Be careful when feeding round bales.  Not only is it virtually impossible to determine whether they are dusty or mouldy without completely opening them, but horses tend to eat their way into them, generating hay dust as they go, and inhaling it.  Not all horses develop respiratory problems as a result, but if you have one who is susceptible, you will only find out when it is too late.  Having learned the hard way, when I use round bales, I put them out of the horses' reach and unwind what I  need as I need it, and feed it in piles on the ground.  Definitely not less work, especially as the bale itself has to be tarped against marauding deer and uncovered every time I need more hay.

For the most part, we do what we have always done, only more seriously:  limit trips to town by combining errands, buy locally, grow our own fruits and vegetables (you'd be surprised what you can grow in Manitoba!), make our own beer and wine, buy no processed food, do our own baking, canning, freezing, dehydrating.  Like several others, we get movies by mail instead of making the trip to the city to the cinema.  The silver lining to this very dark economic cloud is that it may force many people to become more environmentally responsible.

 On the horse scene, I am a dressage rider, and within our local community a couple of friends and I have recruited another friend, who is a retired judge, to be our "eyes on the ground" every few weeks.  Another group--riders, coaches and judges--get together weekly to share ideas:  2 or 3 people ride while the others offer suggestions.  Riders and locations vary, so more people can get involved.  This year I will be foregoing clinics with expensive imported clinicians and riding with a local coach.  I'll take my horse to 1 or 2 shows (all local) instead of 3 or 4.  Instead of commercial treats, I buy a 25kg bag of horse cubes, and feed carrots or apples in season.  Horse cubes are a real "treat" if doled out one or two at a time, and a bag lasts me a year.  For a special Christmas treat, I made up horse cookies with applesauce (homemade) and bran (cheap!).  (To two cups of applesauce, add bran until it is thick enough to gather up into small balls, place the balls on dehydrator trays, flatten to about 1 cm thick, and dry until they are thoroughly dry and crisp.  Even my TB who spits out apples loves them!)

As a couple of people have mentioned, shavings are starting to be in short supply.  I don't bed completely on shavings ( I use oat straw), but only use them on the wet spots in the stalls, so I've started experimenting with shredded paper.  It does very well in terms of absorbing urine, though of course it doesn't smell as nice as shavings.  It will compost nicely, though.  I've read that recycling industries are having trouble utilizing all the material they get, since there is less demand for product, so perhaps here is a chance to kill 2 birds with one stone.  We were taking our paper to the recycling depot, but will now shred anything suitable at home and use it in the stalls to extend the shavings.

Thanks so much for all these good ideas. I'd like to put some of them in the magazine, so look for them in the May issue. And keep them coming!

As the financial picture at my home worsened, I had to start buying nothing but essentials, i.e. food for my horses, vet and farrier visits, medication. No more lessons, clinics or shows. The horses won't miss their lessons, but they WOULD miss their hay if it disappeared. The cimetidine my gray mare takes for her melanomas is a must, but the magnesium my dark mare gets for her spookiness is not necessary. I'll just deal with her nervousness as best as I can, and as I learn to do that I will become a better horsewoman, which is the silver lining inside needing to cut expenses. At least now that I'm not taking anyone anywhere, the vet visit is cheaper: some of their vaccines will be eliminated because they won't be exposed to any foreign horses or strange stables.

Yes, we all need to get quite creative without horsekeeping these days.  Sounds like you have a lot of good ideas too.  Was wondering about the Cimetedine.  Have you been giving it to your grey horse very long?  Have you seen any improvement in the melanoma situation?  I ask because I was giving it to a mare I had, but was never sure if it did any good for her.  Her melanomas finally got  huge in her anal area.  I hope it is working for your mare.  Would be interested to know what luck you are having with it.  Thank you!

Lynda

48northfarm:

As the financial picture at my home worsened, I had to start buying nothing but essentials, i.e. food for my horses, vet and farrier visits, medication. No more lessons, clinics or shows. The horses won't miss their lessons, but they WOULD miss their hay if it disappeared. The cimetidine my gray mare takes for her melanomas is a must, but the magnesium my dark mare gets for her spookiness is not necessary. I'll just deal with her nervousness as best as I can, and as I learn to do that I will become a better horsewoman, which is the silver lining inside needing to cut expenses. At least now that I'm not taking anyone anywhere, the vet visit is cheaper: some of their vaccines will be eliminated because they won't be exposed to any foreign horses or strange stables.

For my next year's worth of hay, I plan to split it into halves: one half of orchard grass from eastern Washington--the really quality stuff--and the other half of cheaper local grass hay. Maybe splitting the hay that way will be good, because the local grass is good quality, but a bit lower in sugars and protein than the E WA hay. Another plus due to the dire economy.

Hi Megan,  just wanted to say I've been living my horse life on just the necessities for some time now, and cheer up, it's not as bad as it sounds.  Besides, if you've still got horses, you're life is actually rich; right?

As for splitting your hay, you might reconsider and save even more by going totally with your local hay.  It may be a little lower in protein, but if you're not actively showing right now, they don't really need more protein right now anyways.

 I know how you feel as I to am a member of the broke horse club (thinking of making tee-shirts) I to wish that I could offer more for my mare as far as equine massage but have found that a great way to cut costs while still offering my horse the best possible care is DUI. My trainer is an equine  massage therapistas for the cost of a regular lesson she taught me the basics to help loosen my tight mares back. So see if anyone locally will be able to teach you or even just give a good rub down with a curry comb if it feels good your horse will show it.

 

 

Also for those dealing with the shavings shortage call up a local planer mill; they usually jsut burn or pay to have it removed anyways; all of their shavings and are generally good quality. Just remember to ask them what they are cutting since not all kinds of shavings are appoptiate for horses.

Good luck 

Actually my spending and expenses haven't changed all that much. Board still costs the same and I still make the same amount of money. I don't take lessons (no trainers in the area) the only thing that has changes is the price of sweet feed and supplements.

I opened a separate savings and checking account specifically for horse expenses.  I put any extra money that I earn through working horse shows, saving spare change, and a little extra from my pay check into this account.  I then review my monthly horse budget and whatever is left over goes from the checking to the savings account.  Money in the savings account gets earmarked for memberships, show fees, or horse items that I need.  I am also planning way ahead on shows.  I get last years showbills and save them.  They come in handy when you want to know roughly how much you would spend at a particular show.  

I have also started selling off old tack that I no longer need or use.  I do all my own worming and vaccinations (with the approval of my vet).  Fortunately for me, my horses are kept at home and my husband is also my farrier.  I bought a used trailer that is useable but needs work.  I broke the work down into managable chunks and am slowly repairing or replacing pieces as I can afford to. 

legacysporthorses:

I opened a separate savings and checking account specifically for horse expenses.

Legacy--

flakemusic:

I also take my grocery budget and put it on Jewel gift card

Jewel!! It's so weird how you miss dumb things like your childhood grocery store when you move away. Sometimes, when I'm going to Publix, I say, "I'm going to Jewel, do you need anything?" Lol. And I have lived here for 5 years

Hey Patty, We were cutting back on long distance travel, then "treats," then cutting back on local travel, now we find we are unable to afford a horse at all. We are one of those families that has to pay board. We live in a subdivsion and board at a stable.Then if we want to ride anywhere other than a pasture/round pen we have to trailer.

 I am sure it is not easy on those of you with farms either. But when I lost my job it broke my heart to take my horse to a seller. He is the one I bought her from and he "took" her with the idea if board ran out before she sold then we would be even. Of course she did not sell before "board" ran out. Now I have no horse and a hole in my life where she fit. But I still own all of the things that go with loving a horse, including two saddles, a horse trailer, horse camping equipment,copious amounts of tack and  the assortment of things you acquire caring for a horse you love.

Wishing all horse owners well,

Anita 

 

The shavings shortage has reached here, too, and though I don't bed entirely on shavings, I do use them to absorb dampness in the "wet spots".  I've found that shredded paper, while not as good as shavings, is better than just straw, so we have diverted all appropriate paper from the recycle bin to the shredder (our shredder doesn't do newspaper).  It cuts down on the amount of paper that we're hauling to the recycling depot, and ends up in the compost anyway.  And it's a great way to deal with junk mail!

 I have wondered whether paper recycling places would find it worthwhile to bag shredded paper if there was a market.  I do know that there are brands of kitty litter that are made of recycled newspaper.