Liv’s Tip of the Month – The Vacation Horse Sitter Checklist You Need!

Liv Gude’s advice on the information you should be leaving for your horse sitter! 

Your flights are booked; your bags are packed, and you’ve made arrangements with a trusted friend to look after your horses – but have you provided him or her with all of the information that may be needed?

Here’s a checklist of the details that you may want to leave your horse sitter before you head out of town!

– Emergency contact phone numbers for you, someone else in town, the vet, and your farrier.

– Clear feeding and care instructions, including any details of your horses’ daily routines.

– Your horses’ vital signs including heart rate, temperature, and respirations.

– Your horses’ particular ways of telling you that they don’t feel well. Each horse has their own language.

– Your horses’ medications and when and how to administer. Most horses have that one way, and one way only, they will take something.

– Any quirks that might put your horse sitter in danger – like his tickle spot that makes him kick out.

– A detailed plan of what to do in various emergencies, be it colic, hoof issues, not eating, acting weird, or lacerations and first aid. (Be sure to let your horse sitter know where the first aid kit is!)

– A plan if your horse needs a refill of food, fly spray, etc. Do you have an account at your local feed store where your sitter can just zip over or have you checked your current stock on everything that may be needed?

– Detailed information about what is safe and not safe for your horses to eat as a treat. We so often want our horses to be spoiled when we are away, but not spoiled with something they are allergic to.

– Instructions on how to handle your horse if he is acting like a fool, won’t be caught, is pawing at the gate, you name it. If you are in the middle of training or un-training a behavior, you want your horse sitter to be able to reinforce the same actions.

Now that you’ve left behind the proper information, relax, and enjoy your vacation!

Liv Gude, a former international dressage groom for years, founded proequinegrooms.com as a way to unite grooms in the horse industry. The educational website also serves to entertain and inform horse owners across all disciplines about horse care, grooming, and health. Click here to check it out!

BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!

Liv’s Tip of the Month – Take Care of Your Horse’s Skin from Head to Toe

Liv Gude’s advice on caring for your horse’s skin from head to toe! 

Between heat, sweat, dust, and just horses being horses, there are a lot of skin issues that can pop up.

It’s important give your horse the once over from top to bottom with your fingertips and not just your grooming tools.

Rubs and marks from straps, spurs, girths, and tack can all create pain and swelling for your horse. You will see hair loss, and your horse might even be extra sensitive in that area before a sore pops up.

You might also find flaky skin, hairless patches that are not under tack, hair loss, scratches, oily crusty skin, and even weird itching without any obvious culprit.

Before you reach for your lotion or potion of choice, make sure you know what you are dealing with. Your Vet can help you here, and will be able to prescribe meds to clear up any skin issues.

Know that some skin issues are contagious from horse to horse – like rain rot. Ringworm, a fungal infection, is also contagious to humans. Some dandruff and oily skin spots can be caused by mites and mange.

Liv Gude, a former International Dressage Groom for years, founded proequinegrooms.com as a way to unite Grooms in the horse industry. The educational website also serves to entertain and inform horse owners across all disciplines about horse care, grooming, and health. Click here to check it out!

BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!

Liv’s Tip of the Month – How to Prevent Your Horse from Getting a Sunburn!

Liv Gude’s advice on avoiding sunburn this summer! 

These tips are mostly for the gray and white horses out there, but any horse can benefit from a little cover up in the summer!

– Use sunscreen on noses and faces. The brands that have mostly zinc oxide-based versions tend to last a long time. (You will sometimes find them labelled as baby versions.)

– For socks or stockings, add fly boots.

– Faces and noses also benefit from full protection fly masks, including ears and noses. Add fly sheets, with a neck piece if needed. (Any type of summer horse clothing is best purchased in a light color to help keep things cool!)

Apply sunscreen or use full protection face masks to avoid sunburnt noses!

– Be super mindful of the sun if your horse has braids in; some horses will get sunburned between the braids.

– Get your vet involved if you find your horse has scabs or sores on the white areas, usually on the face or legs. You might think these scabs look like scratches, but horses can be photo sensitive and their pink skin will seemingly boil. It’s quite painful, and UV light can damage the skin quite quickly. Most horses with photosensitivity will despise being in the sun.

Liv Gude, a former International Dressage Groom for years, founded proequinegrooms.com as a way to unite Grooms in the horse industry. The educational website also serves to entertain and inform horse owners across all disciplines about horse care, grooming, and health. Click here to check it out!

BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!

Liv’s Tip of the Month – Stress-Free Horse-Free Vacations

Liv Gude gives us some tips on what information to leave your horse sitter this summer.

Aside from the generally obvious things, like your emergency phone numbers, here is some additional information that you should put together for your caretaker:

1. Your horse’s normal vital signs – heart rate, temperature, and respirations.

2. Your horse’s particular way of telling you they don’t feel well. Each horse has their own language.

3. A list of your horse’s medications, as well as administration details – when and how. Most horses have that one way, and one way only, they will take something.

4. Any quirks that might put your horse sitter in danger – like that tickle spot that makes your horse kick out.

5. A detailed plan of what to do in an emergency – colic, hoof issues, not eating, acting weird, lacerations and first aid, etc. Let your horse sitter know where the first aid kit is!

6. A plan if your horse needs a refill of food, fly spray, etc. Do you have an account at your local feed store where your sitter can just zip over?

7. Detailed information about what is safe, and not safe, for your horse to eat as a treat. We so often want our horses to be spoiled when we are away, but not spoiled with something they are allergic to.

8. Instructions on how to handle your horse if they are acting like a fool, won’t be caught, are pawing at the gate, you name it. If you are in the middle of training or un-training a behavior, you want your horse sitter to be able to reinforce the same actions.

Happy Vacationing!

Liv Gude, a former International Dressage Groom for years, founded proequinegrooms.com as a way to unite Grooms in the horse industry. The educational website also serves to entertain and inform horse owners across all disciplines about horse care, grooming, and health. Click here to check it out!

BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!

Liv’s Tip of the Month – Avoiding Pasture Hazards

Liv Gude gives us some tips on avoiding common pasture hazards.


Now that spring is swinging, your horse’s world may have become a bit greener. Aside from the binge eating risks of all of that fresh salad, you should keep your eyes peeled for some pasture hazards that your horse may, or may not, avoid on his own.

If buttercups are something that cover your land, know that they are toxic to horses. Luckily, they also taste horribly, so most horses avoid them like the plague. However, horses will eat them if they have no other choices. So if you have a barren pasture except for some sparse patches of buttercups, you might want to add some hay for your horse to eat when he’s out.

Dandelions are not toxic, but they are super high in sugars which makes them delicious and tempting. Be wary of your metabolically challenged horse eating them. You might need to switch paddocks, limit turn out, or find another way altogether for your horse to get some turn out.

Also watch out for internal parasites. Pasture piles of previous poops often have worms just waiting to find a new host. If your horse’s pastures are not routinely picked out, you may want to double up on the number of fecal egg counts that you do.

Liv Gude, a former International Dressage Groom for years, founded proequinegrooms.com as a way to unite Grooms in the horse industry. The educational website also serves to entertain and inform horse owners across all disciplines about horse care, grooming, and health. Click here to check it out!

BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!

Liv’s Tip of the Month – Fitting a Grazing Muzzle

Liv Gude gives us some tips on fitting your horse’s grazing muzzle


A well fitted grazing muzzle can help your horse stay healthy and trim, all while avoiding an increased risk of laminitis in some cases. But, muzzles can rub your horse bald, and even to the point of sores.

Some horses do best with a soft and fuzzy grazing muzzle that sits closely to their face. Some horses do best with soft and fuzzy, but a bit larger.

If you horse is really sensitive to rubs around the muzzle, look for a style that is made from stiff materials that can be held away from his face.

You must always use a breakaway halter of some style. Nylon halters must have a leather crown piece or some other breakaway option. Leather halters might be your best bet to attach a muzzle to, as they hand help the whole thing stay away from your horse’s face.

Adding fleece to halters is an option also. You don’t have to go for real sheepskin, you can get all sorts of colors and textures for rub protection.

If your horse likes to talk his muzzle off by hooking the nose and flipping the basket under his chin, you can get halters that have a face piece that connects from the crown piece to the basket. If your horse likes to remove everything by getting out of the crownpiece, braid some of his mane around it to see if that helps.

Happy grazing!

Liv Gude, a former International Dressage Groom for years, founded proequinegrooms.com as a way to unite Grooms in the horse industry. The educational website also serves to entertain and inform horse owners across all disciplines about horse care, grooming, and health. Click here to check it out!

BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!

Liv’s Tip of the Month – Winter Fuzz to Summer Slick

Liv Gude gives us some tips on transitioning from winter fuzz through the spring shed and on to summer slick.


Horses shed when the days start to get longer, which begins with the winter solstice around December 21st. Most horses hold on to their coats a bit longer to begin the shedding cycle in February. Here are a few ways you can be prepared to help this transition.

▪ Use specialized grooming tools, like shedding gloves. Please stay away from metal blades and hacksaw blades. These can damage the hair and skin, and definitely can’t be used on legs, faces, bony parts.

▪ Help your horse shed themselves by giving them ample opportunity to roll in sandy stuff.

▪ Bathe your horse when the temperature is comfortable and safe. This helps convince hairs to come out!

▪ Add products to make them shine a bit more as your help transition. Grooming oils are nice to condition dull coats, and sheen products help with slicking up hair coats.

▪ Remember that a horse’s hair coat is ALWAYS shedding and growing – it doesn’t just happen twice a year. This is why a bridle path needs constant touching up, and a horse will regrow hair that you have clipped for wound treatment or some other reason. Therefore, you CAN clip a shedding horse. His summer coat will come in even eventually!

Liv Gude, a former International Dressage Groom for years, founded proequinegrooms.com as a way to unite Grooms in the horse industry. The educational website also serves to entertain and inform horse owners across all disciplines about horse care, grooming, and health. Click here to check it out!

BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!

Liv’s Tip of the Month – 3 Ways to Keep Warm at the Barn

Liv Gude kicks off our 2019 tips with three ways to stay warm at the barn this winter!

Number 1. Layer.

This cutie sent in by Jill Saccocia needs no layers!

Start with silk undergarments, then add layers upon layers!

I have the distinct honor, which comes with age I think, of not caring AT ALL how I look, especially at the barn.  I will take an extra long and extra wide scarf and wrap up my head, neck, and even part of my face to stay warm.  I will also add a hat on top of this to keep things secure and extra warm.  This was a total game changer and helps when you are walking into the wind.

I also have lined everything – gloves, socks, boots, breeches, jeans.  I tend to also go for dark colors, so that if the sun is shining, things get warmer faster.

Number 2. Move.

George Liberty sent us this handsome dude staying warm in the powder

Turning your horse’s “easy” exercise day into your “walk your butt off day” will keep you infinitely warm.  Instead of riding, go for a nice long handwalk.

You might be surprised how warm you will get by just moving your legs around.  Go for an hour or so for max horse and person effect.

Number 3. Heat.

Make a space that you can do chores in without freezing.  If your tack or feed room is drafty at best, get some window sealing plastic at the hardware store and start to button up.

Add a space heater (use only when supervised) and get your chores done in the warm.

Good Luck and stay toasty!

Liv Gude, a former International Dressage Groom for years, founded proequinegrooms.com as a way to unite Grooms in the horse industry. The educational website also serves to entertain and inform horse owners across all disciplines about horse care, grooming, and health. Click here to check it out!

BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!

Liv’s Tip of the Month – Holiday Treats

What treats can your horse eat for the holidays?

First – think of this in terms of a tiny treat – like half of a peppermint – or something larger, like an extra flake of hay or an extra scoop of feed.  Then that treat has become part of his diet. The point is to make sure that “treats” don’t tip the balance of his forage and feed diet into the unnecessary calorie zone.  

You also don’t want to feed anything that will upset your horse’s stomach.  Smaller treats will help prevent this, as will treats that are similar to what he already eats.  Think about the horse who eats alfalfa/timothy blend hay. You could give him few hay cubes of the same combination.

Watch the sugar content of any treats, many horses with metabolic issues don’t need the sugars.  Carrots are surprisingly high in sugar. Peanuts in the shell are not, and make an ideal alternative.

 

Liv Gude, a former International Dressage Groom for years, founded proequinegrooms.com as a way to unite Grooms in the horse industry. The educational website also serves to entertain and inform horse owners across all disciplines about horse care, grooming, and health. Click here to check it out!

BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!