b'The Rules ofKnow your horses poopPoopspectionhabitsthey can provide a wealth of informationabout his well-beingCHRISTA LEST-LASSERRE, MAG et your pitchfork out, put your gloves on: Its time to get an up-close look at that pile. Sure, it can get a little gross, but knowing your horses normal poop, how much he produces, and any related changes is part of good husbandry. Often consid-ered a nuisance, horse manure is rich in not only energy and soil-building nutrients but also information about your horses health and well-being. To help you better read your horses poop, weve consulted the experts to compile some poop-inspectionpoopspection, if you will guidelines. May these tips shed light on your horses gastrointestinal (GI) health as you sift through many piles of equine poop to come. 1 Know Thy Horses PoopHorses are creatures of habit, says Michael Fugaro, VMD, Dipl. ACVS, owner of Mountain Pointe Equine Veterinary Services, in Long Val-ley, New Jersey. This includes their GI habitshow often they poop, what it looks like, and even where they poop. Observing your horses defecating behaviors and manure quality regularly can help you get a feel for whats normalan essential step in knowing whats abnormal, he says. The biggest things to consider are consistency and timing, says Fu-garo. So, for example, you can expect a certain number of well-formed piles for your particular horse every day. Expect minor horse-to-horse differ-ences, such as slightly smaller but more frequent piles or smaller-sized ballsespecially with ponies or youngsters.Checking individual poop habits might be harder to do with horses at pasture, but you can still be observant, says Lucas Pantaleon, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, an equine internal medicine specialist in Versailles, Kentucky. While it might be chal-lenging to know whose poop belongs to whom, you ISTOCK.COM PHOTOScan check generally for quantity, pile size, and consistency. Get to know your herds normal habits, he says. If the horses are getting the same pasture turnout, water source, and grain, and theyre not on medications that could impact their feces, output should be fairly consistent across horses.28April 2020The Horse|TheHorse.com'