All About Horses

Horses Health - Toxic Plants Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:29:00 +0000

Plants That Can Seriously Damage Your Horses Health

It really is lucky that horses don't find most these plants very palatable. However, there are exceptions and sometimes horses will eat highly toxic or lethal doses, even when forage is adequate. That's why summer is a good time to explore your horse pasture to be sure toxic plants are kept out of your horse's diet. Remember that some of the plants I have covered are evergreen, so they will be around in the fall, winter and spring too.

This issue will cover:

• Fiddleneck and Related Plants
• Crotalaria Species
• Senecio Species
• Chokecherry and Wild Cherry (Prunus)
• Sorghum and Sudan Grass
• Bermuda Grass
• Black Locust
• Oak Trees

Again I need you to know that I have not written the following – I am not a Vet or a plants man, so I have copied this information simply to make it easy for you to read. I would not re-write it because I was afraid of getting something wrong that may prove fatal to your horse, so I make no apologies for copying this.

Fiddleneck and related plants

Several members of the amsinckia species have been linked to causing cirrhosis of the liver. These plants include fiddleneck, tarweed, yellow burr weed, fireweed and buckthorn, which are predominantly found in the semi-arid regions of Idaho,Washington, Oregon and California. The plants appear in late winter and early spring. The seeds are the most toxic parts of these plants and fortunately the mature plants are unpalatable to most horses. Most instances of poisoning occur when mature amsinckia species are bailed in early cuttings of hay or when contaminated grain was threshed for horses. Some poisonings have occurred when horses were pastured on wheat stubble in contaminated fields.

Cirrhosis causes hardening and eventual metabolic shutdown of the liver. The liver can no longer filter out toxic wastes which, among other things, produces disturbances of the nervous system. Affected horses have been known to walk aimlessly for miles, running into objects in their path rather than go around them, pressing their heads into solid objects and occasionally becoming frenzied when they cannot continue. Oftentimes death results from the horse getting hopelessly entangled in a fence or literally walking over the edge of a cliff or ravine.

Other behavioral abnormalities include recklessness, charging, lack of coordination, circling, staggering, "dragging" of the hind limbs, which have been described as the "sleepy staggers". The horse may also appear listless, hang its head and acting sluggish or depressed. Signs of colic may be present, which may include straining, diarrhea and rectal prolapse. Small foul smelling ulcers may appear in the mouth.

The chronic patient will become a poor keeper, show yellow membranes around the eyes and mouth, produce a rough coat and eventually become anemic and die. Fortunately healthy horses need to consume amsinckia plants over a period of time before enough liver damage occurs to produce symptoms. Unfortunately, once cirrhosis of the liver develops, it is for all practical purposes irreversible.

Crotalaria Species
Crotalaria, predominantly found in the south and southeast, has been the cause of many horse losses. Known as wild pea, rattle box and rattle weed, crotalaria has been intentionally planted as an agricultural cover crop to enrich the soil from the Atlantic seaboard, west into Texas. Two species, crotalaria sagittalis and crotalaria spectabilis, are particularly toxic and produce the same effects as fiddleneck.

Senecio Species
Senecios comprise one of the largest genre of plants in the midwest and western US.Not all species are poisonous, and of those which are, only a few contain enough alkaloids to cause problems in horses. Those which do can produce the same kind illness as fiddleneck. Senecio jacobaea is particularly toxic. In the Nebraska region, "walking disease" is caused by senecio. In the Pacific Northwest, the disease is commonly called "Hard Liver Disease" or "Walla Walla Walking Disease."

Other species such as ragwort, common groundsel and "Stinking Willie" are generally considered toxic, however their alkaloid content seems to be less than senecio jacobaea.

Chokecherry and Wild Cherry (Prunus)
Chokecherries, growing in bushes up to 12 feet high, are popular for their jelly producing berries. They are common throughout the US, often found along roadsides or creek bottoms. Unfortunately the leaves, which are particularlytoxic when stressed or wilted, as well as the bark from chokecherries and wild cherries are cyanide producing. Death in horses can occur literally in minutes after the horse has ingested the leaves. The horse will appear to have trouble breathing, show flared nostrils and lose bowel and urinary control. Lack of coordination and trembling may also appear, along with agitation. A severely poisoned horse will drop to the ground, kick a few times, then die. Poisoned horses can be saved, however usually veterinary help cannot arrive in time as the effects of cyanide poisoning progress rapidly.

Sorghum and Sudan Grass
Sorghum and Sudan Grass, both of which can be effective as livestock feed when grown, harvested and cured correctly, can produce cyanide poisoning when improperly managed. After a hard frost or trampling, prussic acid can build up in new growth which grazing horses are likely to seek out. The effects of this poisoning is the same as with choke cherries.

Other problems associated with grazed or improperly baled sorghum and sudan grasses include urinary tract complications, causing thick and viscous urine and bladder infections. Signs of such problems may appear as buildup inside the horse's hind legs. If left untreated, the infection can become fatal. Pregnant mares may abort or give birth to deformed foals.

There are species of sorghum which are developed especially for animal feed, and we have fed them with great success. However, when feeding sorghum to horses, one should be certain what kind of sorghum is being grown and that the grower knows how to properly manage, cure and bale the crop. Unless you really know what you are doing, letting your horse graze on growing sorghum or sudan grass can be a risky proposition.

Bermuda Grass
Berumuda grass can be good feed for horses, however in certain climates a harmful fungus called ergot can be present and which appears as small brown or black nodules on the bermuda grass or dallis grass seed heads. When consumed, a condition known as "Bermuda Grass Shakes" or "Dallis Grass Tremors" can occur, producing such symptoms as lack of coordination, tremors, strange head movements and tongue rolling, and in severe cases, paralysis.

Once the tainted forage is discontinued, horses may recover rapidly, virtually overnight to several days. Pregnant mares, however, may abort.

Black Locust
Horses tied to black locust trees or black locust posts and who have chewed on the bark can become poisoned, becoming very ill in just a few hours. Symptoms include loss of appetite, general weakness and depression.Symptoms of a mild colic may also be present. Horses can ingest enough bark to prove fatal, although most recover after several days or weeks.

Oak Trees Horses have been known to binge on acorns, particularly if they are hungry and are not used to having them around. Acorns and many oak leaves are high in tannin. It is relatively easy for a horse to ingest several pounds of acorns in a relatively short period of time leading to an unfortunate overdose. Well, that’s it from me on poisonous plants. I would suggest that you keep all 3 of these newsletters handy just in case. In fact I have printed them off and am going on a walking tour of my fields and local pastures and see what I can spot that is potentially dangerous. Then I will report it to owners, and if its in my pastures, take appropriate action to ensure that my horses aren’t hurt by it. I would suggest that you find time to do the same.

From the author: Roger Bourdon has written a book on Introduction To Horsebackriding and Horse's Health. (Article Adapted by All About Horses)

Learn All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.

Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed

Horses Health - Toxic Plants Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:05:00 +0000

Plants That Can Seriously Damage Your Horses Health

As I said before, it’s lucky that horses don't find most poisonous plants very palatable. However, there are exceptions and sometimes horses will eat highly toxic or lethal doses of poisonous plants, even when forage is adequate. That's why summer is a good time to explore your horse pasture to be sure toxic plants are kept out of your horse's diet.

This issue will cover:

Water Hemlock
Ground Ivy
Larkspur (Delphinium)
Bracken Fern
Horsetail
Caster Oil Bean
Red Maple
Buckwheat
Alsike Clover
Rhododendron and Relatives
Potato and Tobacco Leaf Plants

This is the same reminder I gave last time. You need to know that I have not written the following – I am not a Vet or a plants man, so I have copied this information simply to make it easy for you to read. I would not re-write it because I was afraid of getting something wrong that may prove fatal to your horse, so I make no apologies for copying this.

Water Hemlock
All parts of the water hemlock plant, also known as western water hemlock, contain a toxin called cicutoxin. Some consider this to be one of the most poisonous plants in the US. Frequenting moist areas such as wet meadows and pastures or the banks of ponds or streams, it resembles the larger poison hemlock, but only reaches a height of two to three feet. Tuberous roots and immature shoots and leaves are particularly toxic and only a small amount is needed to poison a horse. The plant seems more attractive to horses after being sprayed with the herbicide 2,4-D. Common names include false parsley, snakeroot and poison parsnip. Symptoms include muscle tremors which can develop into violent convulsions and respiratory shutdown. Early signs such as excessive salivation and frothing may occur as quickly as 15 minutes after ingestion. Convulsions can be extremely severe, with head and neck thrown back, legs flexed as if running and abdominal pain is generally present accompanied by an associative grinding of teeth. Coma and death usually follow and there is no known treatment. The toxins act quickly and horses are rarely saved, however horses which make it through the first five to six hours after the onset of symptoms have a good chance of survival.

Ground Ivy
Ground ivy, commonly called Creeping Charlie, is present throughoutmuch of North America. Horses must ingest relatively large amounts for fatal consequences to occur, and such events are commonly traced to the plant being baled into the horse's feed. When ground ivy is present or suspected, consider unusually severe sweating accompanied by frothing at the mouth and / or difficulty breathing as signs of potential ground ivy poisoning.

Larkspur (Delphinium)
In the Western US, larkspur is the number two cause of livestock losses. Under natural conditions, horses will sample larkspur but will not eat enough to kill themselves if other feed is available. Delphiniums planted in ornamental gardens should be considered as toxic as their wild counterparts and the same precautions should be taken as with oleander.

Bracken Fern
This plant, also known as the brake fern, is common in wooded areasof the Pacific Northwest. Horses generally avoid it, but some can acquire a taste for it. Toxicity is cumulative and generally symptoms appear after the horse nibbles on this plant repeatedly over a long period of time. Early symptoms include weight loss which can progress to unsteady walking, then staggering with the horse spreading with all four feet to stay balanced, often pressing his head into solid objects. If untreated, death will occur from several days to several weeks after the symptoms appear.

Horsetail
Horsetail, also called mare's tail and scouring rush, poisons the horse in a similar fashion as bracken fern. All varieties of Horsetail are poisonous and they are often found near bogs and streams. The only reported difference in symptoms from bracken fern poisoning is that with Horsetail the animal may become quiet, unresponsive or comatose prior to death.

Castor Oil Bean
The castor oil plant, or palma christi, is grown as an ornamental plant in California and many southern states. It contains ricin, which causes severe irritation to the intestinal tract. (Castor oil is non-toxic because ricin is not soluble in oil.) The seed is the part of the plant which is poisonous - to all animals. As little as 7 grams of seeds have been reported to kill a horse although it is generally considered that about 50 grams (about 150 beans) are necessary to kill a healthy 1000 lb. specimen. Symptoms may not appear until two to three days after ingesting the beans. When signs do appear they are generally acute and progress rapidly. The animal may actdoped up and lose coordination, followed by profuse sweating. Signs of shock are not uncommon. Neck and shoulder spasms may appear accompanied by an extremely profound but ineffective heartbeat which can be easily felt, but which produces a weak and rapid pulse. Early on a temperature may be present up to 107 degrees F (41.5 C). Eventually a profuse, watery diarrhea appears often accompanied by colic-like pain. Finally the horse may go into convulsions and die.

Red Maple
Red Maples are natives in the eastern US and can be found as ornamental specimen trees in many other areas. The dried leaves and bark of the red maple can produce significant anemia in the horse when eaten. Symptoms include general weakness, and increased respiratory and cardiac rates indicating the animal's attempt to compensate for the anemic condition. Please note: Some nurseries have crossed silver maples with red maples to produce more color. These hybrids are also toxic to horses. Check with your nurseryman to make sure you are planting true silver maples!

Buckwheat
Buckwheat contains a pigment called fagopyrin, which when ingested by the horse, causes photosensitive dermatitis. Symptoms include a weepy, itching dermatitis in those areas exposed to sunlight.

Alsike Clover
Hormones in this plant can cause photosensitization of the skin and hypertrophy of the liver (big liver disease). Visible symptoms include increased sensitivity of the skin (especially the nose and lips) to sunlight.

Rhododendrons and relatives
These plants, along with azaleas, laurels and mountain pieris contain grayanotoxin. Symptoms include an excess of green, frothy salivation which is generally associated with gastrointestinal irritation and colic.

Potato and Tobacco Leaf Poisoning
Nicotine and its related compounds are toxic to horses. The stems and leaves of many types of potato plants contain high concentrations of this alkaloid, as do the wild varieties of tobacco which grow in the western United States and Hawaii. Horses have also been known to be poisoned by domestic tobacco which has been harvested and within their reach, typically when stored in barns where they are stabled.
Nicotine affects the autonomic nervous system. In minor cases the horse may shake, shiver or twitch, particularly around the neck and shoulders. As the symptoms advance, staggering, prostration and paralysis may be evident. The heart may beat violently but produce a weak, rapid pulse. The horse may show an elevated temperature, yet the extremities will feel cold. Sometimes colic and / or labored breathing may be present.
Severe cases will usually produce a rapid onset of symptoms, followed a few minutes later by death, although some horses have been known to struggle with nicotine effects for up to several days. There is no known treatment for nicotine poisoning.

From the author:
Roger Bourdon has written a book on Introduction To Horsebackriding and Horse's Health. (Article Adapted by All About Horses)

Learn All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.

Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed

Horses Health - Toxic Plants Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:36:00 +0000

Plants That Can Seriously Damage Your Horse's Health

Fortunately, horses don't find most poisonous plants very palatable. However, there are exceptions and sometimes horses will eat highly toxic or lethal doses of poisonous plants, even when forage is adequate. That's why summer is a good time to explore your horse pasture to be sure toxic plants are kept out of your horse's diet. Perhaps I should have done this earlier in the year but, hey I didn’t think to. I have only covered it here because I was hit on the head by a load of acorns as I walked my dog the other day and that reminded me just how many plants and trees can be poisonous for horses. So, apologies for the lateness, but as the English say – better late than never!

It's important to know what plants to look for in each season. Different plants grow and become toxic at different times of the year. For example although red maples are toxic when green during the growing season, the wilted or recently shed red leaves in the fall are most potent in causing anemia and kidney damage in horses. Other poisonous plants are most toxic as young sprouts in the early spring or when toxic seeds are produced late in summer.

Sometimes, what is safe for a person to eat can be toxic to a horse. Cabbage, broccoli, onions, chives, kale, elderberry, pokeweed, and rhubarb can be toxic for herbivores such as horses. So be careful what you toss over the fence to the horses!

The Solanaceae family of plants provides a good example. Though it includes the infamous deadly nightshade, we put several of nightshade's relatives on our dinner plate. Luckily, tomato's fruits and mature potatoes aren't toxic to us. But, the green parts of these and many related plants of this family contain atropine or atropine-like substances, and these are bad news for horses. Atropine will slow the gut. That's the last thing a horse wants because it will cause colic, which can kill a horse. Other toxic members of this family include ground cherry, henbane, and jimsonweed.

Some plants contain saponins, which are detergents, or soaps, and present another danger for horses. Soapy substances can irritate the digestive system and cause diarrhea, cramps, and colic, Plants that contain saponins include pokeweed, bouncing bet, corn cockle, and English ivy.

Horses don't normally get sunburn, but if you notice blistering and cracking on any white areas of your horse, he may have been munching on large amounts of prairie groundsel, rattle box (Crotalaria), and kochia (fireweed). Though members of different plant families, they all kill liver cells. When plant toxins damage the liver, photoactive substances derived from chlorophyll build up in the blood. These substances are exposed to the sun only in the white areas, so that's where you'll notice blistering, cracking, or loss of outer layers of the
skin.

Other photoactive substances, such as wild parsnip or St.-John's Wort, cause the
same skin lesions without first damaging the liver.

Milkweed, dogbane, oleander, yew, lily-of-the-valley, white snakeroot, azalea, and other Rhododendron species and purple foxglove all contain substances that may affect a horse's heart. These plants can hit the heart really hard and cause heart failure. Japanese yew can stop the heart suddenly. One or two leaves of oleander, a plant found mainly in California, Arizona, and Florida, can kill a horse. White snakeroot causes scarring in the horse's heart and may decrease performance and cause severe heart failure.

Horse owners should learn the list of plants, including many popular ornamentals, whcih can cause the biggest problems and even death in horses. A few castor beans or one little potted hydrangea can kill a horse. Larkspur, a plant sometimes found as an ornamental in the Midwest, can cause paralysis and respiratory failure. Wild black cherry, chokecherry, plum, and peach contain cyanide poison in the leaves, and especially in the seeds, which can be rapidly lethal. Sorghum can also be a source of cyanide. Socrates demonstrated the
deadliness of poison hemlock, a plant that is widespread in the Midwest.

If a poisonous plant is consumed by your horse, another animal, or a human, take a sample of the plant, estimate the quantity eaten, note the time of onset of signs, and call a veterinarian or physician immediately.

If you are not sure what certain poisonous plants look like, the University of Illinois even has a virtual tour of its garden at http://www.library.uiuc.edu/vex/vetdocs/toxic.htm

That was just a quick summary but for those of you who want to know more I have cover some of them in more detail below and in the next 2 issues. Today we cover:
• Yew
• Oleander
• Yellow Star Thistle
• Locoweed
• Timber Milk Vetch
• Lupine
• Poison Hemlock

Over the next 2 issues we’ll cover a lot more.

Now you need to know that I have not written the following – I am not a Vet or a plants man, so I have copied this information simply to make it easy for you to read. I would not re-write it because I was afraid of getting something wrong that may prove fatal to your horse, so I make no apologies for copying this.

Yew

The yew is a small evergreen tree found in the Pacific Northwest. All parts of the yew, along with many of its cousins, are extremely toxic and contain taxine,

a cardiac depressant. Symptoms include trembling, a slowing of the heart rate and cardiac failure which can occur in as little as five minutes after ingesting the plant. Some deceased horses were found with yew leaves or twigs still in their mouths. There is usually no time to initiate treatment and there is no known antidote.

Oleander

Oleanders are a common ornamental shrub in the west and south, often growing along roadways and used as a visual barrier or wind screen. All varieties are extremely toxic. The horse's first signs of oleander poisoning will often be profuse diarrhea which may be bloody. Immediate veterinary intervention and a lot of good luck is required to prevent death, which often occurs within 8 to 24 hours after ingestion. Administration of laxatives to purge the remaining oleander from the horse can sometimes save the horse.

Yellow Star Thistle
Eating yellow star thistle and Russian knapweed brings on nigropallidal encephalomalacia, commonly called "chewing disease". Typically horses eat the plant over an extended period of time before

symptoms appear. The ingested toxins actually cause a softening of parts of the brain and once symptoms appear, the animal will likely die.

The horse will not be able to eat or drink, although he may attempt to do so. He may chew food only to spit it out when he cannot swallow, often acting as if something is caught in his throat. (Symptoms resemble the early onset of rabies, so you should consider rabies also as a possibility and not go reaching into the horse's mouth to look for obstructions.)

The horse may chew without having anything in his mouth, move his tongue and lips in unusual fashions, yawn frequently and assume unusual postures such as head hanging or pushing against solid objects.

Because this disease damages the brain and prevents the horse from eating, there is no recovery. Clinical experiments where poisoned horses were fed through stomach tubes have shown that even after extended periods of time, affected horses will not regain the ability to swallow.

Locoweed
Locoweed is a common name for plants which fall into two genera; Astraglus and Oxytropis. While there are hundreds of species of these plants, only about 20 are considered poisonous. These plants range from low growing ground covers to two foot tall clumps of flowers. They can be found throughout the west from Canada to Mexico in semi-arid foothills and plains. Some of these species are very similar to each other, so even experienced botanists can have difficulty differentiating between a poisonous and non-poisonous specimen.

Horses typically avoid locoweed, but once they have sampled it a few times, they can become addicted to it. They have to graze on it for a period of time before symptoms appear and the most obvious symptoms may not appear until well after the horse has stopped eating it. These symptoms include altered gaits, aimless wanderings, sometimes in circles, impaired vision (to the extent they bump into things or fall into arroyos or other depressions) and erratic behavioral changes. They may appear listless or complacent, then wildly overreact to some unexpected event.

Locoweeds can have such an alkaloid content that one Nevada species has even poisoned the bees which were pollinating the plants. Alkaloid poisoning has a cumulative effect which can be absorbed over long periods of time until symptoms appear and the effects in many cases are irreversible. Horses found eating locoweeds who have then been confined away from the plants prior to showing advanced symptoms, and who have been fed good quality hay and feed, have experienced a slow but successful recovery.

Timber Milk Vetch

Like the Locoweeds, this group of plants falls into the genus Astraglus although the symptoms of poisoning are different and their onset is much more rapid. When excited, the horse will often produce a roaring sound when exhaling. Other symptoms include salivating and staggering. Death is usually sudden from asphyxiation.

Lupine
Lupines involve a large genus of plants, many species which are not poisonous. They typically display bunches of white, blue, purple or pinkish pea-shaped flowers on upright stalks. They are found in a wide variety of landscapes from ocean beaches to high mountain pastures. Like locoweeds, it is difficult for even the experts to distinguish the toxic from the non-toxic, so one should assume that all lupines are harmful if eaten.
While poisonous throughout the year, young lupines and those going to seed are the most toxic. Fortunately the effects are not cumulative so a lethal dose must be consumed over a short period, otherwise if removed from access to lupines and if symptoms are properly cared for, a poisoned horse should recover.

Symptoms include gastrointestinal irritation accompanied

by diarrhea. The horse's gait may change; the horse being reluctant to move and lifting his feet higher than normal when he does, acting nervous and displaying leg twitching. Loss of muscle control, prostrations, convulsions and coma may follow. While the "one time ingester" of lupines may completely recover, continuous consumption can produce toxic hepatitis. This can result from lupines being baled in hay cut from poorly managed fields and being fed to horses over time. Other than separating the horse from the toxic plants and treating the visible symptoms, there is no published treatment for lupine poisoning.

Poison Hemlock
Poison hemlock, a relatively common range plant, kills a number of horses sheep and cattle each year and is extremely toxic to humans. All parts of the plant, commonly known as deadly hemlock, spotted hemlock, poison parsley, European hemlock, California fern and Nebraska fern, are poisonous. In the spring until the plant flowers, the leaves are especially poisonous.

Poison hemlock is often found along roadsides and creek beds. Humans are poisoned when they confuse poison hemlock roots with wild parsnips, or the seeds as anise seeds. This plant is so deadly that whistles made from the plant's hollow stems have been known to kill children. Fortunately, the toxin is relatively neutral after the plant has cured, so poison hemlock accidentally baled into properly dried hay has not posed a problem.

Symptoms of poisoning will appear within a few hours after ingestion and may range from sudden, unexpected collapse to nervous trembling, salivation, lack of coordination, especially in the hindquarters, and dilated pupils. The horse's pulse may be weak and he may appear cyanotic (bluish appearance of the mouth and gums), and he may be disoriented or unaware of his surroundings.

In serious cases, death occurs within ten hours of the onset of symptoms due to respiratory paralysis. Less serious poisonings, which still may include periods of coma, can sometimes benefit from early use of stimulants and stomach tubing with mineral oil. If respiratory shutdown can be avoided and the horse can pass any remaining ingested leaves, full recovery is possible without any long term ill effects.

From the author:
Roger Bourdon has written a book on Introduction To Horsebackriding and Horse's Health. (Article Adapted by All About Horses)

Learn All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.

Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed

Horses Health - Green Tea And Animals

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:09:00 +0000

Nature’s Miracle That Is Green Tea

Tea (aka Camellia Sinensis), traditional beverage of the Brits has three main varieties, green, black and oolong. The black variety is the stronger flavoured one we drink the most of in European counties and the USA, either with, or without milk. Its full of antioxidants and is said to lower LDL Cholesterol amongst other things The oolong variety we hear little of, is beloved of Japan and China, and said to have obesity controlling properties as well as a generous dose of antioxidants.

But its the green tea variety that I want to cover here. The green varieties, taken without milk, are the traditional favorite of the far eastern countries, Japan, China and the Russia's being avid consumers, although I must say that its now becoming very a fashionable beverage for the health aficionados of the West. And there is a reason for that. When it comes to preventative health care, this is one of natures finest.

The list of health benefits derived from this simple source is quite amazing. I am only going to cover a few of them below, but you can clearly see that its amazing properties are beneficial to animals and humans alike. A lot more research goes into the benefits of each type of tea nowadays but its still in its infancy, so you can expect to hear a lot more about these wonderful substances. But starting right now I am adding more green tea into my daily tea consumption – which I am afraid to say is quite significant, and yes most of it is black (I am a tea caffeine Queen rather than a coffee one!). Writing about the health benefits for animals has reminded me to take a bit more care of myself as well. I would encourage you to do the same, but please do take the time to read my little warning at the end about mixing tea with some medicines or health complaints.

There's one more thing I want to explain before we look at the health benefits because its what makes the biggest distinction between the types and I didn't know what it meant, so you might not either: oxidization. Black tea is fully oxidized before drying, green tea is unoxidized; and Oolongs are somewhere in the middle. To oxidize tea, the leaves are put into troughs or laid out on tables. Oxidization occurs when enzymes within the leaves react with the air and takes from between 30 minutes and two hours at about 26 degrees centigrade. It is during this process that the tealeaf changes from green, through light brown to a deep brown. Once the tea has reached the desired level of oxidation, light for a light liquoring tea and dark brown for a stronger liquoring tea, the leaves are dried (otherwise known as 'firing the tea'). Phew, that is the science bit over.

By the way, about 78% of all the tea we drink is black, 20% is green and Oolong makes up the rest.

So, what about those health-giving properties for animals? I do not think this list is exhaustive, but here are the main conditions it can help.

High cholesterol
Green tea has demonstrated an ability to lower total cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol in both animals and people. Results from one animal study suggest that polyphenols in green tea may block the intestinal absorption of cholesterol and promote its excretion from the body.

Cancer
Recent animal and clinical studies are beginning to suggest that substances in green tea known as polyphenols may play an important role in the prevention of cancer. These substances act as powerful antioxidants. Researchers also believe that polyphenols help kill cancerous cells and stop its progression.

Breast cancer
Studies in animals (and believe it or now some animals, like mice, are prone to breast cancer) and test tubes suggest that polyphenols in green tea inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells.

Esophageal cancers
Several animal studies have found that green tea polyphenols inhibit the growth of esophageal (throat) cancer cells. However, results of studies in people have been conflicting, so more work is needed here. However I would say some of the conflict, it was suggested, could be down to the heat at which green tea is consumed. This of course would not affect animals because it would be given cold, so I think it is worth a try.

Diabetes
We know that some animals are very prone to diabetes, especially if we have been over feeding them! Green tea has been used traditionally to control blood sugar in the body. Animal studies suggest that green tea may help prevent the development of type 1 diabetes and slow the progression once it has developed. Therefore, Green tea may help regulate glucose in the body.

Liver disease
Animal studies have shown that green tea helps protect against the development of liver tumors in mice. Results from several animal and human studies suggest that one of the polyphenols present in green tea, known as catechin, may help treat viral hepatitis (inflammation of the liver from a virus). In these studies, catechin was isolated from green tea and used in very high concentrations.

Weight loss
Studies suggest that green tea extract may boost metabolism and help burn fat, but there have been no specific studies of this herb in overweight or obese individuals. Some researchers speculate that substances in green tea known as polyphenols, specifically the catechins, are responsible for the herb's fat-burning effect. You will often see ‘weight loss’ described as a benefit of green tea and there is no reason why, if it is actually true, this would not apply to animals as well.

So, to the dosages

Now there we have a problem because that’s not clear from any of the research I have looked at – because its all based on human consumption. It seems clear that you cant actually overdose on it, so just try to get the animal to take it. Some horses I know are very happy to drink any kind of tea but others are quite reluctant. Serve it cold or tepid and obviously no sugar please (although a teensy bit of honey may make it more palatable and that wont de any harm at all. Also, remember the same warning goes for animals as it does for humans. If the animal is already on medication, check out that the green tea wont interact badly with it.

Finally I promised you a little health warning for my human readers who may be on their way to get some in for themselves.

Adult dosages can look like this. Three cups of green tea per day (3 g soluble components, or 240 to 320 g polyphenols) or 300 to 400 mg per day of standardized green tea extract (extracts should contain 80% total polyphenols and 55% epigallocatechin) is the recommended dosage.

The use of herbs is a time-honored approach to strengthening the body and treating disease. Herbs, however, contain active substances that can trigger side effects and interact with other herbs, supplements, or medications. For these reasons, herbs should be taken with care, either under the supervision of a practitioner knowledgeable in the field of botanical medicine or your own Doctor.

People with heart problems, kidney disorders, stomach ulcers, and psychological disorders (particularly anxiety) should not take green tea. Pregnant and breastfeeding women should also avoid green tea. So if you have any of these make sure that you contact your Doctor or medical advisor before even thinking about taking green tea. As herbs do interact with other medicines, if you are taking any other form of medication I would always make sure that you find out possible side effects before you start taking it – especially if you are thinking of taking a concentrated extract of green tea.

From the author:
Roger Bourdon has written a book on Introduction To Horsebackriding. (Article Adapted by All About Horses)

Learn All About Horses Here:

Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets.

Horses Health - Do Horses Need A Dentist Too?

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:58:00 +0000

Horses Health Issues Matter.

Next Time You Go To The Dentist Make An Appointment For The Horse Too! Horse dental problems can lead to major health problems yet some owners never think to get a proper dental inspection carried out. We may be able to wear dentures if our teeth fall out, but what can horses do?

The expected life span of a horse or pony is approximately twenty to thirty years. Although according to the Guinness Book of Records Old Billy believed to a Cleveland Bay, cross-eastern horse, foaled in 1760 and lived to the incredible age of 62. Now by then, even with regular dentistry, most of us would have lost some of our teeth. So how can we help our horses to keep their teeth into old age?

Horses' teeth grow continuously until some time between the ages of 25 and 30. Grass, their natural food, contains silica which is an abrasive and which constantly wears down the horse's teeth. The fibers of heavier grasses require a bit of grinding on the part of the horse. Additionally the horse reaches down to bite off grass and then raises his head to chew which changes his jaw position constantly. A horse living on natural grass will be more likely to naturally polish off the surfaces of his molars into a level. Thus, the horse's mouth and teeth are pretty well adapted to his natural diet.

In order to efficiently grind their food, horses' upper molars are spaced a little farther apart than their lower teeth. While important in the wild, this offset can produce problems in the domestic horse. Horses on alfalfa and less fibrous feeds tend to chew less and their food is generally less abrasive. This being the case there will be surfaces which do not get polished off evenly. Raised edges may appear along the molars; typically along the outside of the upper set and the inside of the lower set. When these "unground surfaces”, get large the horse cannot rock his lower jaw laterally as he chews due to his teeth being locked between the opposing ridges. Thus, the problem gets worse; the ridges slowly appear larger as they are no longer being worn down, and as the horse rubs these ridges when chewing, he's actually wearing down the sides of these ridges into sharp points. He’s in the typical catch 22 situation.

Regular dental care is not only essential for dealing with problems like this, it helps them chew and digest their food and they are more likely to be happy with the bit in their mouth. A Horses Health depend on it.

What kind of dental problems do they get?

Signs of possible dental problems that may also be signs of other illness are as follows.

• Lack of appetite or reluctance to eat
• Drooling saliva – or a discharge from the mouth or nose
• Sores and swellings around the mouth
• Pain or swellings in the throat and along the jaw-line
• Really bad smelling breath
• Loss of body condition

If there is a dental problem when eating you might see:

• Chewing more slowly than normal or on one side of the mouth only
• Spilling food from the mouth or deliberately dropping (quidding) balls of partially chewed food
• Sores and swellings around the mouth
• Swellings along the jaw-line or cheeks

If his mouth is hurting while you are riding you may see:

• Aggression or reluctance to be bridled
• Resisting the bit
• Head shaking
• Reluctance to move forward
• Rearing or bolting

Therefore, what can you do?

Horses Health -Yearly Dental Check up

The teeth of adult horses should receive routine professional attention at least once per year, even if you cannot actually see anything wrong. As I said in the title – when you book your own check up with the dentist book one for the horse as well.

Younger horses like young children, require more frequent dental inspections, to ensure that the adult teeth come down properly, and to confirm that the milk teeth have been lost successfully. If he’s still hanging on to some of them waiting for the tooth fairy to arrive, he may need help to deal with this.

As we get older we all need more frequent dental inspections. Older horses are more prone to dental problems and may suffer from loose or damaged teeth, decay or infections from trapped food. Like any animal, bad breath is a good sign of this. If you want them to keep their teeth into old age you’ll have to help them along a bit. Let’s face it; toothache is bad enough for us let alone an animal that can’t tell you why he’s in such a bad mood.

This article was written By Roger Bourdon, Author of e-book Introduction To Horsebackriding
(Adapted by All About Horses)

What You Really Need To Know To Feel Safe And Confident The First Time You Sit In The Saddle……

Learn All About Horses Here: Buy NOW!

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.

Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Horses Health - Structure of a Horse Hoof

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:28:00 +0000

Horses Health Matters. Knowing the proper names of the parts of the horse hoof may help you diagnose a problem quicker.

You call the Vet because your horse has a hoof problem, and he asks for some information. What do you say? Do you know how to describe the parts of the horse hoof so that he might recognize the problem before he even gets there – thus saving a call out fee?

An army may march on its stomach but a horse definitely marches on its hooves. What are the different parts of the hoof called.

I had the vet out the other day doing a routine check on my old boy and he had a good poke around in the hooves. Although he said they were in good shape for the horse’s age, it did make me wonder how much I knew about the hoof, because he started using terms that I didn’t recognize. So I had a little anatomy lesson on the spot but he did mention that few private owners (and I’m not talking riding stables here) could describe a hoof problem in other than the simplest terms, which meant he could seldom diagnose without a visit.

A Horses Health Lesson For You -What are the different parts of the horse hoof called.

The Wall

The walls are the protection for the softer internal tissues of the horse hoof- it’s like the human toe nail. They also provide grip on different terrains. They are elastic and very tough keratin-based substance, similar to a Teflon layer, the thickness is approximately 6 mm - 12 mm. It takes 9-12 months for the hoof to grow from the coronary band to the toe. In order for the horn to grow correctly and form a healthy foot, the horse must be provided with a good diet and be in good health. These factors must be checked if the horn starts to become brittle and weak or if the foot looks badly formed. A feed supplement of biotin may be helpful to promote good horn growth.

Three different layers make up the Wall: the pigmented layer, the water line and the white line.

The coronet band at the top of the hoof wall actually grows this pigmented (colored) layer of horn that makes up the outer wall of the hoof. Although this layer is for protection it does not like sustained contact with the ground, which can cause it to break and flake away.

The water line is built up by the coronet and by the wall's corium (the living tissue immediately beneath the walls). It is thicker than the pigmented layer and increases its thickness, as it gets further down and away from the coronet band. Unlike the pigmented layer, this one is much hardier and is very resistant to contact to the ground so it is for support and protection of the underside of the hoof.

The white line is the inner layer of the wall. It is softer and fibrous in structure. Its color is yellowish. You can see it, in the underside of the healthy horse hoof, as a thin line, joining the sole and the walls. Since the white line is softer than both the walls and the sole, it wears fast where it appears on the surface and it appears as a subtle groove between the sole and the walls, with some debris or sand inside.

The three layers of the wall merge in a single mass and they grow downwards together. If the wall doesn't wear naturally, from sufficient movement on rough ground, then it will over-grow, much like a toenail that is not filed down and it then becomes prone to breakage. This means that a healthy hoof will self-trim, by breaking or chipping off. When a horseshoe is applied, it is fixed to the wall. The nails that are used to hold the shoe in place are hammered in at an angle so that the points come out of the front of the hoof wall.

The Frog

The frog is a triangular structure clearly visible if you look at the underside of the horse hoof- it’s like the human fingertip. It extends forwards across about two-thirds of the sole. Its thickness grows from the front to the back and, at the back; it merges with the heel periople. Down its middle, it has a groove, the central groove (sulcus) that extends up between the bulbs.

It is dark gray-blackish in color and of a rubbery consistency, which makes it great to act as a shock absorber and grip tool, on hard, smooth ground. In the stabled horse, it doesn't wear but it degrades with bacterial and fungal activity to an irregular, soft, slashed surface. In the free-roaming horse, it hardens into a callous consistency, with a near-smooth surface.

The Sole

The sole has a whitish-yellowish, sometimes grayish color. It covers the whole space from the perimeter of the wall to the bars and the frog, on the underside of the hoof. Its deep layer has a compact, waxy character and is called the 'live’ sole. Its surface will vary according to the type of ground the horse spends his time on. If there is no contact, as in shod hooves or when the walls are too long or the movement poor, the lower surface of the sole has a crumbly consistency and it is easily abraded (scratched off) it with a hoof pick. However, it has a very hard consistency, with a smooth, bright surface, when there is a consistent, active contact with the ground. The front portion, beneath the front of the pedal bone, is called the 'sole callus'.

The Bars

They are inward folds of the wall, starting from the heels at an abrupt angle. The strong structure built up by the extremity of the heel and of the bar is named the 'heel buttress'. The sole between the heel walls and the bars is called the 'seat of corn' and it is a very important landmark used by natural hoof trimmers to evaluate the correct heel height. The bars have a three-layer structure, just like the walls. When overgrown, they bend outwards and cover the lower surface of the sole.

Coronary band

You’ll recall this is found at the top of the horse hoof and is responsible for creating the horn that makes up the hoof wall.

Periople

This is the outer layer of the horse hoof that forms a protective covering on the hoof wall. It is responsible for regulating moisture content in the horn, secreted from the perioplic ring above the coronet.

Sensitive sole:

This is found underneath the pedal bone, within the insensitive sole. It produces the new cells that replace lost layers of the insensitive sole.

Digital cushion:

The digital cushion is found between the pedal bone and deep flexor tendon. An elastic, fibrous pad absorbs concussion from ground impact. It also helps to push blood back up the leg.

Lateral cartilages

These are attached to the pedal bone and serve to protect the coffin joint. They also help absorb concussion.

Laminae:

The insensitive laminae are supportive structures that attach to the hoof wall and interlock with the sensitive laminae. The sensitive laminae then attach and support the pedal bone. The divide between sensitive and insensitive laminae can been seen as a white line on the sole of the foot.

Conformation

This is term for the basic shape and size for a horse hoof and how fit it is for its purpose. It’s extremely important, as the feet are obviously essential to the horse

They should be even and round in shape and in proportion with the rest of the horse. The fronts should be of equal size and shape and so should the hinds.

The front feet should slope forwards and be at a 45 degree angle to the ground, and on through the fetlock and pastern. The hind feet should be at an angle of 50-55 degrees to the ground. The hoof wall should be smooth and free from cracks. Any lines could indicate poor nutrition or past cases of laminitis.

Poor conformation in the feet can result in strains to tendons and ligaments, tripping and bruising. Many such problems can be improved by a good farrier and over a period of time.

This article was written By Roger Bourdon, Author of e-book Introduction To Horsebackriding
(Adapted by All About Horses)

Learn All About Horses Here:

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.

Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

What You Really Need To Know To Feel Safe And Confident The First Time You Sit In The Saddle……

If you are just starting out with horseback riding, you want to focus on the information you need to get you in the saddle and to keep you there safely as you ride. And let's face it, when we are learning something new it is so difficult to take in all the information we are given verbally. If you have it written down, and can read it through several times before you get to the first lesson, how much better would that make you feel? Wouldn’t it be great to be able to take what the Instructor is saying because it is familiar to you – so that you can concentrate on staying in the saddle rather than the instructions that are being thrust at you so quickly. So many instructions all at once can send you into information overload, and then you can't remember a word of it and feel silly – does this make you feel like a failure before you even start? I know it does with me.

After all, how many of you passed an exam or learned to drive without reading the manuals first? Did you pick up a chisel to do woodworking without first getting a book to show you how? This applies to nearly everything you can think of that requires some skill to master. So surely you need to prepare for your horseback riding lessons in the same way to make your new hobby a really enjoyable success right from the start.

Horses Health - Diarrhea

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:42:00 +0000

A Horses Health Rely On Their Surroundings

They say you are what you eat and that is equally true of your horse. Horses rely on their surroundings and of course you for their food and supplements to keep them healthy. The task of any person who designs a horse feed is to ensure the feed contains enough energy to maintain body weight under conditions of work load for the horses health. Mare and Foal Horse Feed is formulated on the belief that successful development begins in the womb. For that, special horse feed is needed. To do so, horse feed is measured by weight, not volume. Good horse feed is not laden with exotic weed seed. Although commercially prepared horse feed is heat-treated and represents a safe source of feed.

Good quality forage should make up most of your horses health diet, as they rely on it for a healthy digestive tract. Most people’s idea of a perfect pasture is a smooth even green grassland. Grass is at its richest in the Spring when the protein content can be as high as 28% with an equally high energy content. Whilst the sugar content is good for mares with foals, it is generally too rich for other horses.

Until hay was introduced, horses were largely used only in the parts of the world where grass was available all year round. An important feature of hay is the amount of water associated with it in the digestive tract. For every kilo of hay eaten, around 3kg of water is bound with it. This occurs as a result of the chewing and mixing of the forage particles with saliva and digestive secretions, that is not then easily released for absorption.

Your horse's digestive system was designed to take frequent meals and in very small amounts. That's why horses in the wild seldom get diarrhea as they graze on whatever forage they find in the open country.

While good body condition does not automatically equal good teeth, good teeth will mean a more efficient horse. Because of the unique anatomy of horses' teeth, they do not get dental caries for the same reason humans or dogs do, so their teeth should be regularly examined, at a minimum, once a year. Horse's teeth are vital to effective digestion and the horses health as they grind up their food, form it into a ball (called a 'bolus'), and swallow it for digestion.

But if your horse has bad teeth, he can't grind his food finely enough. So when it reaches his intestines, it can't just slide on through. Instead, it irritates the walls of his intestines, causing a low grade inflammation, which is a cause of horse diarrhea.

That's why you see so many older horses with this problem. They've ground their teeth down so much over the years that they can't digest their food the way they used to.

So you need to get your vet to “float” your horse's teeth, which is a process whereby he files off the sharp enamel points from the outer edges of the upper cheek teeth and then he files off the inner edges of the lower cheek teeth.

All of this results in better contact between the upper and lower sets of teeth which enables your horse to grind his food properly, leaving less chance for his intestines to become irritated.

This article was written By Roger Bourdon, Author of e-book Introduction To Horsebackriding
(Adapted by All About Horses blog)

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Find out the right way to approach a horse – which means you avoid mistakes that could scare the animal and result in serious injury for you
Discover the difference between English and Western Riding and learn the secrets of choosing which style of riding is right for you!
Find out how to mount easily, safely, and gracefully – which means not making a fool of yourself the first time to get into the saddle
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Uncover the tricks and tips for sitting correctly in the saddle - these simple tips, often not even covered in many classes, will help you stay safely in the saddle and will improve your riding instantly!
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The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed

Horse Training Secrets Revealed - Part 6

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:15:00 +0000

PROCESS OF CAUSING A HORSE TO LAY DOWN

Approach him gently upon the left side, fasten a strap around the ankle of his fore-foot; then raise the foot gently, so as to bring the knee against the breast and the foot against the belly. The leg being in this position, fasten the strap around his arm, which will effectually prevent him from putting that foot to the ground again. Then fasten a strap around the opposite leg, and bring it over his shoulder, on the left side, so that you can catch hold of it; then push these gently, and when he goes to fall, pull the strap, which will bring him on his knees.

Now commence patting him under the belly; by continuing your gentle strokes upon the belly, you will, in a few minutes, bring him to his knees behind. Continue the process, and he will lie entirely down, and submit himself wholly to your treatment. By thus proceeding gently, you may handle his feet and legs in any way you choose.

However wild and fractious a horse may be naturally, after practicing this process a few times, you will find him perfectly gentle and submissive, and even disposed to follow you anywhere, and unwilling to leave you on any occasion.

Unless the horse be wild, the first treatment will be all sufficient; but should he be too fractious to be approached in a manner necessary to perform the first named operation, this you will find effectual, and you may then train your horse to harness or anything else with the utmost ease.

In breaking horses for harness, after giving the powders, put the harness on gently, without startling him, and pat him gently, then fasten the chain to a log, which he will draw for an indefinite length of time. When you find him sufficiently gentle, place him to a wagon or other vehicle.

NOTE--Be extremely careful in catching a horse, not to affright him. After he is caught, and the powders given, rub him gently on the head, neck, back and legs, and on each side of the eyes, the way the hair lies, but be very careful not to whip, for a young horse is equally passionate with yourself, and this pernicious practice has ruined many fine and valuable horses.

When you are riding a colt (or even an old horse), do not whip him if he scares, but draw the bridle, so that his eye may rest upon the object which has affrighted him, and pat him upon the neck as you approach it; by this means you will pacify him, and render him less liable to start in future.

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This is the system by which Prof. Carroll was able to "cure the most vicious horses of the habit of balking or kicking; also the habits of shying, running away, pulling at the halter, jumping fences or pitching under the saddle. It will enable anyone to ride any horse or mule without saddle or bridle with perfect safety; also to drive without bridle or lines."

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How to manage a wild or vicious horse and even those that are quite old before they are first handled.

Revealed: the mechanical advantage whereby you can compel a horse to stop instantly at your command, with only a few pounds of pressure!

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How to cure a horse of jumping and fence breaking so thoroughly that he will happily stay in almost any kind of enclosure.

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Extracted from the ebook How to Tame and Train Wild and Vicious Horses (part 6)

Learn All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.

Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed

Horse Training Secrets Revealed - Part 5

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:04:00 +0000

HOW TO MAKE A HORSE FOLLOW YOU

Turn him into a large stable or shed, where there is no chance to get out, with a halter or bridle on. Go to him and gentle him a little, take hold of his halter and turn him towards you, at the same time touching him lightly over the hips with a long whip. Lead him the length of the stable, rubbing him on the neck, saying in a steady tone of voice as you lead him, COME ALONG BOY! or use his name instead of boy, if you choose.

Every time you turn, touch him slightly with the whip, to make him step up close to you, and then caress him with your hand. He will soon learn to hurry up to escape the whip and be caressed, and you can make him follow you around without taking hold of the halter.

If he should stop and turn from you, give him a few cuts about the hind legs, and he will soon turn his head toward you, when you must always caress him. A few lessons of this kind will make him run after you, when he sees the motion of the whip--in twenty or thirty minutes he will follow you about the stable.

After you have given him two or three lessons in the stable, take him out into a small lot and train him; and from thence you can take him into the road and make him follow you anywhere, and run after you.

The author then goes on teach how to make your horse stand without holding. Find out all this and more - just order now for immediate download . Order today and get 3 free bonuses. Bonus 2 includes How To Train And Break Colts.

How to Break and Train Colts - bonus 2 gift is worth $19, and also free when you grab your copy of Horse Secrets Revealed today, describes a very effective method for properly breaking and training colts raised on the average farm.

Photographs accompany the text and the principle element behind the methods that are described in this book is "kindness to the horse" - this is ALL about getting the horse to do what you want, while being gentle with him.

Here's just some of what you'll discover inside:

The 2 main factors you have to deal with when training a horse.

How to stop obstinacy when training your colt.

The one thing you MUST do before approaching a horse.

The best ages for the phases of breaking and training.

How to handle older, unbroken horses.

How to minimize the risk of bucking when you ride him.

How to cure balkiness.

How to throw a horse.

The most valuable gait for your horse to do and how to do it.

And so much more!

Extracted from the ebook How to Tame and Train Wild and Vicious Horses (part 5)
© Copyright trainwildhorses 2005, All rights reserved.

Learn All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!
The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!
Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed

Horse Training Secrets Revealed - Part 4

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:25:00 +0000

HOW TO RIDE THE COLT

When you want him to start do not touch him on the side with your heel or do anything to frighten him and make him jump. But speak to him kindly, and if he does not start pull him a little to the left until he starts, and then let him walk off slowly with the reins loose.

Walk him around in the stable a few times until he gets used to the bit, and you can turn him about in every direction and stop him as you please. It would be well to get on and off a good many times until he gets perfectly used to it before you take him out of the stable.

After you have trained him in this way, which should not take you more than one or two hours, you can ride him any where you choose without ever having him jump or make any effort to throw you.

When you first take him out of the stable be very gentle with him, as he will feel a little more at liberty to jump or run, and be a little easier frightened than he was while in the stable. But after handling him so much in the stable he will be pretty well broke, and you will be able to manage him without trouble or danger.

When you first mount him take the shortest hold on the left rein, so that if any thing frightens him you can prevent him jumping by pulling his head around to you. This operation of pulling a horse's head around against his side will prevent any horse from jumping ahead, rearing up, or running away.

If he is stubborn and will not go you can make him move by pulling his head around to one side, when whipping would have no effect. And turning him around a few times will make him dizzy, and then by letting him have his head straight, and giving him a little touch with the whip, he will go along without any trouble.

The author then goes on to talk about martingales and why you should never use them when you first ride a horse, when they can be useful also, importantly, he tells you when you must end the early rides and why. Find out all this and more - just order now for immediate download . Order today and get 3 free bonuses. Bonus 1 includes How To Choose A Healthy Horse.

How to Choose a Healthy Horse - this bonus gift is worth $29, and free when you grab your copy of Horse Secrets Revealed today, provides the guidelines for a thorough exam of a horse to ensure you choose the best animal available.

It takes into consideration common faults of conformation, common unsoundnesses that impair a horse's usefulness and serious faults of temperament or training.

The book is illustrated with valuable photographs and diagrams and guides you through the examination in a logical sequence.

Here's a sample of what you'll discover inside:

How to spot stable vices and other vices that mean you should look for a different animal.

Indications of normal health in the horse which allows you to choose the best of the bunch.

Indications of desirable temperament that mean you'll go home with a happy and well adjusted horse.

How to tell a horse's age by its teeth so you know just what you are getting - with step by step photos included.

How the muzzle can indicate a possible lack of vigor or the presence of a bad habit.

How to test a horse's eyesight. If you see a certain behavior you should suspect blindness or a bad temperament (and THIS has nothing to do with the eyes).

The type of tail that indicates spirit and vigor in the horses that you are looking at.

How to check for all manner of diseases - both common and not so common so you can be sure your horse is healthy.

And so much more!

If you want to get the best, healthiest, most suitable horse for you, then take this book with you and you'll have a step by step, systematic approach that will ensure you choose the best horse available!

Otherwise, part 5 we’ll be looking at “How to Make a Horse Follow You” where you'll learn the author's method for having a horse "follow you about the stable" " in twenty or thirty minutes."

Take care and I'll see you then, Craig

Extracted from the ebook How to Tame and Train Wild and Vicious Horses (part 4)
© Copyright trainwildhorses 2005, All rights reserved.

Learn All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed

Horse Training Secrets Revealed - Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:05:00 +0000

HOW TO LEAD THE COLT INTO THE STABLE AND HITCH HIM WITHOUT HAVING HIM PULL ON THE HALTER

You should lead the broke horse into the stable first, and get the colt, if you can, to follow in after him. If he refuses to go, step up to him, taking a little stick or switch in your right hand; then take hold of the halter close to his head with your left hand, at the same time reaching over his back with your right arm so that you can tap him on the opposite side with your switch; bring him up facing the door, tap him lightly with your switch, reaching as far back with it as you can.

This tapping, by being pretty well back, and on the opposite side, will drive him ahead, and keep him close to you, then by giving him the right direction with your left hand you can walk into the stable with him.

I have walked the colts into the stable this way, in less than a minute, after men had worked at them half an hour, trying to pull them in.

If you cannot walk him it at once this way, turn him about and walk him round in every direction, until you can get him up to the door without pulling at him. Then let him stand a few minutes, keeping his head in the right direction with the halter, and he will walk in, in less than ten minutes.

Never attempt to pull the colt into the stable; that would make him think at once that it was a dangerous place, and if he was not afraid of it before, he would be then. Besides we don't want him to know anything about pulling on the halter. Colts are often hurt, and sometimes killed, by trying to force them into the stable; and those who attempt to do it in that way, go into an up-hill business, when a plain smooth road is before them.

If you want to hitch your colt, put him in a tolerably wide stall which should not be too long, and should be connected by a bar or something of that kind to the partition behind it; so that, after the colt is in he cannot get far enough back to take a straight, backward pull on the halter; then by hitching him in the center of the stall, it would be impossible for him to pull on the halter, the partition behind preventing him from going back, and the halter in the center checking him every time he turns to the left or right.

In a state of this kind you can break every horse to stand hitched by a light strap, anywhere, without his ever knowing any thing about pulling.

If you have broke your horse to lead, and have learned him the use of the halter (which you should always do before you hitch him to any thing), you can hitch him in any kind of a stall, and give him something to eat to keep him up to his place for a few minutes at first and there is not one colt in fifty that will pull on his halter.

The author then mentions what you should always do before you hitch your horse to anything and then goes on to look at the kind of bit to use and how to accustom your horse to it. To keep reading click here to get the book now .

Otherwise, part 4 we’ll be looking at “How to Ride the Colt” where you'll learn what to do to get a horse started (and it doesn't involve digging your heels into the horse's side), how to prevent the horse from jumping ahead, rearing up or running away and more. Look out for the email with the link! 'til then, take care,

Craig

Extracted from the ebook How to Tame and Train Wild and Vicious Horses (part 3)
© Copyright trainwildhorses 2005, All rights reserved.

Learn All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed

Horse Training Secrets Revealed - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:52:00 +0000

HOW TO STABLE THE COLT WITHOUT TROUBLE

The next step will be, to get the horse into a stable or shed. This should be done as quietly as possible, so as not to excite any suspicion in the horse of any danger befalling him.

The best way to do this, is to lead a gentle horse into the stable first and hitch him, then quietly walk around the colt and let him go in of his own accord. It is almost impossible to get men, who have never practiced on this principle, to go slow and considerate enough about it. They do not know that in handling a wild horse, above all other things, is that good old adage true, that "haste makes waste;" that is, waste of time, for the gain of trouble and perplexity.

One wrong move may frighten your horse, and make him think it is necessary to escape at all hazards for the safety of his life, and thus make two hours work of a ten minutes job; and this would be all your own fault, and entirely unnecessary; for he will not run unless you run after him, and that would not be good policy, unless you knew that you could outrun him; or you will have to let him stop of his own accord after all. But he will not try to break away, unless you attempt to force him into measures.

If he does not see the way at once, and is a little fretful about going in, do not undertake to drive him, but give him a little less room outside, by gently closing in around him. Do not raise your arms, but let them hang at your side; for you might as well raise a club. The horse has never studied anatomy, and does not know but they will unhinge themselves and fly at him.

If he attempts to turn back, walk before him, but do not run; and if he gets past you, encircle him again in the same quiet manner, and he will soon find that you are not going to hurt him; and you can soon walk so close around him that he will go into the stable for more room, and to get farther from you.

The author then tells you what to do as soon as the horse is in and what you should make sure of so your horse can adapt to the initial confinement. If you'd like to know more then just download the book now. Buy the e-book today and receive 3 free bonuses with a 8 week guarantee!

Otherwise, tomorrow we’ll be looking at “How to Lead The Colt into the Stable and Hitch Him Without Having Him Pull on the Halter” and you'll find out how the author has "walked the colts into the stable...in less than a minute, after men had worked at them half an hour, trying to pull them in." Keen to find out how?

Keep a look out for the email with the link and I'll see you then.

Take care,

Craig

Extracted from the ebook How to Tame and Train Wild and Vicious Horses (part 2)
© Copyright trainwildhorses 2005, All rights reserved.

Learn All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed

Horse Training Secrets Revealed - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:36:00 +0000

THE THREE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF MY THEORY

Founded on the Leading Characteristics of the Horse.

FIRST--That he is so constituted by nature that he will not offer resistance to any demand made of him which he fully comprehends, if made in a way consistent with the laws of his nature.

SECOND--That he has no consciousness of his strength beyond his experience, and can be handled according to our will, without force.

THIRD--That we can, in compliance with the laws of his nature by which he examines all things new to him, take any object, however frightful, around, over or on him, that does not inflict pain, without causing him to fear.

FIRST PRINCIPLE:

To take these assertions in order, I will first give you some of the reasons why I think he is naturally obedient, and will not offer resistance to anything fully comprehended.

The horse, though possessed of some faculties superior to man's being deficient in reasoning powers, has no knowledge of right or wrong, of free will and independent government, and knows not of any imposition practiced upon him, however unreasonable these impositions may be. Consequently, he cannot come to any decision what he should or should not do, because he has not the reasoning faculties of man to argue the justice of the thing demanded of him. If he had, taking into consideration his superior strength, he would be useless to man as a servant. Give him mind in proportion to his strength, and he will demand of us the green fields for an inheritance, where he will roam at leisure, denying the right of servitude at all.

God has wisely formed his nature so that it can be operated upon by the knowledge of man according to the dictates of his will, and he might well be termed an unconscious, submissive servant. This truth we can see verified in every day's experience by the abuses practiced upon him. Any one who chooses to be so cruel, can mount the noble steed and run him 'till he drops with fatigue, or, as is often the case with more spirited, fall dead with the rider. If he had the power to reason, would he not vault and pitch his rider, rather than suffer him to run him to death? Or would he condescend to carry at all the vain impostor, who, with but equal intellect, was trying to impose on his equal rights and equally independent spirit? But happily for us, he has no consciousness of imposition, no thought of disobedience except by impulse caused by the violation of the law of nature. Consequently when disobedient it is the fault of man.

Then, we can but come to the conclusion, that if a horse is not taken in a way at variance with the law of his nature, he will do anything that he fully comprehends without making any offer of resistance.

The author then goes on to look at the second and third principle in detail. If you want to read more then get the book now . If you buy today you'll get 3 bonus books for free!

Part 2 we’ll be looking at “How to Stable a Colt Without Trouble”.You'll find out who to enlist to best help you accomplish this quickly and easily, why you shouldn't raise your arms at a horse and more.

Take care and I'll see you then!
Craig

Extracted from the ebook How to Tame and Train Wild and Vicious Horses (part 1)
© Copyright trainwildhorses 2005, All rights reserved.

Learn More All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed

Questions To Ask When Buying A Horse

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:12:00 +0000

Once you have your criteria and located some potential horses for sale, it's time for questions.... The answers will help you decide if this horse is worth going out to view.

More questions!! This time to ask the owner over the phone. Things to find out are:

Whether this horse is suitable for a beginner. Most people will be honest here, not wanting to endanger someone.
The horse's age, height and build. Does it match your criteria?
Color and markings, if these are important to you.
What sort of temperament he/she has. Quiet, calm, bombproof, gentle.
If she is a mare, what to expect with any mood swings, if any.
The suitability for your chosen horse activity. This is an opinion only, and should be taken with a grain of salt unless there is a solid reason for that opinion. For example, if you wanted a horse for jumping and the owner advised you this horse always refuses...
Any vices or bad habits. Charging, biting, kicking, bolting, bucking, rearing. Any of these and you can thank the owner for their time and end the call.
Easy to catch and shoe and trailer and worm? A horse that won't do these is a pain in the behind and you should consider carefully if you want to put up with these bad habits.
Any fears ie dogs, bicycles, cars. These aren't ideal either.
Any health issues. So you can research if an issue would be a problem for you.
Any soundness issues or physical limitations. A vet check will show these up, but why visit a horse that is known to be very lame?
What the horse has been trained and used for, now and with previous owners. Has the horse had experience in what you want to do? You'll have a lot more fun on a horse that can teach you rather than the other way around.
How long the horse has been in work (ridden regularly) and has it been in work recently. Some horses aren't trained until later in life. Sometimes horses are trained and worked and then put in a paddock and left for years.
Any quirks of personality to be aware of. Just so you know.
Why it is being sold. You may not get an honest answer, but it's worth asking anyway.

Written by HorseTrainingSuccess.com. They sell comprehensive ebooks on training horses.

Learn More All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed

Buying A Pony Or Horse

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:50:00 +0000

On The Day Of Viewing

So you're buying a pony or horse. You've weeded out the unsuitables over the phone and found the perfect one that seems to fit your criteria. Obviously the next step is to go and have a look...

Buying a pony or horse is buyer beware. Not to make you frightened, but it is your responsibility to make sure the horse you choose is what you expected you were getting. Check all claims made about an animal out for yourself. Make sure you ask these questions when buying a pony or horse.

To start with, when buying a pony or a horse take someone you know who knows horses. If you don't know anyone who will volunteer their time, consider paying a trainer or riding instructor for their time as it will be money well spent. There is so much to take in when viewing a prospective horse that many eyes alone will give a more accurate picture. Different people will 'see' different things. A beginner may see an affectionate good looking animal. An experienced horse person may observe an arthritic joint and a tendency towards pushiness.

Also on a general note, take lots of pictures. Consider making notes. If you have particular questions in mind, write them down beforehand and note the answers when you ask. This way you'll cover everything and remember a lot.

When Buying A Pony or Horse Consider...

Health. Although the domain of health is for the experts, look for a general impression of wellness. In a well lit place, is the coat shiny and smooth to the touch? Are ribs showing? Does he have a pot belly? Are the hooves broken, cracked or poorly cared for? Is the horse alert or half asleep? Are the eyes bright and clear? The ears scanning for sounds?

Temperament. How is this horse around other horses? Watching him being walked past other horses as he is brought in from the pasture or out from the stable will give you and idea of how he relates to other horses. Does he kick or bite? This might be forgivable when directed at other horses, but not at humans. Do not buy a horse with bad manners.

Training. Ask for and watch the horse being caught, led, tied and groomed, including having all hooves picked out. Have a demonstration of the horse being put on a trailer. Watch the horse being saddled and mounted. In short, ask to see everything demonstrated that you'd do with this horse yourself. How does he behave?

Riding. Let the owner ride first and put the horse through all it's paces and special skills. How smooth are the horse's responses? Are there any signs of resistance or fighting? Head tossing, leaning on the bit, laziness, tugging?

Your Turn. Ask your knowledgable friend to try the horse out and then you have a go too. Watch for how the horse reacts to you. Go back to the basics and try all the everyday stuff as well. Leading, grooming, hoof handling, saddling up.

Paperwork. If this horse is a registered breed, ask to see the papers.

If the horse does not behave, that's kicking, biting, rearing, bucking, bolting etc then don't buy it. Did you hear that? No matter how stunning you think this horse may be! Don't buy it. Yes you want to feel a strong commitment to your animal AND you also want a well-behaved animal, especially if this is your first horse. Don't settle on a gorgeous looking bucker. It's not worth it, and the well behaved ones come in 'stunning' too.

It can be worth making a second visit. Ask the questions you forgot the first time. Repeat the same questions from the first time. Do the answers match? Is the horse behaving in the same manner?

Written by HorseTrainingSuccess.com. They sell comprehensive ebooks on training horses.

Learn More All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed

Warning - Laminitis in your horses hooves?

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:22:00 +0000

Think your horse has laminitis? You need to know or at worst your horse could die! Although similar, Founder and Laminitis are not considered to be the same thing. Founder is the end result of laminitis and is defined as either a rotation of the coffin bone downward or a general sinking of the coffin bone downward. Treatment for both Laminitis and Founder are both explored in the content of this one of a kind e-book Liminitis And Founder Exposed

The key factors that cause laminitis (if you know these you can help prevent future occurrences)
The 14 critical things you need to do (according to a veterinary expert)
What NEVER to do if your horse has laminitis (especially with regard to food and exercise)
How to carry out initial diagnostic checks
The 7 point feed plan for laminitic horses
How your farrier can help with your lame horses foot care
Why what your horse eats is so important (this is critical)
How to make your lame horse more comfortable (including complementary treatments)
Zero risk to you - 100% No Questions Asked MONEY BACK GUARANTEE
A complete guide to diet and nutrition for lame horses
Why laminitis needs your URGENT action

Buy Liminitis And Founder Exposed right now and get 2 great bonuses for FREE!

Bonus #1

Homeopathy for Horses

Valued at $37, you get the "Homeopathy for Horses" eBook FREE when you order
"Laminitis and Founder Exposed"

"Homeopathy for Horses" contains everything you need to springboard your understanding of equine Homeopathic remedies.

Understand Homeopathy
Homeopathic Principles and First aid for your Horse
Individual Treatment Plans
Guided Techniques and Application
Correct Dosage Selection and Treatment
Specific Remedies and their Uses
The Treatment of Chronic and Acute Conditions
Using Homeopathic Remedies for Wounds, Sprains, Strains, Insect Bites, Inflammation, Colic, Detoxing your horse and more.
Correct Care of your Homeopathic Remedies
Important Safety features when using Homeopathics on your Horse

Bonus #2

Increasing Your Horse's Health and Longevity

Valued at $19 and includes "Pro-Active Medicine: The 7 Pillars Of Health". You get "Increasing Your Horse's Health and Longevity" report FREE when you order
"Laminitis and Founder Exposed"

Learn More All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

The Original Book of Horse Treats offers fun treat for horses. Recipes you can make at home for your Horse. Stuffed molasse apples, birthday cones, soups snacks, desserts and much more fun horsey food! All tried and true at the barn! Also includes a section on bran mashes, hoof oil, fly spray, and electrolytes!

Seven Tips To Eliminate Bad Horse Behavior

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:57:00 +0000

Bad Horse Behavior or Not?

More often than not you will hear about bad horse behavior. Some examples? A horse crowds your space. Or maybe an aggressive horse chases someone around a pasture. Other bad horse behaviors include kicking, biting, bucking or reading. Or maybe it won’t canter when you ask. While all of these issues sound different-they can all be traced right back to one and the same cause-the horse doesn’t respect you as his leader.

When an aggressive horse is acting like the leader of the herd, the owner calls this bad horse behavior and feels like he needs to correct it. In truth, its the human who has the issue-they have not established themselves as the leader for their horse. So what we need to do as horse owners is take a step back and learn how horses think. Then apply our new knowledge to make ourselves the alpha mare or stallion of the herd, rather than letting our horses fill that role. Where to begin? In this article I’m going to mention 7 easy to apply exercises that will help you become a leader for your horse.

1. No more treats for your horses while working

When you are working your horse, do not give him any treats. Period. Giving treats to a prey animal does not reinforce good behavior the way we think it does. Instead, it makes the horse think of you as a cookie factory. This in turn makes the horse want to take advantage of you. So throw away the treats-during training. Give your horse a treat after you’ve been working with him and you’re finished.

2. Do not use treats to catch your horse

All too often horse people want to just grab their horse and go ride. But the truth is you’re establishing the bounds of your relationship with your horse the second you walk out to the pasture to get him. Your horse is sizing up your body posture, how you walk, and if you can be intimidated. That is he is seeing who is the leader in this relationship! You cannot bond successfully with a horse that you have to bribe to come into you. Instead of wagging carrots at your horse hoping he will come over, learn to catch your horse using body language horses already know.

3. Learn to Lead Your Horse

Where is your horse when you’re leading him? Is he in front of you or creeping up on you? If so you aren’t leading properly. He is going where he wants to and not really minding you. Take some time to study proper leading of horses. Just by doing some simple leading exercises, you will find your relationship with your horse improves drastically.

4. Do Hook-On in the Round Pen

Longeing your horse in the round pen at liberty so that he joins-up or hooks-on with you is a great way to establish yourself as the leader of your horse.

5. Get (and keep) the Attention of your Horse

If your horse is not focusing two eyes on you, then he is not paying full attention to you. He is looking off with the other eye for threats or maybe things more interesting than you are. To become a leader for your horse, you need to have both eyes.

6. Do backup exercises

The alpha mare or stallion in a herd gets the other horses to move out of the way. We can use this fact to communicate with our horses just by moving them around. A great way to do this is using backing up as a regular part of our groundwork routine. Backup exercises are an excellent way to get a horses attention when he is behaving badly.

7. Look for Precision

When you are communicating effectively with your horse, take things to a new level by looking for precise backups. Instead of asking your horse to back up 10 feet, ask him to backup just a hair. Start with 2 steps and then ask him to stop with a “whoa”. When you have that down, ask him to backup a single step. Progress from that so that you can get your horse to shift his muscles backwards without even taking a step. When you establish that kind of precise control with your horse, you are not only communicating with him effectively but also establishing leadership. A horse you can control precisely on the ground is a better riding horse.

That concludes our look at 7 tricks to eliminate bad horse behavior. If your horse is being an aggressive horse in any way, apply these 7 steps and build the foundation you need for a successful horse-human relationship.

These horse training ground tips and stories come from Eric Bravo and his horse trainers who offer natural horsemanship training at Gentle Horse Training. He has a set Of 7 Horse Training Videos That Teach You How To Train Horses Yourself Using Natural Horsemanship Techniques.

Learn More All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more.

The Original Book of Horse Treats offers fun treat for horses. Recipes you can make at home for your Horse. Stuffed molasse apples, birthday cones, soups snacks, desserts and much more fun horsey food! All tried and true at the barn! Also includes a section on bran mashes, hoof oil, fly spray, and electrolytes!

Do You Use Treats For Horses When Training Them?

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:04:00 +0000

Something I have been wanting to get in a discussion with other horse owners is how they use treats for horses. What I am getting at is do you utilize treats in your training? I think a lot of people are inclined to do this because that is how many people train dogs to do things (at least at first). You get a dog to sit and then give him a treat. Later after he is learned the behavior then maybe you aren’t using treats anymore.

So the other day I was taping Eric at a lesson. He is against using treats for horses. He made a remark that stuck with me, which was that the alpha mare or stud in a wild herd of horses doesn’t use treats for horses to do what they want (obviously). So how do they get the horses to do what they want? By using body language. Eric’s training methods are pretty much based on teaching people how to utilize body language to communicate with their horses.

I often see people using treats for horse in an attempt to calm them in a stressful situation. For instance, I have seen people standing their with a bucket of treats when a difficult horse is getting his feet trimmed. They sit there continually feeding the horse treats hoping it won’t kick the farrier or freak out.

Eric Bravo says this ends up teaching the horse to be nervous. In other words the horse is in a state where he is acting all wiggy and here we are giving him treats. Does the horse think of this as telling him that he is supposed to behave that way?

One thing I can say is that the behavior of my horses has improved a lot since I have cut back on the treats. I haven’t eliminated them entirely. I mean I love my horses and life is short so why not give them something they enjoy. But what I do is give them treats either in neutral situations (like grooming) or after they have performed work. So I won’t give treats for horses o perform some groundwork task correctly, but I will give him a treat when we are completely done and I’ve walked him back to the pasture.

I have found that the horses are not as pushy as they used to be. So try cutting back on the treats with your horses.

Learn More All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

The Original Book of Horse Treats offers fun treat for horses. Recipes you can make at home for your Horse. Stuffed molasse apples, birthday cones, soups snacks, desserts and much more fun horsey food! All tried and true at the barn! Also includes a section on bran mashes, hoof oil, fly spray, and electrolytes!

Horse Training Ground - Getting Attention And Keeping It

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Getting Attention And Keeping It

An important aspect of natural horsemanship training is getting attention and keeping the attention from your horse. A horse will focus on the leader of the herd for guidance. So-if your horse isn’t paying attention to you, then he is considering himself the leader. To succeed at natural horsemanship training, you need to be the leader-not your horse. Recently I got to see the benefits of Getting attention and keeping the attention of a horse in action.

Yesterday Sharon took her horse, Kelpie the Percheron mare, out for a walk on the road. I tagged along with Goose. We went for a walk as a sort of desensitization exercise since Kelpie is not used to being on the trail. Goose is quite spooky on the trail. I’ve ridden him a couple of times out there and got some practice using my emergency stop! Walking he did really good though and has actually come a long way toward being a more relaxed horse.

Watching Sharon with Kelpie gave us an opportunity to think about horse-human relations, dominance, and groundwork natural horsemanship training. Right off the bat Kelpie was doing two annoying things-she kept stopping to eat when we were walking along and would walk right past Sharon instead of keeping pace with her. Actually the latter is more than annoying since a horse that blows past you isn’t one that respects personal space making the horse dangerous to handle on the ground and unsafe to ride.

Sharon was bumping the horse pretty firmly with her lead rope when she would stop to eat, but the behavior just kept continuing. For the leading problem, I suggested Sharon throw in some stops and backing up when Kelpie would creep up on her, and to also change direction now and then. Sharon started doing this and was circling a lot in an effort to keep the horse from blowing past her.

This helped a little but the bad behavior continued. When we were stopped at one point Sharon was facing Kelpie, and I noticed that Kelpie was not looking at Sharon at all. This is a bad sign, if a horse you are working with is not paying attention to you with both eyes, that horse is not respecting you or looking to you for leadership. Kelpie was spending a lot of time looking at me, at Goose, and off in the field over to her left. But not a lot of time looking at Sharon.

When a horse is doing this you can make it uncomfortable for them to be directing their attention everywhere else but on you. You can do this by giving them a single bump with the lead rope every time they are looking off somewhere. The idea is to apply pressure that will bring the nose facing you so that you have the two eyes of the horse. You are facing the horse directly and suppose she is looking off to her left. Then you bump the rope in a sideways fashion to put pressure toward your left, which would be the right of the horse. If you’ve done it firmly enough this will encourage the horse to turn and look at you. Then you praise, either verbally or with a pet or both, but no treats!

Another good thing to do after you’ve got this down is to kind of walk back and forth in arcs in front of the horse. If the horse has decided your her leader, she will follow you with her eyes. If she hasn’t decided this, its a good opportunity to be bumping her nose toward you as you walk in this pattern.

Sharon spent some time practicing this but she is going to have to work at it to get that horse’s attention. I think she is also going to just have to get her energy up and be more firm with the horse. I asked if I could lead Kelpie for awhile, and I threw in some pretty firm backups and then Kelpie led real nice for me.

So anyway, the bottom line is you want your horse paying attention to you with both eyes when you’re working. If she isn’t doing so, she has her mind on something else other than you, like the coyote over in the next field. That isn’t a horse you want to be riding! You want a horse that you’re riding to be one that pays full attention to you.

Getting attention is a vital aspect of natural horsemanship training. We’re really training the person here and not the horse-he already knows to look at the leader of the herd for direction. What these exercises do is teach the person to become the leader of the herd for their own horse.

These horse training ground tips and stories come from Eric Bravo who offers natural horsemanship training at Gentle Horse Training. He has a set Of 7 Horse Training Videos That Teach You How To Train Horses Yourself Using Natural Horsemanship Techniques.

Learn More All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!
The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

HorseTraining Ground - Walk Away

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:22:00 +0000

Horse Training Ground Tip: Walk Away

When asking a horse to do something, simply walking away from him is one of the most important tools at your disposal.

How can this be? Horses respond to pressure-whether its pressure from a rope or a rein, or from something he perceives to be a threat. By walking away from him you remove the pressure. You can use the simple act of turning and walking away to communicate to your horse that he did something you asked. This truly rewards the horse-taking the pressure of a horse releases that built in sense of apprehension and fear a horse has. Giving him a treat when he does something you want does not accomplish this.

Another Important Horse Training Ground Tip

You can not accomplish teaching a horse to think and control his emotions by giving her treats. We are all emotional, but horses are way more emotional than people are. A horse is built to run first and ask questions later-all emotion (fear) and no thought. By taking the pressure off when a horse feels threatened-but before he goes to escape-you teach a horse to stop and think. The horse will begin to control his emotions instead of feeling fear and escaping.

There are two steps you want to incorporate into any horse training ground that involves desensitization:

* Always be ready to back off when the horse feels threatened.
* Change the horses line of thinking. When the horse moves away from you, take control back by first asking him to look at you and second making his feet moves if he fails to give you his full attention.

I’ve written before about the importance of gaining and keeping the attention of your horse. This means having the horse look at you with both eyes described in my blog post Horse Training Ground - Getting Attention. While I describe an exercise using the lead rope to get your horse started with this behavior, you want to use kissing or clicking as a signal to have your horse look at you at all times-even without the lead rope. One way you can work on this is in the round pen without the lead rope or halter on your horse. Kiss to him to get his attention. When he looks at you, wait a second then walk away. You can also praise verbally, but the key idea is walking away to take the pressure off.

The example of touching a head shy horse is a great one that can be used over and over to illustrate these concepts. Here are some key ideas I incorporated after recently reading a book by John Lyons:

* If a horse pulls his head away from you when you try to pet him or touch his ear, he is telling you he is afraid you might hurt him.
* Don’t chase his head and force him to let you touch it.
* Start fast and slow down.

Let’s focus on that last point. If a horse is afraid of letting someone touch his ear, you aren’t going to have the most success desensitizing him by grabbing hold of his ear and holding it for 30 seconds. Instead, start gradually with quick touches. The first time he lets you touch the ear without pulling away, rub your hand over it quickly (taking a total of 1 second say). Then remove the pressure by walking away. Approach him again, and then touch more slowly-say 2 seconds.

By building on small steps like this, you teach the horse to relax and think. When you touch him he gets wound up for a second because he feels threatened, but you take the stimulus away before he decides to escape. Escaping doesn’t always mean galloping off to the hills-if he pulls his head away he is thinking escape. What we want is to teach him to feel his fear go up and then take the threatening stimulus away and let him feel the adrenaline drop back down again so he learns to relax.

Now when a horse does think move away or escape, we want to change his thought pattern. Here is how you do it. Suppose that a horse isn’t comfortable with you approaching him in the round pen. So if you’re 10 feet away and he is standing still, but you walk toward his withers, he walks away from you.

Timing is everything-you need to watch closely and figure out exactly when he is going to move off. Ideally, you want to gradually close the gap. So if he starts to move off at 8 feet of distance, walk up to him to 9 feet. Kiss to him to get him to look at you, then turn and walk away. This is just like touching his ear for just a second. Next time, approach to 8 feet and 7 inches and repeat.

Now suppose you approach but you see his muscles shifting so that he is about to turn away. Or what is another sign he is thinking escape? He simply turns his head away from you. What should you do then? You want to change his thought pattern. The first step is to ask him to look at you. So if you approach your horse and he turns away, kiss to ask him to look at you with both eyes. If he doesn’t comply, then re-establish control by making his feet move. Lyons advises giving the horse 2 seconds to look at you when you’ve asked for it. So if the horse turns away but won’t look back toward you when you kiss for 2 seconds, use your rope, whip, or carrot stick to send him out.

This approach goes with one of the best horse training tips: Eric Bravo’s “steal a thought” idea. Eric says that when the horse starts to move off steal the thought and make it your own by sending the horse out when he is thinking of moving off. This helps establish you as the leader. What I like about Lyon’s approach is adding the extra step of asking the horse for his attention first, so that you are getting him to think and communicate with you instead of just relying on his emotions. Read more about Eric Bravo expert training at Gentle Horse Training. He has a set Of 7 Horse Training Videos That Teach You How To Train Horses Yourself Using Natural Horsemanship Techniques.

Learn More All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!
The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Timing And Pressure Sensing

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:01:00 +0000

We’ve already seen that we can subtly influence the bad behavior of a horse by taking a step back when he invades our space or stepping forward while asking him to back up. You won’t be surprised that there are a lot of ways to subtly influence horse behavior, and all too often, its not in the way you want.

One important aspect of horse training is about pressure sensing, applying and removing pressure. If the pressure isn’t removed at precisely the right moment, this may cause problems in achieving the best results. Let’s take two examples. We’ve already discussed the importance of actually walking away from a horse you’re trying to catch in a field when you sense he’s about to run off. If done correctly-by taking the pressure off an instant before he is about to run off, it can lead to dramatic results. But if not done right, say you’re a second late in taking the pressure off, he is going to be even harder to catch next time.

Here’s another example I got from John Lyons, which I love because it really illustrates not only the importance of timing, but how horses think and react. You have a horse that doesn’t like you touching his ears. Every time you reach up to touch his ear, he turns his head away from you. Lyons points out that this is the same as a horse running to escape. Same mode of thinking in other words. How do you get the horse over it? You find what I’ll call pressure sensing point or a pressure point and take the pressure off just before you reach it. In other words, suppose your horse keeps his head in place for 2 seconds when you reach for his ear, then turns away. That means the pressure point is 2 seconds. You work with the pressure sensing point by putting your hand on his ear for only 1 second, then removing it. By removing the pressure (touching his ear-something he doesn’t feel comfortable with) you help the horse begin to relax and not respond to the pressure sensing anymore. It gives the horse the opportunity to stop and think. In this case, he starts to realize you’re not going to harm him by touching his ear for a second. When he feels that way, the pressure point has moved, maybe now he would let you touch his ear for a maximum of 3 seconds. But you’re not going to take it to the max-instead now you remove the pressure at 2 seconds. The idea of the pressure sensing point is to apply the threat (in the mind of the horse), discomfort, or whatever it is until the horse is just about to go into escape mode-but without quite letting him reach that point.

Getting this timing down is simply a matter of experience. Don’t feel bad if you’ve got problems with it, there is only one way to get perfect timing with horses and that’s by spending more and more time with them conscious of this aspect of horse training.

When its not done right, sometimes we can inadvertently teach our horses something we don’t want to. An example: you’re desensitizing your horse by standing in front of him swinging a rope back and forth over his head. Naturally this makes the horse uncomfortable. Suppose that he walks towards you, looking for security. Or looked at another way, this is another example of a horse going into escape mode-trying to get away from the stimulus (although in a subtler kind of way).

One natural response of the handler might be to stop swinging the rope when the horse takes a step towards him. After all, you might be worried the horse is about to run you over. But doing this teaches the horse something we don’t want-that walking into our space removes the uncomfortable stimulus-which is the swinging rope over the head of the horse.

The correct way to deal with this situation would be to carefully watch the muscles of the horse, and figure out how many seconds go by before he shifts his weight to move. Then swing the rope 1 second less, so that the stimulus gets removed before the horse starts stepping forward. In other words if he steps forward at 4 seconds, stop swinging the rope at 3 seconds. That way he doesn’t learn the incorrect lesson, which would be that stepping forward removes the stimulus. Done the correct way, the horse will learn what we want-which is that an uncomfortable or scary stimulus doesn’t necessarily mean he is about to die or get eaten!

All About Horses:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!
The Ultimate Guide To Pampering Your Horse provides a gold mine of ideas and inspiration. "For grooming, bathing, and hoof-care suggestions to homemade treats, toys, parties, games (and even costumes!) You'll find step-by-step directions for guaranteed horse-pleasers such as: Slop and Slurp Delight, Homemade Bug-Be-Gone, Edible Christmas Wreath, Mad Hatter Birthday Party and much more!

Dropping A Horse’s Head And Gaining Respect

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:36:00 +0000

Gaining Respect From Your Horse

Gaining respect from your horse is one of the most important aspects of training, because it not only gets the horse more willing to do what you ask of him-it makes things safer as well. A good way to continually work on gaining respect is the lowering of the head's horse. This also helps the horse relax, leading to a safer horse.

A horse that is scared and on alert for danger has his head high up in the air. In contrast, a horse that is calm and relaxed has his head lowered. Moreover, a horse with a lowered head is not only relaxed, this is a horse adopting a more submissive posture that is amenable to your leadership.

To lower the head, put a halter with lead rope on your horse. Stand to the left near his neck, with your left hand holding (not grabbing or pulling) the end of the lead rope connected to the halter. Place your right hand on top of the head just behind the poll. Now apply downward pressure with your right hand.

When gaining respect, apply pressure when asking a horse to lower his head, however, don’t push down. Simply apply pressure and let the horse figure out that he can release the pressure by lowering his head.

Keep in mind that patience and rewarding your horse for small steps of progress are both important. That means you shouldn’t expect your horse to lower his head all the way down level with his shoulder the first time. Gaining respect takes time. If he simply gives in to the pressure by lowering his head just an inch-or even a millimeter-reward him for making this slightest try by removing the pressure and verbally praising. Then try again and ask for a bit more. Don’t expect too much the first session, keep your training sessions short and only ask your horse to lower his head a few times each lesson. Also, don’t forget there are really “two horses”. After working with lowering the head from the left side, ask him to lower his head while you’re on the right side. As time goes on, you can build on the previous days work and eventually your horse will lower his head to where you ask him to put it-which should be aligned with where the neck meets the shoulder.

Lowering the head is a great calming technique. Anytime your horse exhibits fear-say on the trail, consider asking him to lower his head. This can help the horse come back from that black-out mode horses go into when scared, and bring them back to a more relaxed state of mind.

Learn More All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

Controlling Horse Feet

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:43:00 +0000

Insert from Eric Bravo - advice from a Horse Expert

The other day I was watching a lady working with her horse. She was asking the horse to backup. So she is standing there shaking the rope, and the horse was taking a couple of steps backwards. But at the same time, the lady was walking toward the horse. Basically, the distance between the lady and the horse was always the same.

First we remind ourselves that the dominant members of the herd move the other horses around. So in order to attain our objective of establishing leadership with a horse, something we have to pay attention to is getting him to move his feet. As I’ve mentioned before, working a horse in a round-pen or using backing-up exercises are good horse training techniques we can use to do this.

But we also have to pay attention to our own feet. That lady I saw was not getting all she could out of her groundwork. Sure the horse was backing up, but she was moving around too. That may not communicate leadership to the horse very effectively. Also its a missed opportunity. One part of using backing up in horse training is to get your horse used to the idea that you can put some space between you and her if necessary. You might need to do this for personal safety someday, but if your horse is a problem because he’s one foot away and you back him up while walking towards him, and you’re still one foot away, you haven’t solved the problem.

Another example. Something I see all the time is how horses subtly get their handlers to move their feet. People are not paying attention to this and are barely, if at all, aware its happening. Maybe two people will be standing there talking, one of them holding a horse on the lead rope. The horse will start nudging at the person, maybe looking for a treat in their pocket or something.

Then what happens next, is instinctively feeling some discomfort because the horse is too close, they step out of the way.

What people often don’t realize is that by taking that step out of the way of the horse, the horse has got one up on you. He’s gotten you to move your feet-making him, not you, the leader. He may take this to heart and give you problems later with “bad horse behavior”. Later on, that horse might run off when he feels like it (when you’re on his back), crowd you in the barn, kick at your, or do who knows what else. Part of horse training is being aware of subtle cues in body language that horses recognize instantly.

The correct thing to do when a horse gets too close is to back them up out of your space without you giving an inch. Unless your safety is in immediate danger, like a horse is reared up and about to stomp on you, don’t give an inch. Stand your ground and make the horse move his feet, without you moving yours.

Discover Amazing Horse Training Secrets That Will Let You Handle Horses Like A Gifted Pro-No Matter What Your Skill Level or Previous Experience!

Learn More All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

Dealing With An Aggressive Horse Behavior

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:04:00 +0000

I’ve noticed that a lot of people have problems dealing with an aggressive horse or a dominant horse. Often, because people don’t really understand horse behavior, they aren’t sure what’s going on. This problem arises because of the predator-prey difference in our relationship with horses. Being prey animals, horse behavior can be hard for us to truthfully understand at times.

One way to get a handle on aggressive horse behavior is to go out into a pasture where there are several horses and just watch them. Find out who the dominant horse is. Something you’ll probably notice is that a dominant horse moves the other horses around. Sometimes, a dominant horse will make a more submissive horse move out of the way just to show whose boss. He might do this by motioning to bite or kick at the more submissive horse, or even actually doing it. Its hard to believe for some people who are new to horse life, but horses can be very aggressive and mean with each other.

At other times, the dominant horse moves other horses out of the way for a practical purpose, while also showing that he is boss. For instance, if there is a large hay stack, he might make a horse move out of the way so he can eat. If horses in a pasture are fed in bowls with grain, the dominant horse will eat first and make the other horses move off so she can do it.

In the wild, the dominant aggessive horse will decide when and where the herd will go. Once again, this involves getting the horses to move. They do this with body language.

Getting insight into this can help humans who own their own aggressive horse to deal with aggressive horse behavior that arises from dominance issues. One of the first things we need to teach our horses is never to invade our space. All too often, people let their horses pester them by invading their space, maybe the horse appears to be looking for treats or something. People think its cute, but the horse might actually be testing you to see where you stand in the hierarchy.

To deal with dominant aggressive horses, we can act to turn negative situations into positive situations. One way to do this is start moving an aggressive horse behavior around instead of letting her move you around.

Lets say that you are going out into the pasture where you have an aggressive horse. Give yourself a leg up and add some confidence by always taking a tool with you. This can be a crop or a lead rope, just something you can use to make yourself look bigger and put some pressure on a horse with.

If a horse comes at you, take the end of the lead rope and whip it around like a helicopter blade. Don’t be afraid to smack the nose of an aggressive horse with the end of your lead rope. This can be really helpful. I know I used to be intimidated by aggressive horses, and being able to swing a lead rope or whip in the air was really helpful in giving me the confidence I needed to keep a horse from chasing me out of a field.

Something else you can use is kick dirt at the aggressive horse and make a hissing sound like a snake or just say “psssst” as you do it. When an aggressive horse behavior comes at you or won’t move off, assume a confident stance with your body language. Then look down at the ground toward your right foot, and kick some dirt toward the horse. While you are doing this make the “ssss” sound (think snake). This is pretty effective at getting horses to move off. And remember horses will have a tendency to yield to you, even if they are aggressive or dominant-provided that you show them you are not intimidated.

Step two is to start doing some groundwork with this horse to let the horse know YOU are in charge and the mare IS NOT. To do this, you need to start using your body language to communicate to the mare in horse language, which means body language, that you are in charge. Can you catch this mare? If so catch her and put a lead rope on and perform these simple leading exercises:

Leading Exercises

The idea of this exercise is to lead your horse using body language that communicates leadership and teaches the horse to respect you. I know we all want to bond with our horses, but you cannot really bond completely until the horse respects you. Its just like human friends. Can you really be friends with someone you don’t respect? Your horse needs to respect you.

A good exercise is to start every day with a groundwork session that begins with the hook-on:

Horse Hook-On in the Round Pen

That will go a long way to teaching your horse to respect you as a leader and make your horse easier to catch (if that is an issue with you).

Now, a great way to deal with a dominant aggressive horse is to give them more than their share of backup exercises. Horses do not like to back up because of instinct. They are prey animals, and even though they are domesticated and live in more or less safe environments, their instincts have them on the look out for lions and tigers all the time. So walking backwards where they can’t see makes them uncomfortable as a general rule. But the alpha mare can certainly ask them to backup. So assume the role of alpha mare and put a lead rope on your horse and ask her to backup. If she doesn’t listen shake the rope aggressively. Spend 20 minutes a day doing this until her behavior improves. Its easy for you do do and produces results.

Also, take some time out to do other exercises that just involve moving the horse around. Remember as I said the dominant horse gets other horses to move off. So you do that to your mare. Make her move her forehand left, then right. Then ask her to disengage her hindquarters. Then repeat. This is all tedious, but it will get your horse to respect you so that she will not chase you out of the field. A horse that chases you around like that does NOT respect you. And would you want to ride that horse? Probably not a safe idea.

Learn More All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!

Dealing with Horse Bites

noreply@blogger.com (Eric and Beth Shoop) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:43:00 +0000

One day when I was quite new to horses I was feeding treats to a horse I really liked named Cowboy. I had been told to hold your hand out flat, and I was pretty much doing that. I gave him a couple of treats. Then I reached up to give him a pet on the nose, and he clamped down on my fingers.

Let me tell you horse bites hurt! It was like having a stainless steel vise come down on your hand. Even worse-there seemed no way to get him to open his mouth-it was clamped down solid on my fingers. He was looking for a treat and would have swallowed my hand if he could. I risked serious injury-a broken bone or two at least, if I couldn’t get out of the situation. So instead of petting him on the nose I basically punched him and he let go.

I felt bad about hitting him but wasn’t sure what to do in a situation like that. A similar event happened to a friend of mine at the same horse ranch. She was visiting with her horses and another one came by and when she had her hand out, the attention-seeking mare bit down on it. This time, bones were broken and the woman had to be taken in for surgery, and no doubt a long recovery period with those kind of horse bites.

A horse bites for many reasons. They may bite looking for a treat, or they may bite as a means of establishing dominance. I happen to have my horses at a relatively large facility with 60+ horses in residence. That’s a lot of horses, and its a great opportunity to observe horse behavior. They have groups of horses living together in open pastures, maybe 5-7 horses in each one. The horses have large hay bails where they can graze all day long. What is nice about this is you can watch the horses behave in natural horse fashion, because they basically form a herd with a hierarchy and aren’t confined in an artificial barn situation where they need to be “turned out”.

One thing you find is that in some of the groups, a lot of biting goes on. This is where there is a lot of jostling to find out who is the head honcho. Horses bite and kick at each other all the time, and they have the scars to prove it. This isn’t a good or bad thing, its just the way horses behave, although in an extreme situation you might want to move a victim to a different living situation.

So while a horse may bite because of the occasional mistake of looking for a carrot, more often than not a horse is biting because they are asserting dominance. If your horse bites you, it is not something you can accept under any circumstances. A firm, immediate response is required. Remember that horses live a lot more in the moment than we do, so you can’t give a firm response 20 minutes later and expect the horse to understand. It has to be immediate. You don’t have to punch the horse, the only reason I did that was he was about to break my fingers off. Hopefully you will have a tool at your disposal like a whip or lead rope (now I never go around horses without one). One thing you can do is firmly make the horse back up out of your space if he tries to bite you. Dominant horses make the other horses move their feet, so if a horse tries to bite you-get him out of your personal space and make him move his feet. Asking for a backup (FIRMLY!) is a great way to do this.

Of course why do horses bite? Its important to establish leadership and respect with good horse training so that this doesn’t happen in the first place. That is done with good groundwork training-so invest time in your groundwork so that your horse respects your personal space, and doesn’t try to assert dominance by doing things like biting.

Learn More All About Horses Here:

Learn Horse Training Breaking Secrets. Five Horseback Riding Video Lessons Teach Natural Riding Without Bouncing, Safely Controlling Your Horse And Riding Bareback And Bridleless.
Learn To Grow Gorgeous Horses! Now You Too Can Grow Long, Thick, Luxurious Horse Manes and Tails and Make Any Horse Stunningly Gorgeous Amazingly Fast!