Once in a while, I used to attain some sort of euphoria in my horses' Barn. It sometimes happened shortly after the stalls had been scoured and cleaned, and each horse had received his ration of hay, grains and water. Passing breezes would produce music from the halters hanging around the stalls. It also typically occurred when the weather was glorious, neither too hot, nor too cold, and the flies had not yet checked in. There might have been one or two birds trilling round the barn, adding to the idea that all was right with the world, at least as much of it as was contained in the barn.
The exhilaration came to an end the day I chanced upon info that a completely clean environment isn't really what your horses want. A squeaky clean environment might be fine by human standards, but by horse standards it may possibly be a case of dangerous excessive. You can't saddle your horses with human standards and expect them to flourish.
Take as an example the practice of washing horses' water buckets fanatically with bleach. I have noticed folk mix up bleach with water and scour the water buckets with the solution as if their lives, or maybe the horses 'lives' relied on it. Once upon a time I appreciated their care, now I have reason to wonder. I know they think that they are doing good for their horses by getting shot of all the bugs and germs just waiting to inflict damage. It is only lately that the inconsistency of it all has started to strike me. Don't the hay and the grains also have bacteria? And what about the trillion bacteria in a zillion variations that infest the ground where horses graze? Can you wash the hay and the grains and the ground out with bleach? If I were to raise this question with the bucket washers using bleach, they'd doubtless tell me that the water is different! It has to be cleaned!
They may be right, but not in the way they suspect. The big problem with water nowadays is that tap water is chlorinated. Chlorinated or not, over time water buckets in use do get scummed up, and start reeking. But the scum and the reek can be shed with little more fancy than the application of a brush. So what's with the bleach? Do people think about the effects on the horses of the bleach remnant that's bound to stick to the sides and bottoms of the buckets?
I can really understand the requirement for additional efforts when a contagious illness is in the air. You would need to do everything you can to make sure your horses stay safe. But hard times need measures. Why adopt tough measures during ordinary times? I am reminded of what I have read about the hand sanitizers that have become the rage nowadays. They're actually highly deadly in that they might be contributing to the development of resistant bacteria that are much stronger than the originals.
Ideally, clean your horses' water buckets out a minimum of once each week, up to once a day. But if you really care about your horses, desist from using chlorine bleach unless there's some express reason, like a spreading disease, to do it. The most effective way to clean your horses' water buckets is to give them a good scouring with plain water and a brush. Horses are used to fresh water, not water with traces of chlorine bleach in it. It is your task to give them the water that is most suited for them.
Don't make blunders like thinking dew on grass is ok for your horses when they are grazing at pasture. Just let them have water, a lot of fresh, chemically unadulterated water. Water is the single most necessary nourishment your horses can have.
The exhilaration came to an end the day I chanced upon info that a completely clean environment isn't really what your horses want. A squeaky clean environment might be fine by human standards, but by horse standards it may possibly be a case of dangerous excessive. You can't saddle your horses with human standards and expect them to flourish.
Take as an example the practice of washing horses' water buckets fanatically with bleach. I have noticed folk mix up bleach with water and scour the water buckets with the solution as if their lives, or maybe the horses 'lives' relied on it. Once upon a time I appreciated their care, now I have reason to wonder. I know they think that they are doing good for their horses by getting shot of all the bugs and germs just waiting to inflict damage. It is only lately that the inconsistency of it all has started to strike me. Don't the hay and the grains also have bacteria? And what about the trillion bacteria in a zillion variations that infest the ground where horses graze? Can you wash the hay and the grains and the ground out with bleach? If I were to raise this question with the bucket washers using bleach, they'd doubtless tell me that the water is different! It has to be cleaned!
They may be right, but not in the way they suspect. The big problem with water nowadays is that tap water is chlorinated. Chlorinated or not, over time water buckets in use do get scummed up, and start reeking. But the scum and the reek can be shed with little more fancy than the application of a brush. So what's with the bleach? Do people think about the effects on the horses of the bleach remnant that's bound to stick to the sides and bottoms of the buckets?
I can really understand the requirement for additional efforts when a contagious illness is in the air. You would need to do everything you can to make sure your horses stay safe. But hard times need measures. Why adopt tough measures during ordinary times? I am reminded of what I have read about the hand sanitizers that have become the rage nowadays. They're actually highly deadly in that they might be contributing to the development of resistant bacteria that are much stronger than the originals.
Ideally, clean your horses' water buckets out a minimum of once each week, up to once a day. But if you really care about your horses, desist from using chlorine bleach unless there's some express reason, like a spreading disease, to do it. The most effective way to clean your horses' water buckets is to give them a good scouring with plain water and a brush. Horses are used to fresh water, not water with traces of chlorine bleach in it. It is your task to give them the water that is most suited for them.
Don't make blunders like thinking dew on grass is ok for your horses when they are grazing at pasture. Just let them have water, a lot of fresh, chemically unadulterated water. Water is the single most necessary nourishment your horses can have.
About the Author:
Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her
extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about horse fencing
extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about horse fencing
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