What You Don’t Know About Barn Hygiene Could Hurt Your Horse’s Performance

Horse Health Can Be Impaired By Excessive Ammonia

Horse owners love “barn smells.” Leather, shavings, liniment, hay, tack, that sweet horse smell … it is all part of barn life. Most people accept the smell of ammonia as just part of the deal. Eliminate that smell and you will come to appreciate all those “good” smells more and no longer be willing to tolerate the bad ones.

The inflammation caused by even low levels of ammonia from the breakdown of urine can impact a horse’s health and performance, even cause severe respiratory problems. Yet the danger of ammonia is under appreciated by most horse owners. It’s just that “stall smell” we’ve gotten use to.

However we aren’t in the stall or trailer for many hours every day and our noses are 5-6 feet above the surface. Ammonia is heavier than air so it’s near ground level, closer to where your horse’s nostrils are.

Read more atSpalding-Labs.com

Share
Related Articles
Close Up Photo of Horse
Safeguard Against Arthritis: A Roundup of Infographics
Horse Running in Wild Flowers
Quick Tips for New Horse Owners
10 Non-Negotiables for Horse Management
White horse legs close up
What's The Deal With Liniment?
HR_24SUM_Crabbe_Virus-Outbreak_01
Outbreak! What We’ve Learned
Newsletter
Receive news and promotions for Horse & Rider and other Equine Network offers.

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Country*

Additional Offers

Additional Offers
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.