10. A thermometer
9. Betadine® Scrub
8. Novalsan® cream
7. Properly fitting tack for riding horses
6. A good blacksmith
5. A hoof pick
4. Annual fecals
3. Good quality hay and/or grass
2. A good equine vet
And the number one item any horse owner of any means can afford and implement to prevent so may other problems that can destroy the foundation of their horse:
1. A pitch fork – and the commitment to use it daily in run-in sheds too!
There’s been a lot of discussion lately about worming. Concern is mounting that prior regular and constant worming protocols are creating scavengers that are resistant to parasite control products.
Today, most vets that are keeping current are recommending horse owners invest in fecal exams. These should be preformed two times a year – in the spring (April in Western New York) and as winter sets in (November in this area). This has more to do with worm gestation cycles than horse habits, something that might come as a surprise to many.
Given the research findings and input from respected professionals we’ve consulted, we’ve decided to perform fecal exams on all horses on the property twice a year and forego our prior aggressive worming practices (in most years, we have a lot of horses coming in and out of the Halcyon Acres facility, so infestation is a bigger concern than would be the case in the standard home-based facility). We’ll treat horses individually, based on findings with specific products that address the worms discovered, retest the identified cases as prescribed by the vet, and stop our prior practice of regular, identical and timed worming treatments for all horses on the property. In the long run, we believe this will actually save clients and the farm a good deal of money and improve the health of the horses by reducing costs associated with buying wormer products and instead, individually identifying a particular horse’s treatment needs with precision.
What have you found to be an effective worming protocol?
Do you have a horse that makes you laugh? Please let us know by e-mailing (to NLevin at HorseSenseAndCents dot com) or through the comment section of this blog. We may feature you in a future blog post.
This week’s chuckle comes from one of the youngest members of our herd. Our four-month-old Irish Draught Sport Horse filly has been an imp from the start. She’s clever, but generally very cooperative after she makes it clear she is choosing to comply, and not obliged to do so. For the past month or so, she’s delighted in leading her younger (by two weeks) and dumber colt buddy into a small wood-fenced paddock or other areas he can get lost in, then ditching him. He idolizes her and is more concerned about being separated from this brazen filly than he is when his mother is out of sight. She’ll draw him out to a far corner of a paddock on the way to her known destination and then books for the gate and a return to the moms heading to the big digs. Interestingly, she’s a lot faster than her purebred Thoroughbred dupe, who’s also a little on the slow side where brains are concerned. She then delights in seeing him scream and gallop at the fence line adjacent to the large turnout area, unable to find the exit from the area (for the 30th time).
She lost her freedom privileges this past week (she’s been halter and lead trained for months, but we’re lazy and time starved) when she got the entire herd going. She decided it was much more fun to run the 26-acre perimeter of the grazing pastures to incite the various groups divided among the fields, than merely tricking and confusing her best friend. Of course, her mom, who is used to dropping independent and precocious foals, was the least concerned of the group (besides the filly in question, of course). Mom’s sharp, kind and helpful, though, so when called to the gate to help collect her foal, she kindly complied. Once mom got into the mix (she’s our alpha mare) the kid knew the jig was over – or else.
Do you have an equine comedian in your life? Why not share your story?
Stone Bruises? Try using a 10% Iodine solution on the soles of the feet. It’s best to wear gloves as this will stain and some find it to be irritating to the skin. Apply twice a day for the first four days or so and you should see a much more comfortable horse. You can back off to once a day once improvement begins. This will help draw out any infection while toughening the feet.
Infection troubles: If you’ve done everything to try and draw out a nasty infection to no avail (and yes, a vet should be consulted for any issue that is a concern), try applying rolled cotton (the cheap kind that doesn’t adhere to the drainage area) directly to wound under your standard bandage. In some cases, this will draw out a difficult infection without sticking to the affected area.
Foot Abscess? Try mixing Betadine® and sugar into a paste and pack it in to the area. Infant diapers secured with VetWrap® and reinforced with an outer layer of duct tape make for a pretty secure and easy to apply bandage. If your horse won’t stand in a tub, they make an Epsom salt poltice (that smells great too) that can be applied to the foot and bandaged in a similar fashion.
Excerpt from Turning Challenging Horses into Willing Partners due for release January, 2010
Third Trainer proved the charm with Saddlebred
Dennis talks about a long letter he received from a gentleman who had all but given up on his horse and subsequently concluded Dennis was a “gift from God.”
“I had a Saddlebred that the owner had sent to other trainers for what I believe was a period of nine months between the two of them. He’d blow up under saddle and in the harness. He (the owner) had heard about me from the mounted police up in Minneapolis. We had to do a lot of undoing before we could start doing. I had him three months, and I don’t know the trainers, but I do believe that they were pretty whip-happy. This is one issue we discovered that leads to a lot of other areas. This horse had learned to have no trust and a total lack of confidence with the people that worked with him. So, we had to deal with that and get the horse over his concerns. He wasn’t a mean horse. He was a kind horse. But, whenever you got in the saddle or hooked him up in the harness, he couldn’t hold it together. I started him just like I would a two-year-old. I think when they started him, they just got on and went, instead of giving him the basics, putting a good foundation on him. I started in the round pen to try to get some of the cobwebs out of his head. There were times when I didn’t think it was going to work, and that’s why I kept him three months. I knew this was this horse’s last chance. As it ended up, I did take the horse back to the owner’s property after he was finished with the fixing process, and I don’t normally do that. I hauled the horse three hours north of me because I wanted to see the horse in his environment, and see what kind of rider and driver this guy was. I took him out and rode him at this guy’s place and hooked him up in the harness. The horse used to run away with the harness. He’d grab the bit and run, and did the same thing in the saddle, although here he’d rear first, then grab the bit and run,” Dennis explains.
The homestead test for both the horse and the rider demonstrated that what this horse had learned in the last three months could be transferred to the new facility and the intended future rider/driver.
“The horse is doing very well. The owner called me. He had gone on vacation for a couple of weeks. When he came back, the horse was fresh because he hadn’t been worked during this time. The horse held it together on the first day. I think we got him over the hump. The horse was much happier, much more secure. I don’t think that horses like falling apart any more than we want them to. If we don’t give horses confidence, we set ourselves up for failure as well as them,” Dennis asserts.
About Dennis Auslam
Dennis believes a problem horse is a rare find, but people who create them abound. He works with horses, and people, to help all involved gain the self-assurance, understanding, trust, and skills to find a happy connection for both.
Redwood Stables
Dennis & Michelle Auslam
http://www.RedwoodStables.com
(507) 430-0342 cell
redwoodstables@mvtvwireless.com
This weekend I was in Vermont at a Denny Emerson clinic and Irish Draught Horse Fair organized by the Irish Draught Horse Society of North America North East’s Regional. Ironically, the last time I was in Vermont was also on Labor Day Weekend for my wedding, which was overshadowed by a close encounter with the neck of a leaping then rearing horse that had occurred less than a week prior. I remained seated, but it probably would have been better if my reflexes shut down and I came unglued from the start. I had six stitches in my lip and two teeth, one now dead with a prior to travel day root canal, moved back from the roof of my mouth to their proper place. She had a bleeding gash in her neck caused by the cap I needed after I split one of my first permanent teeth in two at age six. Talk about poetic happenstance – that single cap probably saved me from loosing an entire mouthful of my front teeth on that day. I eyed my husband after the ‘you may kiss the bride’ statement imparting the need for extreme caution. It was only two days prior that I was able to ingest anything without a straw. Probably should have listened to that foreboding, but that’s an entirely different story that need not confuse this happy ending.
It’s always a treat to go back to New England with the tall trees, rolling hills, beautiful scenery and humble, down-home, country attitude that permeates the rural regions of this area. Even fresh cut hay seems to smell so much better in this region. It was wonderful to pass fields of land where farmers were likely capitalizing on some of the first dry and hot consecutive days of this weird weather year. While dirt roads abound in the New York Finger Lakes, it’s different in Vermont as you wind through hilly, narrow and forest-lined roads that present architectural surprises in the many bends.
There’s something about being treated well that can make a good experience super memorable. We lucked out in finding an affordable, clean and ideal place to park our stuff and rest our heads at the Baxter Mountain House B&B in Sharon. Ken, its proprietor, was a doting host that made us feel like family.
Denny and his wife, May, set the tone for the weekend by inviting us into their house the night prior to the event start as horses were being delivered and parked in stalls throughout this neat, expansive, beautiful and charming facility. Humble and inviting as can be, the pair made everyone feel special, heard and important as we enjoyed dinner, drink and conversation.
What fun we all had with the clinic – riders and spectators alike. The patient and helpful attitude Denny fostered permeated each of the four groups, where at least one horse and/or rider in every session faced frustrating problems that put them well behind the level of the others. Clinic participants helped and encouraged their peers instead of being annoyed about time taken to address the challenges. Auditors cheered on all, especially those who were having difficulties. It was a great, supportive, fun-loving community that embraced each other, literally and physically. While I’m usually anxious to return to the farm after time away, this time, I didn’t want to leave.
Personally, I was given the guidance by Denny to completely alter my approach to fences with the particular horse I was on and change my riding body position to go from awkward and interfering to smooth and quiet. I was more than halfway through the weekend before it occurred to me that, while I had prior experience competing at the preliminary level, it had been 25 years since I had jumped a course of fences. How time flies. Still, it was so much fun to go back and learn.
I had planned on getting this posted this morning to push people to the show today, but stuff happens, especially when returning to a farm after several day’s absence. I hope some of you were able to get out there for this long weekend to enjoy the facility, people and spectacle of Irish horses. I had a ball and thank those who helped make it so.
The bugs have been terrible this season. Any horse that it is outside during daylight hours is likely a magnet for the insect brigade. Even well protected horses seem to be more bothered this year than most by rashes, itches and flaking. Here are a couple of ideas that may save you some money and save your horse a lot of irritation:
Homemade insect repellent:
Mix half and half cider vinegar with Pine-Sol® (the Pin-Sol® makes it stick) and apply it from a sprayer bottle. Don’t put it on too thick and keep it off nursing mares. This will last for an hour or two, which is about as long as we’ve found any commercial equine product to be effective. Plus, a gallon of this brew also goes a lot further for a lot less money than products labeled horse fly sprays.
Are your horses literally tearing out their hair?
With the bugs and the weird weather we’ve had this year, a lot of horses are rubbing manes and tails raw. If you’re looking for an inexpensive treatment that is remarkably effective, try oatmeal shampoo. This is not sold as an equine product, but you can find it in any dog section of your feed store or at pet stores for about $12 a bottle. Massage it deep into the tail (or mane, depending on where your issue is). Leave it on for about twenty minutes and then rinse thoroughly. We’ve found treating twice a day clears up the itch by day three when nothing else was effective.
Training Horses with Denny Emerson
Excerpt from Turning Challenging Horses into Willing Partners due for release January, 2010
“I think this is something that comes with getting older,” Denny admits. “There are two ways of addressing ‘my horse won’t do what I want.’ The mature, quiet, classical horseman will say, ‘this horse won’t do what I want, therefore, I am not asking him in a way he understands, or I’m overfacing him with tasks he’s not emotionally prepared to handle.’ But, the impatient person will say, ‘this horse won’t do what I want, therefore, the horse is being bad and I have permission to get on his case and punish him.’ I am now 67 years old, and I need to figure out a quieter or more consistent way to ask him. If you could get the younger ones (riders) to have that more mature attitude toward the training principles, I think you’d have a lot less trouble with horses. If it doesn’t happen in a week, or two weeks, or three months, then that’s OK. But you don’t start to ratchet up the intensity just because it isn’t happening fast enough.
“One of the things that I really do believe is that there can be a very significant difference between someone who is primarily a competitor and someone who is primarily a trainer. Let’s say you’re going to a particular event in two weeks. Your goal is to win the horse trials. If your horse isn’t going well then there’s a funny psychological switch that says ‘my horse is an impediment to my goal’ and you tend to lose patience with your horse.
“If your primary role is a trainer, the objective is to have the horse go well. The event in two weeks is not the priority,” Denny explains. Instead, he says a trainer’s sights are set on finding the right time and place to ensure the horse is able to shine. Patient tolerance and an understanding of equine needs with a schedule designed for the highest-level performance is the focus. “There’s a very different mindset,” he asserts.
“The best horseman is the person that can do both — to be both is really good. I think it’s better to be a good trainer than to be a good competitor. I’ve known a lot of really good competitors where others say ‘that person can really ride, but God forbid that you be his young horse,’ because he doesn’t have the patience to create a young horse. They’re too much in a hurry and they want what they want when they want it,” he notes.
About Denny Emerson:
Denny is currently at his 48th consecutive year of competing at the Preliminary eventing level or higher. He has been honored with the USEA’s Wofford Cup for lifetime service to eventing, the American Riding Instructor Certification Program (ARICP) Lifetime Achievement Award, and was inducted in 2006 into the USEA Hall of Fame.
In addition to his eventing career, Denny has been involved in numerous other horse sports during his 56 years of competing. He rode in his first one-hundred-mile trail ride at GMHA in 1956. Forty-eight years later, in 2004, Denny won a Tevis Cup buckle in endurance, for completing the 50th Anniversary of the Western States Trail Ride, the most famous and arduous 100-mile endurance race in the world. Denny has compiled 2,250 miles in American Endurance Ride Conference races, and was long listed for the 2005 USA East team for the North American Championships.
http://www.tamarackhill.com, denny@tamarackhill.com
Denny will be hosting a clinic, festival and show weekend at his facility September 5-7, 2009 at his Vermont facilities featuring Irish Draught and Irish sport horses. Auditors are welcome at $15/day.
Young and dumb can sometimes be a great asset when dealing with dangerous horse situations – particularly if it comes with a no fear mentality. Eventually, though, anyone who seems drawn to difficult horses over time – or feels they can save money by taking on a horse that has issues – logs enough injuries to happily prefer wisdom gained from the experience of others.
The Horse Sense and Cents™ notion comes from a lifetime of feeling compelled to learn lessons the hard way that finally gave way to a more mature perspective. Interestingly, the many horse training professionals involved in this project are quick to admit when they’ve been wrong, have chosen to adopt a more intuitive and careful approach to working with horses and have come to realize it’s a lot easier to learn from others’ successes – and failures. They’re wise and generous with their advice and can help you address easy issues and more dramatic cases.
If you’ve caught the horse bug in a big way and are ready to join a crowd that knows what they don’t know, you’ll have a lot of fun following this blog. Here you’ll find tips and stories to help you avoid some bruises and a whole lot of headaches and expense. Of course, anyone who’s been around knows you never stop learning on the horse front, so don’t expect formula answers that work in every case. We’re all here to discuss and share what’s worked for us and try to help you find ways to figure out what might be best for your horse.
We’ll start with five weekday posts and switch to a Tuesday and Thursday schedule once we get enough comments that keep us busy responding to reader questions and requests. In addition, we’ll let you know when particular professionals will be responding to reader comments so you can ask questions of those you’d most like to talk to when they are available.
We get that many who catch the horse bug aren’t wealthy and today, even the most established equine concerns are struggling, so we take the “Cents” part of our mission seriously. Creative, productive and budget-conscious tips will be offered every week. Let us know what you’re looking for and we’ll respond either as new posts or through the comment feature of this blog (which we hope to have up and running in the next two weeks – feel free to e-mail to questions @ HorseSenseandCents dot com in the meantime). If we don’t have the knowledge you need, we’ll try to find people who do.
This is a community designed for you – the horse owner, lover or professional who isn’t afraid to ask questions and seek help from others who have traveled the path before you.
We hope you decide to join a gang of equestrians determined to put their heads together so all can enjoy the ride!
Nanette Levin
Publisher of the Horse Sense and Cents book series
