I realize that you and the boys tend to get a little rowdy when you are turned out all day together. I also realize that you may be trying some new tactics to get my attention. But seriously – you HAVE to stop getting cut up on your lower legs because in a few weeks I’m not going to be physically capable of bending over to take care of you.

A few weeks ago Ace cut the inside of his hock. It got a bit infected and was swollen and hot for a few days. I spent lots of time with cold compresses and clean water (wash stall is out of commission for winter) to reduce the swelling and encourage healing. Yesterday I discovered a lovely cut on his right front leg above his pastern. It looked like one of his play buddies had come down on it with his hoof, taking out a chunk of hair and skin and scraping down his fetlock. It wasn’t terrible, but it was a little sore and swollen. So I did my cold compresses, cleaned it out, treated it, and wrapped it overnight to reduce the swelling. (PS Glenn and Jennifer – Well-Horse really is amazing stuff!)

At 28 weeks pregnant with my first, I’m fortunately not overly large in the belly yet (but I’m getting there fast!). I do, however, find myself modifying how I have to perform basic tasks around the barn – from treating leg wounds (or just cleaning off the excessive mud thanks to this non-winter) to filling the grain bin to getting brushes out of the grooming box.

With slight issues with balance starting to kick in, a lower back that gets sore fast if I bend over, and a bulging belly that gets in the way, I’m quickly finding new ways of doing things when I’m at the barn. Fortunately, with a few modifications (and a special helper) I haven’t had to give up my feed nights yet that help reduce my board costs.

Here are 5 basic modifications I’ve discovered that keep me active around the barn well into my pregnancy.

My Top 5 Tips for Modifying Barn Work While Pregnant

5. Carry stuff (yeah, I mean hay bales) low or to the side and use your hip if needed.

I found out real fast that I apparently have a habit of lifting with my arms and bracing hay bales against my stomach when I carry them. I never noticed I did it until a little bit of a baby bump made it super uncomfortable when I would lift a hay bale, and push it into the wheelbarrow with my belly. My modification? I carry the hay bale low against my thighs, lift with my arms, and use the side of my hip if I need to push it around. Large stacks of grain buckets are a little more awkward, but still manageable off to the side instead of the front of my upper body where I used to brace them.

4. Rest your horse’s hoof on your knee for hoof picking.

It’s amazing (read:pathetic) how out of breath I get these days just cleaning Ace’s feet. And with the amount of mud we’ve had, it’s an essential and sometimes lengthy process. Bending over is about the most uncomfortable thing in the whole world right now, which literally made hoof picking a royal pain. Modification? Partially squat keeping my back straight to ask Ace to lift his hoof, then stand part way up and have him rest his hoof on my knee for cleaning. Both are significantly easier on the back and the belly.

3. Use those arms to avoid twisting.

Any kind of movement where I twist in my core is uncomfortable and is sure to leave my poor stretched out abdominal muscles quite sore after I head home from the barn. It is also rough on the lower back. Pay attention to how you clean stalls or sweep out the barn aisle, and you’ll discover real fast that there’s a lot of twisting. The modification is using lots of arms, keeping your core straight, and moving your feet more often to get facing in the right direction. It feels awkward at first, but is much better than the alternative.

2. Always squat, never bend.

Mixing up grain buckets and bending over to scoop supplements, bending to the grooming box for brushes, bending to clean hoofs (and treat wounds), bending for flakes of hay – sense a trend? All that bending makes for a very sore lower back (and is just plain uncomfortable when your baby belly gets in the way). The modification? Always squat, never bend. It felt weird at first, but now I don’t have to think about it. And bonus? Squats are supposed to be a good pregnancy exercise in preparation for delivery.

1. Recruit a helper, preferably a pre-teen girl.

The very best trick for staying active in the barn late into pregnancy – making friends with a 12-year-old girl who is willing to do the heavy lifting and handle the misbehaved horses. Shout-out to mine – Hannah – who has been coming with me to the barn on feeds nights for nearly two years. We play with our horses together and then she helps me bring in and does most of the heavy lifting (read hay bales and grain bags) on our feed nights. She gets a ride weekly ride to the barn when her parents are tied up, the occasional English lesson on Ace, and valuable experience caring for the horses. It’s a win-win for both of us!

What other tips do you have for modifying your activity around the barn to accommodate for pregnancy? Comment below to share your best tips.

It’s a boy!

Now that the official stuff is over, please lament with me that I couldn’t convince my husband to let me go with a cowboy-themed nursery. Granted, it had nothing to do with the cowboys or the ponies at all all – and everything to do with the fact that he just didn’t want any kind of theme, period. Fortunately I generally agreed with him and didn’t have any interest myself is the typical overly-done themed nursery bedding and decor. But some of these little cowboy sets still captured my heart!

I saw this cowboy bedding from Montana Silversmiths several years ago while visiting my sister in Oklahoma. I might have fought a little harder for this one, if it hadn’t been discontinued.

The JoJo Designs Wild West Collection is one of my favorites, and is the only one carried by BabiesRUs where we did our registry. I like the simple horsey motif with the stars, paisley, and cow prints.

This is the CoCoLa Round Em Up baby bedding. It has a little more of the babyish style to it if that’s your thing – and a nice mix of neutral colors.

I particularly love the cactus on the Bananafish Round Up baby bedding. The pony is pretty cute too.

I like the balance of colors in this one, and particularly the cow and wire prints on the diaper stacker. This is the Boutique Horse Western Cowboy bedding from Geeny. (if you didn’t notice, this is the same pony from the CoCoLa set above)

And last but not least, here’s the not-at-all-horsey but completely perfect nursery bedding we picked out:

It’s the Skip Hop Treetop Friends crib bedding. We love the colors, the simple and understated design, and the lovely detailing. Just what we had in mind! And we can use it again in a few years if we need something appropriate for a little cowgirl too.

If you didn’t tune in to Horses In the Morning yesterday, hop over and take a listen to their fun version of announcing the Eclipse Awards winners that were released on Monday night. Glenn, Jamie, and our good friend Frankie Lovato -  an Eclipse award-winning jockey and founder of Jockey World – shared their picks for each of the Eclipse Awards, and then Jennifer played a sound file of the official announcement for each award.

But just what is the big deal about the annual Eclipse Awards anyways?

History of the Eclipse Awards

Prior to 1971, the Daily Racing Form and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association each had their own yearly awards. “Horse of the Year” awarded to well-known greats like War Admiral, Seabiscuit, Whirlaway, Citation, and Bold Ruler was given by the Daily Racing Form. In 1950, the Thoroughbred Racing Association got in on the action and starting offering awards of their own – but picking all the same winners.

So in 1971, these two organizations along with National Turf Writer’s Association decided to team up and sponsor one set of awards. That year the official Eclipse Awards for thoroughbred racing were born, named after the great racehorse and sire Eclipse. In the mid-18th century Eclipse began racing as a 5-year-old, had 18 undefeated starts, and his foals won 344 races.

Eclipse Awards Categories

The Eclipse Awards recognize horses and people in all facets of thoroughbred racing – from the horses (of course!) to the jockey, trainers, and even the sports writers. While the “Horse of the Year” category is of course the most prestigious, horses can also earn recognition in each of these categories as well:

• 2-year-old male
• 2-year-old filly
• 3-year-old male
• 3-year-old female
• older male
• older female
• male sprinter
• female sprinter
• male turf horse
• female turf horse
• steeplechase horse

The humans involved can win:

• outstanding owner
• outstanding breeder
• outstanding trainer
• outstanding jockey
• outstanding apprentice jockey (Frankie won this one!)
• special award (to honor outstanding achievements in TB racing)

There’s also a whole section of “Media Eclipse Awards” for photography, writing, television, and audio/multi-media/internet.

How are Eclipse Award Winners Selected?

Eclipse Award members are selected by a majority vote by members of the three sponsoring organizations (Daily Racing Form, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Turf Writers Association). The only criteria is the horse had to have one start on American soil. Other than that – it’s fair game.

Here’s an interesting (read:funny) article on Forbes by one of the voters on selecting Eclipse Awards winners.

The award winners are announced in a big ceremony (which was streamed live online this year) in the middle of January.

Follow the Eclipse Awards

• Winners prior to 1971
• Current Eclipse Award winners

Additionally, you can easily follow potential Eclipse award winners throughout the year through various channels online. Most major racetracks post their races on YouTube and have blog and article coverage, or you can check out the many sportsbook review websites out there (even if you’re not into gambling, they do tend to have very good coverage of the races and top horses).

Fortunately, he’s moved beyond the #2 Anger stage, where he undoubtedly spent a few weeks recently.

I think Ace must have thought that aliens abducted me and replaced me with a boring and significantly less demanding version when I suddenly quit riding cold turkey. We went from riding multiple days a week, constantly learning something new, and challenging his brain and body to lovey-dovey grooming sessions and walks around the indoor.

And he started acting out. He was hanging his head out his window and biting other horses who went past -  as well as the dogs. And he even tried nibbling on me a few times! He didn’t chomp down, but grabbed my sleeve delicately in his front teeth and pulled as if to say “Who are you and what did you do with my mom?” When I got him out to do groundwork, he gave me his old man grumpy face with annoyed eyes, wrinkled nose, and laid back disinterested ears. Ace was undoubtedly sending me a  message.

So one day I decided to get his attention.

I put him in rope halter with 15 foot lead and started working his little hiney from the ground. Instead of the correct but leisurely responses to my cues he’d been offering, I started demanding big and immediate movements. I sent him backing at a speed to rival a reiner. I sent him to the left, stopped him, and immediately sent him around to the right. He had to jump into it and trot. I got him to walk to me, petted him, and sent him back out again.

And in just a few minutes, I had a horse whose entire attention was on me. Head up, ears pointed, interested, and keeping his eyes on me. It was the Ace of old, from our early training days, to whom everything was new and thus life was always challenging.

It was like he was looking at me and saying “Oh! There you are!”

And while he still has a habit of biting the other horse and the dogs, he hasn’t done it to me again. And rather than sticking his head in a corner to pout, he’s happy to see me, and excited to get out of his stall and play.

I don’t think it’s that he really missed working hard (he’s generally a bit lazy by nature) – but I think he missed the me he had come to understand and love. I suppose it’s all about being consistent, whether it’s from the saddle or from the ground.

At 24 weeks pregnant and unable to ride, I’ve discovered that skipping barn nights comes much more easily. Perhaps I’m a little tired, or I threw out my back (like I did this week), or I’m busy getting my life and house in order before it’s taken over by a baby. I suppose it’s good preparation for both Ace and I for when the baby actually comes and my barn time is much more limited.

I’ve got less than 16 weeks until my due date, and probably a few more to recover before I can actually sit in a saddle – but the days when I can ride again are suddenly starting to feel a little closer!

I’ve read articles for years about riding while pregnant, which all pretty much boil down to doctors saying not to ride at all, and horse women saying to keep it up if you feel comfortable and are careful. I wasn’t sure which way I would lean until the day I found out that I was indeed expecting.

And I knew there was absolutely no way I could give up riding right then cold turkey. I felt fine, I didn’t look or feel pregnant, and the baby was smaller than an ant.

I did however scale back immediately. I quit jumping, and didn’t head out on the trails where we could meet unexpected deer and small critters to eat my big pansy thoroughbred. We stuck to light rides in the arena on the soft sand where Ace was comfortable.

Doctors Say No Horseback Riding During Pregnancy

I researched some more during those early weeks to decide how safe it was to ride and for how long. At my early prenatal appointments, I sat mute when the nurse practitioner asked if I had any questions, because I didn’t want her opinion on if it was OK to ride knowing I probably wouldn’t like what she had to say. On every list of high-risk sports to avoid while pregnant, horseback riding was near the top. They talked about the risk of falling off and the damage it could do. They talked about potential problems caused by the jostling. Across the board, non-horsey medical professionals said no riding under circumstances.

Horse Women (Some Also Doctors) Say To Ride, Carefully

Then there are the horseback riding women themselves, and doctors who are also riders who tend to be more understanding of the deep-seated NEED to ride. Many of them say that if your body is accustomed to riding at a certain level, the physical effects of riding aren’t going to cause problems (same goes for many other types of heavier exercise like running or weight lifting). Many agree that as long as you feel comfortable in the saddle and your balance isn’t compromised, keep riding!

They do all, of course, caution about the risk of falling off. Most say to avoid jumping, hot/spooky horses, and situations that could stress your horse. Stick to trust worthy horses you know well who are unlikely to have an issue.

Make Your Own Choice On Riding While Pregnant

I was feeling encouraged by the doctors who are also horse women and their advocacy of riding with some basic precautions. Then I came across an interesting tidbit in an article by one of these doctors. It explained that up until 12 weeks, the developing baby is very very small and is well protected by the pelvic bone. Even at that point, a fall is less likely to do any significant damage to the baby because of that protection.

However, at 12 weeks, the baby is bigger and moves forward and up to where it is no longer protected by the pelvic bone. At this point, falling off a horse is very likely to do considerable damage.

I set my stop riding date for the Saturday in October when I hit 12 weeks.

For me, the risk of falling off and hurting my baby is too great to ignore. As badly as I want to get on every single horse I see right now, there’s nothing that would make me get back up in that saddle.

After my second to last ride with Ace during my 11th week, I went home and cried because I was so upset about giving it up. I raged at my husband ant told him it was no fair that I had to give up my riding, and my figure, and my energy, and then push this baby out, and he didn’t have to give up anything (pregnancy hormones at their finest!).

Two days later I climbed aboard Ace for what was to be my last ride. I wanted it to be amazing, and a ride to remember.

It wasn’t. Ace was stiff, unenthusiastic, and neither of us felt our best. The whole time, all I could think about was the fact that if I fell off, my husband would never forgive me – and neither would I forgive myself. I got off after 20 minutes mentally at peace with my decision.

I know that come April when I have both a beautiful healthy baby in my arms and a horse to ride, it will all be worth it.

Your Turn!

Whether or not to keep riding while pregnant is a personal choice. I know that this was the exact right decision for me. However, for someone with a higher-risk pregnancy it may be prudent to stop immediately. Or for a trainer who makes her living riding horses, there’s also great risk to stopping too soon.

If you’ve been pregnant, did you keep riding and why or why not? If you might be pregnant someday, what do you think you will do? And if, like me, you did stop riding for most of your pregnancy, please share some tips on how you survived!

(PS – I DID ask my doctor if it was ok to lift hay bales and grain bags – no worries if I had to give that up! Of course, she said as long as I was used to doing it and my body felt fine, it was no problem.)

Oh, right. It was mine.

I decided to half-lease Ace during my pregnancy ages and ages ago, when I very first started to even entertain the idea of having a baby. First, I knew I wouldn’t ride the whole time and didn’t want him to go out of condition. Second, I won’t be able to keep working at the barn to reduce my board costs. This was a great way to kill two birds with one stone.

It’s going to be great for Ace to have someone to ride him a few days a week – especially since he’ll mostly be going for nice walks out on the trail with Niki, the appy mare he loves. It will be nice for his leasee, who hasn’t gotten to ride much in years and who will now have the opportunity to ride regularly with her mom (who owns Niki). It will be nice for me to know that he has someone who will care for his well-being in the same way that I would to help keep him going.

But I’ve never ever had somebody riding my horse without me present. Tonight will be the first.

It’s a lovely, sunny, crisp fall day in Ohio and I’m sure they’ll have a wonderful time. But a small part of me is worried because I won’t be there. And a bigger part of me wishes that it was me heading out for a pleasant afternoon ride.

But I know that in the end it will all be worth it, and this is the best option for Ace and I and my baby.

If you are a long-time reader and are confused by that statement because you know that my love Ace is a gelding and not a mare …

… by mare I mean ME!

My hubby and I are expecting a new member of our family – the first one with less than four legs – at the end of April. We hit the second trimester tomorrow, and will find out sometime mid-December if we’re having a little cowboy or cowgirl.

Ace is preparing to be a good big brother by getting lots of brushing, hand-grazing, ground work, and gaining a few extra pounds with me as I am no longer riding him. But that’s another story for another day.

In fact, the next six months is going to be full of stories of what it’s like to be expanding the human family while trying to maintain the equine one. I already have stories of tell of my decision on whether or not to keep riding, how I cried the last week that I rode Ace, and then how I finally felt peace with keeping my feet on the ground, of the 12-year-old girl who now hauls all the hay bales for me, the Western, pony-themed bedding I love but is discontinued, and most importantly my plans to half-lease Ace for the duration of my pregnancy and as I enter motherhood.

Hopefully the training Ace has me given in caring for a fragile creature and training a willful four-legged child will be useful somewhere in the not-too-distant future.

I’ve been waiting anxiously to be able to tell you where Regarding Horses is headed for the next year. I hope you will join me on this journey! Be sure to subscribe via RSS or email in the sidebar to join in the fun.

One of the areas I’ve really been struggling over lately is the usefulness (and ethics) of using correction tools in training.

I’m talking things like spurs, draw reins, side reins, gag bits – anything outside of your basic saddle and bridle with a gentle snaffle. I think there are three general camps that we fall into as horse men and women:

1. These tools should never be used any under circumstances.
2. When used judiciously, these can be useful training tools.
3. Always use these tools to get training done quickly or to mitigate issues.

I am not a believer in quick fixes. Training a horse to be a successful partner long-term takes patience, kindness, firmness, and consistency. I also think the goal of solid training is to teach your horse to require as little cue as it takes to get the desired result. The slightest closing of the leg sends him forward. Quieting the seat slows him down. The slightest squeeze on a rein increases the bend or straightens the neck. And eventually, with time and patience and consistency, we should be able to do this without spurs, whips, or correction bits.

However, when your horse is just learning (and sometimes later if he forgets) it will take more than the lightest squeeze to elicit a response. Sometimes he ignores the light bump of your outside leg that keeps him from overbending as he drags you into the wall and a bigger kick (or even a little spur) is necessary to get his attention.

Lately Ace, who has been very nicely light in the mouth from day one, has started leaning on the bit. He’s not really using it for balance and he’s still responding and moving nicely – he’s just heavy. If I give him more rein he just bears down until he’s trotting with his nose at his ankles (literally). Sending him forward doesn’t help, and light jiggles of the reins to remind him not to lean only help temporarily.

So when my mom offered me an elevator bit on loan to see if the leverage would help him learn to quit the lean, I gave it a shot.

It’s a single jointed Happy Mouth elevator, sometimes referred to as a bubble bit. I could attach two reins – one as the regular snaffle rein, and one on a lower ring to add the upwards leverage as needed. Ace loved it. And so far – just two rides in it did the trick. I kept my hands light, and if he started to get heavy would gently activate the lower rein until he lifted up again. It only took two or three times for Ace to “get it.” He was happy, light, forward, ears perked, soft in the poll, and gentle in the contact.

Next ride we went back to him normal loose-ring Myler bit, and he was still happy, light, forward, soft in the poll, and gentle in the contact.

For Ace, one ride in a judiciously used correction bit solved more issues than the nagging and constantly reminding him with leg and reins to lighten up. Used this way, I’d say it’s a very useful training tool – and one that was much kinder on my horse.

What are your thoughts on tools like spurs, correction bits, draw reins, etc?

From TheHorse.com: “Insect bite hypersensitivity is the most common cause of pruritus (itchiness) in horses, affecting equids in almost all parts of the world,” van den Boom said in the study, adding that IBH is an allergic reaction to insect bites. Clinical signs include scratching and rubbing, excoriations (areas where the skin is rubbed off), oozing of serum, patchy alopecia (hair loss), scaling, and hyperkeratosis (callousing).” (article on ointments that can help bug bite sensitivity.)

It sounds like mine. Skin rubbed off – check. Oozing of serum – check. Hair loss – check. Callousing – check.

Apparently Insect Bite Sensitivity is an actual condition in horses, and Ace has more than a few of the symptoms. When I left for a week long beach vacation, Ace had a few bug bite callouses on his back that he’s had most of the summer. When I returned, he had two spots that looked like small wounds oozing serum – one on his neck and one on his belly. He has more calloused bumps than when I left. He also has a handful of small, hairless, scaly patches. It sounds like a lot when they are added up, but his symptomatic areas are small and generally not that noticeable unless you are grooming and looking for issues.

From what I can find, all advice for dealing with bug bite hypersensitivity has to do with preventing insect bites in the first place. Use fly spray, masks and sheets, feed through bug control supplements, and avoid turning out during the buggiest times of day. But what do you do to get rid of the pre-existing skin issues?

Horse owners of similarly-sensitive-skinned horses: go! What have you found to work for getting rid of callouses and other skin issues caused by insect bites in your hypersensitive horse?

He finally lets you put the halter on, but isn’t reassured as you stroke his neck and the side of his face. He knows that you are just trying to lull him into a false sense of security before making your move (good call, that one!).

Then that white tube of poison comes out of your pocket – because something that tastes that bad and requires such a careful production HAS to be bad for him. You didn’t know you had a giraffe, or that even if you could reach his mouth that a horse could purse his lips that tightly. And this is probably a good time to wear your helmet for ground work – because that hard equine head will be flying.

Your horse doesn’t know that the horrible stuff you push out of that tube isn’t going to kill him. He has a long memory – and the last time you gave him the stuff it tasted really bad.

So why did Ace get beside-himself-excited the other day when I pulled out the dreaded dewormer – and actually dive on it and put it in his mouth himself?

Because he gets something tasty out of  a tube every day.

Ace is on a natural digestive health supplement called SUCCEED – and he adores it. It’s made from various things including oat extracts and it smells and tastes divine (yes, I know this from personal experience). Ace gets the SUCCEED oral paste. I have to be careful when I go to squirt it in the back of his mouth because he loves it so much that he bites down on the tube and sometimes closes off the end before it’s all out.

The way I get Ace to take his dewormer happily? The bait and switch.

Ace was not a happy camper when he discovered that what was in the tube was Anthelcide (that even sounds like a poison, doesn’t it?) and not SUCCEED. He tossed his head around and tried to lick the taste out of his mouth for a good 10 minutes. The beauty of this? It will be another three months before Ace needs dewormer again – three months of getting his beloved SUCCEED out of a tube – and he’ll totally forget.

Maybe your horse doesn’t need a tasty digestive supplement. But you can still train him to take the tube willingly by regularly giving him something yummy from one – like applesauce. If he comes to expect something good, he won’t be so distraught on the rare occassion you need to give him de-wormer or Bute paste.

Do you have any other tips for getting your horse to take de-wormer willingly? What other creative treats would you put in a tube?