During hot and humid weather, keep a fan blowing in your tack room (or wherever you keep your horse gear) to circulate air and help prevent mold and mildrew.

Check the stirrup bars on your saddle, (or any saddle you ride in) and always make sure the safety latches are in the down position. The safety latch is intended to hold the leathers in place yet allow them to come away if a rider falls off and gets dragged, but modern saddles have recessed stirrup bars which give the leathers a more snug fit so it´s rare they slide off during normal riding. The problem is that a lot of latches are stiff or even rusted in the upright position which is a definite hazard, so for safety´s sake just leave them permanently in the down position.

When buying new canvas rugs, leave them hanging over a gate for a day or so and soak a couple of times with a hose. This will cause any excess dye to run off and not turn your horse blue, or any other interesting colour horse´s weren´t meant to be.

For shiny bits, first wash in hot water then place in a bowl of tomato sauce, which will give a good shine and is preferable over chemical metal polishes.

Cheap rechargeable ´people´ clippers from Kmart make good touch-up clippers for short hair areas like socks and under the chin.

Samantha writes articles on several subjects including horse health issues, horse riding tips and horse rescue stories. To read more articles please visit our Horse Riding website