Riverwood Therapeutic Riding Center

Riverwood Therapeutic Riding Center Riverwood provides professional equine assisted activities for children & adults with disabilities.

Grooming Supplies🪮🧽🚿Essential horse grooming supplies include a rubber curry comb to loosen dirt, a stiff dandy brush an...
08/26/2026

Grooming Supplies🪮🧽🚿

Essential horse grooming supplies include a rubber curry comb to loosen dirt, a stiff dandy brush and soft body brush to sweep away debris, a hoof pick for hoof safety, and a mane and tail comb. Starter kits (such as the Roma Ultimate Grooming Kit) typically run between $25 and $50. 

💖Core Grooming Tools
* Curry Comb: Rubber or plastic tool used in circular motions to lift mud, loose hair, and deep dirt.
* Dandy Brush: Stiff-bristled brush to flick away dirt brought to the surface by the curry comb.
* Body Brush: Soft-bristled brush used to smooth the coat and add shine.
* Hoof Pick: Metal or heavy-duty plastic pick with an optional brush to clean out mud and rocks from hooves.
* Mane & Tail Comb/Brush: Wide-toothed comb or cushioned brush to carefully untangle hair.

💖Bathing and Coat Care
* Sweat Scraper: Removes excess water after a bath or a heavy workout.
* Shedding Blade: Metal or rubber tool to pull away heavy winter coats during shedding season.
* Shampoos & Detanglers: Specialized equine formulas (like SmartPak Equine) to clean skin and protect hair.
* Sponges: Separate clean sponges for the face/eyes and the dock area.

08/25/2026

Hydration Stations! 💦💧

Buckets and water tubs are essential for horses because they provide a constant, accessible water supply, which is critical for preventing dehydration and deadly conditions like impaction colic. Horses consume anywhere from 5 to 10+ gallons daily, and having multiple vessels ensures they are never without water. 

Here is a breakdown of why specific types are used:

1️⃣Water Buckets (Stall & Travel)
* Accessibility & Measurement: Stalls typically have at least two buckets. This ensures a horse doesn’t run out if one gets kicked over or drained, and allows the owner to easily measure exactly how much water the horse drinks in a day. 
* Heated Buckets: In colder climates, such as during the winter in North Carolina, Heated Flatback Buckets are used to prevent water from freezing. This encourages horses to keep drinking and helps avoid winter dehydration. 
* Flat-Back Design: These buckets are designed to sit flush against a stall wall or fence post. This prevents them from swinging, spilling, or becoming a hazard that could catch a horse’s tail.
2️⃣Water Tubs (Paddock & Pasture)
* Volume: Tubs are larger and hold significantly more water, making them ideal for turnout paddocks or herds of horses. 
* Rubber Tubs: Rubber Tubs and Feeders are highly preferred because they are flexible, virtually indestructible, and resist cracking from the heat, cold, or impact. 
* Safer Material: Because they are flexible, horses are much less likely to injure themselves if they kick, step on, or play with the tub compared to rigid plastic or metal alternatives. 

Why Having Both is Important
* Monitoring vs. Herd Dynamics: Buckets inside a stall allow you to track an individual horse’s health and hydration. Tubs in a pasture provide enough volume to sustain multiple horses for extended periods without needing constant refilling. 
* Cleaning and Maintenance: Tubs and buckets require regular scrubbing to prevent algae growth and bacteria. Providing multiple smaller buckets allows you to quickly swap and clean them daily. 

🚜FARM EQUIPMENT🪏Farm equipment is an integral part of taking care of a farm facility. Everything from pitchforks to truc...
08/24/2026

🚜FARM EQUIPMENT🪏

Farm equipment is an integral part of taking care of a farm facility. Everything from pitchforks to trucks and tractors is needed to keep a farm running smoothly and provide necessary structures and safe spaces/housing for our herd. 

1. Tractors and Utility Vehicles

* Tractors: Tractors typically cost between $17,000 to $30,000 depending on horsepower and attachments.
* Farm Truck: Needed for hauling horses to off-property programming, shows and vet visits. Also needed for hauling hay, grain and other materials needed to maintain the farm and horses. Farm trucks range in cost anywhere from $48,500 to $75,000. Our current beloved farm truck was generously donated by Steve and Sussan Hubbard to the program many years ago and has been a wonderful tool but is nearing the end of its capacity. We would love to be able to replace our farm truck to continue to offer community programming and support. 
* Horse Trailer: Maintenance on both our Mobile Educational Outreach (MEO) and 2 horse trailers are completed annually. 

2. Fencing: We are continually monitoring our fencing to make sure it is safe and appropriate for our horses! 

3. Livestock and Barn Tools
* Wheelbarrows and pitchforks: both of these tools help our dedicated team of barn staff to maintain a clean and healthy environment for our horses and participants.
* Wheelbarrows typically cost $150
* New Pitchforks are approximately $25 

💦Tack Cleaning Supplies🧽To properly maintain horse tack, you need a balanced routine of cleaning, conditioning, and prot...
08/21/2026

💦Tack Cleaning Supplies🧽

To properly maintain horse tack, you need a balanced routine of cleaning, conditioning, and protecting. Essential supplies include a quality pH-neutral leather cleaner (like Carr Day Martin Belvoir Tack Cleaner Spray), a nourishing conditioner (e.g., Effax Leather Balsam), sea sponges, and soft brushes. 

Essential Supplies & Tools
* Cleaners (Saddle Soaps): Used to lift away sweat, dirt, and dried saliva. Glycerine-based soaps are a classic staple.
* Conditioners & Oils: Prevents the leather from drying out, cracking, or snapping. Neatsfoot oil is ideal for softening stiff, dry leather, while leather balms provide a lighter, daily moisture boost.
* Cleaning Tools:
* Sea Sponges or Tack Sponges: The best way to lather saddle soap and work it into the leather.
* Small Bristle Brushes: Perfect for sweeping away hair, mud, and cleaning the hard-to-reach grooves in embossed leather.
* Microfiber Cloths: Great for buffing excess product away and giving a final polish.

Pro-Tips for Tack Care
* Frequency: Routine maintenance is better than over-treating. Excessive oiling or conditioning can rot cotton stitching and attract grime. 
* Climate Considerations: If you live in a highly humid climate, avoid thick oils that can make leather sticky; opt for damp-wiping and light glycerine soaps. In dry climates, conditioners will need to be applied more frequently. 

💤Bedding for Horses💤Horse bedding keeps stalls clean, absorbs urine, controls ammonia odors, and cushions floors. Common...
08/20/2026

💤Bedding for Horses💤

Horse bedding keeps stalls clean, absorbs urine, controls ammonia odors, and cushions floors. Common options include wood shavings, wood pellets, straw, and h**p, usually costing between $6 and $10 per bag or bale. 

⚪️Common Types of Horse Bedding
* Wood Shavings: Made from softwoods like pine. They offer good cushion, low dust when screened well, and easy cleanup.
* Wood Pellets: Compressed sawdust that expands into a soft, fluffy bed when lightly misted with water. They are highly absorbent and space-saving.
* Straw: Traditional, inexpensive, and biodegradable. However, it is less absorbent, can be dusty, and some horses may try to eat it.
* H**p: Eco-friendly and extremely absorbent, though it carries a higher upfront cost than wood or straw options. 

⚪️Key Selection Factors
* Absorbency: High-absorbency materials reduce moisture and trap nasty ammonia smells.
* Dust Levels: Low-dust formulas protect sensitive equine respiratory systems.
* Disposal & Composting: Pellets and softwoods break down efficiently for garden compost or fertilizer.

💦Hydration & Electrolytes in Horses⚡️Horses lose both water and vital minerals (sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, an...
08/19/2026

💦Hydration & Electrolytes in Horses⚡️

Horses lose both water and vital minerals (sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, and magnesium) when they sweat. To prevent dehydration and muscle fatigue, you must supplement these minerals and ensure the horse has access to fresh drinking water.

⚪️Why Electrolytes Matter
* Equine Sweat: Unlike human sweat, horse sweat is hypertonic (denser than body fluids). Horses lose massive amounts of salt and potassium, which must be replenished.
* Hydration Trigger: Electrolytes (especially sodium) help drive the physiological thirst response, encouraging your horse to drink.
* Prevention: Deficiencies can cause poor performance, muscle cramps, and dangerous conditions like tying-up.

⚪️Best Practices for Supplementation
* Daily Salt: Every horse at rest requires about 10 grams of sodium (about 2 tablespoons) daily. This is usually addressed by keeping a plain white salt block in the stall or pasture, or top-dressing their feed. 
* Sweat Replacements: For horses in moderate to heavy work, or those living in hot and humid climates, a formulated electrolyte supplement is necessary. 
* Water Access: Always provide two buckets: one with plain, fresh water, and one with the electrolyte solution. This allows the horse to regulate its own intake. 

⚪️Types of Electrolyte Products
* Top-Dress Powders & Pellets: Mixed directly into a daily grain ration. Excellent for daily maintenance during the summer show and trailering season.
* Water Additives: Flavored powders (like peppermint or apple) designed to make the water itself enticing.
* Oral Pastes: Concentrated, rapid-absorption solutions typically used during competitions or long endurance rides.

Each horse at Riverwood receives daily electrolytes to combat the loss of sweat and keep them drinking, so they maintain proper hydration levels. 

🪰Why is fly protection for horses important?🪰Fly protection is crucial for your horse’s health and comfort. It prevents ...
08/18/2026

🪰Why is fly protection for horses important?🪰

Fly protection is crucial for your horse’s health and comfort. It prevents painful bites, reduces stress, and stops the spread of dangerous diseases like Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA).

Effective gear also shields sensitive skin from UV damage and stops horses from excessive stomping, which can severely damage their hooves. 

The main reasons why fly protection is essential for horses include:

🦠Disease Prevention: Flies and mosquitoes are vectors for serious, potentially fatal illnesses like West Nile Virus and Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA). 

🦠Health & Wound Protection: Flies are drawn to open wounds and the sensitive moisture of a horse’s eyes. This can cause painful bacterial infections, “summer sores,” and eye issues (such as uveitis). 

🦠Stress and Energy Conservation: Constant biting and buzzing trigger frantic responses like tail swishing, head tossing, and pacing. This wastes energy, elevates heart rates, and decreases vital grazing time. 

🦠Hoof and Joint Protection: To escape biting flies on their lower legs, horses often continuously stomp the ground. This excessive stomping can bruise soles, crack hooves, and strain tendons. 

🦠UV & Sunburn Protection: Light-colored horses or those with pink, unpigmented skin are highly prone to painful sunburns and skin cancer. Fly masks, sheets, and leg wraps provide an essential physical block against harmful sun rays.

Why do horses have to take supplements?Supplementation is often necessary for horses, especially as they age. The horses...
08/17/2026

Why do horses have to take supplements?

Supplementation is often necessary for horses, especially as they age. The horses at Riverwood have a specific diet tailored to their nutritional needs. This includes supplements. Almost all the horses at Riverwood take Actiflex daily as a joint/anti-inflammatory supplement to keep them happy and healthy in their work. 

Common situations that require supplementation include:
* Aging Horse: As horses age, their bodies slow down on producing important substances such as synovial fluid for joint lubrication and anti-inflammation. Joint supplements and anti-inflammatory medications help to keep our aging herd happy and healthy.
* Strenuous Exercise: Although the horses at Riverwood are not training in high levels of performance, they are often required to carry unbalanced weight and compensate participants that may have limited strength, coordination and balance. Keeping them happy and healthy with Actiflex and Equioxx helps them maintain their mental and physical wellbeing.
* Poor Hoof or Coat Health: Biotin and Omega-3 fatty acid supplements are frequently used to promote stronger hooves and a shinier coat. Both Mistletoe and Ben have ongoing issues with their skin and coat and require special omega supplements to keep them comfortable. 
* Digestive Challenges: Probiotics can be useful for horses under stress from travel, antibiotics, or competition to maintain healthy hindgut flora. Being a therapeutic equine partner can certainly be stressful. We feed a variety of supplement’s and medication such as Platinum Performance GI and Ulcerguard to help our horses combat the stresses associated with being a valued member of our equine teaching herd.

⚪️Why Horses Need Special Diets⚪️* Metabolic Disorders & Laminitis: Horses with conditions like Equine Metabolic Syndrom...
08/14/2026

⚪️Why Horses Need Special Diets⚪️

* Metabolic Disorders & Laminitis: Horses with conditions like Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) or Insulin Dysregulation struggle to process sugars and starches. They require carefully controlled diets low in Non-Structural Carbohydrates (NSC), which often means avoiding lush pasture and grain entirely while feeding specially tested or soaked hay. 

* Muscle Conditions: Horses diagnosed with Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (PSSM)have defects in how their muscles store glycogen. These horses require a specialized diet high in digestible fats and very low in starches to prevent muscle cramping and tying-up. 

* Senior Care: Aged horses (typically 18+ years) often have worn-down teeth or less efficient digestive tracts, making it difficult to chew and absorb nutrients from standard hay. They often require soft, easy-to-digest feeds like soaked beet pulp or complete senior feeds. 

* Athletic Performance: Competition and racing horses burn calories rapidly and need to replenish energy and electrolytes quickly. Their diets are often supplemented with fats and proteins to support muscle recovery and stamina without causing digestive distress. 

* Respiratory Issues: Horses with heaves or recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) are highly sensitive to dust and mold. They require special dietary management, such as dust-free feed or hay that has been soaked before feeding. 

Resources like the Merck Veterinary Manual or organizations such as Kentucky Equine Research offer comprehensive guides on how nutritional management is used to treat these various equine health conditions.

💲Horses need chiropractors to relieve pain, correct joint misalignments, and optimize athletic performance. Daily activi...
08/13/2026

💲Horses need chiropractors to relieve pain, correct joint misalignments, and optimize athletic performance. Daily activities, trailering, and carrying riders can cause the spine or joints to become stiff or restricted (subluxations). This discomfort often results in performance issues, behavioral changes, or reluctance to bend 🙏🏼

Common reasons and benefits for seeking chiropractic care include:

* Pain & Stiffness Relief: Adjustments help restore the full range of motion, alleviating chronic back, neck, or sacroiliac pain. 
* Athletic Enhancement: It improves flexibility, stride length, and overall mobility, which is crucial for disciplines like jumping and dressage. 
* Injury Compensation: Misalignments often occur when a horse alters its gait to compensate for an old injury or sore hoof. Adjustments prevent those compensatory patterns from turning into long-term issues.

Signs Your Horse May Need an Adjustment:

⚪️Owners should consult an equine chiropractor if they notice these warning signs:

* Behavioral shifts: Resistance to being saddled (pinning ears, head tossing), bucking, or general irritability.
* Performance drops: Trouble picking up a specific lead, refusal to jump, or inability to perform smooth lead changes.
* Postural or movement changes: Uneven muscle development, tripping, difficulty turning to one side, or an abnormal stance.

Address

6825 Rolling View Drive
Tobaccoville, NC
27050

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+13369226426

Website

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