As winter winds down and warm weather is imminent, I wanted to take a moment to offer everyone Westwood's policy on water usage. We only have one well here at Westwood, so water conservation is very important as we enter the warm, dry months ahead. Horses will be drining more water, owners will want to use more water to bathe and rinse, and as in years past Mother Nature may not bless us with the rain we need to stay ahead of the curve!

Here are a few practices we ask you to observe in order to help us ensure there is enough water to go around:

1. Rinse horses out of a buckets only. Fill your bucket, and use a sponge to rinse your horse off instead of spraying the water hose. (Rinsing is normally done after you ride, to rinse the sweat from your horses body.)

Sidenote: Empty your bucket outside of the barn after use, as it will help to keep the dry well from filling up. The water from the wash rack drains into the dry well and that means the faster the dry well fills, the faster it will stop draining and the sooner it will have to be pumped.

2. If you need to bathe your horse, ensure you have a nozzle on the hose so that the water flow can be turned off and not left to run when not is use. Washing is normally done prior to an event, or as general maintenance of your horses skin and hair coat, but not necessary after every ride)

3. Use the outdoor arena vs the indoor arena whenever possible. The indoor arena needs to be wetted down before use. The outdoor arena does not.

4. Don't allow water to overflow out of water troughs...I am guilty of this myself from time to time, but do your best to remember to turn the water off before overflow.

That's about it....We appreciate your cooperation! Looking forward to the warmth and sunshine ahead!!!!