Posts Tagged ‘vet bills’

Natural horsemanship training techniques are beneficial for the horse and the rider or trainer. Natural horsemanship techniques stress intuitive communication between the horse and its trainer. Such techniques make for a less stressful and more fun experience for each in the long run.

Lowered Expense

Keeping a horse is expensive! Vet bills, food costs, boarding costs, and equipment do not come cheaply. Just as people, plants and other animals tend to have better health if they are not stressed, and worse health if they are stressed, so do horses. Natural horsemanship techniques promote training that works with the horse’s natural communication patterns and instinctive behavior. This assures that the horse will be more at ease during training, less stressed, and thus will likely remain healthier.

Specific natural horsemanship care techniques such as natural hoof care can also reduce expense for vet bills, food and medication. Horses that work barefoot are more sound and less likely to develop diseases such as thrush. The benefits of natural hoof care are realized most when horses are properly fed and exercised.

Better Movement

Horses trained with natural horsemanship techniques are trained to work with their rider and trainer rather than against. The philosophy of natural horsemanship is that horse and rider are a pair and must move in harmony. The pressure and release system of training used in natural horsemanship creates a strong communication link between the horse and rider, which allows even conventionally shown horses to move with more precision, grace and soundness. This higher quality of movement ensures that horses do better at shows, and are more comfortable to work with.

More Fun for All

Horses and humans each suffer from fear if training does not foster understanding and communication. Natural horsemanship puts those fears to rest for horses and riders/trainers. Learning to work one on one with a horse and communicate in “horse language,” or the horse’s natural body language takes some unpredictability out of working with horses. While a person can never completely accurately predict what a horse will do at any given moment, natural horsemanship techniques allow trainers to learn each nuance of their horse’s personality. Everyone knows that pinned ears mean a horse is frightened, but what does that flick of the tail mean with your horse?

Working so closely with the horse will also allow it to get to know its trainer. If the trainer keeps with predictable cues and movements, the horse will learn to trust its trainer fully. With complete trust, the duo can do anything. If a horse trusts its trainer, it will be much more likely to try new things, and remain less stressed in new situations, making riding, showing and training more fun and relaxing for everyone.

More Benefits of Natural Horsemanship

The benefits to becoming part of the natural horsemanship community are endless, for horses and their riders and trainers. To learn more about natural horsemanship, and connect with others practicing the techniques, visit [http://www.aanh.net]

Jeanine Lowry is the President of the American Association of Natural Horsemen. For more information, resources and a community of people practicing natural horsemanship, visit [http://www.aanh.net]

Author: Jeanine Lowry
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Healing food: natural way to cure cancer

Keeping your horse warm, healthy, and happy during the winter can be challenging, especially if you live in a climate with extreme cold weather. While temperatures don’t drop too far here in Texas, I have many clients in northern states who struggle to keep their horses fat and sassy during this winter. So this issue is dedicated to horse health care during the winter, including ways to minimize your feed bill and ways to prevent chiropractic issues.

Horse Health Care Basics for Winter
Before diving into the different kinds of horse feed and other tips, I’m going to first cover the basics. These apply year-round, but are especially important before winter sets in. You probably already know about these, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention them so I’ll cover them quickly here.

Teeth: If you horse has not had a float within the last year, it may be time to take him in for a checkup and possibly a float. A horse with sharp points, hooks, or ramps in his mouth tends to drop feed or chew improperly, which can lead to indigestion or colic. More importantly, your horse doesn’t get the most out of his feed and you could end up with unwanted vet bills to treat colic.

Parasites: Going into winter, it’s always a good idea to check your horse for parasites with a fecal test. Even if the fecal test comes back negative, you may want to give your horse a double dose of Strongid-type wormer to take care of tapeworms, which do not show up in a fecal analysis. You can do this up to once a year.

Stress: Horses can quickly lose weight when stressed. Causes of stress are numerous, including extreme physical cold, injuries, hard training, or even changes in living environment. Horses can also be
emotionally stressed by doing a job for which they are not suited or if their living conditions are unsuitable. For instance, a horse that is constantly being picked on by his herd mates won’t have access to
feed, and may not feel like eating.

The Best Horse Feed for Winter
To keep your horse healthy this winter, you need to make sure he is getting enough of the right kind of calories to stay warm, and drinking enough water to keep his digestion functioning properly.

Let’s talk about calories first. If the temperature drops dramatically during the winter in your part of the country, your goal will be to keep your horse warm. The best way to feed your horse to keep him warm
is to increase the fiber in his diet, which includes hay, alfalfa, and beet pulp. Increased fiber keeps a horse warmer than increased grain because the digestion of fiber generates heat. Hay and other kinds of fiber are digested in the horse’s hindgut, or large intestine, which generates much more heat than digestion in the small intestine (where grain is mostly digested).

So increase your horse’s fiber content first to keep him warm. If he loses weight and still needs more calories, consider adding a bit of alfalfa or grain. Up to a cup of corn oil per day will also help keep weight on your horse.

Then there is your horse’s water intake, which is especially important during the winter. Horses tend to drink less in cold weather, since cold water makes them feel colder. If your horse doesn’t drink enough
water to keep his digestion functioning, especially during cold dry weather, he could end up with impaction colic.

There are several ways to increase your horse’s fluid intake during the winter. I like feeding bran mashes made with warm water. Horses love bran mashes and the high water content is great for their digestion. The warm water in the mash also helps your horse feel warmer. You can also offer beet pulp shreds soaked with hot water. Since it can take 30 minutes or more to soak beet pulp, you may need to top up the bucket with hot water before serving it, otherwise it will be cold.

Horse Health Care in Winter: Blankets and Clipping
If you blanket your horse during the winter, choose a blanket that both fits and is made of a lightweight material. A well-fitting blanket does not “pull” across the shoulders, chest, or withers. Most newer blankets are pleated at the shoulder and designed to avoid this tightness over the withers and chest. It’s important to choose a blanket that fits because an ill-fitting blanket, worn all winter, can create chiropractic issues that you will have to solve in the spring.

I also suggest you invest in one of the new blankets made of lightweight materials, as opposed to using older-style canvas blankets. The lightweight material in new blankets allows your horse’s hair to stay fluffy, which keeps him warmer. Older-style blankets tend to flatten your horse’s coat, which will make him feel chilly.

Finally, if at all possible, avoid body clipping your horse. If you must clip your horse’s coat, stick with a hunter clip, which at least leaves your horse with some of his winter coat while still allowing him to work hard without sweating too much.

Madalyn Ward, DVM, is a recognized author and veterinarian in the field of holistic horsekeeping. For free tips on horse health, horse personality types, laminitis, and horse nutrition, plus one-stop shopping on holistic horse products, visit http://www.BuyHolisticHorse.com and her blog at http://blog.horseharmony.com.

Author: Dr. Madalyn Ward, DVM
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Ground Manners – An Overview

Horse training success is all in the work from the ground. A good, long-term relationship between you and your horse is built from the ground up, literally. Ground manners is about teaching your horse how to behave around humans and that you are his protector and friend. The two go hand in hand by building leadership respect and trust. The time dedicated to building a proper foundation by establishing control on the ground is well worth the effort involved.

Why would you want to bother with ground manners? Well, safety issues are a good start. An untrained or poorly trained horse with bad habits such as biting, kicking, rearing and charging (among others) is dangerous. A horse can kill a person with these behaviors. The horse can injure himself, for example, by rearing and banging his head on a low ceiling. Horses do knock themselves out, cut their heads on a nail or sharp corner and require stitches. Just think of the vet bills. And the panic you’d feel in this situation. Or think of the litigation if your horse kicked someone, injuring them so they were unable to work. These things do happen. Teaching a horse good ground manners is teaching a horse that these are unacceptable and unnecessary reactions.

The horse that won’t stand still is a danger. One day you’ll be caught in the wrong spot, he’ll get a fright and someone will be hurt. The horse that keeps leaning into you and treading on your (soon to be broken) foot is not fun. The horse that tries to kick when you pick out his feet is going to injure you one day. Good ground manners is about teaching a horse to respect your personal space.

The nervous or disobedient horse is also a danger. The jumpy horse that shies and knocks you over is a liability. The horse that loses his mind and tries to run every time he sees a plastic bag is more than a nuisance. Ground manners is about showing your horse that scary things aren’t so scary and to have confidence in you. To trust that you, as leader and protector, will always keep him safe.

Good manners on the ground makes the transition to riding much smoother and much much simpler. You will have learned to read your horses feelings or mood. He is not your servant. He is your partner. He will have learned unquestioned obedience. As a result, your riding sessions will be more fun.

Taking the time to lay firm foundations will also mean that you will be training a horse that is willing to please, that is EASIER TO TRAIN IN THE LONG RUN, that is a joy to work with and not an obstinate animal that is always acting out. When you choose to own a horse, you’re making a commitment for many years, so you want to be sure you’re going to have a well-behaved and easy to handle horse-friend.

The Basics Of Ground Manners For Your Horse

Teaching good ground manners right from the beginning will result in a horse that is a joy to own, while keeping yourself as safe as possible. Enforcing ground manners will teach your horse to:

* Look to you as leader for what to do whenever he is unsure of a situation (less likely to bolt, shy or be disobedient in new situations)

* Not crowd your personal space (no kicking, biting, charging, leaning, treading on your feet etc)

* Respond appropriately to whatever you are asking him to do

* Have calm confidence in the outside world because you will protect him

* Stand still patiently

* Tie calmly

* Allow you to pick up his feet for cleaning

* Allow you to groom him

* Calmly accept being bridled, haltered and led

* Accept being saddled without moving

* Refrain from nipping, kicking, charging or rearing to get his way

All this BEFORE you get on his back. It is actually a good idea to spend some time with a new horse on getting these basics right before you start riding. Despite how eager you will probably be to hop on and go, spend a few weeks or even months working on ground manners. It pays off in the end. If you’re having trouble with riding your horse, it may also be a wise investment of time to stop riding for a while and get these basics back on track.

So how do you instill those good ground manners in your horse? By understanding how a horse’s mind works. There are 6 basic principles you need to learn that apply to all horse situations.

1. Repetition

It is not widely known that a horse can take around 60 iterations of a lesson to ‘get it’. That’s right. It may take you repeating the exact same lesson 60 times before your horse understands what you are trying to teach. To put this in perspective, if you see your horse once a week and teach the same lesson once each time, then it may take over a year for your horse to learn it. Of course you may try the lesson more than once a session and you may see your horse more than once a week, but it takes TIME and PATIENCE to train a horse effectively.

The good news is that you can be successful in training your horse to have good behavior in any situation. This applies to all horses, whether they are young, old, previously poorly trained or have been in neglectful and abusive situations. You can teach your horse to lead, tone down aggressive behaviors towards people and other horses, teach a nervous horse to be calm, and get rid of bad habits horses learn such as rearing, biting, and kicking. All of this can be attained. But please remember that horse training takes as long as it takes. 60 repetitions is an average.

2. Be a leader to your horse

Horses are herd animals and are mentally wired to look up to the leader of the herd. In a herd, which is the natural situation for a horse, there is a pecking order (order of dominance). The stallion and lead mare are the leaders. Every other horse below them in the pecking order will look to these two to find out how to react in a given situation. If the leaders are calm, the others are calm, if the leaders are running for their lives, the rest of the herd is right behind them. It is also the leaders job to keep an eye out for danger. Or in other words, the leaders signal to the rest of the herd what is dangerous and what is safe. The rest of the herd has 100% faith in their leaders. They follow blindly. They do not think rationally or for themselves. This horse behavior makes a horse very easy to train.

To use this horse behavior to your advantage when youre training your horse, the leader of his herd needs to be you. You MUST show, through your tone of voice, your body language, your confidence, that you are a leader. For example, you cannot expect a horse to walk calmly past a barking dog if you are frightened yourself. If there are situations around your horse that scare you, you need to be inventive and work out how to avoid the situation where your horse can see you as weak. If your horse often charges you, avoid the trigger situation until you have established dominance in other situations. Get outside help if you need it. A horse generally weighs as much as 10 times more than a human, so you cannot expect to out muscle your horse when it behaves inappropriately. It is crucial that you become the leader to your horse so he follows you, rather than dragging you around.

3. Consistency

Being a leader also means having a zero tolerance policy towards your horse invading your personal space or disobeying your requests. In the herd, the pecking order is often challenged. Stay vigilant as the pecking order is never set in stone. If you get slack, the horse will start to dominate you. Be firm, consistent and persistent in applying your rules. You’re either training or de-training your horse every moment you’re with him. Mind the small stuff. It really does matter. Your horse will test you in small ways to see how serious you are. If you don’t hold your ground over your space or do accept a tardy response to a request, you’re effectively eroding the respect he has for you. ‘That’s ok, I don’t really mean stop when I say so’. This is then a green flag for your horse to try on bigger and bigger misbehaviors. For example, don’t let your horse kiss you. Not just for reasons of hygiene! No, letting any horse nibble or kiss you is sending him down the slippery slope of developing a biting habit. After all, a bite is just a firm nibble isn’t it? And a biting problem is not one you want to be dealing with. Painful for you, and difficult to get rid of. In this case, no kisses, no nibbles, no bites. Ever. Be firm, consistent and persistent in applying your ground rules. Absolute CONSISTENCY is the key to fast training.

4. Trust

One of the biggest reasons horses lack good ground manners is the fact they don’t trust as well as respect the people who are handling them. Trust and respect go hand in hand and once you have attained that, the rest of your training is so much easier. As leader (where you earn respect), part of your job is to keep your horse SAFE (where you earn trust). That’s safe from his perspective, not yours. You might think he’s perfectly safe in a trailer, but if he’s never been in one you’ll need to show him that you’ll go into one and that other horses agree it’s safe too. Your job is to prove to your horse that no matter what goes on around him, he will not be harmed. Angry bullying won’t work. Losing your temper won’t work. Banging his teeth with the bit, slapping him unexpectedly on the rump, making loud, sudden noises and unexpected gestures don’t help either. Let your horse know where you are and what you’re up to as much as possible. Be calm, be considerate, be affectionate, be patient. This path leads to earning your horse’s trust, an essential for a long and happy relationship.

5. Be fun

No one, even a horse, enjoys all work and no play. Remember to make your lessons enjoyable. Your aim is to encourage your horse to look forward to hanging out with you. What your horse likes will be individual, but most horses have a place on their body they like having scratched or rubbed. This can be a reward for obedience. Many horses enjoy the mental stimulation of a lesson if it’s not repeated endlessly in one go. More than half an hour on any one lesson at once is too much. 10 or 15 minutes is enough. And horses like variety in their ‘work’. So sometimes go out for a trail ride, sometimes do some jumping, sometimes work in the ring. Mix it up and keep it interesting. A bored horse is a cranky horse, and anyone in a bad mood is likely to misbehave.

6. Comfort

The horse likes a life of comfort. That means, a life free from irritants as well as pain. You can use his dislike of being irritated to your training advantage. Basically, you are looking for non-painful but annoying things you can do to encourage your horse to do as you ask. The key is to remove the irritant immediately when the horse does what you are asking. Stopping the annoying thing you were doing is his reward for doing as you asked. This is the most effective and yet gentle way to teach your horse to do what you ask

One example of irritant training is a technique called pressure and release. An example of pressure and release:

If you wanted your horse to turn its head to the left, you would put your hand in the halter strap and gently pull to the left just slightly. As soon as the horse begins to turn his head left, let go of the halter, releasing the pressure, and praise your horse quietly. If your horse were to pull to the right instead, you would continue to apply gentle pressure to the left until your horse complied, then release and praise again. Through patient, consistent repetition, your horse will learn what you are asking. This is the pressure and release training method in a nutshell, and can be applied throughout your horse’s training.

So these are the 6 basics of teaching ground manners. Repetition; Be a leader; Consistency; Trust; Be fun; and Comfort. Apply these whenever you are around your horse and you will be well on the way to many happy times.

Author: Phil Tragear
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

Almost all horse injuries and illnesses (excluding sports injuries and mistreatment) are due to a small number of mistakes in the way horses are kept and treated. Here are the top 10 tips to avoiding these errors and protecting your horse’s health (in rough order of importance, beginning with the most important).

1. Start with a healthy horse

The most important rule is to start out with a healthy horse, rather than buying a sick horse. There are lots of horses which you can get cheap (or even free) because of their health issues but it is a bad investment since you will likely spend more on vet bills than you save on the purchase price. With horses for sale, beware of sellers passing off a sick horse as a healthy one. Before buying a horse, put it through a horse health checklist. 

2. Food (type and quality)

Give your horse as natural a diet as possible. Feed grass when possible, with hay the next best alternative. Although old, weak or ill horses may need grain for some extra energy, for young and healthy horses the best choice is grass.

As well as feeding the correct type of food, ensure that it is of good quality. Never feed hay or other food which is moldy or has fungus. If feed gets wet, use it immediately (within a day) or throw it away. Bad feed can be a cause of serious illnesses such as colic or laminitis.

It is advisable that the horse has a mineral stone and salt lick, to compensate for any elements which may be missing from its food.

3. Natural environment (pasture & herd)

Just as a horse should have natural food, it should spend as much time as possible in a natural environment. The two most important parts of this is that it should be on pasture as much as possible and that it should be part of a herd (i.e. with other horses or horse equivalents). Time on pasture gives the horse a natural diet (grass), a natural feeding regime (many small feeds throughout the day rather than a couple large and short feeds), exercise and mental stimulation. Being with other horses gives a sense of safety (horses have a very strong herd instinct) and the social interactions gives it mental stimulation.  

Horses which spend most of their time in this natural environment will be happier and more relaxed, with a corresponding decrease in the development of bad habits (such as head weaving or cribbing), which are generally associated with stress and boredom

4. Healthy stall

Especially if a horse spends a lot of time in its stall, the stall environment should be healthy.

• It should have enough ventilation that there is not a build up of ammonia (the harsh burning smell which is produced when bacteria break down horse urine on the stall floor).
• It should be big enough that the horse has a bit of room to move, say 4 yards by 4.
• It should have clean and suitable bedding. In particular, bedding which has gone off (mold or fungus) should never be used.

5. Safe pasture

The pasture should be free of any items which could injure the horse.

The most common cause of serious injuries to horses while on pasture is inappropriate fencing wire. Barbed wire should never be used and it can puncture the horse, causing not only injuries (which can be fatal if a main artery is hit) but also abscesses and other serious infections. High-tension wire should not be used either, since it can cut through flesh and tendons, especially if it breaks and becomes entangled around a leg. If fencing wire is used, it should be a wire which will break before causing serious injury and it should be under current to discourage horses from pushing against it.

If one is using a field which has not been previously cleaned, every bit of it should be closely examined for items which could injure a horse and such items removed. I’ve seen enough horses seriously injured from being put on an old farming field which had bits of fencing wire or pieces of machinery lying about. Likewise, holes (e.g. from burrowing animals) can result in a broken leg so should be filled in promptly. Similarly, broken branches or other objects lying around can result in injuries (especially if the horses are spooked at night, when they may not see the objects and consequently run into them).

There are a number of poisonous plants, which can make a horse ill or even kill it. Learn what types of plants are on your horse’s pasture and check if any of them are poisonous to horses. Most horses will avoid the majority of poisonous plants (unless there is nothing else to eat) so if you see a type of plant which the horses are not eating, one should in particular check that it is safe.

6. Preventative medicine

Prevention is much better (and less expensive) than cure. Horses should be wormed periodically, to a schedule. They should receive the required inoculations and they should have a yearly dental check. As intestinal parasites vary from region to region, the type and frequency of worming will also vary accordingly. Likewise, a horse which is always on the same pasture with the same horses may not need the same level of inoculations as a horse which travels a lot, including competitions. In areas with high levels of Lyme disease, anti-tick medication may be advisable. Consequently, one needs to discuss with a local veterinarian the local requirements, taking into account how the horse is used, to determine the most appropriate actions.

7. Watch and regularly inspect the horse

Horses, like people, will naturally become ill occasionally and may suffer accidents from time to time. In most cases, one starts with a minor problem which is easily (and inexpensively) treated if spotted early, but may become a major issue if left untreated.

One should watch a horse each day, and preferably twice a day, even if it is just for a few minutes. Learn what is normal behavior for that particular horse (e.g. running about or quietly grazing) and if there is a change to its normal behavior one needs to inspect the horse more closely. In particular, any signs of the horse appearing unwell (e.g. head hanging, inactive, stopped eating) or unhappy should be checked and monitored until the cause is found and corrected, with veterinary assistance if the situation becomes worse or is already serious.

Certain illness (e.g. impaction colic, laminitis) can often be treated successfully if done so promptly, whereas waiting less than a day after the first visible symptoms can result in a maimed or dead horse. Regular observation and prompt treatment are the key to so many illnesses.

One should clean and examine the sole of the hooves each day. In part this is to remove stones, ice chunks or other items which can damage a hoof. However, an equally important part of this daily routine is that it enables one to spot hoof issues early. Likewise, regular grooming is important not only because a clean horse looks better but also because it provides an opportunity to closely examine all parts of the horse for injuries or other abnormalities.

8. Shelter

Horses should have shelter from excessive cold, rain or wind. A simple shelter, open on one side facing away from the prevailing wind, can greatly increases the horse’s comfort. Alternatively, when the weather is very bad, it may be necessary to remove the horses from pasture and paddock and put them into their stalls.

The amount of shelter a horse requires depends on the local environment (how extreme the temperature gets locally) but also on the horse. A strong and healthy horse, which is neither very old or very young, will be much more resistant to weather extremes. Likewise, certain breeds (especially if they have a long coat, which has not been trimmed or had the coat oils removed by frequent washing) are more resistant than others. One needs to provide a level of shelter which is appropriate to the individual horse and the current weather. One should also consider a horse rug for horses which are very old, very young, sick, weak or prone to illness. One may also consider a fly sheet, which not only increases the horses comfort but also reduces the risk of sweet itch, eye infections (if a fly mask is used) and other illnesses which can be transmitted by biting or blood sucking insects.

9. Breed and individual requirements

Each breed has its own special requirements. For examples, many breeds are prone to laminitis and consequently should have only limited access to spring grass. Other breeds may have specific issues and require special treatment (e.g. many Appaloosa are night blind and consequently are more likely to run into fencing if left out at night). Learning about your breed’s strengths and weaknesses from a medical perspective will allow you to respond accordingly.

Likewise, each horse is an individual. Some are more weather resistant than others. Some are more prone to colic or other illnesses. As you watch and live with your horse, learn about its special needs and treat it accordingly. For example, if it is allergic to dust, one may need to soak its hay in water or buy low-dust feed. If it looks unhappy and uncomfortable in cold weather, one should consider taking it under shelter or providing it with a rug, as you may be looking at an early warning for a potential illness (e.g. cold-induced colic or a cold-induced lung infection). Taking account of your horse’s medical history and behavior as part of your horse management program will help keep it healthy and happy.

10. Continue to learn

Nobody knows everything about horses and everyone started out knowing nothing. However, if you educate yourself and continue to learn, you will be able to take better care of your horse, avoiding problems when possible and otherwise treating them promptly and correctly.