Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2016 i Horse & Rider

What Is Horse Heaves? Learn more about the most prevalent lung disease seen in horses on our Web site after reading this month’s Whole Horse Q&A, page 14. Quarter-Crack Problems See how to heal and prevent quarter cracks in Horsekeeping on page 21, then go to our Web site to see different quarter-crack causes and treatments. Handling a Mistake How does champion rider Bob Avila get past a mistake in the arena? Find out on page 30. Then go online to learn how he handles a horse that spooks. Do-It-Yourself DIY rider Danny Blackburn has had impressive success showing without a trainer. Read about another rider’s DIY journey in “Reiner With No Trainer” online. Join the Herd! We love hearing from you! Send all high-resolution images for Conformation Clinic; Problem…

I began taking riding lessons at age 63. I’ve discovered learning to ride a horse isn’t as simple as learning to ride, say, a bike. You must master how to sit and how to keep your balance— that much is like the bike. But you must also learn how to position and coordinate your hands and feet. Plus how to follow the movement. Plus how not to bounce. Plus how all the gear works, not to mention how to interact with the horse. And all of it must be processed in the brain at roughly the same time. Often it can seem like me against the horse, me against the trainer, or me against me. Sometimes separately. Sometimes all together. It’s a challenge. Garbage In, Garbage Out A complicating factor…

Quarter cracks can be a frustrating problem. For real-world answers, we turned to Bob Smith, owner of the Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School in Plymouth, California, and a member of the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame. What are quarter cracks? The hoof is divided into three areas: the toe, the quarters, and the heels. Any crack appearing in the “side” of the hoof—that is, the quarters—is considered a quarter crack. Such cracks are typically vertical, starting at the coronary band and running down. Like most other hoof cracks, they generally begin inside the hoof before presenting visually on the outside. What causes them? Quarter cracks have various causes, including trauma to the coronary band, a prior injury to the coronary band resulting in the growth of defective horn, and poor conformation…

5 Star Equine 5 Star Equine knows the needs of working horses, and that’s why the company makes its saddle pads with 100% pure virgin wool. The Trail Rider 5 Star Saddle Pad was originally designed tfit the Tucker Saddle. It is a square-skirted pad that is a great trail-riding pad for wider, shorter trail saddles. The 100% pure virgin wool felt wicks away moisture, cleans up easily, and stabilizes your saddle with limited cinching. Wear leathers provide protection and durability. Plus, you can buy with pride, as these pads are handmade in the USA. Unlike square-cut pads, the 5 Star Pad is French Curved to follow a horse’s back contour with special attention to wither height, back-line variance, and hip placement. This design makes the pad an optimal fit…

Setbacks & Comebacks IT WASN’T A QUESTION OF IF IT WOULD HAPPEN, but rather when. Old Paint bucked with my son Leo for the first time. Leo hasn’t been fazed by little senior stumbles or the times when his horse gets a little strong when loping. But this time was different. The old horse gave a few good hops to his young rider. I bet we all can remember the first time a horse really bucked with us. Whether we rode through it or hit the ground, it instantly changes how we interact with horses. That Darn Pony My first launch from the saddle came from a lesson pony that was new to the barn— I think I was 9 years old. We were walking in the round pen when…

Q My 20-year-old Appaloosa developed aspiration pneumonia about 12 years ago. She was on antibiotics for six weeks and since then had been doing great, except over the past five or six years she started developing heaves. We soak her hay and give her allergy shots. Why is it that when some horses with heaves cough, they also pass gas, at times explosively? I was told that’s not good. The hay soaking helps, but in Pennsylvania it’s tough when the water freezes. Would a hay steamer help kill dust, mold spores, or whatever is in hay to make my mare cough? A Recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), commonly known as heaves, is a noninfectious breathing disorder usually affecting horses over age 7. It’s characterized by an increase in respiratory rate and/or…

Foot Power Provide a well-balanced diet appropriate for your horse’s age and workload to help keep his feet healthy. When his diet is on point, so too will be his hoof growth…usually. Some horses, despite a fine-tuned diet, require nutritional help with hoof growth. In such cases, biotin supplementation can be beneficial. Hooves respond to other nutrients as well, so a well-formulated hoof supplement should contain zinc, iodine, and methionine, in addition to biotin (ker.equinews.com). Cinch smarts: Never unfasten your saddle’s front cinch before undoing the back one. If your horse were to shake or spook, the saddle could slip down around his back legs, causing a wreck. Similarly, don’t leave your horse standing with the front cinch too loose, which could lead to the saddle’s slipping underneath him. Protect…

Women’s Chaps Bonnie Caylor Custom Chaps These leather chaps give you freedom to change up your look. Zip-in colored fringe to stand out in trail, then detach before horsemanship for a more traditional look. More info: Price upon request; (626) 961-8827. Hobby Horse The ultra-suede fringed chaps provide a great fit, come in a variety of colors, and are lighter and cooler than leather chaps. You can even machine-wash these in between horse shows. More info: $359.95; hobbyhorseinc.com. Saddle Pads Yucca Flats Saddle Pads Stand out in the show pen with this hand-woven show blanket (#G-91). Yucca Flats dye their own wool, which allows their pads to have rich, vibrant colors. Choose from a variety of patterns. More info: $285; yucca flatsinc.com. Weaver Leather Use this boldly colored saddle pad…

Your horse is under the weather, and your vet doesn’t know what’s wrong. “We should probably run some basic lab work,” he explains. “Maybe that’ll help us figure out what to do.” Just about every horse owner has given the green light for “basic lab work” that includes a complete blood count and chemistry panel. I’ll unravel some of the mysteries about basic blood work. I’ll start by explaining the most common reasons I suggest blood work and what factors I consider when interpreting the results. fien I’ll tell you about the 10 tests I always look at first—including what they might mean and how they relate to other tests. You’ll learn why blood work is an important tool in your vet’s tool box, and how to make the most…

“OH! YOU MEAN YOU ACTUALLY DON’T ENJOY EATING DIRT? OOPS, MY BAD.” Kendra Casper, Oregon “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL DAY?” Cooper, my Paint gelding, gets lonely and bored when he’s the only horse in the pasture. He pouts if I don’t give him enough attention. Evelyn Gilbreath, Missouri “DO YOU FULLY TRUST ME?” I think Chief, my 16-year-old adopted Standardbred, knows that I do. I’d been told he was cantankerous, but he breezed through ground training and now seems at ease and content. Tina Taylor, Florida “WHY DO YOU ALWAYS MAKE ME GO THROUGH THE MUD AND WATER PUDDLES?” My 15-year-old gelding would really prefer to step around them. Marissa Lehrer, Minnesota “HOW COME YOU GO OUT AT NIGHT AND I HAVE TO STAY LOCKED UP IN A STALL?…

LETTER OF THE MONTH On Plump Pregnant Mares The small item on page 19 of the September issue, “Fat = Less Fertile,” is misleading and perhaps erroneous. I’m not aware of scientific evidence proving excessive body fat is detrimental to fertility or parturition in the mare. To the contrary, colleagues and I have published research showing that excessive body fat in the mare is not detrimental to conception, pregnancy, parturition, or postpartum reproductive performance. The only negative effect of excessive body fat in mares that we found was a slight reduction in milk production, perhaps due to fat accretion in the udder. While I don’t advocate mares’ being fed to obesity, neither do I advocate scaring horse producers about mares becoming too fat—regarding fertility. The risks of laminitis are very…

Captive Style Details: 2005 AQHA mare by The Last Captive and out of Angela Larksbury, by Rugged Lark. Barn name: Gia. Owned and shown by: Krystal Jackson of Casper, Wyoming. Sight unseen: “I found Gia online as a yearling and bought her off a video—I didn’t even look at her in person,” Krystal says about purchasing Gia. “By the time we got her to Wyoming it was like having a completely different horse because she’d grown so much.” Slow start: Due to a club foot and checkligament surgery, Krystal waited to start working with Gia under saddle. “I did a lot of ground work with her, and was finally able to ride her when she turned 3,” Krystal says. “Gia was so easy because she gives 100 percent and has…

You warm up your horse before a training session or a show class. You probably ease into your own workouts at the gym. But do you use warm-up exercises to get yourself into horsemanship position in the saddle? Here, I’ll outline exercises my riders use to both build strength to improve their horsemanship position at home and to get themselves ready before a class. Hold the positions as long as you can, take a short break, and resume the exercise. Work through each gait, progressing from walk to jog to lope as you build strength and confidence. ? 1 Let’s begin by discussing what the optimal horsemanship position looks like. A strong leg is a necessity to maintain the position that aligns your ear, shoulder, hip, and heel. I prefer…

Seasoned veterans and newbie novices share one horse-show challenge: juggling downtime. Horse shows inherently possess a “hurry-up-and-wait” scenario, but you don’t have to twiddle your thumbs with anxiety as you wait for hours, picking at your horse and arriving at the in-gate keyed up. You also don’t want to misjudge the timing of the classes before yours and rush to the pen stressed and unprepared—or worse, miss your class. I’ve worked with my youth and amateur clients to develop routines and rhythms to help my exhibitors enter the show pen calm and ready to compete. Here’s my list of do’s and don’ts to help you devise your own program to manage your show down time to your advantage. DO FUEL YOUR BODY. I admit: I used to neglect the importance…

Q I show my 9-year-old Appaloosa gelding in all-around competition on the regional level and enjoy trail riding with him. Due to a hind-leg injury, he’s been laid up for almost a month. My vet advised one to two more months of stall-rest. Once he’s fully healed, how can I quickly recondition him without risking re-injury? Is there anything I can do while he’s laid up to make his transition back to work easier? BETSY JAMES, North Carolina A Following a long layoff, it’s crucial that you bring your horse back to work slowly. After not exercising for an extended period of time, your horse will be out of shape. To prevent re-injury, you must rebuild your gelding’s endurance and muscle tone gradually. The good news is that most horses…