EquiSearch Community

Friends of RR - the official thread

SeeingStarz — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 14:59:18 GMT

Ok so all of you who have enjoyed the wit and discussion with our friend RR - so as not to hijack any other threads- lets meet here!
SeaSmiles - I call you that because you make me smile
RC, Lucy, AMM and all the rest lets have some fun here!

Need info please! Have you ever heard of this?

janiert — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:58:35 GMT

Hi! I am still looking for a horse to replace my buddy who died in November. There is one that I have not visited yet, it's out of state so I am communicating a lot with the owner until we can get together to show me the horse.

The owner said that the horse's one hock was injected with cortisone one time due to stiffness. She has owned him 3 years. This is a 9 yr. old gelding, QH, but 16.2h. The owner was very forthcoming with me about this topic, and has spent a LOT of time on the phone and in e-mails with me on numerous occasions. Anyway, the owner told me that the vet said this is nothing to be concerned about, it is "not unusual for geldings of 7,8,9 yrs old to have this stiffness until the hock "fuses" totally; they'll grow out of it. I have never heard about this, but I have only had one horse. Do any of you have any knowledge on this hock issue? I asked her for a term for it so I can look it up, but she hasn't seen my e-mail yet from this afternoon.

I know the horse may have twisted it so it could've been stiff and then had an injection that makes perfect sense to me. What I don't want is a chronic problem.. If any of you can shed light on this I would really appreciate it. Hoping it is a one time thing. Could it be due to his taller stature? All of you have so much experience and knowledge. It's always such a big help to ask you! Thanks for your input (as always!)

Parade Pictures!

ShireHorse — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:40:11 GMT

So we had our parade! *Happy dance* and everything went pretty good. No horses or kids freaked out, and all of the horses and the kids and everyone else made it through the parade safely. The only problem was that Rylee, the horse I was going to ride in the parade, hit his head coming out of the trailer, panicked, and pretty much fell out of the trailer. He really gashed his face up good, and was so upset and frightened about the accident that I decided to walk him in the parade instead of riding him. Other than that everything went pretty well, and I have pictures!

Thanks to all of you who gave such good advice for prepping for the parade, everything went fine!

-SH

Checking over Rylee. He wasn't so nervous in this photo, but we were guessing his head was really bothering him.

Lining up!

Stopping for a minute in the middle of the parade. We were checking to make sure Rylee was okay.

On the bridge in the middle of town waving to some friends. Spokane has one of the biggest rivers running through a city in the world, and the horses did just fine. *whew* ;)

Back at the parking lot. The horses were very done with being in a parade by this point. ;)

Heading back to the trailer. You can really see Rylee's feathers in this one. (He was an Indian horse, for the theme of the parade was Indian Summer.) I was really tired in this photo (I ended up walking the whole parade route!) hence the random facial expression. :)

Overnight Horse Stable Recommendation Needed

803623 — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:52:16 GMT

At the beginning of July 2013, I will be travelling from Arizona to California with my horses and am looking for recommendations on an overnight horse stable in the Bakersfield, CA, area. Does anyone have any good recommendations? I'm asking because my websearch didn't really turn up any stables that I felt good about. Thanks in advance for the help!

Lyme Disease Prevention

lovmyhorses — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:38:01 GMT

With New Hampshire being so high of an incidence of Lyme disease in recent years I'm wondering what everyone else does to ensure protect their horses from Lyme disease. The ticks are out in NH and I am now super paranoid as I'm in my first semester of vet school on St. Kitts in the Caribbean. Obviously taking my 26 year old QH and my 21 year old OTTB with me was not an option, so they are in the capable hands of my mother and are being ridden once a week by a girl in my old 4-H club that came recommended and is also willing to take lessons with my old trainer so I know that my TB who is sensitive to changes in riders (13 owners in 13 years will do that to a horse) is in good hands.

Anyway I was talking to a friend and both of her horses have Lyme disease, she doesn't ride, her horses are just backyard pets (rescue horses, one is very old and the other is 15 and never saddled). She does do a lot of ground work but still the horses basically never go beyond the pasture. Another person I ride with regularly on trail rides has 11 horses and all of hers have Lyme as well. Currently NH is having so many problems last summer Doctors weren't even testing ticks that bit humans they were treating everyone that had an embedded tick and the department of agriculture is recommending that all dogs have the Lyme vaccine, a topical tick product (Frontline, Advantage, Revolution, etc.) and a tick collar (prescription, not the ones you buy at Wal-Mart).

I've tried learning from my teachers here but ticks seem to be non-existent and at the moment everything is taught by small animal professors, plus I need to find something sold in the states.

Real riding jeans for women

Anne W — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:53:53 GMT

I just got one of my "horse" catalogs with the usual offering of jeans being worn by young women in their teens and twenties. Don't get me wrong, they look great, but you would think that was the only age group that rides horses.

I'm 57 and in good shape, but I hate those low rise jeans. They don't look good on older women and, sorry to say, on most women of any age. They aren't practical for mounting, dismounting or even sitting on a horse. I gave in last year out of desperation and bought a couple of pair that didn't seem too low, but darnit, they still slide down too much when I'm getting on my horse. I won't even go into how uncomfortable and impractical they are for chores.

One of my girlfriends resorted to wearing men's jeans, but they really don't fit right either. I'm still managing to wear a couple of older Cruel Girl jeans that come just below my waist (perfect) and have a slim, straight leg that doesn't ride up.

I want to look nice, but I also want to be comfortable. When will manufacturers start making jeans that are made for riding again? Am I the only one who hates the "new" look?

Technology must hate me

FloridaHorseman — Sat, 11 May 2013 10:01:35 GMT

I finally made my last leap into the 21st century last Friday with the acquisition of a "Smartphone". My 9 YO Verizon flip phone was still working but the battery wasn't holding a charge, accessories were impossible to find anymore and the 3G signal strength out here was barely 1 bar. More often than not incoming calls at home went straight to voicemail and I had to call back when I finally got the voicemail alert.

I don't use any phone as often as most and the cheapest way to maintain one was to use a pay-by-the-minute plan that was keeping my monthly cost around $45. But Verizon does not have a pre-paid plan that includes 4G service, only 3G. And since there is no cable or DSL Internet service out here in the boonies my computer is on a separate Verizon wireless broadband contract for 5 Gb of monthly bandwidth for about $50 a month. That system recently upgraded to 4G and I get a solid 2 bar 4G signal and fast connection speed. So.... I figured finding an affordable 4G capable smartphone plan would put me in pretty good shape. Thus, the saga begins...

Verizon had bundled "share everything" packages that would give me a phone and home internet for around $150 a month. But at that rate (their lowest) bandwidth usage on the phone would also be deducted from my overall 5 Gb limit. And when a smart phone is turned on it is always pinging email accounts, GPS, downloading updates, etc., just like a horse nibbling at a round bale all day. Disabling those features makes a "Smartphone" as dumb as my old flip phone, so what's the point of having it? So I could predict bandwidth overage charges would be virtually assured.

Sprint was offering a 4G capable Samsung Galaxy II for cheap ($149) with a pay-as-you-go monthly contract with unlimited minutes and unlimited data for $70. I took the deal with 10 days to return the phone. I get home and find I still have just 1 bar of 3G signal and just to get that I'm roaming on Verizon's 3G network. And ALL of my incoming calls now go straight to voicemail! I played with the phone all weekend, moving from one place in the house to another. I even walked the property line looking for a "hotspot" where the phone would work, The results remained either a 1 bar 3G signal or no signal at all. Needless to say I was totally bummed out. But I was really starting to like the phone.

I called the Sprint store Monday and reported my dilemma. The store manager said I could bring the phone back and switch back to Verizon with no charges incurred. I told him I liked the phone and was thoroughly impressed with customer service that was head and shoulders above what I ever got from Verizon and mused outloud about changing my voicemail message to an apology about having Sprint and calling clients back as soon as I got the message just to keep the phone. That's when he offered up some ideas...

Sprint is partnered with Google Voice ( a "dummy" phone number provided by Google that has full service call forwarding, voicemail and voicemail transcription to text message or email to any phone you select). I already had a Google phone number. And by switching that number to my regular cell phone number I could forward incoming calls to my Magic Jack internet phone that DOES ring through to the house. I just have to leave the computer on for it to work. AND... with a Sprint phone Google Voice has the additional option to forward calls to multiple phones even though they have different numbers so they all ring with an incoming call to my cell number. And I can answer the call on any of them!

The Sprint store manager also told me since I have a broadband speed connection with Verizon there is also a gizmo Sprint offers called AiRave that plugs into a router and my internet connection that links directly to the Sprint phone network and creates a mini-tower in my home with a 5,000 sq. ft. range. He said Sprint recognizes their signal limitations in rural areas compared to Verizon and devised that system to fill the gaps. He also said I may qualify to get the AiRave component at no charge. I'd only have to buy the router to make it work. But the rub was the AiRave unit was designed to work on cable, DSL, T1 and T2 hard wire Internet service. It specifically does not work on satellite and he had no idea if it would work on a wireless broadband modem. So I proposed an experiment. I would bring my phone, laptop and Verizon wireless broadband modem to the store and see if we could get a connection through one of his routers. He agreed and we did the experiment yesterday. It was a success! With the wireless modem plugged into the router and establishing a WiFi connection via the laptop I could connect both the phone and the laptop to the Internet via the WiFi hot spot created by the router on my Verizon connection. However... WiFi can only handle data. So I could still not make and receive phone calls. That would require the AiRave unit to also be connected to the router and he did not have one at the store. But we established the connection could be made, so all I needed was a router and the AiRave unit.

Well.... Sprint will not GIVE me an AiRave because I am on a month-to-month contract. But they will SELL me one for $299. Good to know since I already bought a router I would not otherwise need. Plan B: bought an older version on eBay for $43. So I'm at least a week away from finding out if all this will work out as planned.

And here's the coup d'grace to my tale of technology woe... When I returned home from my "experiment" at the Sprint store I plugged in my laptop, hit the power button and... nothing. The hard drive is DOA. That makes the third one in three years. I guess it figured 'You have a Smartphone now. My work here is done.' My PC wasn't equipped with WiFi to connect to my router like the laptop was. But luckily (if there's any luck to be found in any of this) I did have an old WiFi USB adapter from one of my previous laptops that has found a new home on my PC.

The old adage "When you're up to your ass in alligators it's hard to remember all you wanted to do was drain the swamp" certainly applies to my "simple" adventure of upgrading to a Smartphone. ~FH

Safe bute substitute?

firefly — Sat, 04 May 2013 23:48:03 GMT

Does anyone on the forum have information/experience with using a bute substitute?

My horse was diagnosed with ulcers and is currently on Ulcer Guard. I think the ulcers were caused by using bute and I want to avoid it in the future. I have read about Equioxx but that can cause ulcers too. I have read about Vetrofen and Boswellia Serrata but couldn't find enough info. to even dare to try it. If anyone has any experience I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

firefly

Wish me luck!

ShireHorse — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 20:09:47 GMT

Wish me luck this next Wensday-I have been training a horse to be ridden again and next week will be the first day he's been ridden in six+ years. And this horse is a seventeen hand high quarter horse who I have seen buck vertically...so let's hope he doesn't buck under saddle. I really have no idea what his previous training was, and he has only been ridden a handful of times by his owner(s) so we'll see how it goes. So wish me luck, guys!

-SH

Hi! I'm new to the forum.

firefly — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:46:49 GMT

Hi! I'm Firefly. I'm new to the forum--well, kind of. I was a member several years ago but due to a horse accident and other interruptions in life I'm just now getting back. I enjoyed the wealth of information that other horse owners offered and I look forward to being around horse lovers again.

Keeping weight on a Thoroughbred tips please!

ShireHorse — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 22:00:50 GMT

Title says it all-I wanted some advice on how to keep weight on Rylee, the Thoroughbred(ish) horse I work with. He loses weight so quickly during the Spring, because the days are warm and in the fifties and the nights are cold and below thirty-two. So he has trouble keeping his weight. He has a slow feeder and access to food whenever he wants it, plus he gets fed grass pellets and a assortment of minerals. He still doesn't keep weight very well.

Any suggestions on what we should be giving him? I could use all of your advice, as I have been charged at our barn to find the solution for my big baby boy. :) Thanks in advance for your help!

-SH

Tell me about Appaloosas!

janiert — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 06:41:30 GMT

Hi! Well, after losing my best buddy about 4 months ago I think I may be starting to seriously look for a new horse.

There is one I have my eye on that is an Appy. My other horse was a QH and he had a great disposition.

If you can tell me the good and bad/ pros and cons about Appaloosas, I would appreciate it!

Thanks for your replies!

Rolex Coverage

Jayne-Admin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:17:41 GMT

I just posted an article on EquiSearch about the USEFNetwork/NBC coverage of the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event. You can read it here.

And of course, Nancy Jaffer is heading to Lexington and will be filing reports on the action, which I will be posting this weekend.

Live Chat with Purina Senior Horse Expert Dr. Katie Young

Jayne-Admin — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:11:30 GMT

EquiSearch is going to be hosting a live chat with Dr Katie Young in the Purina Senior Horse Resource Center on April 16th at 8 pm EDT.

The topic is "Is Your Horse a Senior Horse?" although all questions are welcome.

Everyone is invited to stop by the Senior Horse Resource Center and post their question ahead of time and then join in the live chat for Dr. Young's answers.

Hope Springs Eternal

Jayne-Admin — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:15:22 GMT

Hope, the newborn Clydesdale who was featured in this year's Budweiser Superbowl ad is growing up and she's ready for visitors at Anheiser Busch Farm.

You can read more about her in Fran Jurga's blog.

IE 10 won't load chat

FloridaHorseman — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:19:39 GMT

I usually use Google Chrome and have no problems other than cannot post pics in chat (a problem with GC). But IE 10 is getting a page code error and won't load. ~FH

Old horse problems

skjerve1 — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 21:51:14 GMT

Hello, I wanted to start by saying thanks for having me here in your forum. I have an older horse with a very swollen hock plenty of pain. I just got him trimmed.I I have been focusing on his feed and of courg leg problems.ot havinse his overall health. I did just have him trimmed but I do not feel this is the problem but I can't figure what has brought this on. Not sure what's up? Any ideas? I'm Giving him Butte and cold hose runs three a day, Then a little DMSO, Also he is a rescue.. Got him about a week ago and had no problems or injuries then. I know it could have been from rolling, twisted hock sprain.ETC.... IDK.. Major question how would How would I treat hims signs- swelling from just about Hock and down about and half way down his cannnon. Weather it is a sprain,twisted .Anything you all can think would be deeply appreciated.. Question is Can you think of something else I should do? nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Pasture Fertilizing

Brian_Murphy — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:53:38 GMT

I want to fertilize my pastures tsoon and would like recommendations on good fertilizers. I own 1 horse so a soil sample isn't feasible. We are in Wisconsin. What is a good all-purpose weed & feed that will produce good, lush grass. I also plan to overseed at some point. What levels f Nitrogen and Potassium should I look for in a fertilizer?

Thanks

First Horse Parade Help, Anyone?

ShireHorse — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 19:11:04 GMT

Howdy there everyone! This is ShireHorse (better known as Giant Cheeseball, I changed my name a while back) and I have a question for you all.

Today we were informed that our non-profit orginazation is invited to ride in the Junior Parade in May, and of course we're all excited. Along with three other riders, I was chosen as one of the riders to ride in the parade, if I can get Rylee, the horse I'm training for our barn, ready and bombproof in five months. Any suggestions on how to prep a horse for a parade? I already have desensatized him to many, many things (plastic bags, whips, crazy things like running and trying to jump on him, etc.) and I'm pretty confident that I can train him up for a parade, but I've never been in one before so I'd like some suggestions. Any ideas? Any thoughts? I'd appreciate any and all feedback you give me. Rylee is a super hard horse to spook (except when we have a fresh blanket of snow, then I can't say he is) and probably one of the quietest horses I've ridden. I'm pretty sure he'd be alright, but I want to make sure he's all set and ready so I can ride him in the parade.

I hope to hear back from you all, and thanks ahead for all the suggestions and tips I'm sure you'll leave me! :D

-SH

UConn’s Annual Spring Horse Auction and Tack & Equipment Tag Sale

U_C_O_N_N — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:18:08 GMT

Event Date: Saturday, April 27, 2013

The University of Connecticut’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Department of Animal Science will be holding its Annual Spring Horse Auction and Tack & Equipment Tag Sale. Both events will be held on Saturday, April 27, 2013 at the Horsebarn Hill Arena at the Storrs campus. The horse preview starts at 11:00 a.m., Horse Auction begins at 1:00 p.m., and the Tag Sale will take place all day in the Horsebarn Hill Arena beginning at 9 a.m. Items we anticipate to be sold at the Tag Sale will be listed on the sale web site.

Proceeds from the sale of UConn horses will be used to fund the UConn Equine Program.

The Auction is organized exclusively by UConn’s Animal Science students under faculty/staff supervision.

Please mark your calendar and come join us for a fun day at UConn.

Potential buyers can make an appointment the week of the sale Monday - Thursday anytime from 10 am – 4 pm to view and ride UConn Sale horses; appointments are limited to one half hour. Please call the UConn Horse Barn at (860) 486-2034 to make an appointment and for more information about the horses.

For information regarding setting up a booth for the tag sale please call (860) 486-2413.

In addition to cash and check we now accept MasterCard & Visa for animal purchases at the sale.

Please visit our website for updated information and our sale catalog (available early April) at www.animalscience.uconn.edu

This event is open to the public and free of charge

Shedding time

Jayne-Admin — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 05:59:57 GMT

Ah, it's that time of year when horse owners spend hours transferring their horse's long winter coat to themselves.

What's your favorite tool to help your horse shed out his winter coat in spring?

Vaccines with older horses

lovmyhorses — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:49:16 GMT

Having just heard about the outbreak of EHV-1 in Utah and Florida and then seeing the warning for Georgia it had me wondering if my vet's decision on Friday was the best.

On Friday my vet came out to do my horses' annuals and vaccines and this was the first year where things were changed up. In the past my horses have always had everything except strangles due to them having reactions to the strangles vaccine in the past. However this year my vet opted to do only the EWT vaccine, rabies vaccine and coggins on my 26 year old QH mare Sierra and the 5-way, rabies and coggins on my 21 year old Solo. I had to push for the 5 way in Solo pointing out that Solo is still going to monthly lessons at other barns in the summer and doing 1 or 2 small shows this summer and possibly an organized trail ride or 2 (with possibly Sierra for company). My vet said she didn't want to stress the horse's systems and only wanted to give them the vaccines that she felt were absolutely necessary. She commented that she didn't feel the horses were high risk for the others as they spend 99% of their time at home where they are the only 2 horses and I never allow direct contact with a horse that I don't know. There are 2 horses up the street for me, but they are usually moved to their training farm for the summer.

While I trust my vet completely I'm just wondering if this is a common practice to cut back on vaccines in older horses that are kept at home. I know my vet would call me and let me know if she felt that my horses were in harms way (I rode with her and her daughters for years and we all consider each other and their pets family). However I'm just curious if anyone else has had their vet cut back on vaccines in older horses.

Horse Training

ShireHorse — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 22:57:16 GMT

Hello everyone!
Well, I just recently created this video of what I've trained Rylee to do this winter, and wanted to share it. :) Rylee went back to his barn this past week, and he's improved greatly from the horse that used to take off with kids to doing what he does now. :)

I hope you enjoy it and thanks for watching ahead of time!

-SH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAGfGU5zcf4

how careful do you have to be feeding hay to a mini?

Gailforce — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:06:22 GMT

when i first got my mini the farrier asked if he'd ever been foundered, which i don't know cuz he's a rescue. but, he said there's a red line (which i can see) around the white line on one hoof which can be an indication. but, he's in good shape and healthy. i think he might have been fat before; he has quite a cresty neck. but, now he's in good shape.

then his feet grew faster than i expected and were quite long, but, no cracks (my horse's feet barely grow at all) by the time i got the farrier out at 12 weeks. after the trim he was a bit lame. he seemed okay after a day or two and he's fine now. i am going to get the farrier out in a month instead.

but, the farrier brought up the founder again and said he could have a bit of that. i was feeding them hay 3 x a day as much as fit in the bag--so probably 30 to 35 pounds or so. i didn't know that horses or ponies could founder on hay. but, the farrier says they can get founder lots of ways including stress. he also explained the ponies are real scavengers and will eat as much as possible in case they need to store up for harsh climes. oh, and also he said the hay in our area has more sugar in it than other places. he said quebec (where he's from) has no sugar in the hay and horses would never founder on it.

other than that the pony gets 1/4 cup of pellets (cool calories) once a day.

anyway, i now weigh the hay and they get 24 pds a day (3 meals x 8 pds). so my questions: do i need to worry so much about feeding too much. it's grass hay? is it that easy to founder a pony?

now my horse is bored. he likes to eat, so, now he's eating the fences and looking for trouble. he's a big rangy bony standardbred, so, i have always let him have unlimited hay.

if necessary i could maybe figure out a feeder of some kind the horse can access but not the pony. of course, it's easier to give the pony access and not the horse, but, i'm sure there's some creative way.

i have tried doing some research on the internet, but, it all seems to be severe founder. so, i really don't know much about it and i'd love to hear some experiences and opinions from you guys.

"My horse doesn't like men"

FloridaHorseman — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 11:44:32 GMT

Below is a cross-post from another forum where I addressed the seemingly frequent "my horse doesn't like men" claim as well as a few other basic training issues. I thought it might be helpful to some here on ES as well.

When initially meeting or conferencing with new clients I often hear "my horse doesn't like men". And when I work with those horses for the first time the client's observation then changes to "he/she doesn't USUALLY like men" because I have very little trouble getting horses to accept me. It's not magic. And quite honestly, the horse isn't mentally sophisticated enough to have any ability or interest in deducing human gender. The difference they most often detect is a man's naturally aggressive (predatory) posture. Women frequently present a much softer relaxed physical frame that doesn't represent as much threat to the horse. And the horse's obvious reaction between the two profiles gets interpreted by humans as a gender preference.

Frequently in concert with the more aggressive male physical profile is the ill-advised use of hard eye contact by anyone (male or female) unfamiliar with horse psychology. Men also have a tendency to approach a horse with a determined look in the eye as if to say "I won't tolerate any crap from you". Telegraphing that kind of message will also set a horse on edge because direct eye contact from a predator is what occurs when a prey animal is singled out for attack. And horses instinctively know that. Even casual close eye contact without the macho intent will set off the horse's survival warning bells. But many people think they need to watch the horse's eyes to anticipate a negative reaction and by doing so inadvertently create a condition by worrying the horse. Just shifting your gaze to the horse's ears, feet or tail will reduce the stress of close encounter and still give you a good estimation of its mental state.

And another thing that will often suddenly shy a horse is reaching straight for the halter with outstretched fingers. Combined with other hard predator profiles during the approach or even just that one single action the horse now sees claws being extended. It's hard for most to fathom how a horse bred and raised for generations in domesticity could still have these ancestral instincts. But they do. And some are more reactive than others. I usually keep my hands rolled into a soft fist until the last second, then extend my fingers together as if about to participate in a handshake and stroke the horse's neck or shoulder with one hand to distract him while taking the halter chin strap in the horse's blind spot with the other hand.

Once the horse is in hand there's one more thing I do to establish a lasting relationship in a way the horse understands. I breathe into the horse's nostrils through my nose, not my mouth. Then I send the horse away a few steps, draw him back in and re-assure him. The exchange of breath through the nostrils is how horses identify each other in the herd and affirm their place in the pecking order. You see horses do this all the time when they are separated and then re-united or meeting a new herd member. It's usually followed by squealing, ear pinning, head tossing and even kicking. The horse that first yields his space to the other is relegated to a lesser place in the herd dynamic. So I tell the horse I am a new herd member and then pre-emptively make him yield his space to immediately gain respect. I even do this from time to time with my own horses and others I frequently work with just as refresher training.

When it comes to horse training, it's true slower is always faster. But I caution against going TOO slow sometimes. Compliance within the herd is paramount to a horse's natural survival instincts. And it's the nature of a horse to want to comply with what ever is being asked of it. Getting one to understand what is being asked and providing the reward of removing mental or physical pressure when it finds the correct response is the crucial element of all our training efforts. If you train too long or too slow without specific responses you can reward the horse becomes either worried or frustrated with the constant drain of pressure and then goes sullen, starts acting out or just fails to retain the lesson. If a horse was able to think and reason the way we humans do he gets to a point where you or I would say "I can't seem to do anything right. So why bother trying anymore?" You can cause the same reaction even when he does get it right and you get so excited you make him do it over and over and over again to celebrate the success. My rule of thumb is; get three successive good responses, then move on to something else or quit! Re-vist and re-enforce those "learned" responses in another session and start building upon them.

~FH