H0rse Digest MIDW EST
February 09
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Midwest Horse Digest
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Horse Digest
Contents Articles
8 Disengaging the Hindquarters: Your Emergency
Departments
Brake by Ken McNabb with Katherine Lindsey Meehan
10 Direct and Drive: An Invaluble lesson by Cynthia McFarland with Chris Cox
14 Want to Win..... Hunt Seat Pleasure by Jennifer Lindgren
7 In The News 24 Equine Law
Nutrition 9
Feeding Forages
HORSE WORLD HEROES
12 Don’t put a number on her - this is Chloe!
18 Softening, building the foundation..... by Dennis Auslam
19 Ask Mary: How do you stop a horse that spooks and takes off with you? by Mary Hamilton
20 The Back-Up by Craig Cameron
28 Planning the Plan by Ryan Gingerich
32 New Horse that Turned into an Outlaw by Julie Goodnight
34 Dealing with a Chargey Horse by Monty Bruce
35 Communicating with Your Aids... Keys to Success, Part 4� by Lynn Palm
Health 16 Equine Osteopathy 20 Gastric Ulcers 30 Equine Touch
Special Sections 17 Marketing Your Business 30 37 38 39 40 40 41 41
Equine Central - NEW! Ready to Ride Guide Traders Corner Photo Classifieds Classifieds Real Estate Upcoming Events Advertisers Index
About our cover It is time to think positive and to THINK SPRING. Warm weather is coming and it is time to plan to have fun with your horses and enjoy life. Photo by Karen Kennedy of Icon Studios Equine Photography see page 25. We hope you enjoy this issue of
Midwest Horse Digest! We are proud to be able to publish it for you and ask that you support the advertisers that support this magazine. Thank you!
February 09
In the News
The Popular Rodeo Returns to Midwest Horse Fair® It’s fast...it’s furious…it’s the World’s Toughest Bulls and Broncs…and it’s coming to the 2009 Midwest Horse Fair® in Madison, Wis. This rodeo entertainment is extreme cowboy sport at its very best. The most talented cowboys and cowgirls are returning to the Midwest Horse Fair® on Friday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. for the World’s Toughest Bulls and Broncs rodeo competition. This will be the third year that this rodeo has been held during the Midwest Horse Fair® and it is returning by popular demand. Some of the best cowboy athletes in the entire world will be riding to win during the bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding competitions. The contestant roster often features World Champions, National Finals Rodeo qualifiers, and athletes at the top of their game. Those who meet the challenge will make it to the Championship Showdown Round. Women’s Barrel Racing completes this entertainment extravaganza as some of the most talented cowgirls on fast horses race the timer in a dash for the cash. This is the best of the best in western extreme sports entertainment today. The World’s Toughest Bulls and Broncs is a head to head competition of man versus beast. It's Bulls, it's Broncs, and it's live at the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum at the Alliant Energy Center. Reserved seating tickets for the Midwest Horse Fair® evening entertainment are required in addition to general admission tickets. The Coliseum will be cleared each night and spectators must have a ticket to reenter for the Friday night rodeo. Children under the age of two will be allowed to sit on the lap of an adult without additional ticket purchase. Tickets are on sale now through all Tickmaster outlets (www.ticketmaster.com) In addition to the World’s Toughest Bulls and Broncs rodeo, The Midwest Horse Fair®, held April 17-19, 2009 at the Alliant Energy Center, offers a full weekend of events for both the professional and new horse owners, as well as those who just love horses. There are demonstrations, speakers, shopping opportunities, and plenty of entertainment. For more information on the Midwest Horse Fair® visit www.midwesthorsefair.com, 920.623.5515 or manager@midwesthorsefair.com
midwest horse digest
Espree Celebrates 20th Anniversary Espree Animal Products Inc. is celebrating 20 years in production of natural and holistic grooming products for horses and pets. The cornerstone upon which Espree Animal Products, Inc. was
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built was, and always will be our dedication to animals and our family of animal friendly customers to deliver the best natural products. It is our uncompromised belief that effective, pesticide-free products with natural ingredients are safer and gentle for horses, pets and owners alike. Thanks to all of our customers for their continued loyalty and support over the last 20 years. We appreciate your business. Please visit www.espree.com.
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Disengaging the Hindquarters: Your Emergency Brake By Ken McNabb with Katherine Lindsey Meehan
Before I even get on a colt for the first time, I teach him to disengage the hindquarters. This exercise is also one I teach older horses with problem behaviors such as running away, rearing, and bucking. This is a very important foundation exercise and one that can help you stay safe in many difficult situations. The instance where I don’t use this exercise is when I’m riding a broke horse without dangerous behavior problems. Once a horse is broke, you want them to be engaging the hind end all the time, not disengaging it. For the ground work part of this exercise, you will need a halter and 8’ lead rope. For the riding part, you will need your bridle and saddle. Begin teaching this exercise from the ground with either a halter and lead rope or your bridle. Stand to one side of your horse just behind the girth line, and ask him to move
his hips over by focusing your attention on his hip. If he does not move, increase the pressure by stepping towards him, swinging your rope, etc. Be careful not to get kicked, and keep a firm grip on the lead rope so if your horse does swing his hind end towards you he will pull you out of the way. You are looking for his inside hind foot to step across under him, in front of his outside hind foot. When it does, release the pressure immediately. It is very important that the inside hind foot actually crosses in front of the outside hind. Don’t release if your horse just hops his feet sideways without crossing over. His front feet should stop all forward motion when he crosses over with his hind end. A horse is most powerful when his body is in a straight line from nose to tail. By asking your horse to step under himself in this way, you are reducing his power by breaking that straight line, and at the same time taking away his ability to brace against you. Make sure you release for each step your horse takes. You don’t want more than one step in a row, because the purpose of this exercise is to get your horse stopped. If your horse starts taking lots of steps, just hold the lead rope or rein until his feet stop, them release him. When your horse will disengage the hindquarters easily and quickly on both sides on the ground, you are ready to teach it from
the saddle. Once you are on his back, walk him forward and pick up on one rein, bending his head to the side and asking him to step under with the inside hind foot. If he bends his neck but keeps walking a straight line, bump him with your inside leg until he steps over with his hindquarters. You may have trouble feeling what your horse’s feet are doing under you at first. If that is the case, have a friend spot for you and tell you exactly when the hind foot crosses under, so you are sure to release at the correct time. Soon you will learn what the step feels like and know when to release without help. Once your horse will do this exercise easily and consistently at the walk, teach it at a slow trot, then a faster trot, and finally at the lope. Keep in mind that at faster speeds you are going to tip your horse over if you just yank his head around, so you will need to slow him down by circling and making the circles smaller and smaller gradually to reduce his speed before you ask him to fully disengage the hindquarters. If you are using this as you start a colt under saddle for the first time, it gives you a tool to stop him if something goes wrong, and also a way to help him understand a cue for forward motion. If you just start kicking a horse that has never been ridden before, he will not know what you want and will probably get scared. Instead, bump him very lightly with your legs and ask him to disengage the hindquarters. Do this first to one side, and then the other. You are teaching him that pressure from your legs means for him to move his feet. Once he understands that, you will be able to teach him to move forward off your leg. If you are riding an older horse with behavior problems and get in a situation where you think your horse is going to buck, rear, or run away, you can bend his nose right around to your knee and kick with the inside leg to get him to disengage the hindquarters. Having a tool to get him stopped in any situation gives you a chance to catch your balance, get his mind back on you, or get off and do some work on the ground if you think you are about to get in a wreck. Enjoy your horses, stay safe, and until next time, may God bless the trails you ride. For more information on Ken McNabb’s programs call us at 307-645-3149 or go to www.kenmcnabb.com.
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Feeding ForagesThe why, when and what for! By: Kelly Ann Graber B.S., P.A.S per day as a bare minimum. If the horse is in heavier training, growing, reproducing or Forage as the Foundation The overall health of our horses and lactating the percentages of feed required for proper gas-trointestinal function is reliant on body weight will increase thereby increasing using forages (hay or pasture) as the the amount of hay or forage needed. foundation of your feeding program. A horse Building on the Foundation has no requirement for cereal grain (oats, Hopefully the importance of forage corn, barley) in his diet, but cannot exist is now un-derstood and we can build upon without forage. One of the most common that. Before you select your grain or diet mistakes that people make in feed-ing horses balancer you need to think about what kind is not providing enough good quality forage. and quality of hay you are feeding. Again, use We as horse owners have forgotten or never the forage as the foundation and evaluate learned that horses are forage eating animals through analysis or average comparison, your who when left to their own forages’ attributes as far as accord will “graze” about 18 protein, calories and major and hours out of every 24 hour trace mineral levels. Many day. horses can meet or exceed proHorses have a tein, calorie and even some very small stomach that major mineral requirements requires them to eat many through good quality forage fed small meals all day long to in adequate amounts. If you are function at its best. These in this situation, you may not meals are not meant to be need to feed any cereal grain grain, but for-age. A horse (corn, oat, etc) and only need to will graze a little, rest a little, use a diet balancer to meet the graze a little and so on. trace mineral, fat and amino When we confine a horse to acid needs that the forage may a stall or dry lot, we really not be providing. If we use need to mimic mother nature forage as the foundation, the as best we can, and let them only reason we would even feed “graze” and eat those small Feeding adequate forage can grain to our horses is to make meals all day long. In addiup for the difference in what our tion, the horse has a very reduce many common vices. horse needs and what the long and coiling intestinal forage is providing. We know system that when empty is much more prone forages tend to fall short in the trace mineral to twists and torsions. Keeping forage moving and amino acid categories so we would want through the gut all day long can also help to add these things back, but we may only reduce these types of colics, similar to when need to add additional grain if the forage falls we have water in a garden hose… it becomes more difficult to twist or kink that hose. To accomplish our goal of keeping the GI tract full, we can either feed them every 2-4 hours or give them enough hay so that when you go to feed them again, they haven’t quite cleaned up what you had given them pre-viously. This means that they were able to “graze” all day or night just as their system is meant to. This practice can reduce many common vices like wood chewing, pawing and cribbing. In addition, horses are happier, healthier and more will-ing to work for you. An average ma-ture horse in light riding requires about 2% of it’s body weight per day in feed. On a 1000 lb horse that would equate to 20 lbs of some-thing per day. If you are feeding 5 pounds of grain, that would mean that a bare minimum of 15 pounds of hay should be supplied. If you feed less grain, more hay would be required. An average flake of grass weighs about 3 pounds, while an average flake of alfalfa weighs about 4 pounds. This means that somewhere around 4 to 5 flakes of hay per 1000 lbs should be fed
short in the calorie department. Your horses’ body condition will tell you this. The Economics of Forage Most importantly to some are the economics. Generally speaking, forage in the form of hay or pasture is much less expensive than grain. Even if you pay $5/bale for hay… where can you find a decent bag of grain for $5? So, by feeding good quality hay and plenty of it, you may be able to decrease your feed bill by only hav-ing to feed a concentrated amount of a diet balancer type product. Pound for pound, hay is usually your cheapest feed source and really is what horses are meant to eat! By: Kelly Ann Graber B.S., P.A.S. Equine Nutrition Consultant for Progressive Nutrition To request a seminar or simply ask a question contact Diane Logue at tizmarequine@hotmail.com
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Direct & Drive: An Invaluable Lesson By Cynthia McFarland with Chris Cox control of the head.” When you handle the lead rope, remember that the hand closest to the horse’s halter is your “direction” hand. This is the hand that signals the horse to follow that direction. Your “driving” hand is the hand closest to the tail end of the lead rope. You need to be effective using the lead rope in both hands. Practice feeding the lead rope through your hands and when you twirl the rope, always swing OVER not under. Again, make sure you have the disengaging lesson down solid on both sides before you move on to direct and drive. “I don’t use a round pen for these exercises because I think you can run a horse too much in a round pen, which gets him tired and is hard on his legs,” Chris points out. “Also, you don’t always have a
Take just one step towards the horse’s hip with your focus on his hip. Don’t look at the horse’s head or eye; keep your focus on his hip. As you do this raise your direction hand up in the direction you want the horse to go (left or right). The direction hand guides the horse in the proper direction, but doesn’t pull on his head. Start twirling the end of the lead rope with your driving hand until the horse moves forward between you and the fence. Don’t stop twirling until you get forward momentum from the horse. Accelerate the twirling until the horse responds. You may have to pop the horse on the hindquarters with the end of the rope at first to get him to drive forward. Once you have mastered “If you’ve done a lot of practice with disengaging the hindquarters, as we disengaging, you may have to be firm until the covered in our last training session, the next horse understands he is now supposed to step is teaching your horse to direct and drive. move forward,” notes Chris. “Be consistent This valuable lesson will help your horse with what you’re asking until the horse tries. If respect your space, lead better, trailer load, you’re inconsistent, you are lying to your and also relates directly to guiding your horse horse. Keep your feet still and only move them while riding. The halter and lead when you have to. Don’t rope are essentially serving the stop twirling the rope until same purpose that your bridle horse makes an effort forand reins do when you are ridward.” ing. As the horse drives forIf you take the time to ward past you, lead the really master disengaging the lead rope slide through hindquarters and the direct and your hand so you aren’t drive technique, you can pulling on his head with become very successful with your direction hand. If controlling your horse. horse drives past too As with the disengagquickly, don’t pull on his ing lesson, the only equipment head. Just disengage his needed is your halter and long hindquarters to slow him lead rope. Start the lesson in a and turn him back to face corral, arena or someplace you. Then drop both hands where you can use a fence as a to give the horse relief. Let guide. You will be driving the him “soak” and think about horse between you and the what he’s just done. Keep fence. your hands down when the “This is not longeing; horse is soaking and whenRemember that the hand on the lead rope closest to the horse’s halter is your you don’t want the horse to go all ever you are letting him “direction” hand, which signals the horse to follow that direction. Your “driving” around you in a circle,” explains relax. hand is the hand closest to the tail end of the lead rope. Chris Cox. “You want to drive the photo: Chris Cox Horsemanship Co. horse straight past you and then Step by Step disengage him by stepping You may find that older towards his hindquarters so he horses take more time to master direct and turns back and is facing you.” round pen, so if you know how to use your halWhen you disengage the horse’s ter and lead rope successfully, you can handle drive than young, green horses. Chris uses this technique with every horse, starting as hindquarters, you make him move his hind whatever comes along.” young as weanlings and yearlings. Direct and end. When you direct and drive, you cause the drive is a great exercise to keep horses of any horse to move forward by directing his Getting Started age soft and supple and responsive. hindquarters. It’s important to realize that this Stand about 10 feet from the fence to begin. is done without any pulling on his head. “Most people want to get in front of Holding the lead rope, stand two to three feet To direct and drive the horse to your left: the horse and pull, but that’s not what we’re from the horse, standing no further back than Take one step towards the horse’s hip, looking doing with direct and drive,” says Chris. “Your the point of the horse’s shoulder. Plant your at the hip, not at the horse’s head or eye! goal is to control the feet, not the head. If you feet with one foot forward for balance; don’t Pick up your left hand as your direction hand. Twirl your lead rope with your right hand. control the feet, you will automatically have stand with your feet together side by side.
February 09 Accelerate twirling until horse responds by moving forward. Quit twirling as soon as the horse goes forward. After horse drives forward past you, disengage his hindquarters so he’s facing you again. Drop both hands to let horse soak and relax a minute.
midwest horse digest Chris returned to the United States in 1986 to make a career of working with horses. Years of working horseback on the ranch near Queensland gave Chris a healthy respect for the horse’s ability and intelligence, and helped him develop his own methods of
individualized training. Active in the cutting horse world as both a trainer and competitor, Chris has trained a variety of breeds for different disciplines. He travels the United States, Canada, South America and Australia appearing at expos, conducting clinics and horsemanship demonstrations. His “Come Ride the Journey’ tour takes him to cities across the U.S. each year. Chris offers week-long intensive horsemanship clinics at his Diamond Double C Ranch in Mineral Wells, Texas.
To direct and drive the horse to your right: Take one step towards the horse’s hip, looking at the hip, not at the horse’s head or eye! Pick up your right hand as your direction hand. Twirl your lead rope with your left hand. Accelerate twirling until horse responds by moving forward. Quit twirling as soon as the horse goes forward. After horse drives forward past you, disengage his hindquarters so he’s facing you again. Drop both hands to let horse soak and relax a minute. Be consistent As the horse drives forward past you, lead the lead rope slide through your hand so you aren’t pulling on his head with your direction hand. and don’t lose your temper. If your horse comes photo: Chris Cox Horsemanship Company back too close to you, this is a sign of disrespect and pushiness, so drive him away from you. Always disengage before you change and ask horse to direct and drive in the other direction. As the horse catches on, narrow the space between you and the fence so you are driving the horse through a smaller space. This makes it more challenging for him. Add an Obstacle “Once your horse is soft and responding well to direct and drive, you can start doing it across an object,” notes Chris. “This will get him to start paying closer attention and placing his feet carefully. This is also a great introduction to trailer loading.” Start with a single pole or rail on the ground, with one end against the fence. Go through all the same steps as before. If the horse wants to stop before the log, don’t pull on his head. Let him look at the pole and if he wants to drop his head to see it better, that’s fine. Then ask him to drive forward again by picking up your direction hand, looking at his hip and twirling your lead rope again. Give the horse an opportunity to think and work his way through without overreacting. “Keep sending the horse over the obstacle until he is soft and relaxed,” adds Chris. “Always give the horse relief when he responds correctly by dropping your hands and letting him ‘soak’ for a minute. Relief is the greatest reward to the horse.” Up Close with Chris Cox Born in Florida and ranch-raised in Australia,
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In 2008, Western Horseman released Ride the Journey, by Chris Cox with Cynthia McFarland, a 225-page, full color book that details Chris’ practical methods and training techniques. Packed with stepby-step exercises and color photos, the book will help you improve your horsemanship skills, no matter what discipline or breed you ride. Visit www.chris-cox.com or call Chris Cox Horsemanship Company at 1-888-81-HORSE for information about the Ride the Journey book, upcoming course dates and appearances, equipment and training DVDs.
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February 09
Horse World Heroes
Don’t put a number on her ~ This is Chloe time for Chloe, but her competitive spirit and love of horses helped her pull through the treatment. The best trophy ever. Photo Credits: Chloe’s disease was Rick Ouellette trying to get the best of her. Chloe, however, does not like to lose. When she Chloe with her horse Cashyerchexatthebar, AKA Bailey was ready to receive another series of treatments, some of Statistics were not in her favor, but which would be very painful, her nurse offered trophy, if she could sixth grader Chloe Fruth has never been one to reward Chloe with a to worry about the odds. Regardless of the be brave throughout the challenges she’s faced, Chloe has kept a pro-cedures. She knew positive attitude and that, along with some Chloe wasn’t one to shy help from the ongoing work of Children’s away from a challenge Cancer Research Fund, has earned the 11- like that. “It’s one of the year-old two titles: world champion barrel racer hardest things I’ve ever worked towards,” Chloe and cancer survivor. said. That trophy kept It’s Leukemia. World champion is a far cry from her going. In fact, it and her life at age 4. Chloe was losing her spark strengthened and started becoming severely lethargic. She motivated her so much was continu-ously fighting high fevers and had that when Chloe comdark circles under her eyes. Her parents knew pleted treatment, she something was wrong, but were shocked decided to help other when they found out exactly how wrong. After children the way that being referred to a specialist by her nurse had helped her. pediatrician, Chloe was diagnosed with acute Chloe designed a “bravlymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in November of ery” trophy to help other 2000. And, to make matters worse, her ALL kids endure the same was complicated by a chromosomal challenges she did. She abnormality. Chloe immediately started even dedicated $2000 chemotherapy at a local children’s hospital — proceeds from a and underwent treatment from November fundraiser rodeo intended for 2000 through February 2003. It was a tough her benefit — to buy hundreds of trophies for other children.
Unfortunately, cancer wasn’t done with Chloe yet. At a barrel racing competition in August 2003, Chloe started to feel sick again. She had flu-like symptoms and could barely climb on to her horse. She felt dizzy and vomited, but she didn’t quit. In fact, when her mom suggested they skip the competition, Chloe replied, “Mom, I’ve done a lot harder things than this. I came to race and I want my points. ” After the competition, they went to the hospital and discovered that Chloe had relapsed. Chloe, once again, had to fight for her life. She received radiation treatments in September and November of 2003. While she was undergoing treatment, Chloe’s family heard about groundbreaking work performed at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center with the support of Children’s Cancer Research Fund. Chloe was referred to the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview and placed under the care of Dr. Margaret MacMillan.She received an umbilical cord blood transplant, a radical treatment being pioneered at the Cancer Center, and spent 67 days in the hospital recovering. In order to continue its pioneering efforts, the Cancer Center’s Stem Cell Biology Program relies on assistance from Children’s Cancer Research Fund. This support allows researchers to expand their umbilical cord blood studies and to continue further development of novel approaches for treating pediatric cancer patients like Chloe. Cancer isn’t a death sentence. It’s a life sentence. Throughout their time in the hospital, the Fruth family’s approach to cancer was: “We’re going to live life to the fullest, because you never know where you’ll be tomorrow. So they made sure that the days Chloe spent recovering from her surgery were as much fun as possible. Children’s Cancer Research Fund helped by providing a Care Partners Care Bag designed to make their hospital stay and treatment more bearable. It was one of the things that helped Chloe and her family keep their spirits up.
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Cancer isn’t a death sentence. It’s a life sentence. Throughout their time in the hospital, the Fruth family’s approach to cancer was: “We’re going to live life to the fullest, because you never know where you’ll be tomorrow. So they made sure that the days Chloe spent recovering from her surgery were as much fun as possible. Children’s Cancer Research Fund helped by providing a Care Partners Care Bag designed to make their hospital stay and treatment more bearable. It was one of the things that helped Chloe and her family keep their spirits up. The package included craft supplies that Chloe used to paint a huge yellow smiley face on her window that she could look at whenever she felt down. She even decorated her room with disco and pink flamingo lights and put up an Elvis dress-up doll that the doctors and nurses would re-dress each time they visited. Throughout her ordeal, she did everything she could to stay positive and make sure cancer didn’t get the best of her. Throughout it all, a love of horses kept her going. Every year there are far too many children and their families who, like Chloe and her family, are forced to face cancer. Every story is heart wrenching and each one is the story of a child fighting for a chance to be a child again. In Chloe’s case, she was hospitalized roughly 35 times for a total of approximately 125 days during three and a half years of treatment. But she was motivated to rise above the pain and mental anguish of cancer treatment because she always had hope for tomorrow, for another barrel race and for a day when she would be cancer free. This drive, along with the support of Children’s Cancer Research Fund and the incredible researchers and doctors at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center have helped Chloe become the healthy, happy 11year-old she is today. For most, that would be enough, but Chloe kept going and went on to defeat competitors nearly twice her age to become the 2006 American Quarter Horse Youth Association world champion in barrel racing. Thanks to the volunteers and donors of Children’s Cancer Research Fund,
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Chloe has become an inspiration to us all. Ride on, Chloe, ride on.
ing relating to the prevention, treatment and cure of childhood cancer. The organization also educates the public about childhood cancer and supports quality-of-life programs for pediatric cancer patients and their families.
Information on the Children’s Cancer Research Fund Children’s Cancer Research Fund is dedicated to finding a cure for childhood cancer by providing funds to the University of Minnesota for research and train-
7801 East Bush Lake Road, Suite 130, Minneapolis, MN 55439 PHONE 952-893-9355 TOLL FREE 888-422-7348 FAX 952-893-9366 To find out more or to make a contribution visit the Research Fund website at www. childrenscancer.org This article was reprinted with permission from Children’s Cancer Research Fund
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February 09
Want to Win:
Hunt Seat Pleasure by: Jennifer Lindgren ©2009
confused trying to place the class but a well educated Judge will be able to assess each horse individually and against its particular breed standards. Class Rules: “Horses should be obedient, alert, responsive, and move freely. Light contact with the horses mouth is required (USEF.org, Rule HU 128).” All Hunters must be ‘serviceably sound’ and display manners, performance, quality, and conformation, in keeping with the Hunter style. Some Breed organizations may stipulate more specific requirements in their class descriptions but USEF, as the governing body for Hunters, should be used as reference during All-breed competitions. All classes will require the walk, trot, canter, halt, and back. Upon halting, alll h o r s e s s h o u l d
corner of the ring where I can see most of the class. (A good Judge can hear and feel the horses moving behind them.) My notepad is divided into three sections; great / average / poor. Throughout the class, I make a note of any problems with manners or obedience. By the time I ask for the reverse, I have the class broken down into these sections. I continue to watch the entire class but I focus my eye on comparing the quality of movement between the top horses. Sometimes the top horses will commit a major fault (wrong lead, unruly behavior) and get dropped down in placing, allowing the average horses to move forward on the card. The first thing I notice is a horse’s frame or how he carries himself from his head to his hocks. A Hunter’s frame can vary depending upon the conformation, breed, size, and style of the horse. No matter the horse, the following rules do apply. The neck should move out comfortably from the shoulder, never dropping below the withers. The head should be carried in front of or at the ‘vertical’ and
I love to judge Hunt Seat pleasure at Open shows. Unlike western rail classes where everybody strives to replicate the slow moving, easy going stock type ideal, Hunter classes encourage diversity. Because of the flexibility in this division, different breeds of horses and riders at various skill levels are all able to compete in the same class. I recently judged a class that included a retired Thoroughbred race horse, several Quarter Horses, two hunter ponies, three Arabians, two Saddle-breds,two Warmbloods and a Draft cross. It was a beautiful display of athleticism and skill from horses ranging in height from 13 hands to 17 hands. While each breed displayed unique characteristics as a Hunter, the umbrella of class specifications that Judges A clean, polished appearance is a must in all use in Hunter pleasure, Hunter classes. Notice how the neck moves Hunter under Saddle, out straight from the shoulder and the head is slightly in front of the vertical on this AQHA and Hunter hack, allowed all these horses Hunter. The reins keep light contact with the bit. Photo: Carrie Huff. to be judged fairly, under the same stand quietly, on a standards, but as individuals. How you place in this class at an loosened rein. The extendHead and neck carriage will depend on both the horse’s Open show will depend upon both your horse’s ed trot and hand-gallop may body type and Breed. Here, Bomb Bey Indian (NSH and quality of movement and the Judge. also be called. Proper exten- Arabian) poses after winning an Open Hunter Class. His beautifully braided mane and tail perfects the ‘Hunter Depending upon their background and sions include both an increase Look’. Photo: Elizabeth DeSarle. in the length of stride and the training, your Judge will probably prefer one speed of the gait. I rarely ask for style of presentation over the others. Stock type Judges (quarter horse, color breed) prefer extensions in classes with young riders or in never fall behind the vertical. Horses that display either Western style or Saddle Seat the neck to reach straight out from the shoul- arenas with poor footing. How the Judge sees it: Because style carriage should be severely penalized. der and the movement to be long, smooth, and flat. Hunter/Jumper Judges prefer the neck to of the size of Hunter classes, most Judges The back should be supple and the hocks rise out of the shoulder with the horse looking develop a personal system to analyze the engaged. Next, I assess the quality of ahead. They expect the horse to show class efficiently and fairly. Here is some insight movement. Hunters should display an unhurimpulsion and drive. Society horse Judges into how I handle a large class. I watch every ried, smooth and balanced, ground covering (Arabians, Saddlebreds, NSH’s, and Morgans) horse come through the gate. If there are 25 stride. I like a lot of impulsion and drive from prefer their horse’s more ‘bridled’ with a horses in the class, I honestly only have a few the rear paired with a free, active shoulder. marked arch in the neck, and head only seconds to watch your entrance. Make it great! Excessive knee action or shoulder lift is slightly in front of the vertical. You might get After the gate is closed, I position myself in a penalized.
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Remember, the hand gallop, halt, and back can either make or break a winner. Don’t discount the importance of these. The hand gallop is neither a fast canter or a race. It is an extension of stride while maintaining cadence and collection. Finally, if a great horse won’t halt and stand quietly on the rail, then he isn’t suitable to be a Hunter and will drop down the card. When called to the line-up, we expect you to come in promptly and safely and for
Winter Regional Horse Owner Education Programs Research Based Information for Horse Owners The University of Minnesota Extension invites horse owners to attend three Winter Horse Owner Education Days! This beautifully presented team was easily noticed in a huge class. The horse stands quietly, while staying attentive to the rider (note the ears). Photo: Kryl Sadowski.
your horse to stand calmly. Catch the Judge’s Eye: Most Hunt Seat classes are large and everyone is dressed in a similar and very conservative outfit. Even great horses can get lost in the pack and fail to place. Make sure you get noticed coming in the gate – this first impression is crucial to getting on the card early. Look sharp and professional! Don’t rush the gate, leave enough room in front of you. The trot into the ring should be straight and strong, but not too fast. Travel from the in-gate to the rail at an angle to keep your horse balanced and moving. When exhibitors turn to the right after entering, their horse loses cadence and speed. Before the show, freshen up your jacket, iron the lapels and back. Clean your helmet. I always notice shiny boots and shiny bits. Invest the time in braiding the mane and the tail. It presents a finished, polished look and always gets noticed. Major Faults/Deductions to Avoid: Illegal equipment. Poor quality movement. Short-choppy stride. Wrong leads. Bad manners, unresponsive, unruly behavior. Head behind vertical. Low head and neck. Speed too fast or too slow. Consistently off rail. Inconsistent gaits. Sloppy appearance of rider. Poor ringsmanship.
Good Luck & Ride Safe Jennifer Lindgren has been an All-Breed Judge since 1985. She is an experienced competitor who has earned Regional and national awards in Halter, Western Equitation and Hunter. She loves all breeds of hroses and keeps her private collection in Grant Park, Il. Contact: jenlind22@msn.com Copyright 2009 by Jennifer Lindgren
River Falls, WI February 21, 2009
UW-River Falls Agriculture Building 410 South 3rd Street Optimizing Your Hay Supply • Improving Your Existing Facility • Lameness in the Performance Horse • Pasture Management • Hoof Care Roundtable • So You Have a Horse...Now What? • Equine Behavior • Metabolic Myths • Equine Nutrition • Rehabilitation and Complimentary Therapies • Preventative Medicine • Western Saddle Fitting Registration deadline: Wednesday, February 18th
In Cooperation with Univ. of WI Extension & UW-River Falls
Thumper Pond Resort Ottertail, MN 300 Thumper Lodge Rd March 14, 2009 Winter Care • Research Updates • First Aid and Wound Management • Manure Management and Composting • Humane Options for Unwanted Horses Roundtable • Equine Genetic Disorders • Poisonous Plants • Ask the Veterinarian Roundtable • Equine Behavior • Equine Law • Nutrition Roundtable • Elderly Horse Care Registration deadline is Wednesday, March 11th
Each program offers researched based information and knowledgeable speakers, identified specifically for that region by a committee of local horse experts and enthusiasts. Speakers for these programs include University of Minnesota and Wisconsin faculty and staff as well as local veterinarians and horse professionals. $35 Registration Fee includes Program Proceedings & Lunch
Registration Form REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED Attendance is limited Name_______________________ Email________________________ Phone_______________________ Address______________________ _____________________________ City _________________________ State/ZIP_____________________ County______________________ Check Location(s) You Are Attending: River Falls, WI (February 21st) Fergus Falls (March 14th)
Secure Online Registration and Program Agendas Available at: www.extension.umn.edu/horse
Please include payment ($35/person/ location), made payable to the University of Minnesota, and return to: Registration Coordinator University of Contact 800-876-8636 with online registration Minnesota 405 Coffey Hall St. Paul MN questions or Krishona at 612-625-6776 with additional questions. In case of cancellation due 55108 to inclement weather, an e-mail will be sent to Secure Online Registration and all participants. Programs are recommended for Program Agendas Available at: ages 13 and up, but are open to everyone. www.extension.umn.edu/horse
The University of Minnesota Extension Service is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Educator. For Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations, please call 1-800-876-8636.
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February 09
A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO SELF-HEALING by Karen Brown M a n y t e c h niques initially developed for humans eventually find their way into veterinary medicine. Among the modalities that have been adapted to the animal world is osteopathy. It was originally developed over 100 years ago as a means to detect and heal disease in the human body. The premise of osteopathy is that a living body is an interrelated entity with an inborn ability to maintain or return to optimum health provided that the structure, or musculo-skeletal system, is functioning within the boundaries of its natural balance. Olympic dressage riders and world champion cutters, ropers, and barrel racers are only a small segment of horsepeople who use osteopathy as a means to keep their horses in top physical condition. Indeed, these trainers and riders readily admit that regular osteopathic treatment has kept their horses winning at the top competitions in their sports. These horses are also competing longer and more frequently than their same-age counterparts. When would a horse owner want to obtain the services of an osteopath? In fact, there are hundreds of symptoms that might indicate the need for an osteopath. Lameness of all kinds is only one category of symptoms that may be addressed. Given the interconnection between the musculo-skeletal system and the rest of the body, it is quite common to have a lameness issue that is caused by a problem somewhere else in the body. Any type of persistent resistance or unwillingness to flex or bend is a sign that the horse could have a structural blockage. For example, a horse with a heavy parasite load will have a group of blocked vertebra in the thoracic spine. Another horse with an infection in any organ in the pelvic room will have a different group of blocked vertebra, this time in the lumbar spine. Horses with these kinds of visceral disorders will have difficulty moving freely, even when the disorder may not yet be detectable by clinical testing. Visceral disorders first must be treated by a veterinarian; once they have been resolved the osteopath would manipulate any remaining structural or visceral imbalances. The horse would then regain ultimate freedom of movement. How about the horse that has a stiff
shoulder? No amount of shoulder-ins or leg yields has made any improvement. Physical examinations have elicited no cause for the horse to be limited. Months of training have achieved little or no improvement in the shoulder. Perhaps there is a restriction in the movement of the scapula, one or more ribs, or in the withers. The restriction could actually be coming from the back end of the horse. Because of the neurological connections coursing through the body, the probability of a sacrum problem is very strong. What about the horse that can’t keep his weight over his pivot leg in a spin or cross-fires in the lope? This, too, could be from blockages in the sacrum, pelvis, or stifles. These types of imbalances are seldom revealed in a standard lameness test and, generally, the horse manages to do his job. The osteopath can often remedy these types of issues immediately and with lasting results. Do you know of a horse that spooks “for no reason”? It’s possible that his eyesight is unclear from vertebral blockages in the wither area. One of the nerves that runs between these vertebrae is the oculomotor nerve which provides information to the eyes. If that nerve is pinched, its impulses will be distorted and the brain will not be able to properly decode what the eye is seeing. Have you ever had a horse that wouldn’t let you touch his ears? Or tried to kick every time you brush his flanks? Many horses stick their tongues out of the mouth or move it over the top of the bit. These types of behaviors are always attributed to a bad attitude, yet all of these kinds of symptoms point to neurological disturbances caused by imbalances in the musculo-skeletal system. Virtually any discrepancy from normal function can be assessed in an osteopathic examination. The first rule of observation is that “Everything means something.” Practically every horse owner has noticed an oddity about their horse’s body or behavior; yet no one seems to know what or why the condition exists. This is where the expertise of an osteopath is essential. Specialized knowledge of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) provides the physiological data he needs to connect those strange body symptoms or behaviors to the other body parts that are actually in distress and are the sources of those “symptoms”. When the body is viewed as an independent collection of parts, however, these types of symptoms are ignored and thus, valuable clues to the source of disease are overlooked.
These practitioners study the same science taught in veterinary school; however, they extend their education to include intensive scrutiny of the ANS. The ANS is the internet of the body. Through its channels, the body communicates between body parts and these parts react together when something is wrong. Osteopaths are taught to follow the trail from surface symptoms to the source of the problem. That source can be a long way from the obvious symptom and without focusing on the systemic-wide functions of the ANS the two would never be considered as part of the same problem. Veterinarians who currently practice osteopathy have found that it expands the knowledge gained in university and from there, they develop an integrated approach to their practice combining osteopathic principles with standard medical protocol. Osteopathy is a modality that, once learned, becomes an integral part of the vet’s protocol. It’s NOT an alternative medicine; it becomes another tool of the trade on a par with drugs, surgery, and clinical diagnostics. It takes years of training to become competent in osteopathy. Excellent palpation skills, specialist-level knowledge in anatomy, biomechanics, and physiology, and training in manipulation techniques are only part of a comprehensive education. The equine osteopath should either be a licensed veterinarian or be working within the scope of each state’s veterinary practice laws. Anyone without proper schooling, certification, or insurance should not be allowed to work on your horse. If you would like to learn more about osteopathy or would like to locate an osteopath in your area call The Vluggen Institute of Equine Osteopathy at 512-448-3152 or go to www.vluggeninstitute.com.
Karen Brown is a freelance writer on all topics equine as well as a horse trainer and boarding facility owner in Bandera, TX. Her articles have been published in national and regional magazines over the past 11 years. Karen trains all breeds of horses, restarts problem horses, and provides instruction in natural horsemanship through lessons and group clinics. She may be reached at solitaireranch@indian-creek.net or 830-796-4764. Copyright, 2008. Karen L. Brown
February 09
midwest horse digest I can’t tell you how something as simple and cost effective to produce as a flyer can be in marketing you business. With horse expos and used tack sales coming up in most states now is the time to make a flier and put them up at these upcoming events. Other than the cost of making copies of the flyer, the rest is free. If the venue has a place for setting out fliers like tables, countertops, then do a single sheet flyer. If not, you’ll have to post your flyers and will have do one with vertical pull tabs that have the name of your business and phone number listed on them. When posting flyers make sure they are secure attached to the wall (duct tape works best) so they don’t come lose when people remove the pull-tabs. Make sure that the name of your business and other important information is large enough to see from distance. The best place to post flyers is in high traffic areas- like entryways to arenas, and near bathrooms and vender areas. Last, but not least, is getting your name out on t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hats, as well as
Marketing Your Business BY Laurie A. Cerny Marketing Your Business is the first of the “Ten Commandments of Marketing & Promoting A Horse Business” outlined in my book, Horsin’ Around The USA Guide to Marketing & Promoting Your Horse Business”.
In my opinion this is the most important of the ten commandments I’ve outlined, but one that when the economy gets bad horse business owners tend to cut back on. One of the reasons is that marketing is often equated to advertising and adverting means spending money. Although marketing does and should include an advertising budget, there is a lot more a marketing plan can include. And these things cost little or nothing. The first layer of any good marketing plan lies in having the basic tools that any business should have. Having a good business card, which I discussed in an earlier column, is one of the most cost effective marketing tools you can have. Again, get one done at a printer or through a mail order companies like Colorful Images or Current. For less than $25 you can have a medium that tells the public, and potential customers who and what you are. However, business cards aren’t any good if they’re tucked away in your wallet or setting on your desk at home. Get them out there. That’s why you have one. Tack four or five up on the bulletin board at your local feed store, tack shop, veterinarian office, boarding stable and other equine businesses. Don’t forget about other businesses in town where potential customers patronize including restaurants, grocery stores, and auto dealership service departments, etc. Posting cards on their bulletin boards is free and helps to get the word out. Having good and effective signage is another effective marketing tool. This means a professional looking sign at the road front if you are running a horse operation, and for tack shops and feed stores. Putting signage on your vehicle is another great way to market your business; it’s like a mobile billboard. If you don’t want to have the name of your business on your vehicle permanently, consider magnetic signs. Front license plates (if you live in a state that only requires a rear plate) and/or license plate holders with the name of your business is another way to market your business. A good brochure is another essential marketing tool – especially for horse business services like boarding, training, and breeding operations. Although you can easily do a brochure from your home computer, have it copied on a better stock paper at a copy shop. It should cost less than 20 cents for a double-sided sheet, which you can then bi-fold or tri-fold yourself (depending if you designed a two-panel brochure, or a three panel layout). Color copies will cost more. In addition, if you are selling items to the public as in selling horses, stallion services, tack and feed, a web site is another effective tool in any marketing plan. Webs sites range from economical pages that are made available by some of the popular search engines like Google and Yahoo, to custom websites created by a professional web designer.
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on pencils, pens, and even a good ole’ bumper sticker. Companies that specialize in promotional items now offer low runs on promotional items with reasonable prices for art set up. I have found companies that will do a single shirt, if that’s all you need. Finding a local seamstress, who can embroider can be a very reasonable means to getting custom clothing items. You buy the shirts, hats, etc. (hopefully when your favorite retailer is having a sale) and just pay for the embroidery. I have been able to get shirts and 15 words embroidered on them for as little as $15 a piece. Laurie A. Cerny is the author of Horsin’Around The USA Guide To Marketing & Promoting Your Horse Business. Her equine marketing advice has been featured on Stable Scoop.. She has over 20 years experience in the horse industry as a journalist and communication professional and is a member of American Horse Publications, AQHA, and Michigan Horse Council. Horsin’ Around the USA Guide To Marketing & Promoting Your Horse Business can be ordered for $12.95 (plus $2.00 for S/H). Mail check or money order for $14.95 to One Horse Press at 70883 39th St., Paw Paw, MI 49079.
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by Dennis Auslam Our January article talked about how to start building respect on the ground with some basic exercises that included lungeing, the whoa, turning and keeping the horse out of our space. When you have practiced, gotten the horses attention, have him lungeing nicely and turning nicely on his hindend, he is stopping cleanly and backing with you, staying out of your space and is responding well, you are ready to move into the next step of getting control of the horses feet and softening him. What is softening and what does it accomplish for both you, the rider and for the horse? All the exercises we are doing will help you understand the mechanics of the horse, and in the saddle it helps the horse
midwest horse digest
February 09
~ Softening ~ Building the Foundation That Will Keep You Safe become more supple and listen to pressure. One of the things you always want to make sure of when you are working with your horse is that there is always something in it for him, whether he is in the halter or the bridle. That something is the release of pressure. If you have not learned correct timing in asking and releasing you are going to build resistance in your horse. These exercises, on the ground, will help you learn correct cues and correct timing in asking and releasing while they are teaching your horse what you are asking for and that you expect him to respond. Respect is what will transpire. Your horse will love you for it! With the exercise that we are going to move him into we can actually soften the horse up for the bridle. My goal is to be able to put the horses feet exactly were I want them. So lets go to work on softening! I like to use a bunch of barrels, laid out randomly in my arena, but in a group with just enought space so you can manuever the horse in and out of them. You can use other objects but I find barrels work really well. I use plastic barrels . The goal is to move him, on a line, around and through the barrels and not have him bumping them or jumping over them. Start out putting him to work by lungeing him. Move him into the barrels, guiding him with your line and your tap stick, moving him in and out and around the barrels. You may find you have to tug a bit on the line to get him to move were you want him to go, or tapping him, and he may get perturbed a bit also, so stay sharp and pay attention. He will, in the beginning bang himself or try to jump over, correct him with a tug on the line and work at getting him to move exactly where you want him to go. We want him to pay attention to were he is placing his feet.This exercise works really well to get the horse off the forehand and lighten him up and it takes a lot of the question out of the horses mind as to what you want. With this exercise you are getting your horse supple both laterally and veritcally, in the halter and the body, and teaching him to respond and respect your requests. He is learning to follow his bottom jaw. As an example, if you are asking him to move around
a barrel to the left you are going to tip his nose in with the line, maybe tap him to encourage forward movement if he needs encouragement. What happens when you do this is that the shoulders, ribcage and hip will follow. Using the barrels in this manner takes the question out of what you are asking for. He has to make a decision to do what you ask or he will bang into or jump the barrel. It quickly dawns on him that it is easier and less painful to move exactly where you are asking him to move. Every excercise you do with your horse increases his knowledge and your knowledge, and increases his respect for you. As you practice and perfect these exercises, perfecting your timing, you build a relationship with your horse and get another step closer to having the horse you want and deserve. You also make your horse happier because he knows that he has a leader, and that is what every horse desires. It is an instinct that is built into the horse. So keep practicing! We invite you to visit our website, we always have an upcoming clinic that can help you perfect your horsemanship skills. This spring we are having a Confidence and Self Defense on the Trail clinic where Mary Hamilton and I will be working together. For more info keep checking the website: www.redwoodstables.com God Bless and have a safe 2009! Dennis Auslam is the owner/operator of Redwood Stables in Morton, MN. He trains both horse and rider through lessons and clinics and runs a regular schedule of clinics in Confidence Building, Horsemanship and Cattle Work and has recently added a Challenge Trail Course to his facility. He is scheduled to be a clinician a number of Horse Fairs and Expos around the country in 2009, hosts clinics at his facility and also does outside clincs. If you are interested in hosting a clinic please contact us. I you are interested in attending a clinic you can check out our clinic schedule on the website. You can set up a clinic at your facility with Dennis by contacting him at 507-430-0342 or email him at redwoodstables@redred.com. We invite you to visit the website at www.redwoodstables.com for more information.
February 09
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feet to disengage. Disengagement means the crossing of his hind legs. This takes away the power of his hindquarters to propel him forward. Having reliable tools to use when the unexpected happens can be invaluable to your safety.These three techniques can bring you safely back into control. Practice them in a safe place until the technique becomes second nature for both you and your horse.
Mary Hamilton answers your training questions! Ask Mary: How do you stop a horse that spooks and takes off with you? Have you ever had the frightening out-of–control experience of riding a horse that won’t stop? Maybe you have a horse that tends to rush and you constantly try to slow him down. Or, your horse trots out on the trail ride when you want him to walk. Maybe your horse spooks when he is frightened and takes off running. Before I ever get on a horse, I check to sure, my brakes are working. I wouldn’t drive a car that didn’t have brakes. That wouldn’t be safe. Neither is riding a horse that won’t stop for you. Here are some helpful techniques to slow your horse down and get control of his speed. Ask most people how to whoa or stop their horse and they will answer, “pull back on both reins”. This type of hand brake works on a horse with a good foundation (education) in a calm environment. However, horses that are frightened or difficult to slow or stop, often will hang on the bit and actually brace against the riders hand. The harder you pull back on the reins, the more they lean and brace against you. It becomes a tug of war. The more you pull the more they resist. In these situations, you need a different tool or technique to stop or slow your horse. Circling is a good technique to use with a horse that rushes or goes faster than you want him to. When your horse speeds up, ride him in a small circle. You can do this out on the trail or in the arena. Once he gets chugging along too fast, ride a small circle until he relaxes and is going at the rate of speed you desire. The size of your circle depends on the gait you are in. Slower gaits like walk and trot you can use a 10 or 15-meter circle. Loping circles need to be larger. It’s harder for your horse to rush in a smaller figure. He has to work harder to stay balanced and keep his feet underneath him. Reward him when he is going the speed you want by allowing him to go straight again. This technique is more effective than constantly pulling on your reins to slow your horse down. Any time you can incorporate bending your horse, like riding a serpentine, (bending one way to go around a cone then changing the bend to go around the next cone) it helps you gain control of your horse. Get them bending and flexing rather than lifting their head, stiffening and rushing. Pulley Rein is an emergency stopping technique. This is very helpful when a horse gets strong in the canter and takes off with its rider. Remember to sit up tall in order to be strongest and most successful. Shorten one rein as taut as you can. Press the knuckle of this hand into the horse’s withers or top of the neck. Slide your other hand down the
opposite rein as far as you can. Pull straight back with this hand as you keep your knuckles of the other hand braced against the horse. Use a series of strong pulls to bring your horse back into control. One Rein-Stop is another useful technique to gain control of your horse. It can be used to stop a horse from bucking or running through a riders hands (not listening to rein cues).It can be used to make a horse stand and to stop a panicking horse. I visualize my horse bending to a stop with the one-rein technique. Use one rein, either left or right will work. Take the slack out of the rein and pull it back toward your hip. When the horse gives to that pressure and bends his neck so his nose comes toward your boot, release the pull. This bending of his neck and body causes his hind
Mary is a Mounted Police instructor and a fully insured ARICP riding instructor. She devotes her creative energy to developing customized training programs to improve show ring perfomance, mount obedience and despooking trail horses utilizing training methods used in training police horses. Visit her website at www.riderselite.com or email your questions to Mary at:mary@riderselite.com
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February 09
The Back-Up by Craig Cameron
Backing is not a natural gait to the horse. It’s not something he’d normally do out on the range or in a pasture. It’s a maneuver you have to teach your horse. Having a good “back-up” shows you have a lot of control over your horse. In backing, correctly, a horse learns to use his hindquarters, and that’s where great performance horses work from. So it’s a maneuver worth developing well. A two-beat gait The back-up is a two-beat diagonal gait, like the trot, of the quarter horse, only backward. Beat One: As your horse backs, he picks up the right front foot, and the left rear at the same time. Beat Two: Then he picks up the left front foot and the right rear at the same time. This makes the diagonal two-beat backup gate. Any other pattern of this footfall isn’t a true or correct back. When you see a horse dragging his feet back in any other sequence, he’s resisting the back-up and not performing properly. Developing a good back-up Develop the back-up one step at a time. The mistake most people make is that they want to pull a horse backward. Don’t pull…guide, signal or cue with a pressure release system! What is the horse looking for in almost everything we do with him? It is the release from pressure. It’s the release, relief, relaxation and reward he gets from following cues correctly. That’s the horse’s incentive to perform or do the things we ask of him. So each time the horse steps backward from your cues, offer him a quick release. The correct position for the horse to back is to break at the poll, lift his shoulders and round his spine. In other words, to collect. Almost every mammal has seven vertebrae in his neck. The first two, the atlas and axis is the poll area and this is where you want your horse to give or “break” at the poll. When he
“breaks” at the poll, it elevates his shoulders and back and places more weight on his hindquarters, which makes it easier for the horse to back. If you pull or tug your horse back, his head will come up, his shoulders will go down and that puts more weight on the front end. Now it’s tougher for the horse to back. When you teach your horse to back, exaggerate your cues at first. Hold the reins low with slight pressure, say “back” and if the horse is picking up the right front foot, pick up your right rein. The next foot to move is the left front. Pick up your left rein as the left front leaves the ground. This is all part of your timing. You can get in rhythm with his feet— with a right, left, right, left pressure release rhythm. Again, work one rein at the time and use your legs, as well. Use your feet with your hands. For example, when the horse’s right front foot comes off the ground, lift your right rein and bump your right foot on his right shoulder. With practice, the timing of your cues will be in rhythm with your horse’s feet. Guiding Backward You can guide your horse straight back or to the right or left. The easiest way to straighten the horse while backing is to position your horse’s shoulders in the same direction. In other words, if you want to back straight and your horse’s hindquarters drift to the left, move his shoulders to the left and that will straighten him out. If he veers his hindquarters to the right, move his shoulders to the right and he will line out. The flexibility exercises help you to achieve straightness. Remember, straightness is crucial to good horsemanship. And, amazingly, the way you get straightness is through flexibility. You’ll find that every one of these basics feeds right into another one. One is an extension of the other. You won’t get one without the other. What’s a stop? On a finished horse, it is an extension of the run. What is a back-up? It’s an extension of the stop. Good basic fundamentals, as always, are the key. One mistake to avoid: Don’t back your horse until he quits. If you feel your horse getting nervous, tight, or tense and maybe a little sticky with his legs, or his head comes up, quit before the horse quits. If you back your horse till he quits, what did you teach the horse? You’ve taught him to quit. So stop asking for the back when you feel the horse bogging down. To get your horse ready to back again, drive him forward. Loosen him up. Maybe even ride a circle. Then stop and ask him to back again.
That’s all part of learning to read and out-think your horse. Another exercise to further this maneuver is to be able to back a circle. When you can back a circle you’ll have complete control over your horse’s head, neck, shoulders and rib cage and hindquarters down to the feet. Weaving Backward Through the Cones Weaving backward through the cones is a good exercise to sharpen your horse’s back-up. With control over your horse’s hindquarters, you can actually guide your horse with your legs, and position his head, neck and shoulders to weave through the cones backward. Start on the outside of a circle with cones to your left. Actually turn around and look where you’re going. First, engage your horse backward. Pick up the reins and establish control. If you want to move your horse’s hindquarters to turn to the left between the cones, pick up your reins and move your horse’s head, neck, and shoulders to the right, and the same time using your right leg to push the hindquarters to the left, through the cones. Use a left and right rein action in rhythm with your horse’s feet to keep your horse stepping back. Now, your horse needs to turn his hindquarters right between the next cones. Pick up your reins and move his head, neck, and shoulder to the left, which automatically shifts his hindquarters to the right. Release your right leg and use your left leg to help push his hindquarters over to the right. This is all a give-and-take motion, where you find a rhythm. If, at any time, you feel your horse getting the least bit sticky, release and drive him forward. Then, start again. In the beginning, you might not get all the way around the cones, but just begin somewhere. Before you know it, you’ll have a really fluid back. Sometimes backing requires a little bit of a waiting game, especially in the beginning. Allow your horse to follow a feel. When you get one step back, make sure you release. Build off that one step. Notice when your horse tries and reward that try. It’s not the pull, but the release the horse looks for. Pretty soon, it’s two steps, three steps and then more. A horse that backs well can back almost as fast as he can trot, because it’s the same gait, but backward. Better backing makes for a better horse! Good Luck & Ride Smart Craig Cameron Get Graig’s book and DVD’s www.CraigCameron.com
at
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midwest horse digest attitude changes, decreased performance, poor body condition, rough hair coat, weight loss and colic.
Why Horses Get Gastric Ulcers Horses have evolved to eat many small meals per day, almost on a continual basis. Even though the horse’s stomach is only 8 percent of digestive tract (eight quarts or two gallons), the emptying time of the stomach can be a mere twelve minutes and the rate of passage through the small intestine one foot per minute. The small volume of the stomach and the rapid passage of food to the small intestine is the reason that horses can and are designed to eat almost continuously. Gastric pH can drop lower than 2 soon after a horse stops consuming food and the stomach will continue to produce strong acid even if food is not present. Concentrate feeding can inadvertently contribute to ulcer formation by its influence on increasing serum gastric levels, lowering the horse’s roughage intake and reducing the amount of time spent eating. Imposed feed deprivation, such as in colic management cases, can result in erosion and ulceration of the gastric mucosa as well. In the case of racehorses, they are often not fed immediately prior to training or racing. This could result in a significant increase in stomach acidity. Also, horses can become excited during training and racing, further lowering gastric pH. These influences contribute to gastric ulceration Studies show that the greater the degree of training activity, the increasing severity of g a s t r i c lesions. Further, lesions were induced and maintained in thoroughbred horses during simulated training, using a diet of coastal Bermuda and concentrate. Although Dr. N. J. Vatistas stopped short of recommending all racehorses in training receive gastric ulcer treatment, he did indicate that “The truth may not be far from that”. Adult horses with ulcers exhibit a combination of poor appetite, dullness, By Dr. Richard Shakalis
Ulcer Formation Mechanism Gastric ulceration in horses results from an imbalance between offensive factors, e.g. acid and pepsin, and defensive factors such as mucus, bicarbonate, prostaglandins, mucosal blood flow and epithelial restitution. Most of these ulcers occur in the fundic portion of the stomach, which has a phospholipid rich, protective epithelial layer. Disruption of this barrier (mucous, surface-active phospholipids) is initial to the destruction of the stomach’s surface epithelium. Because most domesticated horses do not feed constantly like nature designed them to, excess acid can ulcerate this protective layer. Unless the mucous lining is strong enough to withstand the powerful acids produced here, ulcers often develop.
Management of Equine Gastric Ulcers Various therapeutic protocols have been suggested for the control of equine gastric ulcers. These include antacids, (think of products such Tums and Rolaids) and H2 acidblockers such as the pharmaceutical products Pepsid and Prilosec. These treatments will reduce acid in the fundic portion of the stomach and will reduce the occurrence of ulcers, but there may be unintended negative consequences from these treatments. Stomach acid is an extremely important component of the initial stage of the digestive process. If in this initial stage of digestion there is not adequate acid present to break down food, it will pass into the small intestine only partially digested. The nutrients won’t be in a form that can be absorbed in the small intestine and the horse will not be adequately nourished. There is a better way to protect the horse from and treat gastric ulcers. When the horse is given lecithin as a nutritional supple-
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ment to his normal diet, the acid in the fundic portion of the stomach immediately breaks it down into a mix of reactive phospholipids. The phospholipids in lecithin are both hydrophilic and hydrophobic and interact with the cell membranes of the mucosal epithelium to strengthen the mucosa. Research has shown that lecithin not only treats the symptoms of equine ulcers, it cures the ulcers as well by making the stomach lining stronger at the cellular membrane level. The beneficial effects of a diet supplemented with lecithin also enhances the rest of the digestive tract as well. There has been much research to substantiate this. They also observed horses fed lecithin had reduced levels of excitability and anxiety that was attributed to the healing of gastric ulcers.
Summary A well studied health condition in horses is gastric ulcers. The presence of these ulcers is associated with poor condition, irritability and poor performance. Treatment options such as reducing stomach acid production is expensive and can disrupt the normal digestive process by not allowing the food to begin its initial breakdown as nature intended. A less expensive and more effective treatment is to give horses a nutritional supplement of lecithin. It strengthens the epithelial lining of the stomach treating and preventing gastric ulcers and allow for the proper absorption of nutrients in the small intestine. Lecithin has proven a valuable natural supplement for horses to treat and prevent gastric ulcers. Lecithin granules can be added quickly and easily to a horse’s daily feed ration or to almost any homemade horse treat recipe. Horse treats containing lecithin given between feedings and after training can help protect the stomach from the damaging affects of excess acid which is a natural occurrence in horses. Special thanks to the contributions of Dr. Craig Russett, Ph.D in Animal Nutrition. References: Geor.R.j. and Papich (1990). Medical therapy for gastrointestinal ulceration in foals. Comp. Cont. Edu. Pract. Vet. 12:403-412. Ghyczy,M., E. Hoff; J. Garzib (1996). Gastric mucosa protection by phosphatidylcholine (PC) Presented at: The 7th International Congress on Phospholipids, Brussels, Belgium. Jones, W.E. (1999). Equine gastric ulcer syndrome. J. Equine Vet. Sci. 19:296-306. Murray, M.J.; C.M. Murray, H.J. Sweeney, J. Weld, N.J. Digby Wingfield and S.J Stoneham (1996). The prevalence of gastric ulcers in foals in Ireland and England: An edoscopic survey. Equine Vet. J. 28(5):368-374. Russett, J.C. (1997). Lecithin applications in animal feeds. Specialty Products Research Notes. LEC-D-56. Traub, J.L.; A.M. Gallina, B.D. Grant, S.M. Reed, P.R. Gavin and L.M. Paulsen (1983). Phenylututazone toxicosis in the foal. Am. J. Vet. Res. 44:1410-1418. Vatitstas, N.J.; Snyder, G. Carlson, B. Johnson, R.M. Arthur, Thurmond, and K.C.K. Lloyd (1994). Epidemiological study of gastric ulceration in the Thoroughbred racehorse: 202 horses 1992-1993. 40th AAEP Convention Proceedings. pp 125-126. Wright, B. (1999). Equine digestive tract structure and function. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture.
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What Stables and Owners Should Know About Resolving Past-Due Board Problems by Julie I. Fershtman, Attorney at Law
With the weak economy, record foreclosures, and high unemployment, businesses are feeling the pinch. Many have closed for good. Boarding stables, in greater numbers than ever, are encountering problems of unpaid boarding fees. In their attempts to address the problem, boarding stables and horse owners should be mindful of how the law can affect their rights. The Boarder’s Options If you have fallen behind on your board payments, it may be time to take a serious look at whether you truly can afford horse ownership. The boarding stable, after all, is just one of the many businesses seeking payment for your horse’s upkeep. Numerous other expenses are certain to follow, including veterinary bills, farrier bills, and equipment costs. And regardless of how hard you try to budget these expenses, unplanned expenses can crop up such as a sudden health problem or injury requiring emergency veterinary care. For those who believe they can still afford to keep their horses and want to reduce their debt to the stable, here are a few options: Try to negotiate a payment schedule with the boarding stable. Maybe the stable owner will give you a few extra months to pay off your past-due board bills. When a stable allows these arrangements, particularly if the stable will waive interest and late payment fees that the boarding contract otherwise allows it to charge, the boarder should get this in writing. Show good faith. Boarders who make no payment to the stable are almost certain to prompt the stable to seek drastic legal action (discussed below). By comparison, boarders who try to make a stream of payments to the stable demonstrate their sincerity in paying off the debt. This might encourage the stable owner to be patient with you and allow you time.
Consider alternative arrangements. Some stables allow boarders to work off some or all of their board fees by doing chores such as cleaning stalls. (Stables should consider very carefully whether to enter into these arrangements and would be wise to consult with their attorneys to make sure the arrangement is properly documented and their insurers to determine whether they are properly covered with liability insurance or worker’s compensation insurance.) Other stables, with the boarder’s consent, sometimes utilize the boarder’s horse in their riding lesson program to offset board fees. (Boarders should consider this arrangement very carefully and should make sure they are properly covered by sufficient liability insurance to protect against possible risks.) Options For The Stable When dealing with non-paying boarders, stables have several options to consider. The more drastic options allowed by law include the following:
www.equinelaw..net
than allow the debt to get larger by the month. That way, the stable can cut its losses and can retain the option to sue the boarder later to collect the unpaid sum. Stables that seek to remove non-paying boarders should consider checking with legal counsel first; parting with the boarded horse could, under some state laws, make it difficult or even impossible for the stable to enforce its rights under the state’s stablemen’s lien law. Conclusion Stables can potentially take drastic legal action against their non-paying boarders. But stables are also known to consider creative ways to allow cash-strapped boarders to remain as clients. When the stable and boarder try to resolve the problem, both would be wise to make sure not only that their arrangements take into account the applicable law but also to put their arrangements in writing. {italic text} This article does not constitute legal advice. When questions arise based on specific situations, direct them to a knowledgeable attorney.
Sue the boarder for collection. The stable can sue the boarder to collect the unpaid boarding fees. Depending on the terms of the boarding contract and the applicable state’s law, the stable might also be entitled to recover interest, attorney fees, and court costs from the boarder. And if the stable wins a judgment, it might be permitted to enforce the judgment by eventually selling off the boarded horse. Sales of this type, sometimes referred to as “judgment creditor sales,” should be done only under guidelines, procedures, and conditions that are allowed by the applicable state law.
Julie Fershtman, a lawyer for over 22 years, is one of the nation’s most experienced Equine Law practitioners who has achieved numerous courtroom victories and drafted hundreds of contracts. She has also spoken at equine industry conventions and conferences in 24 states.
Pursue a stablemen’s lien sale. As my past articles have explained, most states have laws on the books that are designed to allow stables to hold stablemen’s lien foreclosure sales when the boarder falls behind on payments. The stable’s rights in this situation, however, will vary greatly depending on the state law. Because of this, stables are strongly cautioned to follow the applicable stablemen’s lien law to the letter and to consult with a knowledgeable lawyer before attempting to sell off a boarded horse.
Julie Fershtman’s books, MORE Equine Law & Horse Sense and Equine Law & Horse Sense, can help people avoid disputes. The books are easy to read and are required reading at several equine studies programs. Order both for $42.90, first-class shipping included. For more information, or to order, contact Horses & The Law Publishing at 866-5-EQUINE. Or, send check or money order to Horses & The Law Publishing, P.O. Box 250696, Franklin, MI 48025-0696.
Ask the boarder to leave. Clearly, boarding stables need paying customers to stay in business . Some stables would rather ask their non-paying boarders to leave rather
(C) 2008, Julie I. Fershtman. reserved.
About the Author
For more information, visit www.equinelaw.net and www.equinelaw.info.
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111 Congress Faces New Issues and Old th
The 111th Congress has convened and the Democrats have picked up seats in both the House and Senate. The country also has a new President, Barack Obama, who will take office on January 20. President Obama will have to deal with some of the most difficult issues a new President has faced in modern times. Many are wondering what these changes will mean for the horse industry. “For the most part, issues affecting the horse industry are not partisan,” noted AHC president Jay Hickey. “Like most industries, our legislative concerns don’t clearly split along party lines. Democrats may approach issues from a different perspective than Republicans, and vice-versa, but the industry works on a bi-partisan basis with members of Congress from both sides of the aisle.” Nonetheless, since the Democrats now hold larger majorities in both houses, there may be less partisan “gridlock” that has prevented Congress from acting on a lot of legislation in the past. But the margins are not so great that the Democrats can simply push through whatever they want. They will still need some Republican support, particularly in the Senate, to pass legislation. In the “new” category, Congress will have to deal with a down economy, “bailouts” of various industries, a giant tax stimulus package to assist industries and states and preserve jobs, and to fund energy alternatives, health care and two wars. So there will be many new issues that impact the horse industry tangentially. But Congress will also be dealing with issues that are important to the horse industry that were not dealt with in the last Congress and will be part of the legislative mix. Tax issues and the state of the economy will have a staring role in the coming months. The inclusion of the Equine Equity Act in the farm bill that was passed in the last Congress was a victory for the horse industry. Beginning in 2009, all race horse will be depreciated over 3 years, regardless of when they are placed in service. Previously, race horses were depreciated over 3 or 7 years. But the second part of the Equine Equity Act, reducing the holding period for horses to one year from two for capitol gains purposes, was not passed. This issue will once again be pushed by the horse industry, along with the Pari-Mutuel Conformity and Equality Act, which would repeal the 25% withholding tax on winning wagers over $5,000 when the odds are at least 300-to-one. The increase of the Section 179 expense deduction to $250,000 and the reinstatement of bonus depreciation were benefits to the horse industry that were included in last year’s tax stimulus bill. Both expired at the end of 2008, but it is likely that Congress will
extend both provisions in this year’s stimulus bill. As Congress considers these bills it will be important to remind Congress of the $102 billion impact of the horse industry and the 1.4 million jobs the industry supports. In the “old” category, the last Congress tried to enact comprehensive immigration reform several times, but failed. The problems with immigration and a large undocumented work force have not gone away and Congress will have to deal with this, although it is not likely to be one of the first issues to be considered. The horse industry relies heavily on foreign labor. Some of this labor is provided by the H-2A agricultural and H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker programs, which are costly and inefficient. In addition, the H-2B program is capped by Congress at 66,000 workers a year, making competition for these workers from all industries intense. The horse industry also relies on a large number of undocumented workers who must be considered in any comprehensive package. The AHC supports a comprehensive approach to our immigration problems that would address a better guest worker program and a way to handle undocumented workers in the U.S. The last Congress considered the AgJobs bill that dealt specifically with undocumented agricultural workers and would have reformed the H-2A program. In addition, the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act would have provided some cap relief to H-2B users. Both of these bills will be debated again. “The agricultural industry laid a good foundation for reform with the AgJobs bill and that will be pushed again in this Congress,” said Hickey. “Senator Obama and Representative Hilda Solis (D-CA), who has been nominated to be Secretary of Labor, supported AgJobs, so there is reason to hope for action in this Congress.” IInternet gambling will continue to be a topic in Congress. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), passed in 2006, contains provisions protecting racing’s activities allowed under the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA). However, rules adopted by the Bush Administration in November could prove troublesome to the industry. It is likely there will be efforts to modify the restrictions on internet gambling during this Congress in order to regulate, license and tax it. The horse industry will need to watch any such efforts closely to ensure that any legislation does not adversely impact the current interstate wagering allowed on pari-mutuel horse racing under the IHA. Last Congress several bills were introduced to prohibit the shipping, transporting, or sale of horses for slaughter for human consumption, including the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act and the Prevention
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of Equine Cruelty Act. Neither bill was voted on in the House or Senate, but it is likely the same bills will be reintroduced. The election of Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, replacing Congressman John Dingell (D-MI), could impact the passage of the slaughter prohibition bill. That committee has jurisdiction and Congressman Waxman was a cosponsor of it in the last Congress, while Mr. Dingell was not. Members of Congress can be expected to look at animal welfare in general, including the welfare of horses, in the 111th Congress. Some members raised welfare issues regarding racing and showing last year and there is no reason to think that will not be a concern again. Legislation was introduced in the last Congress to ensure equestrians are not unfairly excluded or removed from federal public lands to which they have traditionally had access, including the Right to Ride Livestock on Federal Lands Act and the Preserving our Equine Heritage on Public Lands Act. The American Horse Council will be working to make sure similar legislation is reintroduced. But we will need substantial support from horse owners and recreational riders to have any chance of passing this legislation. Other bills that could impact the horse industry are likely to come up as well, including the Travel Promotion Act, which could positively impact equine tourism. No matter what legislation is introduced in the coming months, it will be important for the new Congress to hear from members of the horse industry. This is why the AHC, in cooperation with its member organizations, has launched a new grassroots initiative called the Congressional Cavalry program. All individual horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, trainers, competitors, recreational riders, service providers, or anyone who desire to join the grassroots efforts of the horse community in Washington are encouraged to join. It costs nothing and the AHC will let you know if legislation that effects the horse industry is introduced and when and how to contact your members of Congress. If you would like to sign up for this program or have any questions please call the AHC (202) 296 4031 or email . ahc@horsecouncil.org . A new Congress has convened, just like it does every two years. Some of the players may change, but if the industry works together as it has in the past, we will adjust and continue to be successful. As the national association representing all segments of the horse industry in Washington, D.C., the American Horse Council works daily to represent equine interests and opportunities. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the AHC promotes and protects the industry by communicating with Congress, federal agencies, the media and the industry on behalf of all horse related interests each and every day. The AHC is member supported by individuals and organizations representing virtually every facet of the horse world from owners, breeders, veterinarians, farriers, breed registries and horsemen's associations to horse shows, race tracks, rodeos, commercial suppliers and state horse councils.
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midwest horse digest much more distinct. Learning an independent seat and adapting to the horse’s gaits is thus much easier and faster. The special panelsystem inside the saddle treats the pony’s spine with much care. Also available are padded saddleblankets with cute applications and a funny little pocket for a treat, the hoof pick or other little things are designed to match the saddles in the colors black/light blue and brown/pink. To tune up the cute appearance, complementing headstalls with glittering
Make your pony happy The horse friendly philosophy ”riders who care“ is continued with the new and colourful pony collection from the house Barefoot. The noticeable pony saddles made from easy-care DryTex Material give secure support especially to beginning riders who feel the movements of their pony
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Page 27 rhinestone application on the browband are available as well as bitless bridles and reins made from no-slip material with matching stoppers. The horsefriendly highlights for pony people as well as the free Barefoot catalogue and the up-to-date newsletter
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work up the scale: 0 being no contact at all, with just your hands on the reins, up to 10—the pressure that gets the job done immediately. This scale helps you assess the horse’s response. Having a goal in mind makes it easier to have a goal for the horse. For instance, if the horse today is a 4 to 5 on the pressure scale to get him to stop from a rein cue, tomorrow you might want to work toward getting a response at the 3 level. Our goal is to work towards getting a response at 0 (which involves high-level body language cues), although a more realistic goal is a 1 or a 2. Step by Step: Literally and Figuratively Setting a goal for how many steps it takes the horse stop is another excellent measurement. If it takes your horse three steps to stop, then set a goal for one step for the next lesson. Then one step turns into a sliding stop. Of if you’re a dressage rider, this progression results in the immediate half-halt you’re looking for. Regardless of discipline, this is how you want to set up the process. I’m always looking for improvement in the horse; each time I pick up the reins there should be some sort of deeper understanding in the horse’s mind of what I’m asking him to do. The “kiss” method, “keep it simple, stupid,” is appropriate here. I see a lot of riders tend to over-complicate things in their minds. They’ll take something really simple, like asking the horse to stop its feet, and turn it into something really complicated. In my clinics, people would ask how many inches their hands should be in any direction to ask the horse to stop, how many ounces of pull—concepts that overcomplicate something that should be very easy to accomplish. That’s way too much information/technique for a person to even think about, much less try to incorporate to get a response from their horse! Keep your actions simple. Make your goals easily attainable. Don’t stride out to the barn one morning with the intention of teaching your two-year-old horse a 25-foot reining slide stop in one session! No one can do that! Make your plan so that both you and your horse can succeed incrementally— ‘chunk’ your plan down to bite-sized pieces so you and your horse don’t choke! Make sure your goals make sense. Don’t plan to work all morning on getting your horse to stop, and then decide to spend all afternoon on getting your horse to go. Be specific about what your lesson plan is for that day, so that when you walk out to catch your horse you’re clear about the plan. Next month we will begin with Goals for the Human. Until then Be Safe, Have Fun. For more information on Ryan Gingerich, his Connective Horsemanship program, and how you can improve the way you communicate with your horse, please visit www.ryangingerich.com or simply call 800.359.4090.
Analyzing your horse’s successes, challenges, and blooperswill point out how successful (or maybe not so successful!)you are as a trainer and rider
Planning the Plan
by Ryan Gingerich One of the problems I’ve seen over the years is that people don’t have a plan for their training or horsemanship; they simply ride or train their horses without any plan of action. They just sort of poke around, find a problem here or there, work on that problem for a little bit and then get bored. They go on to something else and never see any real improvement in their horse because they don’t focus long enough to make any real change or improvement. Essentially, they don’t set any goals. The Importance of Stop and Go In my Connective Horsemanship program, I categorize the program’s methods into Observe, Evaluate, Plan and Act (OEPA). “Observe” means watching your horse in a natural state and how he interacts with other horses, as well as how he interacts with you. “Evaluate” involves determining the refinement of the horse’s stop and go—and whether there are any issues with those two critically important components that may also cause other problems. The “Plan” element usually revolves around the main issue or problem I’m having with the horse. In most cases, everything I encounter is based on the elementary and simple—but very important—“go” and “stop” cues. Everything we do with a horse has its base in those two cues. Whether you ride western pleasure, dressage, trail, whatever— everything you ask of the horse has its base in go and stop. It’s simply a matter of how refined those cues are in your horse. Bolting = Go; Bucking = Stop In developing your plan, define what the issue is. Perhaps the horse has an issue like bolting when you get on him, or he bucks—those are two separate issues, of course, but reflect the horse’s understanding and execution of ‘go’ and ‘stop’. A bolting horse doesn’t understand the stop cue well enough, and the bucking horse doesn’t want to go and sometimes stops too much.
By sitting down and creating a plan, ask yourself what exercises you can do that will make it clear to the horse what your rein cues mean, what your leg cues mean, what stop means, what go means. A benefit to this plan is that when you implement the “action” part of it, you’ll know what you want the outcome to be. When I create a plan for a particular horse, I typically have between five and seven lessons I want to teach the horse. These steps are all laid out in my program, which makes it easy to progress. If you follow the steps on the DVD, you really don’t have to worry about addressing and defining each specific problem, because everything goes back to ‘go’ and ‘stop’ cues! For instance, part of the basic plan may be to just ask your horse to walk down the fence line, stopping every five steps or every five fence posts. Then ask the horse to stand still for two seconds, and then allow the horse to go forward. That will allow you to assess the horse’s reactions; be observant of everything he does or doesn’t do. Knowledge is Power: How Much Do You Know? Being very specific with how you make your plan may be more important than the actual plan itself. That’s because knowing my program and watching the DVDs will give you an understanding of a specific way to ask the horse to stop or ask the horse to go. You must understand these two principles first! For instance, part of the lesson plan would be to ask yourself if you truly understand how your rein cues work by knowing how the bit works in the horse’s mouth. Having that clear knowledge gives you the ability to speak a language that the horse can understand. Here’s an example: By picking up the right rein and applying a measurable amount of pressure to the horse’s mouth (think of a scale from 0 to 10), the horse will begin to slow or stop the right front leg. This makes sense to the horse, and it’s very specific to the rider, because the rider has a very clear goal in mind. He can then evaluate the horse’s response, look for improvement, and build a goal within his plan. If I pick up the right rein, and the horse continues to move forward with five, six, or seven steps before he actually begins to slow down, then I’ve determined where my starting point is. The next time I ask the horse to stop, it might take the same amount of time, but my hope is that we can get a little improvement. Having a “cueing scale” or a “pressure scale” rated from 0 to 10 really helps. If the horse doesn’t respond at a level 1 on the scale, which is just light contact, then will a little more contact at level 2 work? We can then
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Hind End
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Last year I was teaching in New Zealand when I was asked to work on Sam, a thoroughbred race horse, which according to the trainer was a ‘bit of a dog’. A two and a half year old gelding, Sam’s symptoms were pretty universal, it would not perform as expected, exhibited bad behavior, bucked, would lash out at the farrier and could not be shod unless it was sedated. Now all of this sounds pretty drastic, but it is so common that my mind had, long before I even went to see the horse, formulated an opinion of where the problem could lie and more important what the cause was. Some years ago in Pennsylvania, when I first started out ,I had the privilege of working with one of the most respected Equine vets in the USA, Dr Judith Shoemaker. Observing a thoroughbred exercising in a water treadmill I asked her what problem the horse had. ‘Hairline fractures of the pelvis,’ was the reply. Thinking that this was the most horrifying thing I had heard of I was rather stunned to find out that studies had shown that up to 80% of all 2 year olds who came off the race truck actually exhibited these injuries. With my curiosity aroused Dr Shoemaker pointed out to me that virtually all of these horses on the track were started far too young, their muscular development far outreaching their skeletal counterpart, the sacrum for instance, not fully maturing until the horse is around 5 years old. The two year old racehorse’s bones have in no way attained the maturity or density which can safely absorb the concussion from the force generated to explode and propel it over the ground. A prize example of this is, of course, the young stallion Barbaro, who’s leg virtually exploded as millions watched the 2 year old Derby winner try to capture the triple crown. Why did it happen? Quite simply the horse’s bone structure could not take the concussion effect transmitted from the shod feet up through the bones.
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Problems on Competition Horses Although there is noway to prove it, perhaps the hairline fractures were already there and the great heart of this young stallion totally overrode the physical condition. Jack Meagher 1924 – 2005, the father of equine body work and the therapist for the USA Olympic team made this great quote in 1981“. ''A horse is the biggest, toughest, strongest athlete in the world, yet he can't tell you where he is hurt, you have to go find the problem. It's kind of a study in anatomy in Braille." So, once again, we are back to hidden pain, the nature of the horse, no matter what it is bred for, it will hide or endeavor to ignore any debilitating pain until it is in such a state that it no longer can. In the interim, however, its reactions and behavior pattern, as well as its personality, will completely change. This is often the only clue that a trainer will get that the horse has a problem. One trainer put it to me that shoes were only put on his horse just before he raced, and he only took a few steps on hard surface, so it could not be a concussion related problem. I asked him if I put on brass knuckles, how many times I would need to punch him to break his jaw. It only takes one misstep with shoes on concrete, one stomp at a bothersome fly, one wrong step coming off a trailer backwards and a serious injury pattern can be established all the way up to the sacrum. Holistic, gentle non invasive bodywork, such as the Equine Touch, which uses palpation as part of its assessment process, which not only reveals problems at all levels, but can, by relaxing the muscles and reduce the pain, take the stress off the bones, individually and collectively. The fact that Equine Touch is gentle and non invasive means that the moves will not remove the spasm from muscles that are acting as natural splints for the skeletal system until the
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horse’ own system is ready to release it. In the case of the horse in New Zealand, I performed Equine Touch on him focusing on the
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and at last he was able to trim and shoe Sam without calling the vet to sedate him. In many instances chronic pain, or even pain memory which resides in the muscles is the cause of behavioral and performance problems. Sometimes this pain, the fear and its associated behavior pattern comes from one source and one source only, the horse was started too young.
©2008 Jock Ruddock About the author: Jock Ruddock a former New Zealand Police Officer and professional wrestler pioneered The Equine Touch, and with his veterinarian wife, Dr, Ivana Ruddock, has turned itinto a discipline that is now recognized and applauded by all who see or use it, including veterinarians throughout Europe. The Equine Touch, a rebalancing, Local practitioner and National Instructor, Colette retraining, and some would say healing modality for the horse, is Bolster performing Equine Touch. the first non-diagnostic, non-invahindquarter and then when Sam relaxed sive, energy and connective soft-tissue disciholistically, I did some mobilization as well as pline in the world to be awarded national stretching the hind legs, which the trainer did accreditation status in the United Kingdom. not believe was possible, and after checking Visit www.theequinetouch.com for a complete that the pain shown earlier had disappeared, list of practitioners and instructors. Colette Bolster, KCB Equine Center, Dassel, MN is a left him with an extremely skeptical trainer. The next day the trainer phoned the local practitioner and National Instructor for owner to tell him that for the first time Sam The Equine Touch. Contact Colette at came to greet him in the paddock, his behav- Colette@kcbequine.com or visit ior had changed completely, he was friendly, www.kcbequine.com
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Issues from the Saddle
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them but that advanced riders will be very demanding and they have learned to prefer the beginners. It is not a good thing when a horse learns that he can act one way with one type of rider and totally different with another. Ideally, a horse would never learn to discriminate between different riders, but the smart ones often do. When selecting an appropriate horse, the rider’s age, ability level, size and personality should be matched with the horse’s age, training level, size and temperament. Judging the training and temperament of a horse is best done by an experienced hand; someone that has worked with literally hundreds of different horses and can suss out a horse’s temperament and training with minimal exposure to the horse. A lot about temperament can be judged by a horse’s facial characteristics and breed or body type and an experienced hand with a keen eye can judge a horse’s temperament in short order. I agree that it doesn’t sound like this horse is going to work for you and it will have to go to a very strong rider, which means you may have to take a loss on the horse since the potential buyers are limited. Chances are, in the right hands, this horse will be good for someone. As you consider a new horse, find someone to help you evaluate any prospect and make sure you buy from highly reliable sources. Try to get a trial period or a guarantee of some sort. We specialize in selling well-trained, good tempered and highly reliable horses, and we look long and hard to find mature, push button geldings with stellar temperaments for novice riders. These horses are worth their weight in gold (literally) and we sell them pretty easily. If you are diligent and patient, you can find them for less money, but you’d better be ready to pounce on them because they sell quickly. The good news is that you know better now what you are looking for in a horse. Move this one on to another rider and try to find something that you can start right away on building your confidence, improving your skills and having fun, rather than a fight or worse, every time you ride. This is a long journey you are on and even with good advice, you are bound to make mistakes along the way. Hopefully, you’ll make a better choice next time. Good luck and enjoy the ride!
New Horse that Turned into an Outlaw by Julie Goodnight
Question: I recently purchased a seven year old black paint gelding with a quarter Tennessee Walker in his blood. This horse has many great qualities that include: loading, haltering, trimming, shoeing, and standing still. When I first purchased this horse, I felt like a bought a great horse. This horse has never shown signs of bucking, or aggression. The more I rode this horse the more the horse became aggressive in trying to control me. This horse is incredibly smart as most horses are and sought-out my weaknesses. I controlled this horse to the best of my abilities, but felt like everyday was a challenge verses enjoyment. I realize I'm still a beginner and need training, but I never knew what was to happen next. Recently I rode the horse in a pasture with my brother, another inexperienced rider. Everything went smoothly, until the ride back to the barn. This horse at the blink of an eye, darted like a bat from the south and was unstoppable. The horse was in a full speed run, and bucking with all his might. I was able to hold on for about three bucks, until I decided I was not going to be able to hold on too much longer. I slid over his right side until I was
close to his belly and dropped. I saw the day by day increase in is attitude. This horse began to nip at me when brushing him. What are your thoughts about new horses, abilities, age, breed, and resources to help me become a better rider. Freddie Answer: Freddie, You always have to consider a physical problem when there is a change of behavior in the horse. You should have the horse thoroughly examined by a vet and check for saddle fit and physical or medical causes. Once you have ruled out a physical cause, you have to look to the horse’s training. It sounds like your horse has little or no respect for your authority. From the beginning, he has been challenging and testing your authority and has probably been having a great deal of success. Even though a horse has very good training, the temperament of the horse must always be matched up with the temperament and skill level of the rider. The easiest way to determine if it is a training problem or not would be to have a strong rider ride him and see how quickly he reverts back to the trained horse that you knew in the beginning. Temperament and dominance are not really a factor of breed type, although some breeds are much more compliant than others. Not all horses will tolerate beginners and the mistakes they routinely make. A more domineering horse will require a strong and authoritative rider. Some horses will never learn that there is a difference between a beginner rider and a more experienced hand, while others will learn that they can take advantage of a less competent rider. Some horses, by virtue of their temperaments, will be downright dirty outlaws when they can get away with it while others will always watch out for the rider. Incidentally, there are also some horses that will take good care of beginner riders, but run a more advanced rider through the ringer. These are horses that have learned to appreciate that beginner riders won’t require much of
Julie Goodnight has more than a quarter-century of horse training experience. Her varied background ranges from dressage and jumping to racing, reining, colt-starting, and wilderness riding. She communicates clearly with horses and riders in any discipline and travels coast-to-coast and beyond to film her television show, Horse Master, and to appear at horse expos, conferences and clinics.publications and websites. Visit www.JulieGoodnight.com. Julie Goodnight Natural Horsemanship TrainingTM Goodnight Training Stables, Inc.TM PO Box 397, Poncha Springs, Colorado 81242 Phone: 719-530-0531 • 800-225-8827
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Minnesota Horse Council
Guy Warner Selected as 2008 Horse Person of the Year
The Minnesota Horse Council announced the selection of Guy Warner as 2008 Horse Person of the Year at their Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet on Saturday, January 17, 2009. The award is presented each year to someone who shows long-term service and commitment to the equine industry in the Midwest. Numerous letters were submitted to the committee regarding Warner’s professionalism, history of many hours of volunteering, generosity, kindness, knowledge, talents, leadership and dedication to the horse world. Warner is the 39th recipient of this award. Warner has put in over 40 years of service – both equine related and community related. He served 10 years in the Minnesota National Guard with final rank of Sergeant First Class, specializing in the Field of Artillery. He has served as past President of North Central Morgan Horse Association (NCMA), and as a horse show committee member for 3 years. He has served as past President of Tri-State Horsemen’s Association, and is still actively involved with them today. Guy Warner has been both a board member and Officer of American Horse Shows Association (AHSA) – serving as chairman of the Relocation Task Force of the AHSA offices move from New York, NY to Lexington, KY. He has also served as chairman and member of the National Nominating Committee of the United States Equestrian Foundation (USEF). Most recently, he served on the Audit Committee of the United States Equestrian Foundation (USEF). Currently, he is a member of the Minnesota State Fair Foundation, serving as Vice-Chair and Chairman of the Audit Committee. In nonhorse related activities, he is Chairman of the Board of Directors for Warner Manufacturing Company as well as President of the American Cutlery Manufacturers Association. He is also co-founder and President of the St. Bonifacius/Minnetrista Crime Fund. Continued on page 38......
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Dealing with a Chargy Horse still give us maximum performance. One of the most common problems we can have is our horse getting chargey; pushing on our hands and trying to go faster with out us asking them to. We call that "leaving without us", and it is a common problem with about every Performance Horse at some point.
by Monty Bruce When we are training performance horses we are asking a lot out of them, and pushing them to get performance.We must spend a great deal of time working and training our horse slowly and quietly to give them a solid foundation to work from. It is very difficult for a horse to learn maneuvers, collection or balance at fast speeds, so we again must spend lots of time keeping them relaxed and slow. However, there comes a time when we have to increase speed, whether it's a rope horse, gamer, barrel, reiner, or cowhorse. We have to teach our horses to handle speed and
One of the biggest problems I see with people when they have a chargey horse (a horse that wants to leave without them) is, they become a crutch for the horse. When a horse wants to speed up and leave without us asking them to and they hold back on the reins and make them stay slow. They are not teaching the horse to stay with you and slow down. They are making him slow down and become a crutch. I don't want to make my horse do anything. I want to teach him how to do it, have him think it's a good idea, and do it. To teach a horse something we have to let them make mistakes, then correct them over and over before they get solid. Let's say we are working on circles or run-downs for sliding stops and our horse is getting too fast and pushy. First, we need to make sure our departures are quiet and r e l a x e d because if the lope is tense and pushy they are likely to continue in that mode. So if my horse tries to lope off fast and pushy I will stop him, back him up, then go into a series of softening exercises to loosen him and soften him up. Then I will lope him off again. If he gets pushy or fast again I will repeat the process as many times as it may take until he lopes off soft and
quiet. Once I have him loping off quiet and soft for a couple of strides, to show him where or what speed I want him to stay, I will put him on a looser rein and trust him to stay at that speed unless I ask him to speed up. I will not hang on his mouth holding him back with the reins because if I do I make him stay slow instead of teaching him to be slow. By holding this pressure it makes a horse feel trapped and most of the time a horse feels like he will push harder, compounding the problem. So instead of holding him back I will give him a loose rein even though I know he will probably speed up. When he speeds up I will pick up on the reins, taking the slack out and let him know I'm going to take hold of him. I don't want to jerk on the reins fast. If we jerk on their mouths it makes the horse scared of your hands. Once I have the slack taken out of the reins then I want to draw him in to the ground, which means I am pulling slowly but very hard, to get them to stop. Then I will back them up very rigorously several steps, then let them set quietly for 5-10 seconds, then lope them off again. You may have to do this process 50 times on one training session but it will work if you stay at it. About every 3rd time I have to stop and back them off. I will put them into a series of softening exercises again, bending, flexing then I will ride them in a small circle pulling their head to the inside and pushing with my outside leg bending the ribcage out and two tracking them to the out side of the circle to loosen up their whole body. By doing these bending and softening exercises (stopping, backing) I am getting two things accomplished. 1. I am obviously softening and relaxing the horseís body and muscles, which is partly why they are pushy. 2. I am interrupting his pattern of thinking immediately to speed up. It ís a lot harder and less fun to back and do softening exercises than to lope slow. Until my horse thinks it ís a good idea to lope slow and slow down I will always be battling with him. But in all the training we do we need to keep in mind, I’m not going to fight with my horse, I am going to teach him, let him make the mistakes then correct it and as may times as it may take till he gets solid Good luck and God bless, Monty Bruce Visit our website at www.montybruce.com or if you have questions or need help feel free to email us at mbtc02@msn.com
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out a lot of excess squeezing. If the horse still does not respond, use an abrupt action with the leg behind the girth. Again, it is done with the lower leg flat against his barrel and not with the heel. A quick, assertive bump behind the girth should get a reaction from the horse. When it does, go back to asking him with a light squeeze with the leg. A golden rule of aids communication is that no matter what level of communication you must use to get a response from your horse, always go back to the lightest aid possible. The Hands The rider’s hands control the reins. To give rein aids properly, the hands must be in the correct position in front of the saddle at all times. The rider uses the reins for two purposes—speed control and turning. Speed control is achieved through the action of the rider’s fingers on the reins. With her hands holding the reins, the rider closes her fingers around the reins to ask her horse to slow down. When she wants her horse to go forward, she opens her fingers slightly to allow her horse the freedom to move forward. The second use of the hands on the reins is to turn the horse. I like to use an “open rein” to direct the horse to turn. Starting with my hands in the correct position in front of the saddle, to turn the horse to the left, I move my left hand and left rein sideways and slightly away from the horse’s neck. I do this through the action of my elbow not my wrist and never by pulling back on the rein. Pulling back restricts the horse’s forward motion, and it is impossible to do a turn without forward motion! When turning, the inside rein (rein on the side toward where you will be turning) is the positioning rein. Its job is to position or direct the horse in the direction you want to travel. The outside rein is the turning rein. The turning rein is held against the horse’s neck without the rider’s hand crossing over the horse’s neck. The horse moves away from the action or pressure of the outside turning rein lying against his neck. To turn left, I would lay the right rein against the horse’s neck, asking him to move away from the rein pressure and turn to the left. At the same time I would use my left rein to lightly position him for the turn.
Communicating with Your Aids … Keys to Success, Part 4” The rider’s aids are the tools with which the rider communicates with his/her horse. The “natural” aids the rider uses are the seat, the legs, and the hands. The rider’s legs and seat control the two-thirds of the horse’s body from the withers back. The rider’s hands control the forward one-third of the horse’s body including the shoulders, neck, and head. It is important to understand how each of these natural aids works. The Seat The rider’s seat works as an aid to help the horse go forward or slow down. The seat works by applying weight into the saddle on the horse’s back according to what response the rider wants. The rider uses more weight in her seat for more response and less weight for a lighter response. The weight that the rider applies through her seat has two functions. It indicates to the horse her desire to go forward or to slow down, and it helps the horse accomplish these actions. The Legs The rider’s legs work as an aid because the horse moves away from pressure. In moving
away from the rider’s leg pressure, a horse can go forward, sideways, or backwards. The legs as an aid are used slightly behind the girth. When the rider applies her legs to communicate with the horse, it should always be first done with the lightest squeeze possible slightly behind the girth. If the rider does not get a reaction when a leg aid is lightly applied behind the girth, the rider should then move her leg slightly further back on the horse’s barrel and reapply the leg aid. To do this properly, the rider should move her leg back from the hip and only slightly bend her knee to bring her lower leg further back. The heel should stay down. When the rider applies a leg aid further back from the girth, it always is a stronger request of the horse to move his body. When using this stronger aid, avoid the common error of bending the knee to lift the lower leg higher on the horse’s barrel. This brings the heel up high on the horse’s side which is not a good position for an effective leg aid. If the horse does not respond to the rider bringing her leg slightly further back on his barrel, then the rider should use a vibrating leg pressure. Keeping the heel down, the rider should apply a rapid on-and-off pressure with the side of her lower leg behind the girth. A vibrating leg pressure is not the same as poking the horse with the heels! Poking and kicking will irritate the horse and eventually make him duller to the leg aids. A vibrating pressure should wake him up with-
If more turning action is needed, the rider should slightly raise the outside hand to move the turning rein further up the neck. If less turning action is desired or a lighter response is sought, the rider should keep the outside rein closer to the base of the horse’s shoulder. Next month I will share with you some exercises to improve the use of your seat, leg, and hand aids. For more information about Palm Partnership Training™, our training materials and our courses, visit our website at www.lynnpalm.com or call 800-503-2824.
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Illinois State Horse Judges Seminar Features Brian Scoggins, The annual Illinois Jennifer Lindgren open horse shows. State Horse Judges Jennifer grew up Seminar has been scheduled for March 28, 2009 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University of Illinois. Registration and classroom instruction will begin in room 150, Animal Science Lab, 1207 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL. Live classes will later be held in the UI Stock Pavilion a few blocks south of the Animal Science Lab. This seminar is open to all youth and open horse show judges, potential judges, exhibitors and spectators of horse events. It is designed to encourage uniform standards for judging and exhibiting horses at Illinois youth and open shows, and to yield a directory of judges for show committees. It will cover criteria for judging Arabian horses, halter, showmanship, horsemanship, saddle seat classes, equitation, Western pleasure and helpful tips for judging 4-H shows. Fees for this seminar are $20 for youth (under 18 years), $30 for adults and $50 for adults wishing to take the written and live judging exam for listing in the Illinois Horse Judge’s Directory. The primary clinician is Brian Scoggins of Tuscola, IL. Scoggins has been a United States Equestrian Federation approved judge for the past 10 years. He has judged more than 60 Arabian shows in recent years, including eight regional shows, the Canadian Nationals and the U.S. Nationals in 2008. Brian has been involved in the horse industry his entire life through his family, especially his father, the late highly-respected equine veterinarian, R. Dean Scoggins, DVM. He has also been a professional horse trainer for the past 25 years, showing locally, regionally and nationally, earning several regional and national championships. Also presenting at the IL State Horse Judges Seminar will be Jennifer McCormick-Lindgren of Grant Park, IL. She is a popular columnist for various horse publications and is a sought-after judge for youth and
showing horses in 4H shows and was a National 4-H Horse Judging Contest award winner during her 4-H career. She has been a frequent clinician and
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judge for 4-H horse events in the Midwest including the Wisconsin State 4-H Horse Show and has shown her own Arabian horses to several top 10 National awards. The Illinois State Horse Judges Seminar is sponsored by University of Illinois Extension and the UI Department of Animal Sciences. Registration materials may be obtained from Kevin H. Kline, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 388 Animal Sciences Lab, 1207 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, E-mail:kkline@illinois.edu
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February 09
READY-TO-RIDE GUIDE ILLINOIS - Trail Rides 34 Ranch & Camp, Herod, IL. 618-264-2141 www.34ranch.com Bay Creek Wilderness Rides, Shawnee National Forest, Simpson, IL.; 618-695-2670 www.baycreekranch.com Bear Ranch Horse Camp, Eddyville, IL.; Shawnee National Forest, 618-672-4249, www.bearbranch.com Cedar Lake Ranch, LLC, Vienna, IL.; 618-695-2600, www.cedarlakeranchllc.com Circle B Ranch HOrse Camp, Eddyville, IL.; 618-672-4748, www.circlebranch.com Double M Campground, Junction, IL.; 618-275-4440, www.doublemcampground.com Jim Edgar Panther Creek, IL.; 217-452-7741 Little Lusk Trail Lodge, Harrisburg, IL.; 618-672-4303 One Horse Gap Trail Ride, New Hope Hill, IL.; 618-264-7433, www.onehorsegap.com Riding Vacations 34 Ranch & Camp, Herod, IL. 618-264-2141 www.34ranch.com Hayes Canyon Campground, Eddyville, IL.; 618-672-4751 www.hayescanyon.com Overnight Stabling 34 Ranch & Camp, Herod, IL. 618-264-2141, www.34ranch.com Public Lands Argle Lake State Park, Colchester, IL.; 309-776-3422 Big River State Forest, Keithsburg, IL.; 309-374-2496 Chain Lakes State Park, Spring Grove, IL.; 847-587-5512 Clinton Lake State Recreation Area, DeWitt, IL.; 217-935-8722 Fox Ridge State Park, Charleston, IL. 217-345-6416 Giant CityState Park, Makanda, IL.; 618-457-4836 Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park, Sheffield, IL.; 815-454-2328 Kankakee River State Park, Bourbonnais, IL.; 815-933-1383 Lake Le-Aqua-Ne State Park, Bourbonnais, IL.; 815-369-4282 MatthiessenState Park, Utica, IL.; 815-667-4868 Middle Fork State Fish and Wildlife Area, Collison, IL.; 217-442-4915 Moraine View State Park, Leroy, IL.; 309-724-8043 Newton Lake State Fish & Wildlife Area, Newton, IL.; 618-783-3478 Pere Marquette State Park, Grafton, IL.; 618-786-2156 Rock Cut State Park, Loves Park, IL.; 815-885-3311 Shawnee National Forest, Harrisburg, IL.; 618-253-7114 Weinbrg-King State Park, Augusta, IL.; 217-392-2345 IOWA - Trail Rides Amana Trail Ride, Amana Colonies, Amana, IA.; 319-462-2206, www.amanatrailride.com Overnight Stabling Aunt Reba’s Bed and Breakfast, Larchwood,
midwest horse digest MN.; 712-478-4042 or 888-282-5349: www.auntrebas.com Iowa Bunkhouse, Audubon, IA.; May-September: 712-773-2737 JM4 Rand, Arena, Horse Hotel, Bed and Breakfast, Crescent, IA.; 712-328-7593, www.JM4Ranch.com Lewis Bottom Farms, Shellsburg, IA.; 319-436-3323, www.lewisbottomsfarms.com MINNESOTA - Trail Rides Bush Wacker Trail Ride Club, Huntersville Fall Trail Ride, Huntersville, MN.; 218-894-0056 Outback Ranch, Inc., Houston, MN.; 507-896-5550, www.outbackranch.com Overnight Stabling Outback Ranch, Inc., Houston, MN.; 507-896-5550, www.outbackranch.com Public Lands Arrow Head State Park, Tower, MN.; 218-753-6256 Chippewa National Forest, Deer River, MN.; 218-246-2123 Heartland State Trail, Nevis, MN.; 218-652-4054 Lake Louise State Park, LeRoy, MN.; 507-324-5249 Maplewood State Park, Pelican Rapids, MN.; 218-863-8383 North Shore State Trail, Two Harbors, MN.; 218-834-5238 Pillsbury State Forest, Brainerd, MN.; 218-828,2557 Taconite State Trail, Tower, MN.; 218-753-2580 ext.250 NORTH DAKOTA - Trail Rides Badlands Trail Rides, Killdeer, ND.; 701-764-8000, www.badlandstrailrides.com Tennessee Walking Horse Associaiton of North Dakota Trail Ride, Grassy Butte/Turtle River State Park, 701-947-2190 Riding Vacations Knife River Ranch Vacations, Golden Valley, ND.; 701-983-4290, www.kniferiverranch.com Little Knife Outfitters, Watford City, ND.; 701973-4331, www.littleknifeoutfitters.com Public Lands Fort Ransom State Park, Fort Ransom, ND.; 701-973-4331
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SOUTH DAKOTA - Trail Rides Broken Arrow Horse Camp, Custer, SD: 605673-4471, www.brokenarrowcampground.com Hay Creek Ranch, Nemo, SD: 605-578-1142, www.haycreekranch.net Krieger Cattle Company, Burke, SD: 605-775-2113 Riding Vacations Bitter Sweet Ranch and Camp, HillCity, SD: 605-574-2324, wwwbitterseetranchcamp.com Broken Arrow Horse Camp, Custer,SD: 605-673-4471, www.brokenarrowcampground.com Hay Creek Ranch, Nemo, SD: 605-578-1142, www.haycreekranch.net Gunsel Horse Adventures, Rapic City, SD 605-343-7608, www.gusdelhorseadventures.com Salt Camp Cabins and Bed and Breakfast, Rosebud, SD: 605-747-2206, saltcamp@gwtc.net WISCONSIN - Trail Rides Bremer Creek LLD, Mondovi, WI.; 608-323-3092, www.bremercreek.com Riding Vacations Bremer Creek LLD, Mondovi, WI.; 608-323-3092, www.bremercreek.com Palmquist Farm, Brantwood, WI.; 715-564-2558, www.palmquistfarm.com Spur of the Moment Ranch,LLC,Mountain, WI.;800-644-8783. www.spurofthemomentranch.org Public Lands Black River State Park, Black River Falls, WI; 715-284-4103 Brule River State Forest, Douglas County, WI.; 715-372-4866 Castle Rock Trails, Arkdale, WI.; 608-564-2233 Governor Dodge State Park ,Dodgeville, WI.; 608-935-2315 Haymeadow Flowage, Chippewa Falls, WI.; 715-726-7880 Kerrle Moraine State Forest, Campbellsport WI.; 262-626-2116; 262-594-6200 Lake Wissota State Park, Chippewa Falls;715382-4574 Token Creek County Park, Madison,WI.; 608-246-3896 Wild Rock Park, Neilsville, WI.; 715-743-5140
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TRADERS CORNER
HORSE COUNCILS
SADDLES AND TACK
HORSE SUPPLIES
continued from page 33 - MN Horse Council 2008 Person of the Year...... Warner is best known as the announcer at the Minnesota State Fair as well as other Midwest shows, including the prestigious St. Louis Charity Show. Warner has served as Ringmaster/Horse Show Announcer for Performance Horse Classes including Hunters, Jumpers, Draft Horse “Hitch Classes”, Morgans, Arabians, American Saddlebreds, Tennessee Walking Horses, National Show Horses, Hackney and Harness Ponies, Minirature Horses as well as others when necessary. He always tries to educate the audience as to the inner workings of the mysterious world of horse shows with tidbits of information. He has also served as emcee for many award banquets as well, and always entertains with his spontaneous humor. Warner has been an owner, an exhibitor, and an enthusiastic supporter of family training, showing and winning on a National basis. Warner has been married to wife Pauline for 44 years and has helped raise 3 wonderful children – Carrie (husband Barry), Cathy (husband Mike) and Craig (wife Cindy). He currently has five precious grandchildren.
Here at Midwest Horse Digest we can help you with all you promotional needs. Give us a call and see what we can do for you! WEB AND AD DESIGN
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•Photo Classifieds •Training Videos •Articles •Events Advertise in the
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February 09
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midwest horse digest
Thumbnail Photo Classifieds
Place your photo classified here for $20.00 per month or for a limited time - place your ad online at
www.horsedigests.com
and receive one month in print FREE.
call 507-943-3355 for more info. For Sale Huge Moving son of TWO Imports! Carthusian bred,Tall, Fantastic Temperament and an AMAZING Trot!!! Full siblings show stoppers & this colt has all the brio & pizzazz to go all the way! 972-746-1457 vintageandalusians@hotmail.com Homozygous Pinto Liver Chestnut and NSH & BS Nominated Sire Pinto World Res Champion English Pleasure and 4th in the World Halter 605-582-6188 GBArabians@aol.com
Registered Sonny Dee Bar Paint Pony $850.00 -full brother to "MKK Crescents on First", who is consistently winning in MN Pinto Potential heighth will be 54-56 inches. 507-485-3510 mknutson@rconnect.com
Black Egyptian Related 2008 Region Res. Champion Native Costume in AOTR Big, black and gorgeous.. not only in his looks but his disposition is incredible 605-582-6188 GBArabians@aol.com
Fantastic Dressage Colt With a round build, sweet temperament and a fantastic straight Dressage Movement!, this lovely 2YO colt is ready to start a new partnership! 972-746-1457 vintageandalusians@hotmail.com
Fiero LFA,PRE Black Andalusian Stallion. International Champion of Champions international bloodlines, Proven producer, Proven Junior Champion Stallion and USDF Dressage Competitor. 817-205-9268 maryclaeys@cdibb.com
Stallions and Stallion Auctions
Imported nine year old Grey Lusitano Gelding from Brazil Ugo Dos Pinhais beautiful nine year old grey (almost white) imported Lusitano Gelding 262-249-8870 selwoodp@idcnet.com
Introducing Imported Black PRE Revised Stallion for Stallion Service From Maipe Stud: Costalero XV This stallion will add depth, bone and movement to your next foal! 972-746-1457 Vintageandalsuians@hotmail.com
Black Bay Filly By Mediteraneo V. Black Bay daughter of 2007 IALHA Grand National Champion Sr. Stallion, Mediteraneo V! Fantastic Movement. Wonderful Mind. 972-7461457 vintageandalusians@hotmail.com
Multi Absolute Champion Stallions of Rancho Del Lago. Magico VIII and Saltador ORO. Over 60 Championships and Movement Awards between them. 972-7461457 vintageandalusians@hotmail.com
Beautifully Bred Leviton/Vasallo II Bred Filly! ANCCE eligible for inscription.Offered at 12,5oo with/ breeding to our newly imported PRE Black (EE aa) Carthusian stallion, Costalero XV. 972-746-1457 vintageandalusians@hotmail.com
3x National Champion PRE (ANCCE) Revised Stallion Spokane! This young stallion will add size, substance AND Movement extraordinaire to your breeding program. 972-746-1457 vintageandalusians@hotmail.com
Services and Products Professional Graphic Design and Website Design - Ad design, website design, custome logos, brochures, newsletters, postcards.. 507-943-3355 rosebudpro@bevcomm.net Training the Whole Horse DVD Series I $79.95 Clinic Highlights Training the Whole Horse Five Fundamentals Shop securely at www.Shop.WHolisticHorsemanship.com or call for your FREE catalog 1-866-821-0374
PHOTO CLASSIFIED ADS 20.00 per month Call 507-943-3355 or email peg@horsedigests.com
REAL ESTATE
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Classifieds EDUCATION Mare or Stallion Reproductive Management Classes. Learn Basics of AI at UW-Madison. Classes targeted for Breeders/Owners and Vets. More Info: www.ansci.wisc.edu/equine.html
MAGAZINES Friesian Blood and Baroque Horse Magazine. The only full color magazine on Friesian's, Gypsy's, Drums, Andalusian's and the Baroque Breeds. Fantastic articles, great tips, and beautiful pictures. See a sample at http://issuu.com/bjohnson/docs/Apr_may_08 or call 218-678-2477 409
PRODUCTS New leather harness ,3rd generation business. Team, work, complete with hames, collars extra. Draft $802.00. Qtr. horse
We created AgMax specifically to serve the unique needs of highly specialized, commercial agriculture operations, including: • Growers who process or retail their production • Animal producers who direct market • Equine operations, including boarding, breeding and training • Agritainment operations such as pumpkin patches, corn Wade Scott mazes and petting zoos 24 S Olive St • Hunting and guiding activities Suite 301 on your farm Waconia, MN Call today to learn more. (952) 442-4402
Auto | Home | Life | Business | College | Retirement Western Agricultural Insurance Company+/West Des Moines, IA. Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company+/West Des Moines, IA. Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company +/West Des Moines, c 2007 FBL Financial Group, Inc. 146R IA.‘Companies of Farm Bureau Financial Services o
midwest horse digest $757.00. Show 3 hip-Draft $882.00. Qtr. horse $812.00. Buggy breast Qtr $220.00 Pony $140.00. Catalogue - St Paul Saddlery, 953 w 7th St., St Paul, MN 55102 1209 Master Saddler offers complete saddlery repairs. Trees replaced, complete reflocks, new seats, billets, tree alterations on Kieffer and Prestige saddles. Appointments booked for quick turn around. Skilled repair of driving harness and sidesaddles.Custom accessories for side saddle competition. Bridles sewn in. Contact Michael at 847-776-6700 or e-mail master_saddler@saddlersrow.com Website www.saddlersrow.com 1209
ROOM FOR RENT Buffalo horse farm, own bathroom. Room for 1 horse (board extra) pets ok, rent credit in exchange for chores. $700/mo. util.included. Call to chat, Sue, 612-201-2025.
FOR SALE
February 09
Lela BA ******* 2008 Bay futurity nominated Spanish/Portuguese Filly, By Legado (US National Champion Third Level Dressage)and out of Signeta TCV- Olympic Dressage horse of Spain (Atlanta) Aureolo VII - out of the multi National Champion Senior Mare Falicia, nominated for the IALHA National Halter futurity and is lifetime recorded with the USEF. 262-249-8870, selwoodp@idcnet.com Friesian/Paint Gelding by Novi - Started Riding & Driving - GREAT Temperament! Legend Woods Tovi: born 8/30/04 Friesian/Paint Gelding. Solid Bay. 320-2724099, legendwoods@msn.com 1/2 Andalusian Sport Horse Candidate, Posh is 1/2 Andalusian 1/4 Arabian 1/4 Saddlebred Gelding. He is registered with IALHA, & can be registered with Iberian Warmblood. Call - 586-784-4368, us@serenitystables.com
13 yr old Reg Paint gelding. This horse is perfect for most any beginner rider. He has been used as a western pleasure horse most of his life, he his very well trained. more information $3,000.00 houckhorsecompany@yahoo.com 651-277-1095
STALLIONS
5 yr old gelding 15'1, sire is own son of Speical Effort, Dam is own daughter of Easy Jet. This gelding is broke broke broke. He has all the foundation and is stated on barrels. more information. $5,000.00 715-874-6466, whytejw@clearwire.net
Pure Friesian "ROEK" 2nd Premie Stallion. ROEK has a great pedigree, to match his great intelligence, temperament, and CHARISMA. 218-780-7064, dr.horseslave@yahoo.com.
Incredible cobra of bay Spanish /Portuguese fillies or matched driving horses Filly, foale 3/3/08, Lela BA by Legado out of Signeta TCV (Aureolo VII X Falicia), Lezada BA By Legado out of Zinnia BA, (Despierto X Zinnia), Tresor By Legado out of Especial BA (Despierto X Furiosa A), All Bay ** All Futurity Nominated **Very hard to tell apart 262-2498870, selwoodp@idcnet.com
William Woods University a private instituion, occasionally accepts show quality, trained horses over the age of 3. contact Gary Mullen, gary.mullen@williamwoods.edu
.Dakota Gambler Rare Black and White Pintabian At Stud: Proven 99.6% Purebred Arabian. Athletic, Correct, Beauty, Elegance, Kind disposition with awesome movement. Registration Numbers: 320-283-5933, spruchlo@gctel.com
WANTED
WEBSITE AND GRAPIC DESIGN Professional Website and Ad Design. Rosebud Productions. www.rosebudpro.com 507-943-3355 rosebudpro@bevcomm.net
February 09
midwest horse digest Hinckley, MN 2/15/2009 MN, Isanti Barrel UBRA - Hi Circle Vee open jackpot barrel race - Indoor and heated arena. Open and Youth 4D Runs - (612) 810-4010 - specs95@hotmail.com 2/21/2009 11:00:00 AM - MN, Monticello Roping - #5 Round Robin Roping - (612) 8176359 2/22/2009 - MN, Monticello - Barrel Minnesota Rodeo Association, UBRA MRA Barrels & Breakaway Fundraiser - (218) 3680130 2/22/2009 - ND, Minot - Barrel, Roping, Team Roping 2009 "The Heat Is On" Winter Series Team Roping & Barrel Jackpots - (701) 8332505 - lisao@srt.com 2/28/2009 - WI, Balsam Lake Barrel, Game Show UBRA “JJ Arena UBRA Barrel Race & Fun Show” FMI please visit www.JJArena.com - (715) 857-5505 - julie@jjarena.com 2/28/2009 - MN, Monticello - Barrel, Futurity UBRA - Arrowhead Arena Barrel Race. Open 4D's, Youth & Futurity classes - (763) 8781554 3/1/2009 - MN, Sebeka - Barrel, Futurity NBHA, UBRA Exhibitions at 10:30, runs at noon. Futurity sidepot, pole bending, speed dash, youth. - (218) 472-3402 betsykuschel@hotmail.com 3/6/2009 7:00:00 PM - MN, Monticello-Roping Friday Night Ropings - (612) 817-6359 3/7/2009 - Cowboy & Cowgirl Gathering - Hay and Tack Auction & Expo - 2pm - Hinckley Community Center
UPCOMING EVENTS January 09 to October 09: ISHR is hosting an ONLINE PHOTO HORSE SHOW for any and all spotted equines. From Paints to Walkaloosa's. For more information contact: ishrppa@aol.com or call 866-201-3098. See information at: http://spottedhorses.tripod.com/online_show_ 1.html 2/1/2009 - MN, Sebeka - Barrel, Futurity NBHA, UBRA Exhibitions at 10:30, runs at noon. Futurity sidepot, pole bending, speed dash, youth. - (218) 472-3402 betsykuschel@hotmail.com 2/15/2009 - MN, Sebeka - Barrel, Futurity NBHA, UBRA Exhibitions at 10:30, runs at noon. Futurity sidepot, pole bending, speed dash, youth. - (218) 472-3402 betsykuschel@hotmail.com 2/6/2009 7:00:00 PM - MN, Monticello Roping - Friday Night Ropings (612) 817-6359 2/7/2009 - MN, Henderson - Barrel UBRA High Island Arena 2009 Winter Barrel Buckle Series - (507)964-2607 highislandarena@hotmail.com 2/15/2009 - ND, Minot - Barrel, Roping, Team Roping - 2009 "The Heat Is On" Winter Series Team Roping & Barrel Jackpots - (701) 8332505 - lisao@srt.com 2/15/2009 - MN, Sebeka - Barrel, Futurity NBHA, UBRA - Exhibitions at 10:30, runs at noon. Futurity sidepot, pole bending, speed dash, youth. - (218) 472-3402 betsykuschel@hotmail.com 2/15 2009 - Lead-N-Lope Futurities Stallion Service Auction - 1pm - Tobies Restaurant in
ADVERTISERS INDEX AgMax/Wade Scott ANPAC/Roger Berg Arena Fenceline-Service Equipment Arena Trailers Black Hills Expo Cannon Falls Trailer Sales Central Minnesota Horse Fest Dennis Auslam - Redwood Stables Federated Coop Gateway Ranch - HiQual HKL Stables HorseDigest.com Horse-O-Rama Icon Photography I90 Expo Center Julie Goodnight J&B Western Store Ken McNabb Linda Kirsch - Real Estate Lynn Palm Midwest Cremation Midwest Horse Digest
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3/7/2009 - MN, Henderson - Barrel - UBRA High Island Arena 2009 Winter Barrel Buckle Series-(507)964-2607 highislandarena@hotmail.com 3/7-3/8, 2009 - ND, Minot - Roping, Team Roping- Wrangler Team Roping Championships Expo Arena ND State Fairgrounds (701) 833-2505 - lisao@srt.com 3/14/2009 - MN, Monticello - Barrel, Futurity UBRA - Arrowhead Arena Barrel Race. Open 4D's, Youth & Futurity classes - (763) 8781554 3/14-3/15 - N ,Fremont - Barrel - Purina Mills Saddle Series - (712) 545-9152 3/14/2009 - ND, Minot - Barrel, Roping, Team Roping - 2009 "The Heat Is On" Winter Series Team Roping & Barrel Jackpots - (701) 8332505 - lisao@srt.com 3/15/2009 - MN, Monticello - Barrel - MiN Rodeo Association, UBRA - MRA Barrels & Breakaway Fundraiser - (218) 368-0130 3/15/2009 - MN, Sebeka - Barrel, Futurity NBHA, UBRA Exhibitions at 10:30, runs at noon. Futurity sidepot, pole bending, speed dash, youth. - (218) 472-3402 betsykuschel@hotmail.com April 4-5, 2009 Horse-A-Rama "The World of Horses" Manitowoc Expo Ctr Manitowoc, WI 8-5 PM www.horse-a-rama.org or 920-682-9669 5/23-5/24 Saddle-Up trail ride fund raiser for ST.JUDE Children's Hospital, (Memorial day weekend). Dassel & Darwin Park Meeker Co. near Litchfield, MN gil@hutchtel.net for more information. EMAIL YOUR EVENT LISTINGS TO PEG@HORSEDIGESTS.COM
Minnesota Horse Council MN Horse Expo MN School Of Horse Shoeing More Custom Leather Northland Buildings Orchard Rangers Saddle Club Palma Feed Pleasant Hills Rosebud Productions R.T. Duggan Ryan Gingerich SBS Shurshod Simon Horse Sales The Natural Gait Thumbnail Ads Thurk Chevrolet - Keiferbuilt Twin Cities Featherlite United Vet Equine UBRA University of MN Walter’s Buildings Wehr's Chevrolet Westwind Shelters
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