We Almost Lost A Horse Last Night From Choke . . .

Choke in horses is a very scarey thing . . . .

I have done my best to prevent choking in my horses by making sure that their hay flakes are always shook out, that they always have fresh water, and that any treats I feed (including baby carrots) are broken in pieces small enough to prevent choking.  I'm also a nut about checking hay for any foreign bodies like paper, plastic, and even the little chopped pieces of baler twine that falls onto bales after the knotter has tied off.

Despite my precautions I almost lost Joey, are 7-year-old AQHA gelding.  If I had it would I have blamed myself for feeding him a handful of alfalfa pellets . . . .

I have never been an advocate for feeding hay alternatives like cubes for the simple fact of the choking hazard they pose . . . even if you soak them like you should ALWAYS do.  I have felt pretty comfortable feeding pelleted timothy and alfalfa and do so usually in a handful amount in outdoor feeders when I don't want my horses dropping hay in their dry lots after a hard rain.  I have also mixed them in with a couple of handfuls of senior feed for our 24-year-old gelding . . . on days when it's really cold out . . . for a mid-day snack along with his hay. 

So when I decided to give Joey a handful of these last night, instead of a new low-carb grain I had been feeding him (which despite claiming to be low carb/starch smelled very sweet and had made Joey - who's already a high-strung animal, very hyper), I wasn't concerned about there being a problem.  He usually gets a handful or two a day in his stall or run-in, anyway, and I had never had any issues with him eating pelleted feed.

I thought hay pellets were a good idea instead of grain and in the interim while I looked for another grain alternative for him.  I added his regular 1/4 oz of biotin, 1 oz scoop of bran, and 2 oz of ground flax and added a little warm water to get the supplements to stick to the pellets.

You can only image my horror when 5 minutes later he was thrashing around the stall and appeared to not be breathing very well.  I knew it couldn't be colic . . . . Fortunately I have read about choke and did what I could.  I aggressively massaged Joey's throatlatch and upper neck area where the esophagus is located.  I did this for about 5-6 minutes.  When I saw some relief and he started to breathe more normally and chewed some, I administered a full dose of Banamine.

Within 10 minutes Joey was back to normal and resumed eating his evening hay.

Lesson Learned:  You can never be too careful.  I fault wetting the pellets, however, this is what you are supposed to do when feeding them to horses that have poor teeth.  I would now warn anyone who wets their pelleted hay pellets to make sure they have fully dissolved, which could take up to 20 minutes when soaked in warm water.

For me . . . I will probably NEVER feed anything more then a handful of pellets at a time and will scatter them in a feeder . . . . . NEVER again wetting them.

I was lucky and Joey was lucky that I always check my horses after they've been grained to make sure everything's OK and that they are eating a drinking normally.

Prepare Now For Winter Mud

We just got three inches of rain in 24- hours.  You would think my pens would be mud pits, but they're not.  I attribute this to my being diligent about picking up manure daily and raking up any uneaten hay.

I've also learned that if you don't stay on top of these two tasks you'll regret it once we get into the winter.
Here are some other tips for keeping mud under control in your pens:

• Don't feed hay in pens, or if you do: feed only your best hay.  When horses eat all of the hay it won't get mixed in the dirt, which contributes to mud.
• Consider feeding hay pellets in pens; horses don't waste these.
• Position your feeders on the highest spot possible in a pen (this will help drainage away from the spot) and move periodically (this will give the spot a rest).
• Pick up manure daily.  Manure mixed with dirt instantly creates mud when it rains.
• Clean up hay and other bedding that gets drug out of run-in stalls into outdoor lots.
• Create drainage pits in your pens and fill with sand in any other low spots (in front of doors and gates).
• Monitor eating patterns.  We have a horse that likes to push his hay to the run-in opening and then outside.  Moving his hay to another spot in the run-in shed prevents him from rolling it outside and into the lot where it mixes with the dirt. 

A Distaste For Clinics . . . . .

I was recently reminded why I’m not fond of clinics.  Don’t get me wrong, I think there are a handful of good trainer clinicians out there .  . . ones that keep their training in context, consider each horse as an individual, and put the safety of the horse and rider first and foremost.  Julie Goodnight, Craig Cameron, and Chris Cox are among the clinicians that I believe meet all three of these criteria.

Others, I sometimes have to chuckle (although it’s not really funny) at what they present at their clinics . . . Usually my first question is WHY?  Are some of these exercises valid, and really something a horse and rider can add to their exercise regimen, or are they just something new to try to wow a tired audience that may have been coming to see them for years.  Or maybe it’s more for the clinician groupies who have attended every clinic with a particular clinician  . . . so that they feel like they’ve done something new – assurance that they will continue to return and pay big bucks for yet another weekend clinic. 

Unfortunately I suspect that several of these clinicians have crossed the line from being a horse trainer to acting like a guru.

My first bad taste of clinic came while attending a session at a large national equine expo.  I wished the presentation came with disclaimers as I worried how many green horse owners would go home with the clinician’s training stick (of course they were being sold at his booth) and try to teach their green or untrained horse how to disengage their hindquarters.  I could only image how few people would be successful, and the larger number that would get run over by their horse. 

My best advice regarding clinics is to save your money and put it toward lessons with a good, reputable horse trainer in your area.  One-on-one training, rather then being in the ring with a dozen or more other riders, is the best, and safest way to learn good horsemanship!

Back To School School Mean Putting Your Horse :Out To Pasture" Till Next year

It's that time of year . . . back to school for both K-12 and college.  For many of us it also means the end of our show season . . .

Although it's hard to find time to ride and condition your show horse when the fall school routine kicks in, it's beneficial to both you and your horse to continue with some sort of exercise and grooming regimen.

Maybe you don't have time to ride for an hour, but you can probably squeeze 15 minutes in on a lunge line or handwalking.  Maintaining muscle tone is crucial for performance  . . . .and it isn't fair to your horse to wait until one week before your first show next year to ride.

Grooming, especially for halter and showmanship horses is something that should be main-round if you want to have a good healthy coat and bloom.  Horses should still be groomed at least 2-3 times a week during the non-show season.

Just Because You Can Own A Stallion Doesn’t Mean You Should

I have been amazed at the number of stallions that have shown up this year at one of the discipline association circuits I show with . . .  

In recent years the number of stallions being shown has been low, mostly due to the sluggish horse economy and breeding.  I felt this wasn’t a bad thing as the stallions still being shown and promoted for the most part were good representations of their breed and were trained well and handled by experienced horsemen and women.

I’ve had to be somewhat amused to see so many (12 to be exact) at one of our state shows . . I’m assuming this is because there had been one or none in these classes . . . so anyone who had a stallion thought they could come and clean the division up.  It, however, became less amusing to see that for the most part these horses should not be kept stallions, nor should the people handling them own a stallion.

For the sake of everyone I wish people would use their heads.  Just because you CAN own a stallion, doesn’t mean you should.  

The only reason to keep a horse a stallion is for credible breeding purposes.  By credible I mean the stallion represents the breed well, has no unsoundnesses or vices, and there is a demand for his bloodlines.  In addition, it is only a service to our industry if the animal is trained properly and handled in a professional manner. 

Please share this with anyone you know who is thinking it is “cool” to have a stallion.  It will be safer for all of us and better for our horse industry . . . .

The Difference Between Making Hay & Making "Good" Hay

Last week when we finally wound up making the last of our first cutting hay I was reminded of the difference between people/farmers who make hay and those of us who make "good" hay.

The drought of 2013 definitely brought out the worst in those who just make hay . . .

In our struggle to get up our first cutting (between rain every day or two), we had an abundance of hay because we went well into June to get our fields cut.  The surplus allowed me to meet both a hay buyer and another farmer that we brought in to cut two of our fields on shares.

My hay buyer literally begged up for anything else we had.  He told me horror stories of the hay he purchased last year that had sticks, huge thistles, leaves and everything else in the bales.  He and his wife drove 40 miles each way three separate times last week to buy the overflow from our fields.  He even told me he would wait out the summer in hopes that we would sell more after we get our second cutting.

Making good hay is an art and I learned from the best: my dad.  Few people are willing to do what he did to make good hay, and what I do to get ours up dry and weed free . .

In addition to fertilizing in the spring and fall and weed control throughout the year, I religiously pull weeds (any that have been missed by other forms of weed control), in the days leading up to dropping our hay.  Then I will walk the fields once the hay is down and pull out anything I may have missed.  One of our fields borders a woods, so I make sure to pull out leaves, sticks, and other things that may have fallen into the windrows.

Once our hay is cut I also check all of the rows for large clumps left by the haybine.  These are a bear to dry out if they aren't forked up and spread out.  Last, but not least, if there are every any heavy sections or parts of the fields that tend to not dry as fast as the other rows, I literally hand turn and check the windrows through that area.

When our farmer that came in and did two of our fields on shares (we only did this as a means to get our hay down in the 3-4 days we had between rain storms) I was reminded how most guys make hay: fast.  He sped through the fields mowing at top speed and left numerous clumps that he said he wasn't worried about.  (I was and spent and hour spreading them out so they would dry).  Then they skinned the heck out of my fields by running the rake too low . . . which also kicked up roots and dirt into the windrow.  These guys may be able to brag that they put up 10,000 bales a year, but again there's a difference between making hay and making "good hay".
 

The Politics Of Horse Showing

For anyone who shows we all know the politics that go on in and out of the show pen . . .

Over the years I have been involved in several show organizations and seen them thrive and then shrivel into non-existence.  The reason, for the most part, has been politics.

Some might argue that currently the economy is the biggest killer of attendance at horse shows.  While this is somewhat true, I believe the last straw is and always will be the politics that surround the competitive environment of horse showing.

While I don't  like it, I have grown to accept the unwritten code of judges tying trainers over the average Joe in the show ring.  It's just what it is.  Not fair, but the little guy can hardly buck the system. 

What I really can't accept, though, is blatant disregard for a show association rules for certain individuals.

Several years ago I started showing an association where excessive silver on tack and bling on show clothes was not allowed and would result in a DQ.  Many who got involved with the association did so because they felt the horse should be judged instead of the tack and attire.

Last weekend at one of our state shows I was shocked to see several riders attired in clothing and using tack that was in clear violation of the rules in our national rule book.  When this was pointed out to show organizers the comment was made that one the exhibitors was "so and so's daughter".  I merely thought, OK, here we go again. 

The handwriting is already on the wall, I believe.  When you stop following the rules and making exceptions for certain people, you may keep those people happy but will lose others . . . .