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Rider to Rider: Biggest Horse-Care Mistake

Stacey Nedrow-Wigmore — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:04:04 +0000

My biggest mistake was listening to others about how I should be treating my horse, and how to continue his training. I look back and think, “What was I thinking for listening to them?” To this day, still see mistakes in their methods. I’m glad I woke up one day and started listening to my horse.
Karissa Wozniak, via Facebook

Not reading the labels your horse’s grooming products. Whether dilute in water before application or use gloves. Read the label and directions; it might save you hours of working up a lather … with conditioner. It takes longer to wash it all off then it did to lather.
Brooke Anderson, Texas

The biggest mistake I ever made was getting so caught up in moving up the levels and training that I forgot why I did it anyways. I lost that feeling you get when you accomplish something and the moment you cross the finish line after a clean cross-country and you feel as if you are walking in the clouds. Don’t ever lose that relationship with your horse where you are simply inspired by riding them and the partnership you have built. Because at the end of it all, whether you win or lose, you have a best friend for life who will try their heart out for you. ENJOY THE MOMENT!
Bobby Ann Christensen, via Facebook

Trusting someone else to feed my horses.
Elizabeth Brix, via Facebook

An acquaintance fed her horse’s hay on sand = sand colic.
Sally Weaver Lampson, via Facebook

Leaving my horses in someone else’s care and they ended up starving him... needless to say I care for my horses now and they never miss a meal.
Cayln Elliott, via Facebook

Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.
Natasha DeFeudis, via Facebook

Not having enough patience. It is easy to get frustrated on a bad day with your horse, but anger and violence never work with horses and never will. Its important to learn how to step back when you start to get angry and re-evaluate the situation and try to find a positive way to get your point across.
Maria Strong-Zupan, via Facebook

Never let anyone ride your horse! No matter how experienced they say they are!
Cheryle Klein, via Facebook

Not trusting my gut as to what was right for my horse. I am his voice, and I must speak up for him.
Trish Muskus, Florida

Having a “trainer” tell me how to ride/ fix problems on my horse when she was too afraid and inexperienced to ride her own horse. Once I saw her in action at her barn, I began to realize she had no idea what she was doing.
Dee Kellner, via Facebook

From a trainer’s point of view, I have learned to take boarders that trust in me that I have their horses and their own best interest at heart, listen to what my team (vet, farrier) says and take a consultation lesson with me before they make the move. Not everyone “meshes” and it’s a big decision.
Tulip Pond Farm, via Facebook

My biggest mistake was using a General Large Animal Veterinary Practice. Although the primary veterinarian was a well-respected horseman, his partner was not. A dog ran into the arena and started chasing my colt. He broke free and jumped out of the arena and slammed into the barn wall! He took a couple of seconds to get up. My least favorite vet that showed up. At the time I thought we did proper treatment. We did take x-rays, but he did not recommend splinting. Later he called and told me that the x-rays where okay. I did ask him to get his partner to look at them, but I didn’t hear anything. By Saturday night I was greatly concerned and I called in an Equine Specialist. Repeat digital X-rays did show a fracture! With his age, there was a decent chance with surgery. But this colt had heavy halter breeding, so his weight at that time was a concern (over 650 pounds). After a stiff splint was applied we drove him the 2 hours to the recommended University, but too much damage had been done and they we not able to approximate the fracture. Hard lesson learned, I should have immediately called the Equine Specialist when the Cow Vet showed up! To this day I only use Equine Vets and refuse to allow any vet I don’t trust on my property.
Jan Makens, via Facebook

My biggest mistake was not knowing the signs of Cushing’s disease. Neither the vet nor farrier caught the signs of foot trouble and thyroid issues (although they were separate from the Cushings). He went probably more than a year untreated. If I had known the symptoms, I would have gotten him tested. His last four years were very expensive, but I learned so much about him and diseases and ailments that I wouldn’t have given it up. He ended up passing (via euthanasia) last March because his arthritis had gotten too painful after three months of quarantine due to Strangles... But that’s another lesson.
Gina Hoeft, via Facebook

Pay the veterinarian. Other opinions are just that.
Kevin Cottrell, via Facebook

My biggest mistake in horse care when I was starting out was not finding a great coach to show me the way. If you work with the wrong people and don’t ask questions, you do yourself and all your horses a big disservice. Safety is overlooked, nutrition can be overlooked and bad habits are developed. My advice is to find a great coach or mentor who is certified or highly qualified to show you the ropes, so you don’t miss out on the right experiences.
Claire Ziff, Alberta

Read more answers to this question in the June 2013 issue of Practical Horseman magazine.

Old School

lfeldman — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:01:53 +0000

With its massive chest and haunches, the cow stands there tense and flighty, looking more like a bull than a heifer. We’ve spent all morning searching for, driving, and blocking this brown cow and finally have her stopped and debating an open corral gate with her yearling. At exactly the wrong moment, the corgi sees that we’ve returned from the gather and comes bounding down from the trailer to join the fun.

“Amish, you dumb dog,” yells rancher Ed Hanks. “Get back!”
Amish cowers. The cow bolts, jumps a fence, and that’s that. Nothing could have stopped this frustrating scene from unfolding. Hanks is red with anger.

“I’m going to kill that cow,” he grumbles. This renegade cow has been giving him hell, evading him for two years. On another attempt the day prior, I’d seen her jump a four-foot fence like a deer.

“I never carry a gun when I gather cattle,” Hanks had casually remarked to me over his shoulder earlier as we rode across the northern Bradshaw Mountains. “I’d likely shoot a dog.” There’s no doubt in my mind that Hanks, had he been armed, would have shot (or shot at) his beloved corgi this morning and possibly the cow, too.

Spend any time on a ranch, and you’ll quickly see that to earn a living, a cowboy needs to draw on a broad skill set—including self-restraint. He or she works the livestock market to buy low and sell high, farms hay, tracks animals, and repairs and maintains all manner of equipment: leather, metal, wood, and mechanical. Cowboys practice most forms of veterinary care, short of outright surgery, and deftly employ psychology to train and move animals. Perhaps not cosmopolitan, ranchers are savvy observers of nature, picking up chemistry (soil analysis), botany (the nutritive value of different feeds), and hydrodynamics (swales, berms, and ponds) to fit their land into—and maximize—an ecosystem.These were my essential impressions of Hanks. During the week I spent at the Arizona Cowboy College to, um, beef up my ranch skills, the guy showed himself to be overwhelmingly competent—an army of one. But boy did he have a temper.

Faced with a conundrum of ranching life, he’d spit his stock phrase before getting down to business: “What in the hell!?”
This morning, he regroups and continues sorting the cattle and newborns we’d gathered then sends us off to survey his lower pens and watering holes. When we return many hours later, Hanks is scratching his head before a corral. There stands the renegade cow’s yearling, bawling for its mother. It turns out the wild cow hadn’t bolted far, and Hanks had been able to quietly urge her and the yearling to join their friends.

“She jumped and got caught up,” he says, motioning to a pretzel of a panel. “Thought I was going to have to butcher her. Ran for my gun, but she was gone when I got back.”

: Riding flank, Triangle M.

Americans are too fond of hamburgers to allow maverick cattle free passage. Hanks will eventually outsmart his livestock and win this game of patience and perseverance. But no one ever claimed that cowboying was easy, and that’s why I came. I’m a desk jockey by trade. Though my wife and I own five acres and a fledgling equine-assisted therapy business, my sensibilities are more computer than cow. The six-day Arizona Cowboy College is designed for people like me who want to go beyond the dude ranch. Call it cowboy boot camp. The trail rides here actually have a purpose, like gathering up cattle or counting cow-calf pairs. I’m a game enough ranch hand and can work a shovel and a post-hole digger and toss hay bales with the best of ’em, but this program expanded my field of view. It taught me to look beyond the task at hand and to respond better to the animals and land in my care.

Rocco Wachman and Lori Bridwell run the Arizona Cowboy College from Bridwell Ranch near Scottsdale, Arizona, with a Wednesday to Saturday visit to Schmidt Ranch in Seven Springs, Arizona, serving as the final exam. (Hanks’ Triangle M ranch is no longer in regular use.) A cowboy evangelist of sorts, Wachman hosted the program Cowboy U for six seasons on Country Music Television, for which he once rode a horse under the spinning blades of a helicopter. He has appeared on the Biggest Loser with Dr. Oz, where he lost 51 pounds, and occasionally serves as a personality or speaker at various events, like the 100-year anniversary of the Oklahoma Land Rush at the Flying W Ranch in Sayer, Oklahoma.

“Train a horse, and you’ll quickly learn to never ignore bad behavior. Or you might as well be rewarding it,” he tells me in one of our first encounters. A former grocer from New York, Wachman had a come-to-Jesus moment 20 years ago when his grocery chain moved him to the Phoenix area and a friend got him into riding. By training a horse, he was himself trained to listen and learn in an entirely new way. He was a changed man. These days, Wachman signs his emails: “The cowboy knew his life had a purpose. It was a gift from God to be steward of the land, livestock, and the people he loved.” It’s a sentiment fully expressed at the college and in his book, Cowboy: The Ultimate Guide to Living Like a Great American Icon (Harper Paperbacks, 2010).

“Cowboying is not a job, it’s a state of mind,” he likes to say, and from day one Wachman had us doing barn chores and practicing ranch safety. “I need to teach you, so I don’t get hurt.”
For three days, we rode slalom around saguaros and learned to shoe and care for horses. (“Any chance I can get to practice my craft,” is another of his sayings.) Then six of us, four clients and two instructors, set off for the hills in a Ford 350 Powerstroke, hauling a six-horse trailer stuffed to the gills with four leggeds, tack, camping gear, and food. Air conditioning on full blast, we roar out of the Phoenix basin and climb from 2,500 to 4,500 feet near Prescott.

As we cross the Agua Fria River, Wachman melodically recites one of his favorite poems, Sancho, by R.W. Hampton: “In the Arizona desert where the tall saguaros grow; Where the Purple Bradshaw Mountains rise and the Agua Fria flows; Down in a lonesome sand wash where no man should ever go; A buzzard picks the sun-bleached bones of a horse that I called Sancho…”

: Lashes the horse at sunset.

My first sight of Hanks is of a wiry man bent to his work, shoeing a rank mare.

“What ya doin’?” Wachman asks playfully, jumping out of the truck.

Usually quick with a glib response, Hanks smiles and shakes his head but recovers quickly, “Well, I could have shaved with the old ones,” he says. Ask him how he slept, and he’ll say, “lying down.” Or how he feels? “With my hand.” Or where he wants that salt block? “On the ground.”

Not long after we unload the animals and set up camp, Hanks comes over to visit. Wachman gives him a new rope as a thank you for having us, and Hanks deftly spins it through his hands, feeling its weight.

“Does it catch?” he asks. Hanks can go weeks without seeing anyone but his wife and a neighbor or two, so he’s delighted to have company. We get to talking about the wisdom of breeding older mares for the first time. (A bad idea, unless you’re planning to breed her several times. A mare’s first and last foals are typically her worst.) He speaks in the measured, thoughtful way of someone who has all the time in the world. We spend the next three days horseback six to eight hours a day, gathering with Hanks. His 30-acre spread and 36,000-acre lease is steep and rocky. He had to spend his first year on the property hauling water, installing watering troughs, and repairing many, many miles of fence.
John, one of the college’s clients, displays the “when not if” axiom about riders eventually falling off their horses. A wandering mind and an unfriendly tree branch had knocked him on his butt.

“Are you hurt?” Hanks calls back.
John would never have answered “yes” to this cowboy, even if he’d broken his femur. Remounted, we ride on and “mash rocks” and “bash brush” past Indian ruins and blooming cacti to survey the cattle. Hanks pulls a tiny notepad from his breast pocket whenever he sees one.

“If I see a bull a few times without cows, he’s gone,” he says. Hanks grew up in Boulder County, Colorado, and has been ranching all his life. His father ran cattle, too. It’s in his blood. He was even an extra in a Western, the Father Keno Story.

“You’ve got to farm what you see,” he comments about working with nature, perhaps harkening to his Indian ancestry. Hanks has Hopi blood from his mom’s side and Cherokee from his dad’s. He smokes a steady stream of Marlboros, of course, and likes to point out “bald-headed crows” (Bald eagles).
Rocco and his string boss, Elaine Pawlowski, meanwhile, carry cell phones, which they answer regularly. When your office is a saddle, you make due.

“The fastest way to move a cow is slow,” says Hanks. “Otherwise, all you do is chase.” And work the weight off them. He’s also adamant that ranching benefits the desert.

“Cattle improve watering holes,” he insists. “Their hoofs aerate the soil and promote plant growth.” Who else is going to care for all this acreage? The BLM could never pay staff to do what ranchers oversee themselves on the nation’s hundreds of millions of acres of public land.

In the evenings, we practice roping. (Pawlowski, a former Chicago firefighter, dismisses my technique: “You throw like a girl.”) Come nightfall, we sit around a fire corralled in an oil drum and nestle the cowboy microwave (aka Dutch oven) into the coals. The stories meander, as we ogle the constellations in the darkness.

Back in Scottsdale, Wachman takes me to the Scottsdale Gun Club, a nondescript box store in an ocean of air-conditioned malls. The clothes and home décor you might have expected inside have been replaced by a deadly arsenal. I’m asked to watch a five-minute safety video then handed a 45-mm Magnum revolver, ammunition, and ear protection and pointed to the indoor shooting range.

To my left, a young woman in a tank top and flip flops fires an array of weapons with her boyfriend. To my right, a small child fires his rifle with an instructor. I raise a handgun for the first time in my life and fire booming reports at the human-shaped target.

“You’re a natural,” Wachman encourages and gives me tips.

He holsters a loaded Ruger Vaquero .45 Colt at all times and brought a cannon-like Smith & Wesson AR15 to the Triangle M. “It’s a matter of principle,” he explains.

The funny thing about Wachman is that he’s a cowboy by choice, not birth. This former New York grocer is particularly keen for the Cowboy Way, because it’s given him so much. He believes whole-heartedly that nothing could be more natural—more American—than to re-imagine yourself and make a better life. That’s the promise of the West: new beginnings.
Describing the cowboy’s lot in life, Wachman says: “Failure is not an option.” No one pays a rancher for effort. He must deliver sound cows. Period. Successful cowboys show results. The rest quit.

For my part, I can now rope my dog with ease, and I can fork a horse long after it has stopped being comfortable. Though I’ll likely never be faced with producing livestock to survive, the time I spent in Arizona taught me not to be a nuisance on a ranch and to perhaps lend a hand—better than Amish the corgi, at least.

Equine Embryo Transfer

Hilary Moore — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 01:05:30 +0000

: Shari Glickman's success with equine embryo transfer produced a Premium colt.

I had been breeding Oldenburgs and Hanoverians for five years with fresh and frozen semen when, in 2007, I decided to try an equine embryo transfer (ET) with my dressage horse. I felt I was doing equine embryo transfer for all the right reasons: My mare was an upper-level competition dressage horse, and I didn’t want to interrupt her training schedule or stretch out her abdominal muscles. My dressage horse was dear to me, and there is always some risk to the dam during labor. She was one of only a handful of mares in the United States by Day Dream, a German Grand Prix dressage competitor who had had relatively few offspring.

Getting Started
All of my breeding work is done by theriogenologists (veterinarians who are board certified specialists in reproduction). It was because of the experience of my theriogenologist, Bill Ley, DVM, that I was willing to undergo the expense of an equine embryo transfer. Here is the basic ET drill:

• The donor mare is inseminated with a stallion’s fresh chilled or frozen semen around the time of ovulation to create an embryo.

• At 8 days old, the embryo is flushed out of the donor mare’s uterus and placed into a suitable surrogate mare that carries the pregnancy to full term.

The first time I tried ET, I opted to use my own surrogate mare. I found a sweet Shire who was in the ideal age range (5 to 10), in good health, had had at least one baby, was bigger than my donor mare and had a good personality.

Dental Problems Can Masquerade as Training Problems

Cindy Foley — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 22:24:16 +0000

Dr. Grant Miller uses a power-float. Note that the horse's jaw is resting on a padded sling.

Consider this . . . When your teeth, gums or cheeks cause you pain from cavities, infections or cold sores, it distracts you from work, recreation or relationships. The pain may even keep you from going to work, school, or even riding. And it can cause headaches, along with pain in your neck, shoulders or back.

The same things happen to your horse, but he can’t tell you, so you probably won’t let him take the day off because you don’t see an obvious cause for his behavior. Watch for subtle signs of discomfort or pain and consider dental care as a possible solution, such as we found with Spock and Fiona.

Spock, a 7-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, worked hard to avoid contact between the bit and the right side of his mouth, but when the two met, you could be sure he’d plant his feet, veer to the left and rear. And if you managed to stay on and get him going forward again, you’d either have 100 pounds of pressure in your right hand or his head constantly would flip like a flamingo sifting water and food through his beak.

Fiona, a 5-year-old warmblood mare, had a less violent reaction when she felt bit pressure for a downward transition. She’d just slam on the brakes, as if she were a reining horse doing a sliding stop. And when she jumped, her efforts were rushed and flat, as if she were in a race to get to the other side.

The power-floating Dr. Grant Miller, of Petaluma, Calif., did on Spock’s teeth dramatically changed his attitude toward working into the bridle—really, toward cooperating with his rider at all. He had sharp points on the pre-molars and molars on the right side of his mouth, as well as rostral hooks and caudal ramps, which were inhibiting his ability to chew both his food and accept the bit. (Note: Dr. Grant Miller is now one of Horse Journal’s Contributing Veterinary Editors.) See sidebar equine dentistry has come a long way.

Fiona had never had a dental exam, and the work Miller did on her was extensive. In addition to power-floating the sharp hooks on both sides of Fiona’s jaw, Miller removed two unusually large wolf teeth from her upper jaw. Quickly, Fiona started to work into the bridle with greater confidence and she began to jump fabulously—like a deer, using her neck and back in a bascule like never before. “It’s simple: She felt a lot more comfortable. The bit contacting her wolf teeth was like you banging a metal spoon on one of your incisors,” said Miller.

Miller, a graduate of the University of California Veterinary School, practices at the Sonoma-Marin Veterinary Service in Petaluma, Calif. While at veterinary school, he studied extensively under Tony Basile, a master equine dental technician who practices and lectures around the world.

“A dental problem is no different than a lameness,” said Miller. “It’s going to limit their performance because they’re going to spend a lot of time thinking about the pain coming from their mouth and how to avoid it. And that’s the biggest reason to give your horse a dental exam annually—to keep the pain or discomfort they’re feeling from distracting them from their work.”

Breed a Superior Dressage Horse

admin — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:27:00 +0000

cialis sale
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Susan Sexton

Breeding a successful dressage horse from scratch involves art, science and a little luck. Each parent must contribute positive traits, which in combination produce exceptional offspring. To achieve this goal, the Northwest Hanoverian Club invited Dr. Ludwig Christmann to share his expertise in broodmare selection, Hanoverian bloodlines and the use of his statistical system of breeding values. Dr. Christmann has been assistant breeding director of the German Hanoverian Verband for many years. He is a specialist in equine genetics and lectures on Hanoverian horse breeding all over the world.

On a crisp fall day at North Star Farms in northern Washington, warmblood breeders from all over the Northwest, including myself, gathered in eager anticipation. Dr. Christman's goal was to help us develop skills in identifying mares that have a high probability of passing on superior performance traits--to "produce a noble, correctly built warm-blooded horse capable of superior performance."

Evaluating a Mare's Strengths
The results of Hanoverian Mare Inspection and Mare Performance Tests (see "Mare Performance Testing," DT Jan. '03) have been formulated (and reformulated each year) to find mares that best pass on the traits that produce future performance success. Mares are inspected and graded for conformation and movement by experts before being entered into one of the three Hanoverian Studbooks:

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The Main Studbook is for Elite mare-those with top-scoring at their inspections that also have passed the Mare Performance Test and had a foal.

The Studbook is for the majority of mares.

The Pre Studbook is for non-Hanoverian mares that have specific characteristics deemed important to the breed. Thoroughbred, Arabian and non-Hanoverian German warmblood mares can be accepted into the PreStudbook based on their superior inspection scores.

Dr. Christmann emphasized that we should begin by judging the mare on her overall impression. "Look for an athletic, balanced looking horse with an alert, yet calm, demeanor," he said. "All parts of the body should fit together seamlessly to create a picture of harmonious flow." He then focused on what we should be looking for in an individual's conformation.

Overall: Look for a noble, large-framed horse that looks capable of the energy, soundness and saneness for performance; the neck, mid-section and hindquarters should be approximately equal in length; the withers should be higher than the croup (uphill), so the mare can lift her front end easily

Breed and sex type: A mare should have her breed's characteristic "look." She should be feminine with a well-defined outline and clean, well-muscled legs.

The head: An attractive head is expressive and suited to the mare's body with a large, kind eye.

The neck: Look for a neck that rises above the point of the shoulder with a good angle, clean throatlatch and a slight crest.

Saddle position: Look for a long, sloping shoulder with clearly pronounced withers that extend well into the back.

Frame: The goal is to be able to draw a rectangular frame around the torso and legs. She also needs a smooth topline; a long, powerful, sloping and well-muscled croup; and a strong loin connection.

Forelegs: Legs should be clean and well muscled with well-defined strong joints. They need to be straight and stand parallel to each other. A line dropped from the point of the shoulder should bisect the leg evenly.

Hind legs: Look for well-muscled and clean hind legs with large, well-defined joints and a strong hock.

Then Dr. Christmann directed our attention to movement. When mares are inspected or tested, movements are scored for correctness, impulsion and elasticity. When the mare moves toward you, her legs should move straight ahead without swinging in or winging out. From the side, the mare should move forward with power, bringing up her back and flexing all the joints to create an energetic, forward and fluid impression. Dr. Christmann said, "The mare should move through the entire body, incorporating use of the back and all parts of the body in a supple, energetic and elastic way."

The walk should be rhythmical with four, even beats. Her stride should be ground covering, energetic and elastic with the hind hoof print overstepping the fore print.

The trot should have a clear two-beat rhythm and a high level of impulsion, elasticity and balance. A trot with active, well-bending hind legs moving with thrust under the center of gravity is ideal, enabling the shoulder and forequarters to lift and move freely.

Practice Evaluations
Several breeders kindly consented to let us use their mares to practice our evaluations. The first mare presented was a gray yearling Hanoverian filly by First Gotthard and out of an Empire mare. She has the strong jumping bloodlines of Gotthard, Furioso, Diskant and Don Carlos. "This filly is a nice type, correct with a strong back and hindquarters and a wide hock that reaches well into her cannon bone. Her head fits her well," said Dr. Christmann. "Stallion choice: I would choose a stallion with uphill movement even with Holsteiner blood to improve her movement and enhance her jumping ability."

Next, a large-framed, powerful looking chestnut yearling Hanoverian filly by Contucci and out of a Calypso II mare entered the ring. Dr. Christmann said the filly would be good for either dressage or jumping and commented about her strong, correct legs and her wonderful neck. He suggested a compact, refining stallion to further improve the head and topline.

Then, Wiegenlied, a tall chestnut Oldenburg mare by Werther and out of a Thoroughbred mare entered the arena with her 2-month-old colt by the Trakehner, Caprimond. "I really like this mare," said Dr. Christmann. "You can see how she uses her entire body when she moves." He also admired her strong back, well-proportioned hindquarters, shoulder, loin, forelegs and pretty head. As Dr. Christmann pointed out, we could see that the mare not only moved her legs but also her back, shoulders and hips. The picture was energetic, fluid and purposeful.

The next mare for us to evaluate was a rangy, chestnut Canadian sporthorse mare by the Hanoverian stallion Empire and out of a Trakehner mare. This 11-year old had competed as a jumper. Dr. Christmann commented on her good head and shoulder. She demonstrated a good uphill long-striding canter with good activity behind. For this mare Dr. Christmann suggested a "G" line stallion. These are from the famous performance line of Grande to pass on a strong supple back and good neck. Over half of the top medal winners in both dressage and jumping in the 1996 Olympics traced back to Grande.

A dark bay Canadian Thoroughbred was the next mare to be evaluated. Although recently shipped in from Canada, she entered the arena calmly with an interested expression. Dr. Christmann told us that this mare was a useful type for sporthorses. The Thoroughbred type sought by the Hanoverian breed has the classic appearance with long lines, big strong joints with good angulation and, above all, elasticity in movement.

We could see that this mare was a good type because of her presence. She had the big bones and good joints Dr. Christmann told us to look for. She showed an energetic, forward trot with good freedom of the shoulder. He suggested mating her to a stallion with a strong topline and correct hind leg to compliment her Thoroughbred lineage.

USEF Announces 2012 Horse of the Year Candidates

jwilson — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 02:39:24 +0000

Rich Fellers and Flexible
© Shannon Brinkman

December 13, 2012 -- To reach the highest level of excellence in equestrian sport requires talent, perseverance, a tremendous spirit and often, unwavering courage. In 2012, six horses have shown the world those qualities and more. On January 18, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will bestow two of them with the prestigious title of Horse of the Year, the highest honor the USEF awards a horse. Again this year both a national and international horse will win.

The six champions have earned their places on the elite list as USEF Horses of Honor, and each will be recognized at the USEF Horse of the Year Awards gala and dinner in January--part of the USEF Annual Meeting--at the Louisville Marriott Downtown in Louisville, Kentucky.

It will be up to you to choose the two special horses, selecting from a range of talents across the Federation's breeds and disciplines. Your vote will help determine the champions that join the pantheon of past winners including 2011 winners Friesian horse Sjoerd and eventer Neville Bardos, reining horse Gunners Special Nite (2010), dressage horse Ravel (2009), driving horse Jamaica (2008), eventer Theodore O'Connor (2007), show jumper Authentic (2006), and dressage horse Brentina (2005).

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The 2012 International Horses of Honor are:

Flexible (Cruising x Flex)
1996 Irish Sport Horse Stallion
Owners: Harry and Mollie Chapman

Flexible has done the unthinkable time after time in his storied career. The diminutive 15.3h stallion with a unique jumping style has twice come back from career-threatening injuries and captured top standings at prestigious competitions. In 2012, with rider Rich Fellers, Flexible ended the U.S.'s 25-year winless drought at the Rolex/FEI World Cup Jumping Finals by out-running the eventual Olympic champions in a jump-off for the ages.

Flexible kept up his winning ways in the 2012 U.S. Show Jumping Observation Events where he claimed victory four times. He won twice in Del Mar (the $50,000 Surfside Grand Prix and the $100,000 Hermes Grand Prix of Del Mar) and then again six weeks later at Spruce Meadows. Fellers and Flexible jumped four clear rounds in two classes, including two jump-offs in Calgary to win the $35,000 Husky Energy Cup and the $200,000 CN Performance Grand Prix. They then earned their ticket to represent the U.S. at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, where they finished in the top ten and were the highest placing American pair.

Sinead Halpin and Manoir De Carneville (Shannon Brinkman)

Manoir de Carneville (Gaub x Carneville)
2000 Selle Francais Gelding
Owner: Carraig LLC

In 2012, Manoir de Carneville and rider Sinead Halpin assumed their place as one of the top combinations in eventing. The pair spent the spring fine tuning their skills by winning an Intermediate section at Southern Pines and then picking up second place in the Advanced at The Fork Horse Trials. In May, they placed second in the CIC3* at Jersey Fresh before traveling to England as a member of the U.S. Eventing Short List for the 2012 Olympic Games. The pair remained in England and trained throughout the summer in preparation for what would be their largest success to date.

In September, Halpin and Manoir de Carneville turned heads at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials besting many legends of the sport. They seized the lead in the dressage, as the only pair to score a sub-40 mark, and then cruised faultlessly over arguably the world's toughest cross-country track. One pole too many in the show jumping meant Manoir de Carneville and Halpin would finish the CCI4* in the runner-up position, but their classy, determined performance over three days of grueling competition solidified their position among the who's who of the sport.

Jonathan Wentz gives NTEC Richter Scale a hug after they complete their test at the 2012 Paralympic Games
© Shannon Brinkman)

NTEC Richter Scale (Unknown Breeding)
1994 Shire Cross Gelding
Owner: Kai Handt

It takes a special kind of horse, one with immense heart and kindness, to compete in para-equestrian dressage and be a champion. In 2012, NTEC Richter Scale demonstrated all those attributes. With rider Jonathan Wentz, the 17.2h draft cross claimed the USEF National Para-Equestrian Reserve Championship and earned a place on the U.S. team at the 2012 Paralympic Games. In London, Wentz and NTEC Richter Scale led the U.S. team to their most successful Championship finish in recent years. The pair twice came devastatingly close to standing on the Individual medal podium, finishing fourth in the Grade 1b Individual Test and fifth in the Grade 1b Freestyle Test.

The picture of consistency and willingness, NTEC Richter Scale excelled on the field of play and off, giving his rider the gift of freedom and movement that could only be enjoyed on horseback. In his all too short life, Wentz achieved many of his lofty goals by partnering with Richter, not the least of which was riding on the world's grandest stage in London.

The 2012 National Horses of Honor are:

CHCourageous Lord
© Howard Schatzberg

^CHCourageous Lord (Roseridge Heir x Lord Have Mercy)
2001 American Saddlebred Gelding
Owner: Fox Grape Farms, Inc.

^CHCourageous Lord made a remarkable transition in 2012. The big moving gelding had spent much of his career competing in the Open Five-Gaited division twice winning the Five Gaited World's Grand Championship at the Kentucky State Fair with Merrill Murray. However, this year ^CHCourageous Lord made the bold move into the Five Gaited Amateur division with his new rider Dr. Owen Weaver.

To begin the year, ^CHCourageous Lord won the Five-Gaited Grand Championship at the Bonnie Blue National Horse Show. The gelding next won the Amateur Five Gaited Championship at the Blue Ridge Classic Horse Show with Weaver again in the irons. They next travelled to Louisville, KY for their ultimate goal of staking their claim on the Amateur Five Gaited World's Championship. A thrilling two-horse work out ensued between ^CHCourageous Lord and the reigning two-time Amateur Five-Gaited World's Champion of Champions and completely undefeated team of ^CHThe Daily Lottery and Gabe Deknatel. When the judges' cards came in, Weaver and ^CHCourageous Lord were crowned the unanimous 2012 Amateur Five-Gaited World's Champion of Champions. Weaver and ^CHCourageous Lord closed out 2012 with back to back wins at the Kentucky Fall Classic Horse Show in the Amateur Five-Gaited qualifier and Championship, cementing an unforgettable debut show season.

Germ
© Rick Osteen

Germ (Ulbert X Tjalda Fan Lutke Peinjum)
2002 Friesian Gelding
Owner: Koreen Greenberg

Germ (pronounced Harem) continued to make a name for himself with his perfect performance record in 2012. This year the majestic Friesian gelding added eight additional World titles to his impeccable show record at the IFSHA World and Grand Nationals bringing his career total to 21 World and National titles. This brilliant black champion had the crowd cheering, as the judges continued to agree, giving the mark of perfection.

In 2012, Germ won across disciplines and divisions. He won three World Championships in the In Hand competition; including Geldings 6 & over, Baroque Gelding 6 & over and Amateur to Handle Division. Germ also dominated in the Saddle Seat Division, winning in the Amateur Owner ranks and with a junior rider for the first time. The powerful gelding also provided a picture perfect ride in the Saddle Seat Medal Class. Finally, he added to his well-rounded resume with victories in the Show Pleasure Driving Division. It was hard to take your eyes off Germ as he earned the Open World Championship in the division.

Jennifer Alfano and Jersey Boy, winners of the 2012 USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals Presented by Dietrich Equine Insurance
© Shawn McMillen Photography

Jersey Boy (White Star x Unknown Dam)
2002 Hanoverian Gelding
Owner: SBS Farm

In 2012, Jersey Boy added one of the few titles that had eluded him to his lengthy list of achievements- a USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals presented by Dietrich Equine Insurance title. Since its inception four years ago, the classy Hanoverian gelding has dominated the International Hunter Derby rings. He also leads the International Hunter Derby lifetime earnings list with a total of $196,640. The quintessential Derby horse, Jersey Boy has won a total of 20 USHJA International Hunter Derby classes, and three International Hunter Derby series titles in his illustrious career.

Jersey Boy set himself apart in 2012 by topping the field at the $100,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals presented by Dietrich Equine Insurance in August. He dominated the Handy phase of the two-round championship and ended up with an overall score of 588.25 to clinch the title. Additional wins in 2012, which actually qualify for the 2013 USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship, include the $10,000 International Hunter Derby at the State College Classic, the $15,000 International Hunter Derby at Skidmore College Saratoga Classic, and the Chicago Hunter Derby.

Voting Is Now Open!
Two of these six exceptional horses will be honored as the overall 2012 USEF Horse of the Year, a mark of distinction that will last a lifetime. Now, it is up to you to decide who will receive the top tribute in 2012.

Simply visit http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/hoty/, and type in your email address to access the voting portal. Voting will end at Midnight [ET] on Monday, January 7, 2013.

For more information regarding the Equestrian of the Year program or any of the six Horses of Honor, contact Trisha Watkins, USEF Awards Manager, at 859.225.6944 or tlwatkins@usef.org.

2012 Articles Index

jpreble — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:04:41 +0000

Need help finding your favorite H&R article from 2012? This complete list of 2012 articles should help.
Have a favorite training article you want to refer back to? Or maybe there was a money-saving Solution you want to implement at your barn? Maybe you want to order a boot that was featured in the Style page. Look up all the past editorial material here!

Al Dunning’s How’s My Riding?
"Sitting Pretty,” Practice Pen, Jan., pg. 32
“Hard-Working Pair,” Practice Pen, Feb., pg. 32
“Trail-Course Prep,” Practice Pen, March, pg. 32
“Al Says, ‘Relax’” Practice Pen, May, pg. 46
“Small-Fry Horsemanship,” Practice Pen, June, pg. 28
“Rail Work,” Practice Pen, July, pg. 38
“Fence Work,” Practice Pen, Sept., pg. 40
“Reining Prep,” Practice Pen, Oct., pg. 40
“Schooling Session,” Practice Pen, Nov., pg. 34
"Sit Up in the Saddle," Practice Pen, Dec., pg. 34

Barns, Property Maintenance
“Melt Ice Safely,” Your Horse, Your Life, Jan., pg. 18
Stable Gear: “Stall Fronts,” Jan., pg. 64
“Savvy Storage,” Your Horse, Your Life, Feb., pg. 20
“Spring-Clean Your Barn,” Your Horse, Your Life, March, pg. 20
“Messy Job Made Easy,” Your Horse, Your Life, March, pg. 20
Special Advertising Section: “Barn & Ranch Makeover,” March, pg. 57
Stable Gear: “Barn Carts and Caddies,” April, pg. 78
“Nip It in the Mud,” May, pg. 80
“How to Handle a Hay Shortage,” June, pg. 56
“Three-Pronged Fly Control,” Your Horse, Your Life, June, pg. 30
“Small Size, Big Benefits,” Your Horse, Your Life, June, pg. 28
“Tack Theft—Now What?” July, pg. 68
Stable Gear: “Barn Fly Control,” July, pg. 78
“Winter-Prep Steps to Take Now,” Your Horse, Your Life, Sept., pg. 26
“Easier Hay Soaking,” Your Horse, Your Life, Oct., pg. 24
Stable Gear: “Winter Water Options,” Oct., pg. 70
“While You Wait,” Your Horse, Your Life, Nov., pg. 20

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Behavior
“Sore Back; Foal Eats Manure,” Whole Horse Q&A, March, pg. 14
“Hematoma; Saddling Woes,” Whole Horse Q&A, April, pg. 14
“Rearing to Go—In A Bad Way,” Problem Solvers, June, pg. 88
“Club Foot; Sometimes Spooky,” Whole Horse Q&A, July, pg. 20
“Trailering Fears; Bowed Tendon,” Whole Horse Q&A, Aug., pg. 12
“Pasture Predator?” Your Horse, Your Life, Aug., pg. 19
“Clinician On Call,” Aug., pg. 43
“Keeping Kelly,” Aug., pg. 62
“Trailering Fears; Bowed Tendon,” Whole Horse Q&A, Aug., pg. 12
“Popped Splint; Trail Fears,” Whole Horse Q&A, Sept., pg. 14
“Barn Sour; Shoe Boil,” Whole Horse Q&A, Oct., pg. 15
“Eye Discharge; Pulling Back,” Whole Horse Q&A, Nov., pg. 12

Bob Avila’s Winning Insights
“Breeding Time Machine,” Practice Pen, Jan., pg. 30
“How Not to Lose,” Practice Pen, Feb., pg. 30
“Don’t Skip the Basics,” Practice Pen, March, pg. 30
“Tire Kickers,” Practice Pen, April, pg. 33
“Industry Update,” Practice Pen, May, pg. 38
“Horse Divorce,” Practice Pen, June, pg. 45
“What You Need to Succeed,” Practice Pen, July, pg. 36
“Know When to Quit,” Practice Pen, Aug., pg. 32
“Neck-Reining: Part 1: Introduce the Concept,” Practice Pen, Sept., pg. 34
“Neck-Reining: Part 2: Introduce the Curb Bit,” Practice Pen, Oct., pg. 32
“Neck-Reining: Part 3: The Romal Advantage,” Practice Pen, Nov., pg. 28
"Rules of Engagement," Practice Pen, Dec. pg. 26

Breed, Show Associations
“Did You Know? Surprising Facts About 10 Breeds,” Jan., pg. 50
“Once More, for the Memories,” Your Horse, Your Life, Feb., pg. 18
“New National AQHA Championship for YOU!” Your Horse, Your Life, Feb., pg. 18
“Important USEF Drug-Rule Changes,” Your Horse, Your Life, Feb., pg. 18
Gallop Poll: “If Wishes Were Reiners,” Your Horse, Your Life, Feb., pg. 18
Have You Tried: “Entry-Level Reining,” Practice Pen, Feb., pg. 38
“New Show Options for All Breeds,” Your Horse, Your Life, March, pg. 18
“Happy Birthday, APHA!” Your Horse, Your Life, April, pg. 18
“PtHA, AQHA Innovations,” Your Horse, Your Life, May, pg. 20
“Inudstry Update,” Practice Pen, May, pg. 38
Have You Tried: “Saddle-Log Programs,” Practice Pen, May, pg. 48
“Save Big at AQHA Novice Championships,” Your Horse, Your Life, pg. 24
“Painted ‘n Pretty,” Your Horse, Your Life, pg. 24
“Genetic Test for Appaloosas Now Available,” Your Horse, Your Life, June, pg. 26
“Arabians Slide to Paychecks,” Your Horse, Your Life, July, pg. 24
“AQHA Video Delux,” Your Horse, Your Life, Sept., pg. 20
“Find a Trainer, Help a Youth,” Your Horse, Your Life, Sept., pg. 20
“Philanthropy at Pinto World,” Your Horse, Your Life, Oct., pg. 22
“Numbers Up at Quarter Horse Shows,” Your Horse, Your Life, Nov., pg. 18
“ACTHA Rides Benefit Service Members,” Your Horse, Your Life, Nov., pg. 18
"Not Too Common: Grullas," Your Horse, Your Life, Dec., pg. 16

Use of Bismuth in Horses Not Recommended

jwilson — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 23:11:10 +0000

April Knudson, DVM, is an equine specialist with Merial Veterinary Services. She has a special interest in equine gastrointestinal health, infectious disease and lameness. She holds a doctor of veterinary medicine from the University of California-Davis. Below, she answers a question about the use of bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol® or a generic equivalent) in horses.

Q. I’ve heard of people giving bismuth subsalicylate, commonly known as the human product Pepto-Bismol®, to their horses to help treat or prevent stomach ulcers. Does it work?

A. Bismuth subsalicylate is used in people to treat diarrhea and gastric distress such as nausea, indigestion and heartburn.¹ It is not labeled for use in any animal! In fact, in the case of horses with ulcers, the use of bismuth is not recommended.² Here’s why:

Once in the gastrointestinal tract, bismuth subsalicylate can be converted to sodium subsalicylate, causing gastric irritation.² Additionally, salicylates, like aspirin, decrease prostaglandin secretion, which can further damage an already compromised stomach lining.² For these reasons, bismuth is contraindicated in horses.

The only products that have been proven to be effective for the prevention and treatment, respectively, of equine stomach ulcers are ULCERGARD® (omeprazole) and GASTROGARD® (omeprazole).^3,4 These drugs work by suppressing the amount of acid produced in a horse’s stomach, which increases the pH, and promotes healing of existing ulcers as well as reducing the potential development of new ulcers.

In some alleged “ulcer” products currently being compounded or marketed, such as Gastroade Extra Paste, bismuth and omeprazole are combined.⁵ There is no scientific proof these drugs work together and there’s actually reason to believe the combination of the two doesn’t treat or prevent equine stomach ulcers at all. Omeprazole is highly unstable in any type of acidic environment.⁶ Bismuth is acidic,⁷ so omeprazole likely degrades rapidly when combined with bismuth.

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Horse owners want what’s best for their horses and it is unfortunate that some manufacturers promote products that haven’t been proven to Food & Drug Administration (FDA) standards. For the prevention of equine stomach ulcers, ULCERGARD® is the only FDA-approved and proven product.³ For the treatment of ulcers, GASTROGARD® is the only FDA-approved and proven product to treat and heal equine stomach ulcers.⁴ Omeprazole is an inherently unstable drug, and both of these products contain a formulation proven to protect the active ingredient so that it will work to prevent or treat stomach ulcers in horses.

Owners should also be wary of any product claiming to be a generic version or a compounded version of omeprazole. There is no generic version of omeprazole approved for use in horses in the United States. Additionally, studies have shown that compounded omeprazole products are less effective and often have great variations in the amount of active ingredient versus what the label claims.^8,9

The key phrase for horse owners to look for when choosing an ulcer treatment or prevention product is “FDA-approved.” When a product has been approved by the FDA, it has been tested for safety and effectiveness in the target animal, manufactured according to Good Manufacturing Practices in facilities that meet FDA guidelines and is labeled and advertised in such a way as to not be misleading.10 To determine whether a drug has been FDA approved, horse owners should look for the six-digit New Animal Drug Application (NADA) number, or in the case of generics, the Abbreviated New Animal Drug Application (ANADA) number on the label. Or, look up the drug in the searchable database at AnimalDrugs@FDA (http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/animaldrugsatfda/).

When looking for ulcer prevention or treatment, horse owners should be sure they’re getting what they pay for and insist on using a product that’s been proven to work – in horses.

For more information about equine drugs, go to www.equinedrugfacts.com. For more information about ULCERGARD and GASTROGARD, go to www.ulcergard.com and www.gastrogard.com.

Important Safety Information:
Caution: Safety of GASTROGARD in pregnant or lactating mares has not been determined. ULCERGARD can be used in horses that weigh at least 600 pounds. The effectiveness of ULCERGARD in the prevention of gastric ulcers in foals and weanlings has not been evaluated. ULCERGARD may be used safely in breeding stallions. Safety in pregnant mares has not been determined.

®GASTROGARD and ULCERGARD are registered trademarks of Merial Limited. ©2012 Merial Limited, Duluth, GA. All rights reserved. EQUIUGD1256 (10/12)

1. Bismuth subsalicylate. The Free Dictionary. http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionayr.com/Pink+Bismuth. Accessed September 25, 2012.
2. Andrews, FM. Gastric ulcers in horses: pharmacologic and management strategies. 286-288.
3. ULCERGARD product label.
4. GASTROGARD product label.
5. Gastroade Extra Paste. http://www.rods.com/gastroade-extra-paste.html. Accessed September 25, 2012.
6. Omeprazole. Formulation in Pharmacy Practice. www.pharminfotech.co.nz/manual/Formulation/mixtures.omeprazole.html.
7. Bismuth Subsalicylate. U.S. Pharmacopeia. www.pharmacopeia.cn/v29240/usp29nf24s0_m9785.html. Accessed September 25, 2012.
8. Stanley SD, Knych HK. Comparison of Pharmaceutical Equivalence for Commercially Available Preparations of Omeprazole. AAEP Proceedings. 2011;57:63.
9. Nieto JE, et al. Comparison of paste and suspension formulations of omeprazole in the healing of gastric ulcers in racehorses in active training. JAVMA. 2002;8:1-5.
10. American Health Institute and American Veterinary Medical Association and American Veterinary Distributors Association. Veterinary Compounding. Available at: http://www.aaep.org/siteadmin/modules/page_editor/images/files/AHI%20Compounding.pdf. Accessed November 1, 2012.

Feed Your Horse a Balanced Diet

Stacey Nedrow-Wigmore — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 16:54:40 +0000

Get an accurate picture of what your horse is eating every day by weighing his feed.
© Stacey Nedrow-Wigmore

Your horse doesn’t seem as sharp as he did a few months ago, and his coat is losing its glow. Does he need a supplement? Should you change his feed?

Before you can answer those questions, you need to answer two others: First, does he have a health problem? Second, is his diet balanced? The first one is easy—just call your veterinarian and schedule a visit for a complete checkup. But determining if your horse’s current rations provide the right amounts of the nutrients he needs may seem daunting. You’ll find reams of nutritional information in books and online, much of it highly detailed. The numerical data and technical jargon can deep-fry your mind.

The process doesn’t need to be complicated, says Sarah Ralston, VMD, associate director of the Rutgers Equine Science Center and a specialist in equine nutrition. You won’t even need higher math skills. In this article, you’ll find out how to balance your horse’s diet using some simple tools. Want instant gratification? See “Cut to the Chase” below for shortcuts.

What Does He Need?
All horses need the same essential nutrients—energy to fuel body functions, protein to build and repair body tissues and produce enzymes and hormones, and certain vitamins and minerals—but the amounts required by individual horses vary. To figure out if your horse is getting what he should from his diet, start with basic information about him:

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Weight: Feed recommendations are generally based on amounts per pound or per kilogram of mature body weight, so this is essential information. A livestock scale will tell you your horse’s precise current weight, but a careful estimate with a weight tape (easily obtained from feed stores) will be fine.

If your horse is underweight or overweight, base his feeding program on optimum weight rather than current weight, Dr. Ralston says. A body-condition scoring system (such as the Henneke scale, online at www.equisearch.com and other websites) can help you decide if you should go with his current weight. Check the table of typical weight and height ranges for various breeds at www.equi-analytical.com (the website of Equi-Analytical Laboratories, which does hay and feed analyses) for an idea of normal weight for horses of his breed and body type.

Age: Horses have different needs at different stages in life. Young horses need extra energy, protein and the right amounts of minerals, such as calcium and phosphorus for bone and tissue development. Broodmares’ nutritional requirements jump during late pregnancy and lactation. Senior horses may develop metabolic problems that call for changes in diet.

Work level: Work increases energy needs. The increase isn’t very great for horses in light to moderate work (five hours a week or less), but a horse in very heavy work (upper-level eventing, racing, endurance) may need twice as many calories as a horse who just loafs in the pasture. Sweat losses associated with hard work dramatically increase the need for water and salt, too.

Cut to the Chase

Calculating how much of each nutrient your horse’s total diet provides is a time-consuming, mind-numbing chore, you say? You’re right—and it’s a chore you may not need to do. Here are some shortcuts to the bottom line.

Use software. The National Research Council developed a free computer program that does the work for you; it’s online at http://nrc88.nas.edu/nrh/. Enter information about your horse, and it shows you the average nutritional needs for horses of his age, weight and work level. Enter information on the feeds he gets, and it spits back an analysis that shows how closely his diet meets the guidelines.

Want more information? There are several other programs horse owners can use, says Peggy Miller, associate professor and Extension horse specialist at the University of Iowa. They’re based on the 2007 guidelines, but some have larger feed “libraries” and can perform additional functions, such as formulating rations on a least-cost basis. However, these programs aren’t free, and they may be most useful for breeding farms and other large operations. They include REINS (Relevant Equine Intensive Nutrition Software) from the Iowa State Extension store, Equi-Balance software from Performance Horse Nutrition and Horse Ration Formulation 2007 from Creative Formulation Concepts.

Read feed labels. NRC’s program works like a charm for the forages and concentrates it lists, but you won’t find commercial mixed-grain feeds on the menu. If you use those feeds, you can still use the program. Just leave out information about the concentrate and turn to the commercial feed label to see if it fills deficits (or provides an excess) of any nutrients.

The guaranteed analysis shows the levels of crude protein and, often, lysine, crude fat, crude fiber and minerals, including calcium, phosphorus and vitamin A. The ingredients list may give more information—you may see that the feed contains vitamins and minerals not listed in the analysis, for example—although quantities aren’t shown. You won’t find a number for digestible energy, but you can deduce whether it’s high or low. Feeds with high levels of fat (say, 8 percent) and grains in the ingredients list likely provide more energy than those with low fat levels (say, 2 percent) and lots of forage-based ingredients.

Choose a brand-name balanced feed. Many brand-name commercial feeds are already balanced for horses at different life stages and work levels, and they’re designed to complement grass or legume hays. You’ll find this information on the label, too. If your horse is getting one of these feeds in the amounts recommended in the label’s feeding directions, along with good-quality forage, put down your pencil and stop worrying. “Resist the urge to buy supplements just because they are there,” says Dr. Ralston.

Nine Myths About Equine Rescues Debunked

cbarakat — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:27:42 +0000

Most rescues do not have the resources to keep horses indefinitely. Once the horse is healthy, rehoming through adoption is typical. ©EQUUS Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

Sad tales of neglected and abandoned horses seem to be everywhere---in the news, on Facebook, on flyers at your local feed store. Photos of thin horses with drooping ears and dull eyes tug at your heartstrings. You want to help, but it can be hard to know what to do.

I’ve been involved in the effort to help horses in need for more than 14 years, and I am currently executive director of Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society in College Station, Texas. When I started out, few equine rescues existed in the United States, but today there are hundreds across the country. Most are run by good people doing necessary work, but the rapid growth of the rescue industry has far outpaced regulations to govern operations, and we don’t yet have a formal trade association to provide direction and guidelines.

As a result, every so often reports appear about neglected horses discovered at “rescues” run by animal hoarders or by well-intentioned people who found themselves in over their heads. Even worse are the “rescuers” who are simply defrauding their donors. Although these people are the exceptions, their actions give rise to many misconceptions about equine rescues that may stop people from volunteering, donating money or even adopting a horse in need. Because good rescues provide vital services to their communities and the horse industry, it is time to debunk the most common myths and understand the truths behind them.

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Myth #1: All rescues are the same
Reality: Each rescue is a unique organization with its own policies and procedures, fundraisers and management staff.

I hear this myth more than any other: When I ask for a donation, someone will tell me they already gave to us---at a fundraiser for a different rescue, or someone who wants to adopt a horse will tell us they have already been approved because they applied at a different organization. I’ve even been told that “you guys are all just part of one big organization.” This misconception becomes damaging anytime the authorities seize animals from a bad rescue for poor care or when adopters believe that a rescue treated them unfairly or misrepresented a horse they took home. Those people might then avoid all rescues under the mistaken belief that we are all the same.

Here are some ways in which rescues differ:

• Private versus 501(c)(3). If a nonprofit organization qualifies for 501(c)(3) designation from the Internal Revenue Service, it doesn’t pay income tax on the money it raises and your donations to it may be tax-deductible. 501(c)(3) organizations must have a board of directors and make their financial information available to the public.

Private rescues are often run by a single person or a very small group of people rather than a board of directors. Donations to these groups are not tax-deductible, and they’re not required to make their records public. They are required to pay income taxes on any money they receive from fundraisers, adoptions, etc.

• Sanctuaries versus rehoming organizations. Sanctuaries provide lifelong homes to horses in need; they do not offer any for adoption. This means that sanctuaries can help only a limited number of horses: Once a sanctuary is full, it must wait until a horse dies before bringing in another.

Rehoming organizations do place their horses with adopters, but many rescues of this type also offer a limited number of sanctuary spots to horses they deem unadoptable for physical or behavioral reasons.

• Intake methods. Horses can come to rescues from auctions, racetracks, owner donations or law enforcement impoundments in cases of abuse or neglect. Some rescues focus only on horses coming through one route---racetracks, for example---but many take in those from a variety of backgrounds.

Myth #2: My tax dollars support rescues, so they don’t need any more from me
Reality: Rescues do not receive local, state or federal funding.

The only exception might be when a city or county contracts with a rescue for assistance in handling neglect cases and stray horses, but most often rescues perform these services at no cost to their local communities. When owners are found guilty of neglect, the judge may order them to pay restitution to the organization for expenses incurred while assisting law enforcement and rehabilitating the horse or horses, but rescues rarely receive the funds they’re awarded.

Because we don’t receive government support, rescues must raise the funds necessary to care for their horses through adoption fees, fundraising events and direct-mail solicitations. Before you throw out the next invitation to a fundraiser or the letter asking for a donation, please remember that the rescue sending it doesn’t see a penny of your tax dollars and needs help for the horses in its care.

Myth #3: Rescues get services and items for free, so their expenses are minimal
Reality: Although many rescues receive some discounted services and donated items, no veterinarian or farrier is always able to work for free or even discount his or her services. And many expenses can’t be discounted or donated.

For example, here are some of the 2011 expenses for the organization I run: $5,178 for insurance, $1,968 for postage, $33,061 for veterinary care, $1,900 for burial expenses for deceased horses, $10,830 for gas or mileage reimbursements for trailering horses, $6,875 for training horses, $8,386 for advertising and $2,306 for mileage
reimbursement for volunteers.

Myth #4: Everyone who works at a rescue is on salary
Reality: Some rescues have paid staff, but many do not.

The majority of rescues rely solely on volunteers. The oldest and most established rescues have paid staff, but even they rely heavily on volunteers to get everything done.

This means that someone is probably not available immediately to answer your calls or e-mails, and you may have to wait a few days for a reply. It also means that volunteers are often performing their rescue job after work or on the weekends and aren’t available during weekdays.

Myth #5: Rescues never enforce their contracts, so I can do what I want with my adopted horse
Reality: The purpose of the adoption contract is to ensure that the horses are placed in good homes. Most rescues follow up on their contracts. Rescue personnel perform follow-up visits not only to see that the horses are cared for, but also to make sure that the adoptive owners are happy with the arrangement. If someone violates the terms of an adoption contract, he or she may lose the horse and be liable to the rescue for the cost of enforcing that contract.

Myth #6: Rescues are happy to take in my old/lame/unsuitable horse
Reality: Most rescues can’t take in owner-donated retirees.

Some people want to use rescues as free retirement centers for horses they no longer need while still directing their care and visiting them. Most rescues do not take owner-donated horses, and those that do often have little room or resources for animals with serious medical needs or behavior problems. When a rescue does take in a donated horse, the animal is signed over to the organization and the owner waives all rights, including the ability to visit.

In general, rescues help neglected horses, those whose owners can no longer care for them, and others in serious need. They are not there to take in horses whose owners simply have no further use for them.

Myth #7: Every horse at a rescue is kept until he dies of natural causes
Reality: Rescues have limited funds and must often euthanatize horses.

While answering the phones and e-mails for my rescue, I’ve often spoken with people who want us to take in their older, ill or injured horse. Often a veterinarian has suggested that they euthanatize the horse, but they don’t want to. They believe that the best solution is to turn the horse over to a rescue, which will keep him healthy and happy until he dies of old age. However, rescues don’t have unlimited funds, and we sometimes must euthanatize a horse because we can’t spend thousands of dollars to treat an illness or injury.

Donating a horse who needs to be put down is unkind. Not only is he ill or in pain, he is then also uprooted from his home and taken to an unfamiliar place full of strange people and horses. Many scared or nervous horses may never settle in and relax before their life ends, surrounded by strangers. It is also unkind to put rescue personnel into that position. We care for our horses as if they are our own, and every decision to end a life is emotionally draining.

One story remains fresh in my mind. Years ago, our organization took in any horse whose owner didn’t want him, and we often received those who should never have been put on a trailer: Moon was one such horse.

Moon developed laminitis, and her owners managed her for several weeks before donating her to us. I followed the care instructions they gave me, but the mare worsened. When my veterinarian arrived to examine Moon, she quickly recommended euthanasia. I knew she was right, but I still cried. I cared about Moon and had hoped for a pain-free future for her. We laid her to rest, and I avoided the barn for two days.

Several months later, Moon’s former owner arrived at my barn demanding to see the horse. When I told her we’d put Moon down, her reply was, “Oh, I knew she needed to be euthanized. But I didn’t have the heart to do it, so I brought her to you!” Years later, I still ache for the horse I couldn’t help and feel anger toward the owner who forced me to make the decision she wouldn’t face.

If your horse needs to be put down, please, take care of him at home, in comfortable surroundings. Don’t pass that decision on to another person who has had to make that call far too often.

Myth #8: Rescue horses are used up or worthless
Reality: Rescues have all kinds of horses. Some aren’t sound for riding, but many can do anything any other horse can do.

Often, when I suggest that someone consider adopting their next horse instead of buying or breeding, I’m told, “I don’t want to adopt a horse---they’re not good for anything!” The person may go on to tell me she once saw a rescue horse who was lame or blind or crazy. And then I’ll hear, “Besides, if no one else wants them, why should I?”

Just because a horse is unwanted or neglected doesn’t make him worthless. Many may be sound, well-bred animals who landed in our care after their owners fell on hard times. We have many horses who are young, sound and can be trained for anything.

Storm’s story illustrates that point. The courts placed Storm with Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society after removing him from negligent owners. He was emaciated when he arrived, but fortunately, Storm recovered quickly.

After he was trained to ride, he was adopted by a teenage girl who met him and fell in love. And that was the beginning of an awesome career for Storm. He and his rider joined a 4-H drill team, and their wins have included a first place at their district competition. They’re also showing in English pleasure, Western pleasure and sidesaddle in open shows, and Storm has made it to the state semi-finals in team penning. He helps athletes who compete in Special Olympics horse shows through the S.H.A.R.E. (Special Horses and Riders Excelling) organization, and he took his rider to the regional and chapter Special Olympics shows in Western equitation, English equitation, trail, barrels and showmanship.

And yet Storm is just one of thousands of rescue horses who are com-peting, trail riding and working across the country. So the next time you are looking for a new horse, don’t overlook your local rescue. You may find a diamond in the rough who can become your next champion and companion.

Myth #9: Donating money or fostering or adopting horses are the only ways I can help
Reality: Rescues need volunteers in many areas.

Running a rescue takes an enormous amount of work, and since most rely heavily on volunteers, there’s likely to be a job for you, no
matter what your skills. Here are just a few possibilities:

• Trailering. If you have a safe trailer and an appropriate tow vehicle, you may be able to help with picking up horses, taking them to veterinary clinics and transporting them to their foster homes.

• Visiting foster or adoptive homes. Most rescues will inspect potential homes before allowing their horses to go to them, and they may also schedule follow-up visits later. This is an easy job that is a good fit for someone with a camera who enjoys meeting other horsepeople.

• Investigating neglect complaints. The rescue may offer neglect/abuse- investigation training classes, or they may need experienced horsemen and horsewomen who can accompany local law enforcement out on calls.

• Doing routine horse care. Reliable, experienced horsepeople may be needed to do daily chores, such as feeding, cleaning pens or stalls, grooming, or showing horses to prospective adopters.

• Training. Many horses arrive with little or no training, so rescues appreciate help from professional trainers and experienced horsepeople who can help prepare them for adoption.

• Fundraising. Bringing in the money necessary to keep a rescue going is a nonstop concern. Volunteers are always needed to organize and participate in fundraising.

• Marketing, public relations, accounting, writing and more. In many ways running a rescue is like operating a business, and all the same professional skills are needed. If you have a skill you would like to use to help horses, a rescue can help you put your experience to work---and it looks good on a resume, too.

Whether you are looking for a new horse, have some time to give, or can donate money or equipment, I hope you’ll consider visiting a rescue and helping out. It really does take the horse community working together to improve the lives of the horses who need us.

About the author: Jennifer Williams, PhD, is the founder and president of Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society located in College Station, Texas, and the author of the book How to Start and Run a Rescue. Williams received her bachelor of science in psychology and minor in equine science from Truman State University, formerly known as Northeast Missouri State University. Later Williams earned her master’s and doctorate in animal science from Texas A&M, where she focused her studies on equine behavior, learning and welfare.