camping out. T is will help to keep your truck batteries from going dead and save you from having to jumpstart the vehicle. T is is es- pecially true if you are using your vehicle to keep your cell phone or any other gadgets charged. Make sure everything is unplugged and turned off when not in use or while unat- tended. Avoid draining power or bat eries un- necessarily. Most of us have been
taught to always take care of our horses fi rst, then ourselves. That rule should still apply here except in the case where you may arrive back in camp completely cold, wet, freezing or otherwise not right. In that case, try to do what you can for yourself fi rst so you can be coherent and take care of your horse. When I came in from riding one of the days
at the Grand Canyon I was cold, wet and had numb hands. I tied my horse to the trailer, then quickly ran inside and changed into a new pair of dry gloves. I also replaced my
Riding in the snow can be a fun and exhilarating experience. I think I preferred it to the normally rocky terrain we would have had otherwise. Be sure to start out carefully and allow your horse time to get used to the change in footing. Snow is fun to ride in, however you need to keep an eye out for icy spots, and for areas where there may be bog or puddles underneath the snow. Stick to riding on known trails.
KEEP YOUR HORSE MOVING
Water provided for our horses on the trail had very large ice cubes on top. T e horses still drank well once we
were able to turn the ice so they could access the water underneath.
drenched raincoat with a dry one and removed my helmet and put on a winter hat. Now I was ready to take care of my horse without wor- rying about get ing frostbite or shivering and making myself become sick or light-headed. When working around horses you want to be as coherent and focused as possible. So in some cases, take a few moments to make sure you are comfortable and well and then do your best to take care of your horse.
this regard is to keep my horse moving. Move- ment helps stimulate a horse’s system—they will eat and drink bet er if they are walked regularly or allowed to move around versus being tied up or confi ned to a small area. I took Bo for 10- to 15-minute walks every two to three hours aſt er riding each day. T is re- ally helped keep his appetite up and he stayed well hydrated even though there were several inches of ice in the buckets of water that had been leſt outside. Bringing your horse water inside or “dou- ble-bucketing” can also help keep water from freezing. You may also boil water to add to your horse’s regular water bucket to warm it up for him. Horses do drink more water when me
A
it’s warmer. I kept this in mind during my trip and did my best to keep enough horse water inside my trailer so I could keep adding it to Bo’s water bucket and also have enough warm water for his mashes.
One of the best ways to prepare your horse for a camping trip or to deal with cold weather is to get him used to eating wet mashes. I also like to add a tablespoon or two of salt to each of the mashes (you could also use an electrolyte mixture). T is way, my horse is used to eating that and will eagerly slurp it down. I can get Bo to eat a mash with two or three gallons of water in it every couple of hours for two
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lot of horses do not eat or drink well during inclement or very cold weath- er. T e biggest lesson I’ve learned in
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