that aren’t naturally in forage
  • Animal Element supplements contain beneficial vitamins and minerals that help your horse reach peak physical condition and improve their performance. 46 out of 50 ingredients we use are food-grade ingredients and the other 4 are feed-grade. ALL of our all-natural supplements have no artificial additives or fillers.
  • We recommend Foundation Daily Detox and NuTrack for EVERY horse, regardless of activity or competition level
    

Animal Element Is Here To Help

As always, consult with your veterinarian about any medical concerns and please remember, we are NOT veterinarians. We just have a passion for healthy, safe, and effective equine supplements and fully believe in our products! As the air gets warmer and sunlight hours increase, enjoy some much needed outside time with your horses! Just remember as you are preparing your horse for spring, you should deworm, ease into training slowly, and feed them a nutritious and proper diet. For more information about our supplements, ingredients we use, and success stories on Animal Element, go to our website. Happy trails!

Blog content written and prepared by Animal Element loving team at FaithHanan.com