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Welcome to the Summer Care topic! 

In this topic we will learn more about how to care for horses and ponies in the Summer months! It is very important to consider the different seasons whilst caring for horses.

You will be learning about:

Riding in the Summer

Field Management

Dealing with Flies

Laminitis

Equine Grass Sickness

Sweet Itch

Here are the Summer Care badges you will receive at the end of the topic:

General Summer Care

In England, Summer is a warm and dry season so we must change the way we manage horses so they are comfortable, happy and healthy.

During Spring and Summer, the grass grows a lot and is very rich in nutrients so we need to reconsider what we are feeding horses so they do not become overweight. More access to grass means less need for hard feed and hay!

Like humans, horses must keep hydrated in order to survive. Making sure we offer horses plenty of water all year round is extremely important. But horses sweat more in Summer and there is less moisture in the grass so they will need to drink more.

Due to the hotter weather, we will also change how we rug a horse. Depending on a horses condition and level of work, we do not need to rug a horse if it is above 10 degrees Celcius. But there are rugs we can use that are designed for the hotter weather.

We will learn more about this in detail during this topic but how much do you know about Summer care already?

Have a go at the quiz to test your knowledge!