It is natural to believe that wild horses have “always” roamed America’s Western States, but that simply is not the case. Horses were native to North America until the end of the last ice age, 10-12,000 years ago, and then they died out.

It took the joint actions of Christopher Columbus and Hernando Cortez, to bring horses back to North America. In 1493, Christopher Columbus brought horses from Spain to the West Indies, during his second voyage to the Americas. In 1519, the Spanish conquistador Cortez brought horses to the mainland, as the captain of the third Spanish expedition.

Horses arrived in North America, by way of Mexico and Florida, as a tool of the Spanish conquistadors and were used to great effect by Cortez in the defeat of the Aztec empire.

Many horses went wild after their riders were killed. Other horses escaped from their corrals, and many more horses were integrated into Native American societies. Within just a few decades, horses had migrated from Mexico and Florida and entered into the North American interior.

The History of American Horse Breeds

Nearly all of the horses currently running wild in the ranges of the Western United States hailed from the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, in a region defined by modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations suggests that there are 17 individual horse breeds that can be defined as “Iberian horses”. Three of the breeds hail from Portugal and the remaining 14 originated in Spain. Most of the Iberian horse breeds are considered to be Baroque horses, comprised mostly of horses of Andalusian, Arabian and Barb ancestry.

Many of the Native American tribes became master horse breeders, most importantly, the Comanche, the Shoshoni, and the Nez Perce nations. Through selective breeding by the Native American tribes, the first truly American horse breed was the Appaloosa.

The wild horses of the Western United States are actually more accurately referred to as horses that have gone “feral”, or horses that were once domesticated and now are wild. Just as there is a huge population of feral dogs near the big cities of America, most notably near Miami, Florida, there is also a substantial population of feral horses in America.

Free-Roaming Horses Eventually Required Protection From Congress

In 1900, it was estimated that there were as many as two million free-roaming horses in the United States. During the early years of the twentieth century, the free-roaming horse population was severely diminished through a combination of factors including the capture of horses for use in the military, and more revoltingly, by companies who killed the horses to make dog food.

By the 1970’s, the plight of wild horses in the United States had attracted the attention of the U.S. Federal Government. This newly focused attention eventually led to the passage of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.

In recent years, it has been estimated by the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management that there are as many as 29,000 feral horses and burros on BLM-managed lands in ten western states. The ten Western U.S. states that have feral horses running wild includes: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming.

It is estimated that more than half of the wild horse population resides in Nevada, and Montana and Oregon are the other states with significant wild horse population numbers. There is another few hundred head of wild horses free-roaming in Alberta and British Columbia, in Canada.

Through the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, the Bureau of Land Management has the responsibility of managing the numbers of wild horses and burros, to ensure that healthy herds thrive on healthy rangelands. Within the mandate of the BLM, they are responsible to manage the herd numbers of wild horses and burros that roam the American West.

The BLM Wild Horse and Burro Adoption and Sale Program

Wild horses left to their own wits can literally double their population within four short years, provided that drought and wildfires do not diminish their numbers naturally. Horses do not have natural predators within the rangelands of North America, so their numbers will generally run unchecked without BLM intervention.

The beauty of the 1971 law is that as the BLM culls horses and burros from the wild population, those horses and burros will become available for adoption and sale through the BLM program to individuals and groups willing and able to provide humane, long-term care to these beautiful animals.

To learn more about the adoption of purchase of horses or burros, you can visit the Bureau of Land Management website at: blm.gov or give them a call at: (866) 4MUSTANGS. You can actually adopt and purchase feral horses through the BLM program in states on both sides of the Mississippi River. Sales are held yearly throughout the South, the West and even in Illinois.

Author: Philip Wiskell
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Owning a horse takes on a whole new set of responsibilities that leasing and lessons did not have.

I find that this is the most overlooked part of horse ownership, and I see it daily in the horse world. Horses can be expensive, even when they live with you as opposed to being boarded out.

They are living, breathing creatures whose very lives are completely dependent upon YOU for survival. I cannot state this enough, especially having gone through years of watching people get them and dispose of them when no longer needed or wanted.

If you have any indications that you may not be able to keep up the commitments, I ask that you keep your lease horse and read no further. I’m not trying to be harsh, but this next step requires you to do some soul searching. It’s not really about the money.

Since you are still reading, let’s take a good hard look at the real cost of horse ownership.

There are many articles on this subject, but three factors to keeping costs down are:

Buy a sound, healthy, happy, trained, quiet horse that has passed a battery of veterinarian testing and professional trainer/coach approval.

Keep the horse in a place that is safe and free from hazards.

Research and read everything you can about horses: skeleton and structure, feed and nutrition, care and grooming, feet and maintenance. The riding is up to you and your coach.

Costs for owning a horse go through the roof when these above principles are neglected or passed by. If I wrote down all the people I know right now, whose horses are out of commission, the reasons would be because of at least one of the above principles.

The Cost of a Good Horse

Horse prices vary around the world, so we will use North American averages. Let’s look at a few of the necessities of a first horse and the price for it.

Sound, healthy, vetted clean, not too young or old (7-13)
Well mannered, trailers nicely, can be clipped and bathed
Has basic training levels down well: stop, go, turns, cues lightly, trained mouth
Has registration papers
May have competed at entry level

Price for this horse: $5,000. Price for this pony: $3500 – 5000.

Now let’s add some frills:

Horse has been in many shows and pinned in ‘A’ circuits – Add $2000 and up

Horse is discipline specific; jumping, hunter, reining, breed classes – Add $2,000 (smaller levels) to $15,000 (medium levels) to anything over $50,000 (higher levels)

Breeding: purebred or reasonable bloodlines – Add $2,000 and up. For the top bloodlines – Add $5,000 and up. Poor bloodlines can drop the price of a horse.

Horse has level 3 and 4 dressage – Add $25,000 and up

Horse is a proven broodmare – Add $2000 and up

Horse comes from a notable trainer – Add $3000 and up.

Costs vary with every horse, but these are generalities. When it comes to the price of a horse, it’s not always the quality or training. Market value is what someone will pay, and if no one will pay $50,000 for a well-bred hunter, you won’t sell it. It’s very simple.

Good ponies are worth their weight in gold, so you may have to spend more for a winning pony, but if the pony is young enough, you will recoup every dollar and sometimes more.

The price of horses also is dictated by the economic climate. As of the writing of this article, July 2008, you don’t even have to pay for a horse these days. Auctions have been selling them from $20 to $200; half of the value of meat. Check out this site for the truth on auction horses and the current auction prices: fuglyhorseoftheday.com

Speaking of Auctions

Can you get a good horse at an auction? Absolutely, but it relies on 50% – skill and 50% – luck. There are more bad reasons for horses being at an auction than good reasons.

Should you try an auction? As a first time buyer, absolutely not, unless you bring someone skilled, and even then it’s still 50% luck. If it’s your first horse, it would be heartbreaking to bring the horse home and a week later have a vet tell you the horse is unserviceable for life. We will have more on auctions in a future article.

Cost of Ownership

Boarding

Keeping your horse at a stable varies immensely. Let’s look at the monthly variants:

Backyard, no barn, reasonable feeding, full care, shelter, no arenas – $150 – $350
Private small facility, good care/feed, stalls, turnout, arenas (outdoor) – $300 – $550
Self board, you do everything, pay for all feed, clean stalls – $150 – $350
Quality barn, come competitors, excellent care, instructors, indoor arena – $550 – $700
Competition barn, discipline specific, best of everything, trainers, coaches $700 – $1,500 (plus frills)

Keeping your horse in your back yard depends on the amenities and outbuildings you have. Lets start with the buildings you may have to build (based on averages only):

Outside shelter/run-in, 14′x14′, open 2 sides: $350 – $600 (untreated or treated lumber), if someone else build it: $1,000 +
Small barn, 2 stalls, hay storage, concrete floor, one storey, ‘traditional’ building style, around 36×40: You build-$35,00. They build: $45,000
Hay storage shed: $400-600.
Shavings and bedding shed: $400-600.
Fencing, corral 40′ x 100′: Wood 3 rail painted – $16,000. Bayco high-tensile horse wire at 5 strands: $17,000. Metal: $65,000.
Fencing, pasture: wood, untreated unpainted – $60 per every 10 feet.
*Please note the absence of barbwire pricing. Barbwire has no business around horses. I have a saying: “That horse never died before.”

Building anything on a property only increases the property value, if done well. Anything less becomes a safety issue, which we talk about later.

Training and Lessons
Lesson, one hour, qualified instructor: $30 – 50/hour
Training, one month, qualified trainer: $1,000/month

Feeding

Grain for one 1100 pound horse: $35 – 50/month
Hay for same horse: Grass/orchard hay: $110-150/month. Timothy: $120-170/month. Alfalfa mix: $120-170/month. (pure alfalfa is for cattle. More on that in future articles, or see Kathryn Watts, Marijke van de Water).

Average 50 lb. bale cost: orchard $5-12. Timothy: $12-18. Alfalfa mix: $16-24.

Hay will rise substantially in the next 2 years from the cost of fuel and the depletion of farmland for corn crops. Drought and economy also play a role in the variable feed pricing.

Worming
Every 2-3 months: $20 each time

Vet Care
Call out (before they do anything) $65-85
Average one hour visit with no return or emergency: $250-350
Vaccinations: $120/year

Feet
Trim, all 4: $30-45
Shoes, general all-purpose set of 4: $220-280
Shoes, 2 fronts: $90-140
Specialty shoes, all 4: $280-450

Trims average every 4-6 weeks for optimum health. Shoes the same.

Bedding
Per month: Shavings: $40-65. Pellets: $50-85. Straw: $25-50.

Equipment
Saddles
English, medium quality. Dressage: $1,700 – 3000. Hunt seat/all purpose: $1500 – 3000.
English, used, good quality: Dressage: $700-2500. Hunt seat/all purpose: $400-1600
Western, medium quality, all purpose trail: $1800-2400.
Western, good quality used: $800-2200

Bridles
English with bit: $85-125
Western with bit: $70-110

Halters
Web traditional: $25-55
Rope: $14-29
Leather: $50-120
Lead ropes: $12-30

Grooming Equipment
Brushes, combs, picks, misc: $30-100

Misc: saddle blankets, horse blankets, boots, wraps, first aid, tack cleaning supplies, sprays, bandages: $200-600/year.

Hauling
Average 100 mile trip: $1 to $2.50/mile

Insurance
This cost varies too greatly to make sense or put it on the site.

Total Equine Costs/Averages for One Year
Recreational horse at home (after building): $1800
Boarded recreational horse $7000
Boarded competition horse $15,000

It costs the same to board and feed a bad horse as it does a good horse. The initial price of the horse is the easy part.

Author: April Reeves
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Do you saw left and right on your dressage horse’s mouth or wiggle the bit with both hands to get him “on the bit”.

If you “saw” on your dressage horse’s mouth by alternating squeezing and releasing with your hands, you’re riding your horse from front to back. He might look like he’s “on the bit” because his head is down and his nose is on the vertical, but you don’t have an honest connection from back to front.

The only part of your horse’s body that you can affect by “sawing” is his jaw. Moving the bit in his mouth encourages him to chew. When he chews, he flexes in the jaw.

So, if all you do is saw on the bit, all you have control over is a flexed jaw. And your horse has a whole lot more body left over that you have no influence over.

That’s why you might think your horse is on the bit, but you wonder why he comes off the bit when you ask him to do something like a transition.

The reality is that he was never on the bit to begin with. All you had was a flexed jaw.

To put your horse honestly on the bit, use your “connecting aids”. Close both legs to add power from behind as if you’re doing a lengthening. When your horse “arrives” at your outside hand, close that hand in a fist to capture, contain, and recycle the power back to the hind legs. Do this for 3 full seconds.

THEN, lastly you can vibrate or squeeze on the inside rein for two reasons:

1. To keep his neck straight. Your goal is to keep him form bending his neck to the outside in response to your closed outside hand. This means that when you ride with his soft (hollow) side on the inside, chances are you won’t need any inside rein because he won’t try to look to the outside when you close your outside hand.
2. To move the bit, encourage him to chew so he flexes in the jaw.

Remember, you’re riding your dressage horse from front to back if you wiggle both sides of the bit. So never do with two hands what you can do with one hand (move the bit). And you have the other hand left over for the more important job of recycling power back to the hind legs.

Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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English riding showcases the ability of the rider to control every move of the horse through use of the reins and the rider’s legs. Riding a horse was common in civilizations throughout history, dating back thousands of years. Horses were used by many civilizations as transportation, co-workers, draft animals, friends and entertainment.

Though there are other styles of riding today, equestrians hail English riding as the most elegant inside or outside of the show ring. But it’s not only the rider’s skill that sets English riding apart. The horse riding apparel that English riders wear is not only functional but also very stylish.

What’s The History Of Riding Horses?

When man first started interacting with horses, they didn’t initially ride them, but rather used them to pull carts and chariots. No one knows which civilization first started riding horses, but through artifacts historians have established that the first equestrian equipment likely consisted of no more than a rope around the horse’s neck and a blanket or mat of some kind to protect the rider.

Actively breeding horses for domestic use did not occur until 1000 B.C. and it wasn’t until the medieval period (the 5th to 15th centuries) that horses were categorized. Instead of categorizing by breed, horses were categorized by their use. Horses used to pull carts were called carthorses and horses used in war were called chargers. These areas of specialization eventually led to a divergence in equestrian equipment and horse riding apparel.

What’s The Difference From English Saddles And Western Saddles?

English saddles are much flatter and more lightweight than their Western counterparts. The English saddle does not have a horn and the stirrups are much lighter and simpler than Western equestrian equipment. In the same way, English horse riding apparel stays with this focus on control and formality by insisting upon sleek lines, trim forms, and subdued elegance.

In English riding, the English saddle is placed over a saddle pad of minimal size. A lightweight bridle is used and, in some cases, a martingale or chest plate may be used. While significantly different in size, weight, and construction from that of a Western saddle, there are many different types of English saddle, depending upon its intended use.

English saddles used in jumping are far different from dressage saddles. Pleasure-riding or all-purpose saddles merge the benefits of several different styles of English saddle to make it more useful for the casual rider. Most English riders carry a crop when riding. English equestrian equipment is maintained in a clean and well-oiled manner, demonstrating the elegance and art of English riding.

What Horse Riding Apparel Is Appropriate For English Riding?

The goal in dressing for English riding is to demonstrate control over yourself as well as your horse. Loose hair and clothing are avoided, as are overly revealing garments and shabby work clothes. The English rider does well to take pride in their appearance wherever they are riding.

English horse riding apparel consists of a pair of paddock boots or tall boots worn with jodhpurs or riding breeches. In the show ring, women wear a short-collared ratcatcher shirt with a stock pin at the collar, while men wear a long-sleeved button-down shirt. Ratcatchers and other riding shirts have longer sleeves than street wear to allow the necessary freedom of movement required when jumping.

Many English riders are also seen wearing short, trim riding gloves. In the show ring, all English riders, except in some dressage classes, are required to wear an ASTM/SEI approved riding helmet as part of their regular horse riding apparel.

Sometime in the last 6,000 years, people have gone from riding bareback on wild caught horses to the exquisite art and formality seen in Olympic level dressage shows. English saddles facilitate the movement and grace necessary to the English rider. The equestrian equipment used today reflects that same measure of stately elegance and precise control seen when individuals ride in the English style.

Author: Anne Coyle
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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