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LONGEARS is an e-mail list for those interested in donkeys, mules
and hinnies. There is a wide range of experience on the list from
those with just one or two animals to people with large stables who
have been working with these mules and donkeys for years. List
members often come up with tips that new owners may not know, or
completely new ideas - hence the Longears Tips Page!
Join the Longears
discussions:
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Disclaimer:
Rosemarie Gant and the Longears list do not
accept any liability for the tips published on these web pages. The
tips are given freely and usually come from personal experience -
they are not necessarily the opinion or experience of the Longears
group. They are NOT reviewed by any equine professional or
veterinarian - so use your own judgement in using them. If you have
any questions or concerns, consult your own local veterinarian,
trainer or other equine professional.
Choose one of the following subjects to go to, or just scroll
down:
Veterinary
- Store your thermometer in the vasoline jar.
- Recycle old gym socks for poulticing and old toothbrushes for
applying hoof dressings.
- Make worming a pleasure - squirt the wormer paste onto a slice
of bread, fold and feed!
- If animals are suffering from the heat do not wash them down
with cold water - it can cause even worse sunburn. Try to move
them to somewhere that provides natural shade, or a cool
building.
- If your animal is nervous with the vet or farrier, try the
following: standing in front of the animal smooth your hands down
their face rhythmically from the base of their ears, over their
eyes and down towards the muzzle - they seem to find it very
relaxing.
- There are acupuncture points for shock at the ear tips.
Pulling the ears, with emphasis on the ear tips, is very
helpful.
The following could be used for
giving bute or wormer:
Grind up the tablets, mix them with molasses (or something else
sweet and gooey---pancake syrup, honey, etc), spread the mix on
bread, cover with a second slice of bread, and hand-feed in
bite-sized pieces. Works best if you can regularly feed the
sandwiches plain (no bute) inbetween doses, to "chum" the animal.
As above, except put the bute/molasses mix into a worming syringe,
and squirt it onto the back of the animal's tongue. Again, works best
if you first accustom the animal to the process with plain
molasses.
For either technique, alternate "carriers" include applesauce or
pureed carrots (baby food). Test first to see if the animal likes
it.
Make a "bran mash" - 2 to 4 cups of bran, warm water to make it
"mashed potatoes" consistency, and stir the powdered bute into it.
You can also add a little molasses, or applesauce, or anything
tempting. Serve it in a large round-bottomed dog bowl, so they can
slurp up every crumb---they usually lick the bowl clean.
The First Aid
Kit
- Scissors
- Vet wrap (Several rolls)
- Forceps or tweezers
- 36" latex bandage
- Thermometer
- Velcro straps
- Kleenex
- Duct tape
- Sponge
- Antibiotic ointment
- Hoof Pick
- Fly repellant ointment
- Old bath towels
- Diapers or nappies - great for the smaller donkey hoof
- Kaolin poultice
- Clean small bowl for washing/soaking poultice etc.
- Note of animal's regular breathing rate, pulse and
temperature.
- Cotton wool
- Soap and human plasters
- Syringe
Stable/Barn
Management
- Organising the
stable/barn:
- Screw rat traps all around your barn...without the spring hold
mechanism...but leave the spring arm....pointed down. You can then
snap towels, papers, rags, leg wraps, messages...you name it you
can hold it.... things that fall off hooks, stay put.
-
- Feed your barn cats!!! They will still kill if so
inclined.
-
- Keep a cordless phone in the barn.
-
- Buy an erasable message board.....or chalk board - Write your
vet's number on it. Write your horses' schedule, and their
individual food needs. Describe each horse next to their name...
stockings blaze, color. That way if you are ever in an accident or
can't get home you can call someone to feed and they will have
instructions.
-
- Keep a conformation chart in the barn...with all the points
named. You'd be surprised, during an emergency, how you don't know
a hock from a fetlock when you are talking to the vet.
-
- Keep old coffee cans with their plastic lids. Use them to hold
fly-wipe rags, sponges so they don't get dried up and vet wrap
from getting dirty.
-
- Hang blankets.... get eye hooks, screw into wall high up. Get
a 2 X 4 and cut into 2 foot lengths.... then get a hook and screw
it into top of the 2 X 4...along the skinny side.... hook looks
like this.... (_____ Then just hang the 2 X 4 on the eye hook so
it juts out 2 ft from the wall.... buckle blankets and let hang
down from the 2 X 4s.
-
- Buy a vegetable hanging basket thing.... you know they have 3
wire baskets which are small, medium and large..... hang near wash
rack to keep sponges in....
-
-
- Recycle old bleach bottles and cut them out like scoops...
good for liming and scooping feed.
-
- Keep a dry hose in the barn for emergencies if the outside one
freezes. Coat it with wd-40 and it will be more pliable.
-
- Chicken wire under hanging flourescent lights in stalls
prevents bulbs from shattering on equine.
-
- Buy a 'headlamp' (like miner's or people who go caving use) to
wear in the stable in the winter - light wherever you go and it
leaves your hands free
-
- Plait the brightly coloured string used for holding bales
together : useful for tying back yard gates and tying to the
handles of hoofpicks and anything easily lost in bedding
-
- An old car tyre makes a good bucket holder
-
- Use builder's or constructors rubber gloves if you just have a
small area to be cleaned out - you can pick up any manure by hand
instead of shovelling out half the bed!
-
- Manure
management:
- How
to compost horse manure
-
- Bag manure and leave out for local gardeners to collect - and
use it on your own garden! Best to let it rot as much as possible
first. Old carpets covering the heap keep the heat in and improve
the breakdown of the manure - it also keep the smell down.
-
- Training to
load:
- -- Tie one of the animal's companins to the trailer, so
they'll want to go over to them.
-- Feed them in the trailer.
-- Leave the trailer, open, in their pen.
-- Build a pen around the back of the trailer and let them hang
out there.
-- Tie the end of their rope to the inside of the trailer and
let them decide when to get in.
-
- Once in:
- -- Take him on short trips
-- Clicker training (web site)
-- Treats.
-
- Field
management:
- Check fencing and buildings regularly
for loose boards, nails, broken wire etc.
-
- Check the field itself for poisonous
plants that may have seeded, brambles or thorny shrubs that may
have worked their way in
-
- Make sure the animals can't get their
heads through gates and get caught or lift the gate off its
hinges. (Stretch wire or wire netting tightly across the gate if
necessary)
-
-
- The 'Ideal' Barn/Stable
- some thoughts from the Longears
group
- - big tack closet (keeps dust out and
anything that could damage saddles and tack)
- - all wood barn with good lighting in
case of night time vet visits
- - a baby paddock for holding up lame
horses or new ones
- - a really good fire
extinguisher
- - phone, water, power (GFI
circuits)
- - a bucket type water heater (heats a
few gallons to boiling)
- - inside hay storage
- - covered bedding storage (a shed for
chips or whatever)
- - compost bins for manure (away from
barn)
- - a secure feed room
- - safe grooming area under
cover
- - heated, lighted tackroom (where barn
cat sleeps)
- - good ventilation, expecially for hay
storage
- - wide aisles if you have aisles. 10
feet at least.
- - 9 foot ceilings at least
- - windows for each stall
- - sliding doors
- - storage space for rakes, wheelbarrow
etc.
- - metal hay feeders
- - stall dividers that can be
rearranged
- - main door into aisle, high enough
& wide enough to get a tractor through
- - hay storage in a separate area of
barn, separated from stalls by a wall
- - enough space around outside of barn to
be able to manouver a tractor
- - hay unloading area/door as efficient
as possible to make unloading and stacking hay, the least amount
of work
- - all stalls have their own outside
door
- - outside stall doors, split so bottom
half can be closed only
- - water in convenient place where
freezing up won't be a problem
- - lots of places to hang
things
- - good roof overhang for rainy
times
-
Feeding
If your horse isn't drinking enough, float some pieces of apple
and/or carrot on his or her water trough. Let the horse "bob" for the
treats, and in the process s/he will either stop bobbing and have a
drink, or will take in some water while s/he is playing with the
treats.
Always slice carrots lengthways to prevent choking
Mint sweets and ginger biscuits make the *occasional* good
treat
Metal dustbins make good rat and mouse proof feed containers
If you take a mobile phone with you when out riding, make sure you
carry it on your person and do not attach it to the saddle - if you
fall off you need the phone with you and not with the horse.
Recipe for making 'mule cookies' (from the Henderson's at
www.mules.henderson.org)
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cups apple sauce
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
3/4 cups crushed bran flakes (with raisins if you have them)
1 cup flour
Mix together and put into greased cookie sheet. Bake for 45
minutes in a 300 degree oven. Remove from oven and cut into squares
when cool.
Last updated: 10/10/99