Horse Care and Health Tips

AERC: American Endurance Ride Conference  Training plan for Endurance rides Cliff notes on the AERC Training Plan Chapter Six Conditioning I. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS In conditioning, the ultimate goal is to develop to maximum potential whatever natural athletic ability any given individual possesses. The object of this chapter is to acquaint the reader with the basic principles of conditioning and to suggest some methods and time frames appropriate for preparing a horse for competition in an endurance test. Each horse is an individual and each horse’s ideal conditioning program should be tailored to the horse and to its environment. For example, horses running each day on 50 acres of hilly pasture will need far less conditioning under saddle than a horse kept in a 15’ by 20’ corral most of the time.  Know your horse: Trainers concern themselves with more than pulse rates and blood counts, although these things are surely important. The best trainers have...

My current setup is a Bob Marshall trail saddle, Dixie Midnight no sweat vent pad and a Skito pad. I use a biothane bridle for easy clean up. I will upload a picture of my saddle and padding situation. After a few rides with this setup, I noticed my mare was getting some grey hair on her back, I am going to swap out the Dixie Midnight pad for a inexpensive vent pad which had surprisingly high reviews on various sites. The one I am ordering is at Chicks Saddlery for about $13. As for boots, I use the renegade boots, but would love to upgrade to the Renegade Vipers. I haven't found anything else that sticks to her feet as well. I have tried the Easyboot Trails, and was very disappointed, after about 10 miles total, the seems began coming apart, now they are my emergency back ups. A really good article on tips can be found by clicking this link . An exerpt from the article: "Apparel secret #1:  Ditch street jeans. For every trail rider who's ever gawked at an endurance rider...

There are so many products on the market today, I felt like some clarification could be used to determine how to treat your horses injury. First off, you must identify which leg is lame. Have somebody else lead the horse at a trot towards you. in a straight line on level ground. Watch the front legs, The head will bob DOWN on the sound leg, and up on the lame leg. If you suspect it is a hind leg, then have somebody trot the horse away from you, and watch the hips, determine which one hikes up higher than the other. That is the lame leg. If you have a difficult time determining which leg, you can use white tape on the horses buttock to help you determine which side is lifting. " Heat on one side indicates possible inflammation. To assess tendons (on the back of the lower portions of the legs), flex the leg and feel the layers of tendons (should be three) for any bumps, sources of heat or breaks." ( Read more at :  http://www.ehow.com/how_2165863_do-quick-effective-lameness...

Most riders know the basic cues to ask a horse to to do something. But once you have the basics down, it can be difficult to increase your riding skills without hiring a trainer, taking lessons or seeking guidance of a more experienced rider. So I am here to give you a few tips.   We have three ways in which we can communicate with horse while riding them, our legs, our seat, and our hands.  Legs Our legs have three positions, each of them is used to ask the horse to do different things. Later I will discuss combining cues, but let's start with leg cues for now. We have the middle leg position, which some call on the cinch or girth, but it is actually behind the girth, where your leg falls when you are seated properly and your ears, shoulders, hips and heel all align. In addition to middle position, we have in front of of the girth and behind the girth, which really mean in front of middle position and behind middle position. Now, it is important to remember that horses respon...

Before we talk about types of bits, lets talk about parts of the bit, so we can understand how it works. D- Ring- This, like other snaffles, should be used to start a horse. Once they are well into their training, they should move to a different bit in order to refine the training. Lifter Bit- This gives more leverage for a junior, but well-broke horse. It works great for faster speeds, and gives the horse more flex, collection and lifts the shoulder. It has a lot of purchase as you can see, which helps the horse figure out how to break at the poll and flex his nose. Most western horses tend to like this bit, but if he doesn't understand it, he will be nervous. Chain Bit- commonly used on calf horses because it gives you a lot of control, specifically lateral control at high speeds. It can also help to soften a hard-mouthed horse. If the rider is soft in the hands, after using this for awhile, you can drop back to a lifter bit. The rider should be able to tell if the horse is getti...

I know my blog is mostly informative, but I have found some products that I truly love and want share the opportunity for you to have the products as well. These bridles are cold weather resistant and stay soft and supple in cold weather. I can have them made in any color combination that you would like, currently I have the following- the set includes a headstall with noseband, and matching reins for $50 -$60 plus shipping costs:

A combination of a significant amount of rain and rocky terrain helped my mare find her way into a situation where she managed to cut the bottom of her hoof. I saw that she was limping and cleaned out her hooves only to see a cut and some blood. I cleaned her hoof up the best that I could, and put some Neosporin on the wound, I then cut up a diaper and duct taped it to her hoof. She is currently on stall rest, but when she got antsy, I put a large hoof boot over the concoction and let her roam the field with her herd for a little bit. I will provide updates, but the dressing held up overnight in the stall, so hopefully this will work out. UPDATE: After much healing and limping, and everything else. I determined that this was most likely an abscess that finally came out after about 2 months after a stone bruise.

Many people think that training horses to act a certain way is an extremely challenging and time consuming endeavor. However, the theories behind training horses are quite simple really, and surprise most people who are not involved in the horse industry. Although there are several theories and guidelines that allow humans to be able to teach an animal 8 times their weight respond to simple cues with minimal struggle and restraint, they truly are quite simple, as horses are simple creatures. If they are scared, they run; they are prey, not predators as are most herbivores. Of utmost importance is having the horses undivided attention. All distractions should be removed before attempting any training, as well as ensuring that the horse is relaxed, not scared of anything, nor should he be full of energy. The horses energy level is extremely important. If he was in a stall all day and unable to exert energy prior to training attempts, the attempts will likeliy be...