Horsekeeping
Essentials
- Home: Red Mountain Ranch
- Location: Del Puerto Canyon, Ca
- Horses live in a group on large acreage
- Native pasture and grass hay feed
- Barefoot hoof care
- Worming based on fecal counts
When I got into horses in 2002, I hadn’t thought much about my philosophy of horsekeeping.
Home to us is our 500-acre ranch, so naturally, that’s where my horses would live. As time went by, I began to notice my horses were different from a lot of other people’s horses: they were quiet and sane; they didn’t spook at every little thing; they knew how to handle themselves on hills and rough terrain; they were sure-footed and confident out on the trail; they were always easy to catch; they never developed stall vices; incidents of illness or lameness have been rare. A visitor to the ranch once asked me what kept my loose horses from heading for the hills. It’s hard to explain to people who keep them confined that when we offer our horses freedom, they seek our company.
Another aspect of my evolving horsekeeping philosophy has been a commitment to keeping my horses barefoot. I've written about this in several articles published in The Horse's Hoof. You can read these articles and more by visiting my articles page.
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