Must haves for horse care in Florida

[ABDR4]

Might have been my bad. I’m having a ridiculous asthma flare today. I read that as a 1000lb bale. I go through about 8,000lbs a year. I weigh out hay and go through about 20lbs a day in warm weather, 25lbs when its cold. So they go through 100lbs in 5 days. IME up here hay can go moldy that fast.

Everything I’ve read about hay in Florida has been “You can’t store hay in Florida. Hay gets moldy fast.” and people saying they can’t buy very much at a time. I’m severely allergic to mold and my senior pony is too. Hence my concerns. Things where I live now are also very humid, not like Florida since its not that hot but still 60-90% humidity when its not winter. I’ve had issues with hay going moldy fast when I’ve stored it on ground level here, even with ventilation. The farms I’ve looked at so far have all had 1 story barns with hay storage on ground level under a pole barn, which just looks like its super easy to breed mold. Especially with all the rain in Florida. I don’t know if a barn with a hay loft is even feasible in Florida with the hurricanes and all. Ideally I’d want a hay loft up above that’s 2x as big as what I use now, so I can spread things out more.

If its just a matter of making sure there’s enough ventilation and air movement and that things aren’t packed in too tightly, that makes my life a lot easier. If I need to plan to leave air space between bales and also under them too, I can do that too. If I need fans going 24/7 to keep air movement, I can do that too. Quite honestly I’d much rather plan to pack hay loosely, have air movement on 4 sides and run fans and buy 6 months to a year’s worth at a time, if I can get away with it.

My ponies really don’t like Timothy stalks and when I’ve fed Orchard it was too rich for my easy keeper. The farmer that I got my current hay from said its timothy, but most of the bales are really fine and don’t look like there’s Timothy in them. Some have coarse straw like stuff that mine flat out won’t eat. The “timothy” I have now looks a lot more like a mix of the native grasses we have.

[mmeqcenter]

As usual, soooo much of this is dependent on where in Florida (it’s a pretty big state) and on your horses specifically.

@ABDR4

Any other ideas for helping them be more comfortable with the heat?

Mine are out 24/7 and I’ve had zero problems. Personally I would only stall a horse during the day if they’re anhidrosis.
Some people install misters on their fence lines, most horses seem to like them.

@ABDR4

Will the longer sunlight hours actually affect their coat growth or should I plan on clipping?

I’ve seen no difference. I would certainly plan on clipping. I usually do a bib clip in April for the retirees.

@ABDR4

Right now they get native grass hay, which is quite fine. I’m not sure how similar this is to the Coastal Bermuda that I’ve heard bad things about. Anyone know if native Maine grass hay is similar to Coastal Bermuda?

You should always do a slow transition with any feed or hay change to be safe. People will tell you coastal Bermuda is evil. I’m sure some horses do have problems, but thousands of people in Florida, Texas, and other southern states feed it with no issue. Mine had zero problems adjusting.

@ABDR4

Feed wise I only feed alfalfa cubes, TC’s golden flax and a custom mineral mix. Are Semican alfalfa cubes, or something similar available? Are Triple Crown products available? Should I plan to keep feed in the house in air conditioning? I go through 100lbs of alfalfa cubes every 2 weeks, but it takes 2 months to go through a bag of flax.

Various brands of alfalfa cubes and flax are most likely available. What brands are would depend on your area. Same with TC, it would depend on where, I wouldn’t assume because it’s in Ocala means it’s easily available everywhere in Florida. Unless you’re cool driving a couple hours to pick it up, I guess.

@ABDR4

Is it too hot for black ponies to be comfortable with fly sheets?

Personally I think it’s too hot for any color horse or pony to be stuck in a fly sheet all summer. But many people do it.

@ABDR4

Is there anything Florida-specific that I should have in terms of First Aid supplies?

Topical ointments designed to keep flies out of wounds. Alushield and Nu-Stock are good ones.

@ABDR4

Should I plan on having a more impervious perimeter fence, like woven no-climb, if I wind up near any water to protect from gators? Or is electric tape sufficient? My smallest pony is about 260lbs and my largest is about 625lbs.

AFAIK alligators can climb 4’-5’ fences so, unless you want to put up 8’ fences I don’t think it matters.

@ABDR4

Vaccination wise, is there anything else to be concerned about other than EEE, WEE, WNV, tetanus & rabies? I have no intention of doing any showing at all.

My vet recommends everything in the Vetera Gold every six months.

@ABDR4

Should I plan on having an electrolyte on hand to give them while they adjust?

Would probably be beneficial.

@ABDR4

If they’re used to the pasture up here should I plan to do a very slow transition to Florida pasture or a faster one?

Slow.

[mmeqcenter]

@ABDR4

Are there any other plain grass hays available? Or are the options Bermuda, Orchard, Timothy, or Peanut. I have VPEs (very petite equines) and go through 20lbs of hay a day for them.

Tifton is another option, priced the same as coastal but harder to find.

[moonlitoaksranch]

It really depends on what part of Florida. We have about 26 different ecosystems down here. Three main ones. Are you moving to northern, central, or southern Florida? Near Ocala, you can get a lot of different hay varieties. In the northern areas, you can get orchard/alfalfa mix, coastal, Timothy, T/A, or straight alfalfa, year round. Peanut hay looks good during the growing season only. Coastal is cheap, the rest are pricey.

Again, only for the northern portion of the state…We feed alfalfa in the morning and coastal at night. None of my current horses have trouble with coastal. If you get a colic, however, mild, on a horse being fed coastal, switch them to a different hay. Never go back to coastal for that horse. I did that with an old Morgan mare of mine. She was only fed orchard/alfalfa. Our horses, pony, and donkey have no trouble with coastal at this time.

Storage. You need a big enclosed barn to keep it clean and dry. Even coastal gets smudgy in a three sided shelter. If the wind can reach it, the mold will grow. I can store 60 bales at a time of coastal year round, if tucked safe from sideways rain and mist. I can store five three string bales of alfalfa at a time during the winter, safely. I buy alfalfa almost weekly in the summer. When the storms start in earnest (AUG SEP), it goes on a sheet on the back seat to get it home, if necessary. Then, deep in the bar away from damp, hot, wind. It just doesn’t keep well in the humidity. Sometimes, I switch to perennial peanut hay (not to be confused with actual peanut plants).

Fly parasites work well. Fly spray daily from sometime in April until a good freeze (we get between 0 and 30 days of freezing in an average year in the north). I don’t use fly sheets because they sweat and get rubbed by the sheet. I do use fly wraps on the legs of the donkey. Donkeys are more susceptible to fly bites, for some reason.

Black pony. We have one. She was born here and gets her full Shetland fluff every winter, then sheds it early. She does fine with adequate shade.

Barns. We built a breeze through type barn. No matter how hot, if you face the aisle north south, it will catch your breezes. Plus, our stall walls get a little further apart towards the roof, allowing air flow. It makes it very tolerable. Pastures have, not just random trees, but a cluster of trees to help the animals stay cooler. Avoid pasture ponds. They get nasty. Fence the horses out of them.

Provide minerals year round. Your tubs will need scrubbing or a little bleach frequently. We’ve used goldfish in the 100 gallon tanks, with some success.

Fly allergies can happen. Dexamethazone is a cheaper treatment if it’s short term. Vets will advise. Our pony used to get allergies, but the fly parasites and daily fly spray made a big difference with her. Plus, we reduced our cow herd, which meant less flies.

One thing I’ve learned after living here for 15 years. Your horses feet get soft with the sandy soil. There are no rocks to speak of. The gravel roads will make them ouchy. We put rock down in our paddocks (we built small paddocks adjacent to our horse stalls). Not the Little Rock, but road gravel rock. They stay up out of the mud better and their feet have toughened back up. It’s pain to clean, but much better hooves.

One more thing…yes, possums carry EPM, but please don’t come down here and wage war on them. They’re great bug eaters. Keep your hay on pallets and feed in feeders instead of on the ground. Every horse down here will get exposed one way or another. The urine and feces will be in the pasture, too. Don’t freak out on our ugly, slow, nocturnal, little friends. They are a necessary part of the food chain.

[stb]

I agree with everything @moonlitoaksranch said. I have a 3 sided shelter for my hay and find I can reliably keep hay for about 3 weeks before it starts to get funky. It’s a pain.

I will add, regarding hooves, that I have found that using Keratex Hoof Gel makes a big difference in how my horses feet come through the wet times of year. And summer is a wet time of year, rain or not, because of the heavy dew on grass overnight and in the mornings. So if you turn out during those times you may want to be proactive about keeping feet from getting soggy.

[skydy]

@stb

Also, gators can climb fences, so putting in a no climb fence will not stop a gator from going right over. Generally they don’t range far from their water source, though.

VIDEO: Alligator climbs over fence in Florida

I don’t know how you Floridians deal with the thought of them.

[ThreeWishes]

Honestly most gators steer clear of people. It’s when you go into their environment ie bodies of water or they’re mating or guarding a nest you run into trouble. I wouldn’t walk a poodle along a pond but I’ve never been afraid to ride in the open along trails or for my pastured horses.

[skydy]

I can understand that. I suppose it comes naturally to be careful when you pass a body of water after you’ve lived there awhile. I would expect as you say that horses are fairly safe. Little ponies I would keep away from ponds though. I still can’t get over the giant Alligator that came out of the golf course pond.

[ThreeWishes]

Yes absolutely I doubt anyone in Florida keeps small livestock penned close to an alligator prone body of water. Not if they like them! Alligators are generally shy. They’re not crocodiles. Live and let live

[lorilu]

I have had horses in Ocala for 20 years. I have never seen rye.
Larsen hay currently carries the usual alfalfa, Timothy and alfalfa, Orchard and Orchard/alfalfa, and a mix they call “mountain meadow”. Its mostly grasses with a bit of alfalfa. Many stores also carry peanut hay - another legume.

[lorilu]

regarding meds for Florida, take care to treat every little scratch or bug bite as soon as you see it. It is very easy for a small scratch to turn into a big, ugly summer sore - thanks to the action of those tiny gnats and/or stable flies who lay eggs on the wound.
My go-to immediate treatment is a vet-made compound of triple antibiotic, ivermectrin, and DMSO. Many folks just use ivermectrin out fo a tube mixed with a triple antibiotic.
Many folks add an athletes foot cream to combat any fungi.

I always keep some zinc oxide cream and Coat Defense (I think it is clay-based). THey both protect the wound or bite from insects and etc. SOme sort of barrier spray is good to have as well… such as Farnams PuriShield.

[lenapesadie]

Rye hay is baled regularly in the panhandle. I don’t care for it personally but it’s certainly available.

[moonlitoaksranch]

You use the strong stuff! I just smear Corona paste on minor scrapes and big fly bites, or, if it’s open, spray a little Blu Kote, let it dry, and then smear Swat over to keep bugs out. No issues.

[moonlitoaksranch]

We have sandy soil in most places, so we do regular sand checks of their manure and I like to give them Sandclear (or similar product), bran, and mineral oil once per week. Heard about that from a colic surgeon at UF.

Speaking of UF, they are surprisingly reasonable and I’ve had great experiences with them. Unless you live in Ocala, or another horsey area down south, it is completely worth it to get a referral to UF for anything your mobile vet can’t handle or that’s a bit complex. For the same price as my mobile vet would’ve charged me, I got a very thorough lameness exam at UF with a board certified vet specializing in lameness, a resident, 4 students milling about, and computer technology and imaging that was actually very fascinating. They attached sensors to my mare’s legs before moving her out at the trot to image her gait. They used it to confirm what they suspected, rather than as a crutch. It was so cool! All it cost me was a trip to Gainesville and the same price as a normal lameness exam. I’ve used them for a few things and they are always happy to bring you in and great about giving the cost estimate upfront. They have figured out that their students get a better education if they keep their costs competitive enough to bring the patients in. I even took a cow there.

[Gretasmom]

I have lived in hot, humid. south Florida with horses for almost 21 years now. I would advise AGAINST automatic waterers here. Yes, your horses will need more water due to the weather. However, heat is a serious issue, and automatic waterers will be refilling the bowls with HOT water. Water lines are not, and cannot be buried deep here, so the water immediately coming into the bowl will be warm due to the heat in the Earth. My barn builder wanted to put them in, and I would not. There are many days in the summer that I literally need to run my hose several minutes on the grass before the water gets cool enough to fill buckets.

[ABDR4]

What’s the issue with digging water lines down deep? Sounds like regardless water will be warm.

If it makes any difference, I’m looking at northern Florida.

On another note, as far as run in shelters go, is there a direction that its best to have them face? Where I am now, the one I have faces south as some protection from snow.

[lenapesadie]

@ABDR4

What’s the issue with digging water lines down deep? Sounds like regardless water will be warm.

In some spots the water table is high enough to start backfilling into the trench for the water line. Other issues may exist as well. The water will cool down after you let the hose run a bit.

I personally would prefer shelters openings facing north to maximize shade. My layout didn’t allow for that sadly.

[cnd8]

Most shelters we have in South Georgia are shade structures more than wind blocks. They have roofs, but no sides. I’d imagine this is also the most common variety in North Florida as well, considering that is the same general region. Winters get cold at night (around mid 30’s here on occasion), but the horses grow adequate coats for the most part to do just fine without lean-to types of shelters. The summer sun is the main thing to protect them from. Winter–they do ok.

We have auto waterers in our tanks in the pastures, but they are plumbed from beneath the trough, so no hose or line is “above ground.” At the previous barn, the hose ran from the spigot to the trough and had about 3’ of exposed hose, and she’s right, hot water refilled each time that auto waterer filled. It was horrible. I took a temp gun and the waters got up to 110 degrees during the day.

I think some of this advice could be more targeted if you wait until you identify a property. Are you planning to build a place from scratch on an empty lot? If not, much of what you do will be limited by the parameters of that property.

[ABDR4]

Ok, that makes sense.

So I now I need to puzzle out how to manage watering, since I have an old back injury and pretty much all my joints are bad. I really can’t manage hauling hose around several times a day or having to regularly dump & scrub a stock tank several times a week. I’m envisioning that I’d have to do clean things more often than my current weekly scrub of the auto waterer here. All the lines for the auto waterers that we have now are all under ground. Not sure exactly how having all lines under ground would make auto waterers heat up too much but it gives me an interesting logistical problem to solve.

I know I’m looking in northern Florida. I have several houses ID’d so far but haven’t seen any in person yet. Only 1 has an actual barn, and I’d have to build on most of the remaining properties. Problem is I like to research and plan things out in advance, but I can’t do any actual house hunting until next month due to work.

[lenapesadie]

@ABDR4

I really can’t manage hauling hose around several times a day or having to regularly dump & scrub a stock tank several times a week. I’m envisioning that I’d have to do clean things more often than my current weekly scrub of the auto waterer here. All the lines for the auto waterers that we have now are all under ground. Not sure exactly how having all lines under ground would make auto waterers heat up too much but it gives me an interesting logistical problem to solve.

What we do is use smallish stock tanks so they are easier to dump and refill. You can have a spigot near the water area no problem. Just let the water run out on the ground for a few mins before filling the tank. I think the issue with the auto waterers is that it’s just constantly being refilled with little bits of hot water. And the small bowl of the auto waterers heat up super quick. That’s been my experience with the two farms that had auto waterers at any rate. Possibly this could be solved with more insulation / deeper lines if ground allows / shade.

Some folks build wee roofs over the water troughs to try and keep the water cool. Or pop up tents in a real pinch.

Good luck house hunting!