By Cherry Hill
Cherry Hill’s Horsekeeping Almanac PDF. Keeping horses healthy and happy is all about establishing good routines and following the natural cycles of the animals and the land. Nobody knows this better than Cherry Hill, professional horsekeeper, lifelong horse lover, and author of more than 30 books on horses. If it involves horses, Hill knows what to do and when to do it. Her routines — daily, monthly, and seasonal — are the framework for Cherry Hill’s Horsekeeping Almanac, a gold mine of knowledge for all horse enthusiasts.
Month by month, Hill touches on every issue likely to affect horses, horse farms, and the people who care for them both. Each month opens with a brief description of what’s happening on the farm, followed by notes on specific, month-appropriate topics. May, for example, includes advice on grazing, snakes, composting, bathing and clipping, and fire strips. November features colic, fire ants, winter water, dry shampoo, and outdoor horse clothing.
Every month includes recurring reminders, to-do lists, reference charts, climate notes, equine wit and wisdom, a word of the month, and an “Ask Cherry” section featuring seasonally relevant excerpts from her newsletter — all the fascinating tidbits, lore, and handed-down insights that make almanacs so fascinating. Tying everything together is Cherry Hill’s trusted voice and deep-seated knowledge of horses.
This is a book readers will keep on hand to welcome each new season on the farm. Horsekeepers will browse it frequently, use it as a reference in times of doubt, keep reminders in it, and come back to it year after year — a reminder of their own horsekeeping seasons. It will become, in Cherry Hill’s words, a Horsekeeping Master Plan.
Read more: Manual of Equine Nutrition and Feeding Management
Table of Contents
Preface
We Horsekeepers
Long Tail Ranch
Using This Book
Late Winter
January
Tracking your weather
Latitude map
Setting up records
Monitoring vital signs
Daily visual exam
Good manners for farrier visits
Cold weather feed rule
Calculating your horse’s weight and height
Mountain lions
Bobcats and lynx
Internal parasites
Deworming dos and don’ts
Windbreaks
Sanitation
Saddle check
Leather tack care
Income tax overview
Know your knots
Rhino #2 for your mare
Foaling kit
Barn cleaning
Maintaining your tractor
Beet pulp mash
Deworming
Bots
Winter weather patterns
February
First-aid kit
Finding and choosing a farrier
Hay is for horses
Hay amount
Natural feeding
Predators
Pasture check
Electric fences
Spread compost
Late winter grooming routine
Shedding
Bridle check
Turnout halter
Liability and property insurance
Power outages
Wood chewing
Manure-handling equipment
Pill prep
Health food for horses
Spring
March
Floods
Time change
Immunizations
Mud season
Thrush
Beet pulp
Chore sandwich
Birds
Time to let your land rest
Manure management
Grooming tools for early spring
Halters and lead ropes
Trailer (shipping) boots
Budget
Cost of raising a foal
Breeding contract
Stallion selection
Life in the pen
Choosing the right mower
Natural horsekeeping
Flooding in the South
April
Lightning precautions
Time change in Canada
Ten skin ailments to avoid
Hoof cracks
Grains
Eagles
Turkey vultures
Ticks
Miller moths
Tent caterpillars
Spring pasture tune-up
Handling manure
Helmets
Back in the saddle
Rain sheets
Buying a horse
Ground training review
Predicting foaling
Hazardous wastes
Spring cleanup
Spring vehicle maintenance
Pill paste
Horse colors
Conformation
Midwest tornado season
May
Hail
To shoe or not to shoe
Summer caretaker
Giving horses treats
Snakes
Spring pasture
Composting
How to bathe a horse
Clipping
Tail care
Saddle pad care
Blanket storage
Lessons
Leasing
Hay inventory
Trailer loading
Foaling
Round pen size
Fire strips
Servicing equipment
Rotary harrow
Correct weight
Mold and mildew
A continent of pastures
Summer
June
Hurricanes
Solstice
West Nile virus
Laminitis
Sand colic
Psyllium
Grazing
Gophers, et al.
Mosquitoes
Poisonous plants
Mowing
Fencing
Multiple manure piles
Grooming on the go
Daily visual checklist
Knots
Fly sheets
Saddling review
Start conditioning your horse
Estrous cycle, breeding, and PMS
Arena design
Summer loafing sheds
Panels
Vices and bad habits
July
Monsoon time
Lyme disease
Hoof dressing and sealer
Foal hoof care
Files
Rotational grazing
Fugitive dust
Turnout sheets
Liability laws
Safety
Foal feeding
Hay storage
Hay elevator
Equine body wash
Choosing good hay
Extreme heat in the Southwest
August
Dental clinic
Lost shoes
Wild horses
Ten steps to a clean stall
Blister beetles
Gelding yearlings
Sheath cleaning
Getting organized
Fly gear
Antisweat sheet
Registration and transfer of ownership
Brand awareness
Road-proofing
Manure spreaders
Fire prevention
Drought
Disaster preparedness
Evacuation planning
Fall
September
Bot eggs
Dealing with the death of a horse
Hoof pads
Hoof packing
Weight gain for winter
Hay tricks
Black bears
Hunting season safety
Pasture priorities
Fall shedding
Ergots and chestnuts
Quarter sheets
All about coolers
Selling a horse
Weaning
Feeders
Horse blanket types
Getting ready for winter
Hantavirus
October
Pigeon fever
Winter shoes
Senior diet
Water
Decrease grain for all horses
Deer
Fleas
Winter pastures
Bedding
Tails up for winter
Indoor horse clothing
Horse ID
Autumn arena exercises
When to geld
Pasture harrows
Blanketing
The cold zones
Early Winter
November
Standard time
Preparing for high winds
Winter water
Colic
Barefoot in the winter
Rib check
Bran mash
Magpies
Stall fresheners
Fire ants
Dry shampoo
Winter riding clothing
Horse insurance
Pre-ride winter warm-up
Anestrous behavior
Broodmares’ rhino #1
Keeping a horse in a stall
Wish lists
Horsekeeping in the suburbs
Winter winds
December
Winter solstice
Vet facilities
Stall flooring
Healthy hooves
Snow rule for turnout
Africanized honeybees
Our Christmas eagle
Body clipping basics
Boarding
Approaching
Catching tactics
Spaying a mare
Farrier work area
Front-end loaders
Your horse’s holiday wish list
The good life
Making a horse’s work easier
Appendix
Resources
Recommended reading
Index
