Tips

Well it has been some time since I had the opportunity to write a horse tip of week, for that I apologize. This time of the year there are a few things that are very important to me when it comes to horses. First, this is a great time to have an assault on thrush before the wet weather hits and stays till May. One product I use and has been tested to be the number one thrush medicine is White Lightning. You will have to order it online, Grand Circuit Products makes it; I tried to get the local stores to carry it.

The second thing is nutrition and teeth. Having the teeth checked will save you hundreds on your feed bill during the course of the winter, not to mention the better shape your older horse is in the less chance for colic. I also believe adamantly in loose salt and horse mineral this has been proven by numerous nutritionists as well. Salt blocks are designed for cows and any cattleman knows even cattle gain weight more effectively when on loose salt. Horses do not get enough salt out of a salt block and scrapping a salt block with their teeth causes dental issues down the road. Who can lick a salt block when its 20 degrees outside anyway. I recommend a bag of loose salt with trace minerals to start with and then go to the specially designed horse mineral/salt. Also pour the feed to the older horse or under weight horse now. It is a lot easier, calorie effective, and cheaper to put weight on them when the temperatures are above freezing! Feeding a soaked mash once or twice a day, in addition to their regular feed, will help those horses who have trouble gaining or holding their weight.

The third thing to address this time of year is getting your shoes pulled when the snow hits or get snow pads. If you want to encourage navicular disease, permanently crippling your horse just let a horse walk around with ice balls frozen to his shoes for a few winters.

Thanks for riding with me, see you soon

More pictures from the beach

Thanks for riding with me, see you soon.

Beach Clinic

The second beach clinic of the year went well.
Here is a picture of some of the participants. This is going to be an annual event, hope to see you there next year!
Thanks for riding with me, see you soon.

Clinic for the clinician

I am looking forward to spending July 31st - August 3rd in Bridger Montana studying with my mentor Bryan Neubert. You can read more about him at his website: http://www.bryanneubert.com/
I feel it is important as a teacher to renew myself by studying with the best horsemen I can. I look forward to passing on what I learn to each participant at my clinics.
Thanks for riding with me, see you soon.

Tip of the week

The importance of letting horses roll in some good dirt or sand is something that is often overlooked in horse care. I was speaking with a person about this recently and they were saying how good it was for the horses’ muscle skeleton; I had not thought of it from that perspective. I was always focused on how good it was for their skin, especially in bug season a heavy coating of dust in their hide really helps with bug bites and exfoliation.
Something else I feel is very important is for horses to spend part of their day with another horse so that they can groom one another and play. Horses need to gallop every day, this is as important as feed and water, even if it is for a few seconds at play . This is fundamental in the psychological well being of the horses as well as the physical exercise they get from the interaction. Horses are by nature a herd animal, even in a stabled environment it so important to have a horse in a large paddock with at least one other horse for a companion. Most behavioral problems and vices stem from the horses being locked in a stall by themselves too many hours a day. I have lived this long enough to know that this true. I am very blessed to have observed horses in a free range environment. I observed and soaked in the interaction of horses, not only among themselves but with deer and elk as well. At my place the elk and horses graze together and bed down in the same draw together. They share the same salt tubs and watering holes. I have yet been successful in gathering the elk and running them in the corral, I have come close to roping one on a couple of occasions, but then considered before I threw my rope; what will I do with a 800 lb mad cow elk on the end of a sixty foot rope.
Thanks for riding with me, see you soon.