You have finally found that special equine, and it’s time to bring them home – BUT WAIT! Are you ready for your new arrival?? First impressions, good experiences, and a calm transition period are super important when you are settling in a new horse or pony. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, and be unprepared no matter how seasoned you are at settling a new horse. But don’t panic, we are here to help!
Preparing your horse’s new home
Whether your horse is living with you on your property, or being boarded at a professional livery yard – you will want to ensure that their new home is ready for them before they arrive. We have compiled a list of five things you will want to ensure are completed before the big day! This step by step preparation will allow you to unload your horse upon their delivery and immediately begin settling them into their new home without fuss, and allow you to effortlessly start your two week quarantine period. Check out next weeks article for more information on Why and How to Quarantine – but now on to the check list!
1) Safety First!
It’s time to go over your new horse’s living area to check for potential damage, protruding sharps, and dangerous hazards to prevent unwanted injury, or complications during your horses settling in process. This is a great practice to adapt into a habit as regularly checking your horse’s environment could prevent incidents in the future.
2) Let’s Get Cleaning!
Disinfecting surfaces, cleaning any buckets, removing cobwebs, and ensuring that there is fresh clean suitable bedding free of manure and debris is vital to ensure your horse has the best start at their new home. This thorough clean will also help ensure you didn’t miss any dangerous hazards during your initial safety check.
3) Time To Prep A Meal!
Making sure your horse’s new home has fresh water and a suitable food source ready to go will be greatly appreciated by your new equine partner. Many horses will receive a limited food source, or none at all during their transportation, and will likely only have access to water on periodic stops made by the transporter. This means that your horse is likely to be thirsty and hungry once they are unloaded. It is important to try and retain the same diet your horse received prior to arriving. This will ensure the best chance for your horse to adjust and will help avoid any digestion system upsets. It is possible to make changes to your horse’s diet once they have successfully settled.
4) Healthy Goals!
Your horse should arrive happy and healthy – but having a plan for any unforeseen medical emergencies is always a welcome safety net. We recommend that you contact your veterinarian to inform them that you are expecting a new horse and register them in their system before they arrive. Your veterinarian will appreciate this proactive move for future routine visits and will give you an opportunity to share any medical information you have already collected from the previous owner or tests performed prior to purchasing. In addition to contacting your veterinarian we always recommend having a simple equine first aid kit to hand in case of an emergency.
5) Keep it calm and quiet!
As tempting as it is to invite the entire neighbourhood, throw a party, and spoil your new horse in every way imaginable the moment they are unloaded from the trailer – Stop and consider your horse. Every horse will require a different settling in time, but during their quarantine fortnight we highly recommend keeping activities and unnecessary excitement to a minimum. Take this two week window to let your horse get used to their new surroundings, routines, and most importantly use this as a perfect opportunity to begin bonding with your horse. We have some great tips and exercises in our Building a Connection article here.