Monthly Tips
July 2010
HOT RIDING
TIPS:
Use electrolytes! If you need Gaterade after a ride, so does the horse! These are powder or pellet form electrolytes. Soak oats and beet pulp with powder electrolytes in cold water before the ride and it will be a real treat for the horse when you return.
Weight OK?
If a horse has a hard timing maintaining a good weight during the
hottest part of the summer, add up to a cup of alfalfa pellets to the
feed.
Cold water is
OK. Per the June 2010 issue of EQUUS, Research has shown that a
hot sweaty horse who drinks cold water is NOT at a greater risk of
colic, cramping or laminitis. Withholding water can lead to
dangerous dehydration. Allow the horse to drink right after the
workout. This is good - that's when the horse is most thirsty.
Waiting until the horse is cooled out may result in the horse
not drinking as much.
How much Water?
Under moderate environmental condition, most horses consume about 6
gallons of water per day. From - June 2010 EQUUS magazine.
LOOKING FOR A
INSTRUCTOR/TRAINER?
This topic
recurs frequently - how do you find a trainer or instructor that is in
tune with you, your goals, and your horse? When someone asks
this question, it deserves some questions in return. Help riders
help themselves.
First, what
type of riding do they want (trail, jumping, dressage, x-country)?
Second, what
talents/experience does the horse and rider have separately?
Together?
Third, what are
the goals? Goals and expectations need to be clearly stated for the
horse and rider, as well as the trainer.
So, after doing
the homework tell the people asking the primary question to visit feed
stores, breeders and area lesson barn; talk to people in the area, seek
out horse club members (great resource), attend clinics, look for
bulletin boards at tack shops and talk to people who work in the tack
shops. The web is not always the best place to find local horse
resources because not all trainers have the funds to set up a web site.
Word of mouth is very useful. It takes time but is very rewarding.
PRACTICE
CALMING EXERCISES FOR YOU AND YOUR HORSE
Use some
creative tools for getting your horse to stay calm for new situations in
your own ring. Do this a little at a time (approach and retreat).
Do silly things while standing still - lean forward to grab an ear, lean
back and pat the horse's rump. The first time, the horse may move
around or shake the head. Calmly try and hold on until the horse
shows some sign of acceptance then release it and reward. Grab
again and hold a bit longer - increasing the time. The
release/retreat helps the horse accept one thing at a time and not be
overwhelmed.
Practice
mounting from the wrong side. Mount the wrong way - with your toe
pushing into the horse's belly or bump the belly as the right foot comes
over the saddle. Pull yourself up into the saddle slowly and
clumsily while grunting. This allows the horse to accept a less
experienced rider.
Do these things
slowly and persistently until the horse is relaxed. Take the
pressure off and reward the horse after each success. (From
Clinton Anderson's Lessons from Real Life).
JUNE 2010
FLIES, TICKS,
GNATS, NOSEE-EMS, OH MY!
It is that
season again. Here are a few suggestions for the upcoming months:
Flies - Pennies
in water in a Ziplock bag hung around the barn keeps flies at bay.
Some people swear by this trick - results are mixed depending on where
the baggies are hung. Use roll-on repellant to spot treat eyes since
the saliva of any biting fly can lead to infections. Fly sheets, fly
masks, ear nets, and fly boots are all useful for horses that live
outside much of the time. Minimize stagnant water (add goldfish or
baking soda to the water trough) and removing fresh manure helps to keep
flies at bay.
Ticks - Spray
PAM on the horses legs before a ride, or use Vaseline, to keep the ticks
from getting hold of the hair and attaching to the skin. Be sure
to wash it off with soap after the ride to prevent skin problems. Use a
flea comb on dark horses (when you cannot see the ticks) to remove
anything that did not come up the legs.
A flea comb can
also be used to remove scabs resulting from rainrot.
Gnats, NoSee-Ems
- Use Noxema cream on the horse's belly during a ride. This keeps
the little biting bugs off because of the smell. This cream can
also be used on bug bites, sunburn, and rain rot - for relief.
MORE ON SKIN:
Hives: If
a horse has hives, it is usually due to a reaction to something in the
environment like bugs, food/hay, or medicine. Many reactions are
caused by topical irritants and are limited to one area of the horse.
Systematically induced hives appear all over the body. If you
notice hives, immediately check that the nostrils are clear - to ensure
the airway is not swelled. Look for signs of swelling around the
nose and mouth and Call the Vet. If localized, rinse the
affected area with cool water and clean with a mild soap, then rinse
soap completely off. A dog shampoo for sensitive skin is a good
option.
Call the Vet
with an update if the horses seems to have any difficulty breathing and
other signs of illness (colic or listlessness) are seen.
TICK REMOVAL
A School Nurse has written the info below -- good enough to share
-- And it really works!!
I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way to remove
a tick. This is great, because it works in those places where it's some
times difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of
a head full of dark hair, etc.
Apply a glob of liquid soap or Vaseline to a cotton ball. Cover the tick
with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20),
the tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when
you lift it away. It's much less traumatic for the patient and easier
for me.
Unless someone/an animal is allergic to soap, I can't see that this
would be damaging in any way. I even had my doctor's wife call me for
advice because she had one stuck to her back and she couldn't reach it
with tweezers. She used this method and immediately called me back to
say, "It worked!"
Please pass on. Everyone needs this helpful hint.
Insects breathe through their skin. This acts to suffocate them.
MARCH 2010
How Green is Your Horse Farm?
These simple and environmentally-friendly horsekeeping practices can
bring your farm into harmony with the land.
By Alayne Blickle
This is what I do for a living: As the creator
and director of Horses for Clean Water, I teach people how to manage
horses in a way that works for them, their animals, their neighborhood
and the environment. In other words, I promote ways to manage horses
that minimize our impact on the world around us.
Implementing green practices on a horse farm
needn’t be difficult or expensive. Many of the topics are
interconnected. For example, controlling water pollution improves the
health of nearby streams and rivers, which in turn improves their
suitability as wildlife habitat, which increases natural insect
predators and decreases your populations of flies and mosquitoes. Once
you’ve established your new Earth-friendly systems, you may well find
that you are saving time and money and doing less work in the long run.
I’ve introduced hundreds of people to
environmentally friendly methods of horsekeeping. But I also encourage
everyone to get in touch with local conservation districts, extension
offices, environmental groups and other resources. A wealth of
information is out there for anyone who wants to learn about how these
strategies can best be applied in their area. Here’s how you can get
started.
Reduce Water Runoff
Nonpoint source pollution--contaminants that reach natural
waterways via runoff over land or through the ground. Originating from
precipitation as well as irrigation, leaky hoses and other man-made
sources, waters that drain through livestock manure have a big impact on
streams and wetlands: Sediments cloud the water, nutrients cause
unbalanced vegetation growth and bacteria contaminate shellfish beds.
Even if you don’t have a stream or pond on your property, tainted runoff
can damage local lakes or groundwater.
In our paddocks we use automatic waterers,
which use only as much water as our horses can drink. Our insulated,
geothermal system helps keep water cool during the summer and prevents
freezing in the winter. Another advantage to an automatic waterer is
that since water is circulating and not stagnant, it won’t provide
habitat for mosquitoes.
Here are other methods for conserving water
and reducing the amount of polluted runoff from your farm:
If the water from your wash stall runs off onto the ground, plant grass
or other vegetation to absorb it, filter out contaminants and break down
soaps and chemicals.
Make sure hoses, faucets and sprayer heads don’t leak.
Pick up manure in high-density turnout areas frequently.
Follow instructions when applying commercial fertilizers and pesticides,
and do not use more than is necessary.
Plant “rain gardens,” consisting of native plants clustered in shallow
depressions with good drainage, to capture runoff from driveways,
downspouts and other areas where water flows after storms.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
offers fact sheets, management tips and other information on nonpoint
source pollution at
www.epa.gov/owow/nps. Suggestions for reducing storm-water runoff, such as
green roofs and permeable pavements, are described at
cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/greeninfrastructure/technology.cfm.
Even a small horsekeeping operation generates
tons of manure per year, which if handled improperly can cause problems
with odors, flies and runoff.
Some horse owners store manure then spread it
on pastures in its raw form. Manure is a good fertilizer, but raw feces
may harbor parasite eggs and pathogens, so it’s best not to spread it on
fields that horses are grazing.
Promote composting as an excellent
manure-management alternative. The breakdown of organic waste by
microorganisms in a controlled environment, composting creates a
nutrient-rich humus that bears no resemblance to its original
ingredients. Although composting requires a little more attention, it
offers several advantages over storing and spreading raw manure:
The heat generated by composting kills most parasite eggs and pathogens.
Fly populations decline with lost breeding grounds and the death of
their eggs and larvae.
Composting eliminates foul odors and reduces the volume of waste
materials you have to move.
Compost improves the condition and productivity of soil by returning
beneficial microorganisms to it, improving its moisture-holding capacity
and supplying nitrogen in a form accessible to plants.
Consider "outsourcing" the task to the
community. Public landfills or commercial topsoil or garden facilities
may accept your manure, but some may charge a special handling fee.
Local gardeners, organic farmers and landscapers often seek out sources
for horse manure: Post a "free manure" notice in a local garden center
or on an Internet bulletin board, and you may find people willing to
come haul it away.
http://equisearch.com/horses_care/farm_ranch/management/green_horse_farm_020110/
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