I am SO excited!! Ag Field Day at Rutgers Day returns as an in-person event this year after a couple of years of virtual events. I can’t wait to welcome you to campus and the Equine Exercise Physiology Laboratory. As you know, I love interacting with visitors (especially when they bring me doughnuts). Make plans to join us on Saturday, April 30th. The event begins at 10AM and will go through 4PM.

If the mounds of horse hair on the barn floor are a reliable indicator, spring has arrived. You may want to enjoy the beautiful spring weather by squeezing in a few extra rides. Spring brings its own set of responsibilities for horse owners, though. One of the items that should be at the top of your to-do list is scheduling your horse’s spring vaccinations, if you haven’t already done so. Spring vaccinations are a critical part of any good equine management plan. Putting in the time and effort to schedule vaccines now will keep your horse healthy in the coming months, giving you more time to enjoy pleasant days on horseback.

Boy, oh boy. Today is a busy day in the Rutgers Equine Science Center office! Our staff is hard at work sending out posts and emails about Rutgers Giving Day. This annual event is a major fundraising occasion for the university and Equine Science Center. This is a great day to donate because your gift can have a greater impact through matching challenges and other fun challenges the university puts on. Every little bit helps, so even if you have five dollars to donate, we’d love it if you chose to give to our research fund. UMH Properties, Inc. on behalf of Sam Landy will generously match the first $10,000 donated on Rutgers Giving Day, so your donation will have double the impact!

I think there’s hope that spring is right around the corner! Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but all my friends and I are shedding out our winter coats which means the days are getting longer. Spring will bring fresh green grass along with it. Lurking among these juicy shoots may be some plants that are harmful to your horse. It’s never a bad idea to review poisonous plants and check your pasture for them.

Fluctuating temperatures, thawing mud, and clouds of horse hair floating in the air after a good grooming session are telltale signs that spring is on the way. A good grooming session that hits all of those itchy and hard to reach spots is one of my favorite activities (it may even come close to eating sometimes)! All of these signs of spring have me looking forward to our upcoming events! The next one on the calendar is the Junior Breeder Symposium. Go ahead and mark your calendars for Saturday, March 26th!

Brrrr! These past few weeks have been cold here in Central New Jersey. I spend much of my time munching hay and trying to stay warm. As you know, talking about food is one of my favorite pastimes. As I grab the next mouthful of hay, I also tell my pasture mates all about what I’m eating. All of this eating and talking about eating has gotten me wondering what you need to know about feeding your horse in the winter. I had my friends at the Equine Science Center give me a little help in coming up with all the answers!

I’m excited to be bringing you the latest post in my careers in the equine industry series! Are you ready for another inside look at a career? I certainly hope so because I can’t wait to share all my new insights with you. This week I talked to Mr. Mike Conforth, who is responsible for the daily management of Rick’s Saddle Shop, a tack, feed, and equipment supplier with locations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. As a business, they employ approximately forty people.

Welcome to 2022! I hope you all had an enjoyable and restful holiday break. I certainly did. I spent lots of time dozing in the sunshine and munching on tasty treats (including some hot doughnuts). Do you remember what I wrote about in my last blog post? If you’re having trouble remembering, I can give you a hint. It was all about my New Year’s Resolution! If you took my advice and incorporated education into your resolution or goals for the new year, I have the perfect opportunity for you!

Happy New Year!! How has another year already flown by? For many of us, the start of a new year is a time for reflection and planning for the year ahead. I think reflection is best undertaken while dozing in the sunshine. There’s a perfect corner in my pasture for just this sort of activity. You never know what thoughts will float across your mind as you stand there in that state between waking and sleeping. One of the thoughts that floated across my mind recently was education.

The weather heading into this winter has been a little crazy. My two-legged friends never know what to wear. Should they don their heavy winter coats or a light jacket? My decision is a little less complicated. I grow a nice fluffy winter coat as the days begin to shorten. Winter shedding season will be triggered by the increasing length of the days as the spring approaches. Pretty cool, don’t you think? It also means I never have to put any thought into it. While my winter coat does an excellent job of keeping me warm on the cold days it can make me sweaty on some of these warm days we’ve been having. This leads some horse owners to opt into clipping their horses’ coats. This means, of course, that the horse will be less equipped to keep themselves warm on a cold day. So, what do you need to know about keeping your hose warm and cozy this winter?