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Farm Facts: Fair, and horse care tips

June 07, 2007|DAN GRIGSON

I want to share with you this week about the upcoming Lincoln County Fair Horse shows and give you some tips on horse care during the summer heat.

Lincoln County Fair Horse shows June 15 and 16

We hope you will plan to attend the Lincoln County Fair Horse shows. Our show is always rated as one of the best in Kentucky. It looks like we are going to have a lot of good horses coming to our show. Whether you are a spectator or participant, I believe you will have a great time. In the past we have had two weekends of Saturday night shows. This year we are going back to a Friday and Saturday night show. Friday night includes Pleasure, Racking and Spotted Horse Classes. Saturday is the Walking Horse Show. Friday night is the night that I want to encourage you local Lincoln County horse owners to come and show. We have special classes just for Lincoln County riders. We have a Lincoln County Women's Open Pleasure, a Lincoln County Men's Open Pleasure, a Lincoln County Youth Open Pleasure and a Lincoln County Pleasure Championship. In addition to these classes are other Open Pleasure Classes that you can ride in. The pleasure classes are open to all breed of horses. You can even ride your mule or donkey. The more the merrier in these Lincoln County classes so we hope you will participate and challenge your fellow horse enthusiasts to also. If you would like a copy of the class sheet, stop by or call the U.K. Extension Office in Stanford. You can also go on line at lincolnfair.net to get a copy.

Summer Horse Care Tips

Summer officially begins June 21, however, temperatures already are heating up across Kentucky with highs in the upper 80's. Horse owners need to make sure to meet all the basic, summer needs of their horses.

Water is the first concern. Horses need fresh, clean water available at all times. Routinely checking and cleaning water containers on a regular basis is vital. It ensure your horses will have water available from a container they will actually drink from. Horses sweat to cool down and that results in water loss. Horse owners need to supply enough water to meet daily needs and enough additional water to compensate for sweat loss. Just because you are not riding, don't think your horses are not sweating when the temperature rises. Another important consideration for horses in the hot summer months is salt. Salt needs also increase when horses sweat, so it needs to be available at all times.

Replacing lost minerals due to sweating is common for horses being ridden, but making sure horses on pasture or in stalls have adequate salt available is a good horse care practice. Provide salt free choice for all horses.

Horses will take advantage of available shade to get relief from the sun. Horses in barns are out of the sun, however, owners still need to ensure that the stalls are well ventilated because barns can heat up during the day.

Just watch your horses. Make sure they are coping with the summer heat by providing adequate water, salt and minerals.

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