Horse keeping in Hawaii is not always fun.  On the day I took this picture I had already been searching for a while.  I was sopping wet because the rain had started unexpectedly.  I had gone out without rain gear. I had just about concluded that I’d missed the horses standing under trees near the barn, when I did one last visual sweep toward the top of the property. You can barely see them in this picture, but the white spot just above the center of the picture is one of them.  They weren’t exactly stuck, but they were reluctant to come down a steep slope.   I had to go up and halter the lead mare, then negotiate with her for a while before we agreed on a path toward the barn.

Keeping horses at pasture is better for them-and usually works out well for me, since they tend to make their way back toward the barn at feeding time.

But it doesn’t always work out.

I keep two horses in at night. One because she is ancient and frail, and if I keep her in she burns fewer calories shivering and eats 10 pounds of senior, which helps keep the weight on her. I have to shut her in or she’ll chose to go out and lie down, and she was getting very skinny. I feed her a combination of alfalfa pellets and Purina Senior, available at Waimea Feed Supply https://www.yellowpages.com/kamuela-hi/feed-store , and Nutrena Senior Safe Choice, available at Animal Health in Waimea https://www.yellowpages.com/kamuela-hi/feed-store and Alfalfa Hay and Cubes in Pauuilo https://www.manta.com/c/mmqmk71/alfalfa-hay-cubes

I combine the three feeds when all are available because there are many times when one or more are not available, and I want her to be able to transition easily to whatever I have for her.

The other I keep in because she has chronically bad feet, and the best way I’ve found of keeping her feet in decent shape is to allow them to dry out every night. Plus, the two horses keep each other company, so they don’t get upset when the rest of the herd heads back out after feeding.  If it weren’t for the needs of those two horses, I would have let them all stay out last night!

I supplement all my horses with some alfalfa, a scoop a day of Platinum Performance, plus free choice Hawaii Horse Minerals.  The latter is especially important because our grasses have a component that binds with calcium, making it unavailable for the horses to metabolize.  The Hawaii Horse Minerals boosts the amount of calcium available to horses, so that their calcium/phosphorus ratio remains healthy.  The Horse Minerals are available at Animal Health in Waimea and, I believe, Alfalfa Hay and Cubes in Pauuilo.

Where’s the best place on the Island to keep horses?  Without questions, Waikii Ranch.  The climate is about perfect-cool and dry.  They have extensive riding trails, an arena, and a polo field.  It is difficult to get through the design review process, and expensive to build, so if you can find something already built that suits you, that may be a smarter option.  Here are some current listings: https://judy.hawaii.elitepacific.com/results-gallery/?hood=3374528&sort=importdate&status=A