Posts Tagged ‘Pasture’

Just got a young horse (Tangy) as some company for our older horse (Giselle), but the new one is very nippy & I hate hearing Giselle squeal. (she is a very gentle, older horse) I’ve separated them for awhile, but they will have to share the grazing pasture–do they work this out after awhile or is there some discipline I should do?
Tangy is 4 and very big/muscular, Giselle is 14.

So, you have a horse crazy child, and you are thinking about getting him or her that first horse. Whether you have experience with horses or not, finding the perfect horse for your child can be like finding a needle in the proverbial haystack. There is no shortage of horses and ponies that are advertised as “kid safe”. Unfortunately, the actual percentage of horses that are truly “kid safe” is very small. Here are some tips on finding that perfect horse or pony that will become a member of your family and take care of your precious little one.

First of all, consider the age and skills of your child. For a very young child who hasn’t had lessons in horsemanship, an older “babysitter” horse is a must. Often there is a misconception that like with puppies, young horses and children can grow up together. A young horse needs the guidance and experience of a trainer or very experienced rider. It takes many months, even years of training to teach a horse his job, and this is something well beyond the scope of an inexperienced child. A “been there, done that” type of horse is much better suited to a young or inexperienced rider.

I initially look for several things when considering a safe, kid’s horse. First of all, the temperament of the horse is crucial. Will he stand tied quietly (for hours) without getting impatient, pulling back, or jumping around? Is he calm under pressure, like loud noises, sudden movements, and being touched all over? He should be easy and safe to saddle, bridle, have his feet handled, easy to catch, and trailer load.

Then I look at his past history. What has he been used for? A horse that has had a lot of miles on him may be a good bet. If he’s been sitting in a pasture for much of his life, he doesn’t have the exposure to the many situations that an old veteran may have. I also look at his age. Not that there can’t be a great kid’s horse that is younger than 6, but it would be much less common. I don’t discount the older horses at all, even the much older horses. My daughters all learned to ride on horses that were 20 years old and older. These horses were worth their weight in gold, and they took care of my girls. In return, we gave them a loving home in their golden years with light work, good feed, and lots of love. We lost the last of these great horses at the ripe old age of 36. The criteria I mentioned before still apply to these older horses; you don’t want one that is highly spirited, and some are, even at 20+years.

Also of equal importance is the horse’s training. “Whoa” is much more important than “Go”. The horse should have a good handle, and he should be easy to stop and steer. A horse that is hard to control is not only frustrating for a child, but dangerous as well.

Then, I look at the overall condition of the horse. Does he have any lameness issues? Some very mild lameness in a kid’s horse wouldn’t necessarily be cause for me to rule him out. A veterinary inspection should be done prior to purchase to rule out any serious health issues. Lastly, and probably most importantly, your child should be comfortable with the horse and you both should feel safe with him. If possible, a trial period of a week or two would be ideal. That way, you can determine if the horse or pony is a good match for your child. I always encourage horsemanship lessons because knowledge and safety are the key to a great relationship with horses. When you find the perfect kid’s horse for your child, you will be amazed at the partnership and bond they will form together, and the peace of mind you will have knowing that your child is being taken care of by his equine friend.

Article written by Adrienne Pietrafeso. Adrienne and her husband Ron own Missing Creek Ranch Cutting Horses, raising, training and showing cutting horses with their three daughters in Colorado. Visit them at http://www.MissingCreekRanch.com

Author: Adrienne Pietrafeso
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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I’m picking out my first horse in two weeks. I’ve ridden before with other friends horse but all we do is ride around the pasture. And my mom said if i have my own horse i could do dressage and hunter/jumping.

Wish I could tell you after going through the tasks of looking for your first horse, checking for soundness and way of going, buying your first horse and then tackling the worries of moving your horse to his or her new home, that the worst is over. Some horses do not always do well when it comes to uprooting them and changing their homes. Of course, there are some exceptions, but overall most horses have fairly strong reactions to this move.

Horses are creatures of habit. Horses can eat the same feed, stay in the same pasture, and basically follow the same routine everyday of the rest of their lives and be happy, providing that all their basic needs are met and they share their life with other horses. Some horses when you take them off the van will start screaming and hollering and try to run over top of you. Be patient. This is only a temporary reaction. Your best bet is to get the horse into a stall as soon as possible. Do not allow them to drink large amounts of water at this time. A few sips will be sufficient.

You do not want to turn the horse out into a pasture or paddock in this mental and emotional condition. The horse may inadvertently run into or through the fence or even try to go over the fence. Make sure good hay is in the stall to try and calm your horse down and divert his or her attention. Usually, what follows after this is perhaps a lot of pawing and digging of holes in the stall if you do not have horse mats. I will be discussing the use of mats, bedding and other issues concerning safe stalls at a later date. Stay with your horse as he or she is already feeling abandonment, missing their friends, and not understanding why they had to leave the place they loved. If there is a top door on the stall and your horse is really misbehaving, shut the door for a while until they settle down some, but stay outside the stall and continue to talk to them.

If your horse is sweating and is getting too hot, even though it will be difficult, it is in their best interest to take them to the wash rack and give them a bath. Most likely, it will calm them down and help make them feel a little more at home. At this time, you can ask your horse if they want more water, but only a few sips at a time. If possible, walk the horse around for a while and consider allowing your horse to graze or sniff around unless their behavior becomes outrageous again. Tranquilizers are an option if the horse does not calm down in a reasonable amount of time but only use this as a last resort as a veterinarian call will be necessary. It is best not to feed your horse on this particular evening, just make sure that he or she has plenty of hay and lots of fresh cool water. This will reduce the risk of colic. Better to be safe than sorry.

Now lets’ discuss the other end of the spectrum. If you just bought an animal that has been showing, then more than likely this will probably not be much of an issue. This type of horse is used to getting on the van or trailer and going to many different places and usually does not mind as that is their habit of life. So follow the same rules but everything will be much quieter and simpler. If your horse is well behaved, after a few hours, you can give them an evening offering of grain but it is not necessary, and monitor the amount of water your horse is drinking. Allowing a horse to drink a large amount of water after any activity is not in their best interest. You could end up with a horse suffering from colic. Hopefully you will either have your horse on your own property and you will be able to watch your horse’s behavior throughout the evening, or the facility that you are boarding your horse will have a night watchman that can check on your horse throughout the evening.

Beverly Jansen
http://bevshorseadvice.com
I’m a licensed Thoroughbred Horse Trainer and a licensed Equine Message Therapist. I have devoted my entire life to horses and have over 40 years experience to share. My blog site was created to share my knowledge and will soon offer exceptional, all natural horse products that are above and beyond any other products in comparison and will guarantee fantastic results. I will also be posting “How To” videos on my YouTube channel soon.

Author: Beverly Jansen
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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If you are one of those owners who owns a horse that has developed the idea that quality time spent involves the owner lovingly chasing after it whilst it playfully avoids being caught. We know your pain.

There is nothing more frustrating than having to wander after your horse in the attempt of catching it. Spending most of your time out in the paddock instead of out riding with friends.

However the correction of this is not as simple as we would like it to be. Placing a horse in a smaller paddock or leaving a halter on will not always make matters better, the same as locking a horse up in a stable could lead it to kicking.

The unwillingness to be caught is a vice the same as any other developed or acquired vices a horse may develop. It has a cause and often runs hand in hand with two other bad habits.
These being the likely hood of bolting and the unresponsive horse. It is very rarely that a well-behaved and responsive horse will run off when it is time to work.

We explored ways of correcting these problems as well as how to get your horse to be more willing to be caught.

A horse turning tail and heading for the far side of a paddock is the first warning that somewhere something in its basic training seriously went wrong. It now associates the human with bad or often painful experiences. The first step to take is to change your horses routine, no riding for a few days, place the horse on three meals a day (divide daily ration into three) and bring it in for lunch, it will soon enough realize that there is food involved. If needed take your horses’ friend or companion in as well. This way your horse will not necessarily associate mid day captures with riding. Also capturing your horse mid morning and moving it to another pasture with “better” grazing will help, as your horse will not always associate being caught with work and punishment.

Learn too approach your horse with a less demanding front. Just walk up to it and spend some time with it, approach the shoulder and not the head. By showing your horse you are not out to get it every time you see it goes a long way to developing a relaxed relationship.

Most horses that run off know only frustration and often anger when they are finally caught. Show your horse you can be a nice person by taking it a snack and walking off. It will soon start looking out for you and often may even start following you. Horses want calm and confidant owners and riders.

Once the horse is more willing to be caught a handful of food in a manger will suffice in keeping it happy. (Bribery works)

Horses prone to being irritated or bolting off whilst ridden usually require a lot more work than a simple change of routine. Please do not confuse irritation under saddle with a hot horse. A hot horse is willing to work, it responds and will listen and conserve its energy for when it is needed. An irritated horse is unlikely to stand still or respond to aids when asked, an irritated horse will also run through aids and is less likely to balance itself or its rider. These two are often confused.

A bolting or irritated horse associates pain and punishment with work and therefore has no interest in responding positively to a riders aids. These horses require patience and experience. All to often they are bitted up in an attempt to slow them down when in fact they require the opposite. Bitted down and schooled with patience without a whip. These horses are often sold as horses for competent and experienced riders and often marketed cheaper than their actual worth.

Horses who do little or are unresponsive under saddle, and are difficult to catch are often overworked. They know there is work to be done and will avoid it at all costs. And when ridden will drag their toes or shuffle about. These horses require a change of workload or alternatively a holiday turned out in a pasture for a month or so with younger horses (visit him or her everyday with a treat) He or she needs to learn how to become a horse again. Its workload needs adjusting with some variation included.

Catching an unwilling horse often means working at eliminating the cause. And horses that are unwilling to be caught, have issues that need to be resolved, before positive results will be seen.

Kate Hinton is CEO of ThatHorse.com which is a one stop shop for everything equine. She is also the author of ‘The Essential Guide to Selling Your Horse’ which is a must have if you are looking to sell a horse. Visit http://www.horse-selling-guide.com to purchase your copy today!

Author: Kate Hinton
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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My 24 y/o gelding is overly attached to my pony. I just bought a new horse this past weekend, and the attachement for the pony has seemed to worsen. He wont let the pony leave his side, or let him interact with the new horse. He just hurds him around the pasture. When I take the pony out to ride, he pays no attention to the new horse, and just whinnies, and paces, and carries on, even though the pony is in sight. The new horse wants to interact with the two of them, but my neurotic horse wont let him. Please, any ideas would be greatly appreciated, I am at my wits end.

In shopping for a horse there are a few basic rules to meet success. Do yourself a favor and read this guideline if you want a smooth transition into your next purchase of an equine. All buyers interested in horses are interested for different reasons. The most important thing you can do for yourself is know yourself. Knowing yourself will ultimately lead you to understand what you need to aim for in finding the “right” horse. For instance, if you have never owned a horse before don’t buy a untrained horse or a young one for that matter. The market right now is such that you can find a well broke experienced horse for a good price. Also understand a horse will not train you, you need to find someone to help you learn how to become a good rider and a responsible horse owner. A well trained horse makes this transition a lot smoother if your new at being a horse owner.

Here are some steps to go by.

1) Figure out exactly what you want in a horse. Figure out the breed your aiming for, the level of training you want them to have, their age, their past experience, mare or gelding, and what you want to do in the future with this companion. If you are buying your ten year old daughter a pony will the pony still fit her in four years? Will she be able to compete with her like friends when they all have quarter horses? What is in her best interest now and in the future.

2) Start looking around to see what meets this description. Look locally, look on the Internet, ask a local barn that specializing in your area of interests.

3) Once you find a prospect start asking questions. Lots of questions. Past history, vet check-ups, how they do in a trailer, how do they respond to a bath and most importantly how often is this horse worked with? How do they respond to vaccines? What do they feed him or her? Are they in a pasture, a stall, a horse facility. What do they do when they are in a stressful situation? Bring a friend that is horse savvy with you. This is important, because it will give you a different perspective.

4) Make the owner ride the horse first and watch how the horse responds and how the owner complies with the horse. Ask the owner of the horse to load the horse in the trailer just to see how the horse responds. Pick up the horses feet. Lead the horse around at a jog to see how they respond. Then if your comfortable take a ride yourself, but wear a helmet. Have a friend video tape it and if your concerned about anything take the tape to a respected trainer and ask them what they see. Suggestions they might have?

5) Ask for vet check. It is worth the investment. If you buy a horse and it ends up lame in a week your “new” horse won’t be worth as much as you paid for it. Also it will allow you to see if the previous owner has been up to date on teeth floating, trimming, ect. It will also give you a little time to really think about the decision your about ready to make. If the horse passes with flying colors I would recommend having the vet back out to give the horse it’s vaccines and worming it before it’s transported. You will be responsible for the bill so be prepared for that.

6) Ask the owner of the horse if they have sold any other horses in the two years. If they have get the name of the buyer and call them to see if their transaction was positive. Ask if the owner was honest about the horse.

7) If everything lines up then this is the one. I might wait a few weeks to make sure the vaccine becomes active and then it’s time for safe transport.

Prior to pick up ask if the horse comes with anything. A records book? A halter (do you need to bring your own), a blanket, anything? So you are prepared when it’s time to pick the horse up.

9) Once your horse has been purchased. Ask for all their vet records. If their vet has them ask for a waver so you can access them today and in the future.

10) Have the owner fill out a bill of sale and get a signature and date. Head on down the road. You got yourself a pony!

Understand that you can not predict everything when you buy a horse. That you can only do as much as you can to ensure that you made the most knowledgeable decision possible.

Fiona Stone of StoneRidge Farms

[http://stoneridgefarms.org]

Author: Fiona Stone
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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In the winter, all the horses stay up close to the barn in their pasture. But in the summer, they have hundreds of acres to roam and I know my new gelding will be all over it. I don’t want to have to walk over creeks and streams just to get to him. And I may not even find him- they even have little forests and such. My trainer has a horse that knows how to come when called, but she bought her that way. Plus, my trainer is on vacation right now.

Anybody have any tips?