Today, I met a lady who’s been raising and riding Morgans and Welsh ponies in rural Alaska for the past 30 years. She told me about some of differences she’d noticed, between caring for horses in horse country, South Carolina vs caring for them in rural Alaska.
1. Some horses are kept far out in the wilderness and used for outfitters on guided excursions. For them, the only way to have their farrier come out is by bush-plane. As a result, those horses may only get their feet trimmed 2 times a year.
2. Because barn ventilation is often not designed to be as advanced as would be required for such an extreme environment, if you try to keep your horses in the barn to stay warm, they become prone to breathing issues and diseases, such as pneumonia. It’s better to keep them out in the fresh air with an open shelter.
3. Horses have a long history in Alaska. In fact, much of Alaska and many of the more rural towns would never have existed without the use of horsepower.
4. Horses were so important in Alaska that, in the worst of winter, many owners would bring their horses into the house, into their living rooms even, to keep them warm. This practice still continues in some areas.
5. There are some covered riding rings in the warmer, more populated areas of Alaska, although they tend to be few and far between and quite expensive.
6. Caring for horses through the Alaskan winter is all about survival. Bringing your horses hay, blankets, and hot water every few hours so they have something to drink becomes so energy-consuming that it’s just about as much as can be managed through most of the winter.
7. One of the daily health checks they have do is to make sure that your horse’s nostrils haven’t frozen shut. If they get too clogged up with ice, your horse could suffocate!
I forgot to ask her: Do polar bears eat horses?? If so, how do you protect them?
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