Good Records, Good Care · 6 min read
The Records Every Horse Owner Should Keep (and Why)
Seven records, in order of how badly you'll wish you had them on the worst day — framed as care, not admin.
If you keep nothing else, keep these. I've organized them by how badly you'll wish you had them on the day you need them.
1. A health & veterinary log
Every visit, every vaccine, every "we'll keep an eye on it." Date, what happened, what the vet said, what it cost. Why: the day of an emergency, this is the difference between a fast decision and a dangerous guess.
2. A farrier record
Dates, cycle length, what your farrier noted, any changes — pads, shoes, trims. Why: hoof problems are slow-motion patterns. You can only see them with dates. Harvey's feet needed a full cycle just to start looking like a normal horse's, and I would not have believed the progress without the photos and the log both.
3. A weight & body condition note
Even rough — a tape weight and a one-line condition score, monthly. Why: gradual loss or gain is invisible day to day and obvious on paper. I keep this for Marshall more carefully than for anyone, because at 21 a slow decline is exactly the kind of thing that hides in "he seems fine."
4. A medication & supplement list
What, how much, why, since when. Why: a new vet needs this in sixty seconds, and you will absolutely forget the "since when" — I have, more than once.
5. A cost ledger
Board, farrier, vet, feed, the surprises. Why: you cannot care well for an animal whose true cost you avoid looking at. This is its own whole subject — I write about it constantly, because nobody warned me.
6. Ownership & identity documents
Registration, Coggins, insurance, microchip, any sale agreement. Why: sale, lease, travel, and claims all require them, always at the worst possible moment. Harvey came with almost none of these. Rebuilding a paper trail from nothing is doable, but it's a job you'd rather not have.
7. A training & work note
Doesn't have to be a diary — even "what we worked on, how he felt." Why: soundness and behavior changes show up here first, before they show up anywhere else.
You do not need software to start. You need a single place that isn't your memory. A note app, a spreadsheet, a physical binder — pick one and put one thing in it today.
I keep all seven for both of my horses, in very different states of completeness. Marshall's record is twenty-one years deep because I lived it. Harvey's is being built one entry at a time, on purpose, because he arrived without one. The system can get better later. The habit has to start now.
— Morgan
Keep reading
What Harvey's First Year Actually Cost
The Horse Who Came With a Blank Page