Horse Communities

Geneva, Florida

Residential Communities that are created for horse owners. A place where groups of home owners can live with their horses.

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Sand Colic in Central Florida Horses

Categorized in: Florida Horses

Tagged with: acreage, central florida, country living, equestrian, farm, horse, orlando, pasture, real estate, rural

CENTRAL FLORIDA SAND COLIC

www.OrlandoCountryLiving.com

Mailto:john@johnhenline.com

Living in Central Florida creates many challenges for horses. One of the more serious is Sand Colic. Florida is after all one big sand pile. Horses that graze on pastures are very prone to ingesting large amounts of sand in their stomachs. This can be a very serious and life threatening condition.

One way to tell if your horse has sand in his digestive system is to take a clear glass or jar and place a fresh piece of manure in the container and fill the glass with water. Shake the glass until the manure dissolves and then let it settle. If you see sand in the bottom of the glass then your horse should be given a preventative.

I feel that the most effective and most economical preventative is generic Metamucil. Metamucil is mainly psyllium husk. It will swell up and get sticky in the horses stomach and the sand will stick to it as it passes through the system.

I give my horses one cup twice a week, but there are different doses for different horses and the amount of sand that they are eating. A minimum of once a week is highly recommended. I add a little vegetable oil to their feed, and mix it completely. Then I add the psyllium and mix it. The psyllium sticks to the feed so the horses eat all of it.

I hope this is helpful,
John
John@JRHenline.com
www.CentralFloridaCountryLiving.com
407-451-5154

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Wood Chewing Horses

Categorized in: Florida Horses

Tagged with: acreage, central florida, country, farm, horse, horse communities, jr henline realty, real estate, rural, seminole

WOOD CHEWING HORSES

The Down and Dirty Remedy

John@JRHenline.com

www.HorseCommunities.com

Horses that chew wood should not be confused with horses that Crib. Cribbing is the act of biting on something and sucking air. Wood chewing is just what the name implies, chewing on any wooden object. They may eat some of the wood or just leave it in a pile on the ground. This condition is extremely destructive and can be a health hazard to the horse as well. Wood chewing is generally thought to be caused by boredom. It has also been suspected that nutritional deficiencies could be a cause.

First, eliminate the nutritional part of the equation. Make sure that they are being feed an ample supply of good hay or grass and that a supplement of vitamins and minerals are being consumed. A salt/mineral block is also helpful. Allow a few days to monitor their behavior for signs of a reduction in chewing. If you can rule out nutrition as a cause then it is probably boredom and that's where the remedies start.

There are sprays and ointments that have an unpleasant taste that you can buy in your local feed store to apply to the wood surfaces. Rebuilding your barn and fence with steel is also an option. Ultimately you must correct the boredom issue. This is no easy task. Most horses are not allowed to free range on thousands of acres of green pasture. They are kept in stalls and small paddocks. Many are isolated from other horses. Move them around to different paddocks, change their routine, add objects to their stalls or paddocks to peak their interests. Just keep trying to mix things up for them and keep their lives a little more interesting.

STOP!!! Don't read any further if you are eating, getting ready to eat or have a queasy stomach!!!!

The "Down and Dirty Remedy" that I have been using, well it's a little gross and messy, but it is FREE and NATURAL! Take an old bucket and an old paint brush and put some fresh manure, from the horse that is chewing, in the bucket and add water. Mix the contents into a thick soupy like consistency and then use the paint brush and paint all of the wood that the horse is chewing on with the "special sauce". You will have to reapply fresh sauce for several days but your horse will stop chewing on wood that has been treated. After the horse has left the treated area alone for a few days you should then scrape off any residual sauce and repaint the wood. There is a common but crude saying that explains why this works but I will use the one I learned from an old Florida Cracker, "horses don't eat after themselves".

Have fun!!!!

John Henline

John@JRHenline.com

www.CentralFloridaCountryLiving.com

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Horse Communities in Central Florida

Tagged with: acreage, central florida, country, farm, horse, horse communitiescom, real estate, rural, seminole

HORSE COMMUNITIES

www.CentralFloridaCountryHomes.com

A "Horse Community" or "Equestrian Community" is a planned real estate development where people live with their horse. A unique lifestyle. There are wonderful advantages and sometimes disadvantages. There are many things to consider when deciding to move into a community that is focused on horses. Are there sufficient deed restrictions to protect your investment and way of life? Are there sufficient trails? Who owns and maintains the trails? Is there a centralized barn with arenas where all of the horses are kept or are the horses stalled at on the owners property? These are just a few of the issues associated with this lifestyle. These communities are growing in popularity as the availability of riding trails decreases and urban sprawl increases.

The American Horse Council Federation recently commissioned a study on the horse industry. They have concluded that as much as $102 billion dollars are either directly or indirectly contributed to the American economy with over 2 million horse owners throughout the Country. There are horses in every State, even Hawaii (8,037), California (698,345), Texas (978,822) and Florida are the three largest populations for horses.

Central Florida has numerous communities of all sizes and price ranges. If your looking for this wonderful type of life and have any questions please contact me. MailTo:John@JohnHenline.com.

Let me know? What do you think?

John
J R Henline Realty
WWW.HorseCommunities.com
407-451-5154

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Horse Pastures in Central Florida

Categorized in: Florida Horses

Tagged with: acerage, central florida, country, farm, horse, horse communitiescom, real estate, rural, seminole

Central Florida Horse Pastures

www.HorseCommunities.com
MailTo:John@JohnHenline.com

Central Florida has two main pasture types: "Bottom Land Muck" and "Sugar Sand"

Bottom Land Muck: Basically a very rich loom of decayed vegetation. The depth of the "muck" can vary with the location and can be from several inches to several feet deep. Front End Loaders and Back Hoes have been known to sink completely out of site in some of the deeper muck. The area has to be cleared of a very dense forest that consists of Cypress, Bay, Red Maple, Slash Pine, Oak, and Cabbage Palm to list just a few of the species. Most of the Central Florida Counties have imposed very strict restrictions on clearing these wet land areas. If you can find an area that has been cleared it will sustain vigorous growth of Bahia grass as well as a large variety of unsuitable weeds, swamp grasses, and ferns. The down side of this type of pasture is that it will flood. Sometimes several times a year and sometimes only once every several years, but it will flood eventually.

Sugar Sand: This is the rest of Central Florida called, "High and Dry". These areas were the first to emerge from the ocean and were beach front property for the Native Americans. The soil consists of beach sand. There are deposits of clay below the sand in some areas but this is very inconsistent. These areas have a very dense growth of Sand Pine, Palmetto Palm, several varieties of Oak, vines, and a large variety of smaller vegetation. Both Bahia and Bermuda grass can be grown in these pastures but they are very fragile and extremely prone to drought. These pastures must be fertilized regularly and a strict rotation of grazing must be maintained. The positive aspect of these pastures is that they will not flood.

Central Florida has two general grasses for pastures: "Bahia" and "Bermuda"

Although there are several varieties of Bahia, Argentina Bahia is the preferred choice. It is drought resistant and very hardy. It has a tall seed pod that grows a foot or two high and will reseed the pasture naturally.

Bermuda grass is a little more complicated. Bermuda needs to be in full sun and heavily fertilized. It spreads rapidly and is also drought resistant. There are several varieties and each will only grow in specific regions.

I hope this is helpful to anyone who is planing on moving their horses to Central Florida. If you have any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me at www.HorseCommunities.com or MailTo:John@JohnHenline.com.

John
J R Henline Realty
532 Valley Stream Drive
Geneva, FL 32732
407-451-5154

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