Horse care tips

In wet, mild weather, redworm larvae can travel up to three metres from a dropping in about five days. Keep up regular poo-picking when it's damp.

Before winter, put hardstanding around gateways, shelters and water troughs. It reduces poaching, and the bacteria behind mud fever live in wet soil.

Make sure horses living out can reach shelter, natural or man-made. Donkeys need a fully waterproof shelter.

Keep sweet-itch-prone horses away from standing water, soft mud, woodland and muck heaps — places midges breed. Breezy fields have fewer midges.

Gateways and troughs poach fast. Scraping out a semicircle about three horse-lengths wide and laying crushed stone pays off over winter; woodchip breaks down and can make it worse.

If a field has more than one gate, alternate which one you use so each gateway has a chance to dry out.

Sycamore seeds are poisonous to horses; field maple is safe. Sycamore 'helicopters' hang in a downward V, field maple wings are straight across.

Oak trees overhanging a paddock drop acorns in autumn, which can poison horses. Fence them off or clear them up.

Learn ragwort's stages: small seedlings appear in autumn, flat rosettes from early spring, and tall yellow-flowered plants from May to October.

Atypical myopathy peaks in autumn, when horses eat fallen sycamore seeds and leaves. Clear them from the paddock regularly — even fields without sycamores can have seeds blown in.

Where sycamore trees are close to the pasture, limit grazing to under six hours a day in the high-risk seasons.

Avoid harrowing paddocks with sycamore material in autumn — it spreads seeds and leaves across the field and has been linked to higher risk.

The sycamore toxin can pass into water. In high-risk seasons, avoid fields where horses drink from a stream or river, and provide another water supply.

Acorn fall increases after strong winds. Check fields with oaks after autumn storms and clear acorns, or fence off the area under the branches.

On a track system, spread hay along the track in small-holed nets and put it away from the water, so horses keep moving between resources.

Turning grass into a surfaced pen or track with hardcore or concrete may need permission from the landowner or local authority — check first.

Old dairy pastures are often perennial ryegrass, bred for milk production. Overseeding with timothy, cocksfoot or meadow fescues gives horses coarser, higher-fibre grazing.

Don't keep horses on sandy, overgrazed paddocks with little grass cover — eating sand off the ground risks sand colic.

Pick up droppings from the field at least twice a week. It removes worm eggs before larvae can spread onto the grass.

Harrowing spreads worm larvae across the whole paddock. Picking up droppings is the better way to keep worm levels down.

Rotate paddocks and rest them for several months when you can. Resting pasture gives worm larvae time to die off.

Cross-grazing with sheep or cattle helps break the worm cycle. They eat horse worm larvae, which can't survive in other species.

Dewormer residues harm dung beetles and aquatic life. Poo-pick daily after treating, and store that manure for at least four months before spreading.

Graze foals and youngstock on pasture rested from horses for as long as possible — ideally 12 months — and avoid using the same paddocks for them every year.