PHOTO: CLIX PHOTOGRAPHY
HEALTH
CANADA’S VETERINARIAN
SHORTAGE By Tania Millen
Canada has a veterinarian shortage and it’s impacting horses and their owners. Many veterinarians are overworked while rural animal owners are underserved. There simply aren’t enough veterinarians or vets-in-training to meet Canada’s needs. In 2019, from one-third to one-half of every veterinary practice in the country was trying to hire another veterinarian. Due to surging animal ownership, between 2020 and 2030 the number of Canadian veterinarians needs to increase 45 percent just to keep up with demand. 16
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However, producing more veterinarians is a long, expensive process. Every year, students are turned away from Canada’s five veterinary schools due to the limited seats available. Some of these students are then accepted at schools overseas where they pay over $300,000 in tuition — more than six times the cost of a subsidized seat in Canada. Jenilee Bader is one of those students. She’s from central British Columbia (BC) and is now in her third year of veterinary school at the University of Melbourne (UM) in Australia. Bader says that UM is internationally renowned, offers four international exams that allow graduates to work in different areas of the world, and has a brand new animal hospital. UM’s curriculum also embeds mental health training and counseling into their veterinary program to address the high rate of burnout and suicide in veterinarians. But Bader’s lifelong dream of becoming an equine veterinarian was almost derailed. Her application to
Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was rejected twice even though she graduated with honours from the University of British Columbia (UBC) with a bachelor’s degree in animal biology. Then Bader started considering other careers. She says, “It’s crazy for a student to hear [from a vet school] that maybe they should pick a different career path. I started wondering, ‘Am I too dumb for vet school?’” Fortunately, her BC veterinarian mentor, UBC professors, and family all encouraged her to consider international education rather than give up hope of becoming a vet. After a year of soul searching and arranging financial loans to cover the $308,000 tuition, Bader was accepted by UM and moved to Australia to pursue her dream. The staggering debt of her education may limit Bader’s ability to develop a practice or buy into an existing one when she returns to BC, but she’s happy with her choice. “I can’t imagine doing anything else,” she says. Veterinary school is a dream for many, but seating quotas and tuition costs deter countless potential students. Every year, more than 2,500 Canadian and international students apply for 422 seats at five veterinary schools in Canada — two schools in Western Canada, one in Ontario, one in Quebec, and one in the Maritimes. WCVM is located at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and was set up to provide veterinarians for Western Canada. In 2019, about 45 percent of BC’s active
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Every Canadian province is desperate for veterinarians, and almost 20 percent of veterinary clinics report frequently turning patients away.
Increasing the number of Registered Veterinary Technicians (RVTs), who could handle more routine tasks and allow vets to focus more on the “zebras,” has been suggested as a way to reduce the pressure on vets. The expression When you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras means a doctor or veterinarian should first think about what is a more common, and potentially more likely, diagnosis.
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/DIETRICH LEPPERT
HEALTH
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Practical Nutrition for Donkeys By Shelagh Niblock, PAS
Everybody loves to see a donkey! With their large fuzzy ears and soulful eyes, they naturally tug at the heartstrings of horse lovers everywhere. Donkeys were first domesticated in Africa around 3000 BC. They evolved in desert areas and consequently, developed as browsers that can adapt to poor quality feed and irregular water supplies. Their easygoing nature and hardiness made them ideal as beasts of burden in the hotter, drier parts of the world. Coming in a variety of sizes, donkeys and their hybrid offspring, mules and hinnies, range anywhere from Miniature donkeys of less than 35 inches in height all the way up to Mammoth Jack donkeys that can exceed 15 hands.
Donkey Digestive Tract Basics
The digestive tract of donkeys is very similar to that of horses, but research has shown they use it much more effectively. They use the full capacity of their hindgut to metabolize the high fibre diets they are best adapted to, and this is the reason even donkeys of a heathy bodyweight always seem to have a pot belly. Utilizing their cecum and large intestine at full capacity results in greater retention time of feedstuffs in the hindgut, as well as greater production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs), the end products of the
fermentation of fibre by the beneficial microbes. VFAs are transported through the hindgut wall to the liver, where they are converted to energy in the form of glucose. In the case of overfed donkeys, that energy from glucose may not be needed and is converted to body fat. Chewing and dentition is important for any equid, but donkeys in particular need to have good teeth. All equids chew more when consuming high fibre feeds than low fibre feeds (see The Chew Factor – Fibre Intake in Horse Hay on Horsejournals.com), but on similar diets donkeys consume feeds with less chewing than horses,
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Having evolved in desert areas with poor quality forage and scarce water, donkeys developed an efficient and adaptable digestive tract that must be considered when planning their rations.
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23
Family Farms Ranches
&
Working & Playing Together By Tania Millen
Operating family farms and ranches can be challenging, but according to these three Canadian families, there are plenty of benefits, too. Farming with Kids
Lauren Fraychineaud and her husband Dave Allan are firstgeneration farmers. They own and operate Kalum Acres in Terrace, British Columbia (BC) along with their four children: Flint (5), Cea (4), Esme (2), and Eily (10 months). They bought the farm to raise their own food. “Our kids help in every way they can, from collecting eggs and pushing around the kid-size wheelbarrow, to picking poop and feeding animals,” Fraychineaud says. She admits, “It takes a lot longer to do chores with our kids than it does without them. But it’s important to appreciate the help they’re providing. By
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taking on chores and being appreciated by us, the kids develop a sense of responsibility and achievement and sense of worth.” “Our kids know that before we can do anything in the day, we’ve got to check on our animals. We spend a lot of time on the farm doing chores, so our family time looks different than movie nights and going on walks in town. Family needs and farm needs are very blended,” she says. “There’s a level of resilience that our kids get from farming that I don’t think the average kid gets. I think it’s rare that most kids, especially young kids, are uncomfortable. There’s a lot of discomfort that comes with the good things in life and I think it’s important to learn to embrace that discomfort.” But keeping small children safe while farming can be challenging. Animals, machinery, and standing water are all potential concerns. “There’s a lot of added work making sure that we know where our kids are, and that they’re in a safe place. We communicate
PHOTOS COURTESY OF LAUREN FRAYCHINEAUD
Lauren Fraychineaud, who operates Kalum Acres with her husband and family in Terrace, BC drives a tractor with baby Eily.
The Fraychineaud children feed the horses crab apples.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF LAUREN FRAYCHINEAUD
Quality family time is very important to the Hessdorfers who operate At Kalum Acres in Terrace, BC, the children help as much as they can. a mixed grain and beef farm that has been in the family for generations.
Esme, Flint, and Cea watch their Dad fix a fence.
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10 Tips
To Help You
Build A
BETTE R BETTER
Barn Business By Nikki Alvin-Smith Horse business owners everywhere know how difficult it is to make money in the horse world. Every equine industry entrepreneur strives to figure out how to build a better and more resilient enterprise that will generate a reliable revenue stream and provide an enjoyable equestrian lifestyle. The capital costs of the buildings, pastures, and paddocks required to house horses and keep them safe and happy, along with the long list of supplies and services necessary to launch and operate a horse business, all require serious investment. The following tips to help you build a better barn business are based on my own decades of experience as an advanced competitor, coach, and clinician, and a lifetime of operating a horse breeding, import, and sales business while building two horse farms from scratch and raising three children.
TIP #1
Make Sure Things Add Up At least once a year take a good hard 44
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look at exactly where your hard-earned dollars are disappearing. Key areas where you can possibly improve your bottom line include: • LABOUR — If you are paying for help around the barn look at bartering services to save money. However, if you offer a board discount or free board to someone in exchange for barn work, do the math and make sure that you are truly saving money. • INSURANCE — Insurance should be shopped around every year. Markets change, your needs change, underwriters change, and so does the law. Insurance can be one of the largest expenditures an equine facility has each year. Always evaluate your insurance and other major expenses diligently. • SUPPLIES — Hay is one of the main budget items of an equine facility. Save money by buying well-cured hay off the field at time of harvest at a discounted price. Store it correctly to minimize spoilage or wastage. Buy bedding supplies in bulk to reduce cost. Regular mucking out
will also save money on bedding in the long run. • UTILITIES — Contact your local hydro company and ask for an in-person audit to see where you can save energy. There may be grants available to assist with the cost of upgrades that improve energy efficiency. Add insulation to all areas that need to be heated such as the tack room or office, and add automatic door closing devices to doors to shut out the cold. For fuel needs, the installation of a large tank and an annual contract with a supplier that provides a cap fee on the price per litre can reduce cost. • FENCING, BUILDINGS, EQUIPMENT — It is much more cost-effective to have a routine maintenance program for these items than to deal with costly breakdowns and repairs, or expensive vet bills for escaped horses that injure themselves. If you have the space, consider expanding pasture for your horses. Not only will your grazing horses have a healthier lifestyle, they won’t be using
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A major improvement such as the addition of an indoor arena allows you to ride and train year-round, increase your boarding rates, and appeal to a broader market of clients.
bedding, munching through your hay supply, or requiring as much labour to take care of. Remember that good tools make a job faster and more efficient. Buy used tools and equipment when it makes sense, especially if the equipment will be slightly abused by other users.
TIP #2
Network Ask industry colleagues to recommend vendors for all your needs. Networking with other horse owners will help you gain information about the best sources for products, the best deals, and other tips.
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• VET AND FARRIER COSTS — Veterinary and farrier care can be major budget items but skimping in these areas can compromise your horse’s welfare and result in higher costs in the long run. Look at these expenses as an investment in the longterm welfare of your horses. Some savings can be realized by coordinating with other horse owners at the barn to split farm call fees for these appointments.
For extra help around the barn, consider offering a boarding discount in exchange for barn work. SPRING 2022
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HORSEMANSHIP
How to
OPTIMIZE your Schooling Sessions
By Lindsay Grice, Equestrian Canada coach and judge
Do you ever wander away from the mounting block, still adjusting your stirrups, pondering what to work on in today’s schooling session? Does your coach ever ask (I always do) what you’ve been working on since your last lesson, and you admit to mostly logging miles on your horse’s odometer? Is time with your horse squeezed between life’s many daily responsibilities, and sometimes squeezed out altogether? If so, you need an effective, efficient and creative game plan for your training sessions. 48
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EFFECTIVE
How Horses Learn Best The best teachers adapt to the learning style of their students. Of course, we’ll never know what it’s like to be a horse, but with insights from research into how horses think and learn, training them can be simpler and safer. These findings often harmonize with the observations of those who’ve spent years watching and working with horses. Yet, other evidence clashes with some of our long-held horse traditions. The key to being effective is knowing how horses learn best or understanding “equine learning theory.” (See my article, The Science of Schooling: Keys to an effective training session, in the Autumn 2021 issue of this maga-
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While driving to the barn or getting your horse ready, think about what you’ll work on to build toward the skills you need to reach your goals.
zine and on www.HorseJournals.com). I see systematic schooling as steps in a staircase: sets of repetitions — stepping up a basic skill to the next level — regular landings on which to take breaks and process things.
reward (if timed right) and your horse will be more likely to connect the dots. When confused, the horse’s right try might happen by accident, as if he’s guessing. Matching that accident or guess with a well-timed “yes” can be a window to a training breakthrough. Approaching your training session positively means looking for opportunities to communicate what you do want more than what you don’t want.
Make the right choice obvious. Equine (and human) students thrive on rewards. Horses are motivated to make choices not only by “no” (blocking wrong answers with pressure) but perhaps even more by “yes” (a wide-open door to the right answer). What speaks “yes” to your horse? Release the pressure – I mean really release it (I call it “melting”). Support that release with a neck scratch or even a food
Reward the try. By rewarding his most basic effort, you’re telling your horse he’s on the right track. It’s called shapingstepping toward the target behaviour by rewarding the approximation of it and then asking for progressively more. For example, your horse is cantering reliably and now you want to shorten his stride. He may respond with a menu of wrong answers such as leaning on the bit, getting quicker, or breaking to a trot. But if
you catch and release on the magic moment when he opts to shift his weight back to collect himself, he’s likely to try that option again… and then again. As another example, turn on the haunches may begin with one wider step with your horse’s inside front leg. Reward that try and he may try another. When your horse is no longer “trialling” wrong answers and regularly getting the right one, it’s time to push to the next level. Know when to push and when to wait. On the training staircase, pushing to the next level involves risk. I think of measured risks as those 80 percent likely to succeed — risks employing enough pressure to motivate a change, yet not enough to stir up fear and failure. Horses in anxious states don’t learn. Rather, they’ll try to escape instead of trying something new. Success can make us greedy to ask for more, such as pushing through to the scary water box instead of SPRING 2022
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HORSEMANSHIP
HOW TO Safely
By Jec A. Ballou
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/RITA KOCHMARJOVA
Condition Young Horses
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PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/RITA KOCHMARJOVA
S
Ten-minute sessions in the ring walking across and around poles on the ground will help the young horse organize his body and adjust the placement of his feet.
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hould young horses be left in pasture to grow up or brought in to begin their training? While arguments can be made in favour of each plan, the ideal approach is actually somewhere in the middle. In order to enjoy athletic lives later on, youngsters do need regular exercise, but the structure of their training should differ from that of a mature horse. Primarily, it should be shorter, slower, and avoid concussive skeletal forces. Physiological studies have shown that horses receiving appropriate exercise in the first three years of life are better adapted — and commonly sounder — during their riding and driving careers later on, when compared to horses that were not exercised until their third or fourth year. As soft tissues like tendons and ligaments grow in these initial years of life, they are highly responsive to exercise stimulus. This means that while they are forming and growing, they can add power and elasticity and resilience based on input received from exercise. In other words, exercise leads to the development of higher quality tissues. For most breeds, this opportunity of responsiveness diminishes significantly after the third year. Rather than being detrimental, early exercise has a protective effect on the horse’s musculoskeletal system over the long term. It develops stronger musculoskeletal structures (ligaments, tendons, muscles). This in turn allows bones and joints to mature without undue stress. Further, early exercise helps muscles make adaptations to aerobic stimulus, leading to more efficiency down the road. During this phase, muscles become adept at metabolizing energy — storing oxygen and using fat as a fuel source. Their capillary networks enlarge and mitochondria density improves. This sets up the mature horse to meet the demands of discipline-specific training without strain and poor muscle function. From a mental and physical perspective, leaving a horse basically untouched until his third year is more harmful than maintaining a small steady routine of exercise all along. Nowadays, most vets agree that gentle exercise can be introduced to yearlings and continued until they are broke to ride. But a young horse’s regime does have special considerations. This means owners and trainers need to think outside the box in terms of what a daily training session might look like. It should not just be an abbreviated version of what older horses in the stable
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HORSEMANSHIP
ADVENTURES IN
BITLESS Riding Find a good instructor to help you transition to bitless riding. Pictured is Josh Nichol riding in a bosal.
PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSH NICHOL
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g Are you ready to leave your bit behind? About 15 years ago I first went bitless with my mare, Diva, after a particularly passionate foray, on my part, into natural horsemanship. Riding with a rope halter and lead rope felt a little like wearing a thong bikini to a public beach, with many people waiting to see if this get-up was actually going to do the trick once we hit the water, or in this case, the trails. Thankfully it did, and Diva was much happier in her new head gear, but I still remember those concerned and surprised looks, even 15 years of bitless riding later. These days, I ride Diva in a half-inch rawhide bosal with a mohair mecate, and my other mare, Raven, in a leather cavesson with leather reins. I definitely think bitless is an option for most horses, given the right preparation and the correct gear. This article is for the bitless curious, a guide for riders who may not feel fully comfortable or confident leaving their bit behind. When I first started riding Diva in a halter, I had youth and frankly, recklessness, on my side. I was in my 20s and still quite bouncy, drawn to anything rebellious or different, with a horse that tended to be slower and energy-conserving, all of which made my decision to try bitless much easier. I quickly realized that she preferred to be ridden this way and actually became more sensitive to my rein aids. As for Raven, at age eight she has never had a bit cross her lips, having been started and trained with a leather cavesson from the beginning. Bitless is what she knows and responds to, and her extensive groundwork preparation meant that her light response to leg, seat, and body aids allowed for very subtle cues from her bridle.
By Alexa Linton, Equine Sports Therapist When going bitless, concerns around safety often present the main barriers for riders, including fears of being unable to stop or losing control. As well, in many show rings, performing without a bit is still not accepted or allowed. Why bother making the shift? Over the years I have come to realize that not everyone is going to embrace riding without a bit — it takes time, learning, training, and timing for this transition to be successful. That said, I believe learning to work in this way, even if you put your bit back in for shows, can make you and your horse a more versatile team and able to reach greater levels of comfort and connection. I have also seen ample proof in my own horses and in my horse clients. Many prefer being bitless, with less pressure on the sensitive zones of their mouth and face, a greater focus on the aids coming from seat and body, and a more release-based method of riding. It doesn’t have to be one or the other, bit or no bit — see the photo below of Diva and I working in a spade bit at a Californio Bridlehorse clinic with Bruce Sandifer a few years back. In this tradition, horses are generally started in a rawhide bosal on a simple headstall with a mecate rein. As they become lighter, softer, and more responsive, they move to more delicate bosals. They are ready to move into the two-rein usually after several years of consistent training. In the two-rein they carry the impressive spade bit, while the signal still comes mainly from the bosal, until they are so soft and light that they are able to go “straight up” in the bridle with just the spade bit. I loved working this way with Diva, developing skills, connection and
Diva and the author working in a spade bit at a Californio Bridlehorse clinic with Bruce Sandifer a few years back. PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEXA LINTON SPRING 2022
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57
High Performance
HABITS
for the Competition Season
Start REWIRING Now
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/THOMAS MAREK
By Annika McGivern Habits are mental shortcuts created by our brain to reduce the need to make conscious decisions every moment of the day, which would require far too much time and processing power. By associating certain events and experiences with specific actions and responses, our brain can respond quickly and efficiently without our conscious “input.” For example, when a horse pins its ears and shifts its weight, we typically have moved out of harm’s way before we have had time to think about what we are doing. The habitual response happens automatically and helps keep us safe. The brain is highly motivated to keep us safe, and therefore many habits are created by our brain to achieve this. While most of these habits are very useful (such as our body reacting to keep us astride a spooking horse, or the habitual instincts that make us brake when the car ahead 60
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unexpectedly stops or slows down), some are less useful, especially when we have big performance goals. Meet a client of mine named John. He is a showjumper currently showing at 1.10m with a goal to reach 1.30m. His horse has the ability and so does John, but he had been stalling out at 1.10m for quite some time before working with me. Every time he tried to move up to 1.20m everything seemed to fall apart. His confidence severely knocked and he would retreat to 1.10m. Let’s look closely at John’s story to better understand the role of high-performance habits in helping us to move forward. John was working hard towards his goal but he wasn’t getting enough traction to move him past his block. In my initial conversations with John we discovered the following: • John was extremely stressed about
competing. He had moved up relatively quickly to 1.10m and now was deeply embarrassed by his perceived failure to progress. This stress was actively preventing him from thinking ahead and planning his competitive season, which meant he was managing his season in a very reactive way and had no real plan to follow. • The stress and embarrassment John felt was also actively preventing him from reflecting on what happened at the shows. He expressed that he preferred to put the failures firmly behind him and not think about them at all. However… • It quickly became clear that John was constantly replaying the failures over and over in his mind, although he described this as unintentional and something he did not enjoy. It felt like
To keep yourself grounded and better prepared for setbacks, think about the show in advance and reflect on successes and setbacks after the show.
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/EBRO
A habit of focusing on failures and playing them over and over in your mind will keep you in a self-critical state unable to move past the frustration.
• Not learning from reflection;
PHOTO: ISTOCK/ABROMOVA KAENIYA
• Engaging in highly self-critical self-talk that kept him frustrated and upset;
• John had begun to enter fewer clinics and shows, explaining that he felt it was all a bit too much and he was burning out. He had begun to fear he wasn’t cut out for the bigger classes and felt a deep sense of disappointment and shame in his seeming inability to make his goals a reality.
Remember, our brains form habits that keep us safe. Here, it is important to know that our brain, left to its own devices, often interprets stressful and high-pressure situations (such as competitions) as unsafe. Therefore, unless we take conscious control of our habits, we are likely to build habits that lead us away from pressure and discomfort. This can turn into a routine of backing away when pressure mounts, shutting down during competition, or choosing not to compete regularly. John had formed four unhelpful habits:
What do John’s habits have to do with turning around this difficult cycle?
• Not planning ahead and therefore responding reactively to what happens;
a video he couldn’t turn off. This was keeping John in a very self-critical state of mind as he picked apart everything he had done wrong and chastised himself for it.
• Choosing to back away from any pressure and discomfort. These four habits all came from John’s brain’s desire to keep him safe and protect him from the pain and discomfort of stress. However, these habits were not serving him or improving his well-being or helping him achieve his goals. It was time for John to work on rewiring his habits and responses to achieve a different outcome. John’s New High-Performance Habits:
SELF-COMPASSION — John started to build an intentional habit of self-compassion. This meant that when he caught himself in negative and critical internal dialogue he paused, took a deep breath, and refocused on why this goal was important to him and how exciting, interesting, and challenging it was to have the opportunity to work towards such a goal. He reminded himself to soften his words (as if he was speaking to a friend) and his body (by intentionally relaxing and releasing tension). CURIOSITY — Next, John practiced replacing frustration with curiosity. He made a new rule for himself that every time he caught himself feeling frustrated SPRING 2022
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PHOTO: ISTOCK / MLENNY
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