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Autumn is prime trail riding season, making it a favorite time of year for many horse enthusiasts. The prospect of spending hours in the saddle, aboard your favorite horse, spending time with friends and taking in crisp, fresh air is a horse lover’s dream. Successful trail rides don’t happen without ample time to plan, proper packing of saddle bags and choosing the right horses to hit the trails. It’s important that each trail rider follows a list of rules and proper etiquette to help insure a future for trail riders. 

Your next trail riding destination is picked & planned. The trailer is packed and your horse is ready to load. But what do you bring on the trail? How much is too much to carry on your ride? Do you need just a saddle bag, or will you have a horn bag as well? Don’t know the difference?

Did you know that saddles wear out more from neglect than use? That’s because the saddle left sitting in the tack room tends to have dry leather, can accumulate mold or mildew and metal pieces start to corrode with rust.

Your horse’s body can change from week to week, or even day to day. Your horse can lose weight around his barrel and topline from heavy work sessions, causing gaps between the saddle pad, saddle and the horse. Or, if he’s been off, fat can create a tighter fit, which can make the saddle uncomfortable. The build of growing horse’s body is always changing as they grow and slowly start to fill out where the saddle rests. Horses with changing toplines can be difficult to find the perfect saddle pad.

Did you know that one of the most deficient items to provide for a well-balanced diet for your horse is also one of the easiest and most economical to use? It's also something that you must pay attention to for your own healthy, balanced diet. Horses, like humans and all animals, require certain essential nutrients to maintain good health and proper bodily functions. Salt, or sodium chloride, is one of those vital nutrients necessary for proper health. But it's also one of the most forgotten supplements.

Bathing your horse the day prior to a horse show or event allows the natural oils to return to the coat, thus adding that lustrous sheen. After a strenuous ride or workout, you might consider taking a little extra time while rinsing off your horse to scrub around the saddle area, the legs and anywhere else that might have some built up sweat and grime. Here are 11 tips to get the most out of your horse's bath.

Flies can be more than just an annoyance for your horse. These tiny pests can transmit diseases, cause welts and extreme discomfort and can damage hooves and cause lameness issues. Every summer horse owners spend the entire summer fighting flies and trying to keep their horses comfortable with the latest and greatest fly protection—from fly spray and fly masks to fly boots and fly sheets. All of this gear can be expensive, especially if you’re having to buy multiple bottles and multiple sets, so the million-dollar question is what really works?

And we’re not just talking about the competition this summer. After a hard schooling session or a long ride, one of the last things you want to do is stay out in the heat. But, before you can cool off yourself, you have to cool off your horse.

The temperatures are heating up! Is your barn ready for summer? Here’s a checklist of a few things you should do to get your barn ready for summer.

With a warmer than usual, but just as wet, winter, plus the rains of early spring, mud has been prevalent on so many horse farms[g1]  across the country. And when there’s mud on the farm, there’s usually thrush in the hoof.