Lead With the Morgan Feeding Warning
Holiday cover instructions for a Morgan horse should open with feeding, because the kindest mistake a covering friend can make is overfeeding him. Morgans are famously thrifty, compact horses who often maintain weight on forage that would leave a taller breed looking lean. State his hay amount by weight or by clearly described flakes from his own bales, state any hard feed exactly as you give it, and write in plain words that extra scoops, sugary treats, and access to rich grazing are not treats for this horse but a genuine risk to his waistline and feet.
Name the forbidden extras specifically. Carrots by the bag, handfuls of another horse's feed, and a few hours on lush grass because he looked longingly over the fence are the holiday accidents that happen when instructions say only to feed as normal. Normal is meaningless to someone who does not live with this Morgan every day.
Set Out Each Day in the Order It Happens
A Morgan horse holiday sheet works best as a single day in running order, repeated, rather than scattered topics. Begin with the morning check and feed, then turnout time and field companions, then bringing in, grooming, and the evening feed, and finish with the last water and security check. A sitter working through a holiday rota at dawn in poor weather needs sequence, not an essay.
Add exercise expectations honestly. If your Morgan is normally ridden or driven several times a week, say whether the cover person is expected to exercise him, lunge him, or simply turn him out, and say which of those they are actually qualified to do. A willing neighbour who has never driven should be told that turnout alone is enough, in writing, so nobody improvises with harness out of goodwill.
Describe What Normal Looks Like for This Horse
Holiday cover for a Morgan horse improves sharply when the sheet describes his personal normal. Note that he may be bright, curious, and first to the gate, that he rests a particular hind leg at noon, or that he always leaves a little hay until after turnout. Without that baseline, a cover person either worries about everything or notices nothing.
List the changes that should trigger a call to you the same day. Refusing a feed he normally finishes, standing apart from companions, repeated pawing or looking at his flank, heat or a strong pulse felt in a foot, and droppings that are markedly fewer or looser all deserve a prompt message rather than waiting until you return.
Separate those from the call-a-veterinarian-first situations. A horse who is down and cannot rise, sweating and restless with no droppings, choking, bleeding that does not stop, or suddenly unable to bear weight on a leg needs veterinary help before a holiday phone call to an owner in another time zone.
Close the Sheet With Contacts and Permissions
End holiday cover instructions for a Morgan horse with names and numbers in one place. Give your mobile, a second family contact, the veterinarian's number, the farrier's number, and the address of the yard written out in full for anyone directing help there. State who may authorise emergency veterinary care in your absence and where his records are kept.
Walk the cover person through the sheet at the yard before the holiday, watching them make up his feed and pick out a hoof rather than simply handing over paper. That ten-minute rehearsal catches the scoop that is bigger than yours and the gate latch that sticks.
Once the sheet is proven in person, keeping it in KinsLe through Care Pass lets the same instructions reach your cover person cleanly each holiday, with temporary access that covers the trip and no loose copies drifting around.