One of the areas I’ve really been struggling over lately is the usefulness (and ethics) of using correction tools in training.

I’m talking things like spurs, draw reins, side reins, gag bits – anything outside of your basic saddle and bridle with a gentle snaffle. I think there are three general camps that we fall into as horse men and women:

1. These tools should never be used any under circumstances.
2. When used judiciously, these can be useful training tools.
3. Always use these tools to get training done quickly or to mitigate issues.

I am not a believer in quick fixes. Training a horse to be a successful partner long-term takes patience, kindness, firmness, and consistency. I also think the goal of solid training is to teach your horse to require as little cue as it takes to get the desired result. The slightest closing of the leg sends him forward. Quieting the seat slows him down. The slightest squeeze on a rein increases the bend or straightens the neck. And eventually, with time and patience and consistency, we should be able to do this without spurs, whips, or correction bits.

However, when your horse is just learning (and sometimes later if he forgets) it will take more than the lightest squeeze to elicit a response. Sometimes he ignores the light bump of your outside leg that keeps him from overbending as he drags you into the wall and a bigger kick (or even a little spur) is necessary to get his attention.

Lately Ace, who has been very nicely light in the mouth from day one, has started leaning on the bit. He’s not really using it for balance and he’s still responding and moving nicely – he’s just heavy. If I give him more rein he just bears down until he’s trotting with his nose at his ankles (literally). Sending him forward doesn’t help, and light jiggles of the reins to remind him not to lean only help temporarily.

So when my mom offered me an elevator bit on loan to see if the leverage would help him learn to quit the lean, I gave it a shot.

It’s a single jointed Happy Mouth elevator, sometimes referred to as a bubble bit. I could attach two reins – one as the regular snaffle rein, and one on a lower ring to add the upwards leverage as needed. Ace loved it. And so far – just two rides in it did the trick. I kept my hands light, and if he started to get heavy would gently activate the lower rein until he lifted up again. It only took two or three times for Ace to “get it.” He was happy, light, forward, ears perked, soft in the poll, and gentle in the contact.

Next ride we went back to him normal loose-ring Myler bit, and he was still happy, light, forward, soft in the poll, and gentle in the contact.

For Ace, one ride in a judiciously used correction bit solved more issues than the nagging and constantly reminding him with leg and reins to lighten up. Used this way, I’d say it’s a very useful training tool – and one that was much kinder on my horse.

What are your thoughts on tools like spurs, correction bits, draw reins, etc?

From TheHorse.com: “Insect bite hypersensitivity is the most common cause of pruritus (itchiness) in horses, affecting equids in almost all parts of the world,” van den Boom said in the study, adding that IBH is an allergic reaction to insect bites. Clinical signs include scratching and rubbing, excoriations (areas where the skin is rubbed off), oozing of serum, patchy alopecia (hair loss), scaling, and hyperkeratosis (callousing).” (article on ointments that can help bug bite sensitivity.)

It sounds like mine. Skin rubbed off – check. Oozing of serum – check. Hair loss – check. Callousing – check.

Apparently Insect Bite Sensitivity is an actual condition in horses, and Ace has more than a few of the symptoms. When I left for a week long beach vacation, Ace had a few bug bite callouses on his back that he’s had most of the summer. When I returned, he had two spots that looked like small wounds oozing serum – one on his neck and one on his belly. He has more calloused bumps than when I left. He also has a handful of small, hairless, scaly patches. It sounds like a lot when they are added up, but his symptomatic areas are small and generally not that noticeable unless you are grooming and looking for issues.

From what I can find, all advice for dealing with bug bite hypersensitivity has to do with preventing insect bites in the first place. Use fly spray, masks and sheets, feed through bug control supplements, and avoid turning out during the buggiest times of day. But what do you do to get rid of the pre-existing skin issues?

Horse owners of similarly-sensitive-skinned horses: go! What have you found to work for getting rid of callouses and other skin issues caused by insect bites in your hypersensitive horse?

He finally lets you put the halter on, but isn’t reassured as you stroke his neck and the side of his face. He knows that you are just trying to lull him into a false sense of security before making your move (good call, that one!).

Then that white tube of poison comes out of your pocket – because something that tastes that bad and requires such a careful production HAS to be bad for him. You didn’t know you had a giraffe, or that even if you could reach his mouth that a horse could purse his lips that tightly. And this is probably a good time to wear your helmet for ground work – because that hard equine head will be flying.

Your horse doesn’t know that the horrible stuff you push out of that tube isn’t going to kill him. He has a long memory – and the last time you gave him the stuff it tasted really bad.

So why did Ace get beside-himself-excited the other day when I pulled out the dreaded dewormer – and actually dive on it and put it in his mouth himself?

Because he gets something tasty out of  a tube every day.

Ace is on a natural digestive health supplement called SUCCEED – and he adores it. It’s made from various things including oat extracts and it smells and tastes divine (yes, I know this from personal experience). Ace gets the SUCCEED oral paste. I have to be careful when I go to squirt it in the back of his mouth because he loves it so much that he bites down on the tube and sometimes closes off the end before it’s all out.

The way I get Ace to take his dewormer happily? The bait and switch.

Ace was not a happy camper when he discovered that what was in the tube was Anthelcide (that even sounds like a poison, doesn’t it?) and not SUCCEED. He tossed his head around and tried to lick the taste out of his mouth for a good 10 minutes. The beauty of this? It will be another three months before Ace needs dewormer again – three months of getting his beloved SUCCEED out of a tube – and he’ll totally forget.

Maybe your horse doesn’t need a tasty digestive supplement. But you can still train him to take the tube willingly by regularly giving him something yummy from one – like applesauce. If he comes to expect something good, he won’t be so distraught on the rare occassion you need to give him de-wormer or Bute paste.

Do you have any other tips for getting your horse to take de-wormer willingly? What other creative treats would you put in a tube?

Ace had been mine for about a month. As an 8-year-old gelding who was out of practice but had obviously been handled well in his past and I knew had been ridden plenty in his early years, I expected that a simple walk under saddle should be easy. But once again we were planted in the center of the ring – unmoving.

There were a few times that I felt a little like this about horses behavior:

Sure, we don’t actually expect our horses to be capable of learning to speak French. But how often do we expect them to automatically “speak” our language when we ask them to:

• Step forward when we squeeze with our legs.
• Load into a trailer.
• Walk quietly beside us at all times.
• Stand still when we spray them with fly spray or put on a blanket.
• Stand quietly in the cross ties.
• Lunge around us in a perfect circle.
• Allow us to touch them anywhere.

For some reason, we expect that our horses are born knowing these – and many other – behaviors.

For most of my life, I thought that if a horse didn’t do as I asked or expected he was being bad. As a teenager, if Ace has jerked his head sky high when I lifted the reins over his ears (like he did two days ago), I would have given him a smack on the neck for acting up. I wouldn’t have thought about the fact that for some reason he was feeling the need to protect his head, and even though I was prepared and being careful he felt threatened. I wouldn’t have thought about the fact that I needed to be understanding and carefully and gently re-teach him that I’m not doing anything that will hurt him.

There’s little that breaks my heart more than when I see someone punishing a horse for a behavior he’s just never been taught to do. As horse people, we need to always remember that horses must be patiently taught everything we expect and ask of them.

At the same time, while we can’t expect our horses to know everything about how we expect them to behave automatically – we still need to have high expectations of their manners. Those high expectations then become training goals.

If a former owner hasn’t already, we need to take the time and effort to teach our horses to:

• Stand quietly unless asked to do otherwise – under saddle, tied, on a lead line.
• Be handled all over.
• Stand quietly for your hoof care professional and allow feet to be handled.
• Be sprayed all over with water or sprays.
• Walk quietly beside a handler.
• Respect your space.
• Give to pressure – whether it’s moving forward under saddle or responding to the halter or just your hand.

For your safety and the safety of others who may handle your horse, it’s critical that you instill good manners – including but certainly not limited to the above.

Your horse may not be able to learn to speak French, but he certainly can learn basic behavior skills if you take the time to teach him!

I feel like I’m about to introduce myself at an AA meeting:

Hello, my name is Jackie. And until yesterday, I had never cleaned my gelding’s sheath.

I know, I know. It’s an important part of every male horse’s regular care. But because I had never done it (we had a mare growing up), and I had no idea what I was doing – and it’s sheath cleaning – I’ve been avoiding it. But it was cleaning day at the barn yesterday, so I finally got an experienced barn worker to show me the ropes.

I don’t think I can bring myself to write a how to on how to clean a sheath. Besides, it’s one of those things that you really have to just do with the help of an experienced friend rather than learn by studying.

So, Regarding Horse’s tips for learning to clean your horse’s sheath?

1. Suck it up and do it.
2. Find a knowledgeable horse person to talk you through it the first time.

And just for fun, here’s a hilarious video on sheath cleaning with British dressage rider Laura Bechtolsheimer:

And while I was busy running around with a bunch of teenagers, averaging 4.5 hours of sleep a night (more than last year!), facing fears on the high ropes course, and generally acting younger than my age – Ace was at home enjoying long lazy days at grass in the big pasture, getting fed more treats than he knew what to do with from his barn mates’ owners, getting a break from hard work, and generally living the high life.

So when I FINALLY showed up at the barn last night, Ace’s greeting was a little less than enthusiastic.

Of course, it didn’t help that I showed up right at dinner time and took him out of his stall. And I guess that after 9 days of not showing my face around those parts, he just figured that I’d dropped off the face of the earth.

At any rate, Ace survived my absence with flying colors. No scrapes or bumps or issues arose while I was gone. He is happy, healthy, shiny, and as close to fat as a well-fed Thoroughbred can get as ever. Even if he wasn’t beside himself to see me, I was just glad that nothing went amiss while I was gone. Having something happen to my horse while I’m out of town and unreachable is my greatest fear about going away!

Preparing for Vacation and Leaving Your Horse At Home

Fortunately, I made sure I did everything I could to prepare for the trip and to ensure that Ace was in good shape and good hands while I’m gone. If you board your horse, here are some things I would recommend doing for your peace of mind and the care of your horse:

• Make sure he’s up-to-date on regular care. Is your horse about due to have his feet trimmed? Ace was due the week I was gone, so I got it done a little early this time around. I know that for Ace it’s better not to let his feet go too long between trims or he starts to have problems. Also check to see if it’s time for de-worming and make sure you’ve got that handled.
• Check supplies. Do you provide your own feed or does your horse get supplements? Make sure there are plenty of each for the timeframe that you are gone. Also, it never hurts to have an extra fly mask or halter on his stall in case he loses or destroys one while you are gone.
• Authorize someone to make decisions in your absence. My good friend Dave lives just a few miles from the barn, and I trust him to make the same decisions for Ace that I would. If something would happen to Ace and he requires attention, I know Dave is available and skilled. I leave his number on Ace’s stall and tell barn management to call him.I have heard horror stories of people gone on vacation whose horse colicked. They couldn’t be reached, and the horse suffered because he couldn’t be euthanized or taken to surgery without their permission. As awful as it sounds, plan for the worst and hope for the best.
• Leave emergency contact numbers. I didn’t have cell phone reception at camp, so I let everyone know I was not reachable at all. I left Dave’s cell phone number in case of emergency, and gave him the phone number for the camp if it was really really needed. Always leave your phone numbers and the numbers for your authorized friend.
• Give your horse lots of treats and love before you go. Great way to get over the stress of packing and cleaning for a trip? Get it all done and leave plenty of time the night before you leave to spend it with your horse. It was a great way to unwind mentally, plus I felt better about leaving Ace for a week since I spent some unhurried, quality time with him.
• Tell all your barn friends that you are going to be gone and when. It’s important that your barn owner and the people who provide daily care know when you are gone and where you will be. Bonus? Tell every barn friend you have too, because they will keep an eye on your horse – and probably give him some love and treats in the process. The more people you have keeping an eye on him the better you’ll feel! I have people who feed Ace treats, people who get him out of his stall to watch him move, and people responsible for cleaning out his feet. It pays to make friends at your barn! (and offer to do it for their horses when they go out of town!)

Taking the time to cover these basic going-away steps will ensure that both you and your horse can relax while you are away on vacation. Do you have anything you would add to this list of tips?

A good warm up is key to a good ride. Every horse is different, so try different warm-up methods to learn what works best for your individual horse, and develop a routine based on that.

The Warm Up that Works for My Horse

Last night was a great example of the type of warm-up that works best for Ace.

After a good brushing, tacking Ace in his lovely (and slightly outrageous) purple and lime green saddle pad, tightening up the girth, and mounting up, we proceeded at a nice loose-reined walk around the arena. I didn’t ask for anything, and just allowed Ace to walk at his own pace with his neck outstretched. At this point, he’s still a bit stiff and not yet reaching under far enough with his hind end.

Our first trot is lazy and stiff. His nose is out, his neck is long, and he definitely isn’t even attempting to use himself. We’re just warming up, so I don’t even ask. But his ears are up, and he’s happy as we trot both directions around the ring sticking to the rail.

After a few times around at a trot, we go up to canter. Again, it’s nice and loose and I’m not asking for much. Both directions, he starts a little stiff, bulging through the turns to avoid supporting himself with that inside hind.

After about three laps at a canter, it’s like something unlocks in his body. His movement suddenly becomes more fluid. His back rounds up. His inside hind engages. He doesn’t over bend through the turns.

We do a canter transition down to a trot. He’s engaged, connected front to back, powering forward off his hind legs. His back is round, his neck is round, and his nose is tucked in. And I’m not even asking for anything.

Ace is warmed up mentally and physically, and now he’s ready to do some work.

The Warm Up That Doesn’t Work for Ace

At other times, I’ve tested the advice of horse professionals and clinicians that I know and respect. Quite frequently, they encourage a thinking warm-up. In this routine, you start asking your horse to think right away. It could be circles, serpentines, lateral work in the walk, transitions, switching posting diagonals every 10 steps, you name it. And you vary the exercises each time you ride. The idea is that you are suppling your horse’s body and getting him to pay attention to you right from the start.

I’ve tried it with Ace. And it does nothing but make him mad.

Sometimes I’ll try a little turn on the forehand during the warm up, or ask for a little leg yielding from the quarter line to wall. Occasionally I’ve tried working transitions within a gait. Sometimes I give him a really good walk/trot warm-up, and then ask for a little collection before we’ve cantered. Without fail, I end up with a stiff, resistant horse who never relaxes to the point where his mind and body unlocks and he’s ready to work.

Others advocate walking for 15-20 minutes before moving up to trot and canter work. I’ve done it, but for Ace walking for much more than 10 minutes doesn’t make much difference. He simply doesn’t unlock until he’s cantered.I really think part of that has to do with his conformation: he has that ridiculously long back. And an easy, loose canter (not asking for any collection!) is one of the best ways to relax a horse’s back muscles.

Tips for Developing a Good Warm-Up Routine

1. Listen to your horse. Pay attention to how your horse is reacting, and you will know what works. He’s a better judge than any trainer or clinician.
2. Try different approaches. You will never know what works best for your horse if you don’t try the gamut of warm-up exercises and methods. You may think your routine works fine, but you could find something even better. Ace doesn’t get bored easily, and a consistent routine helps him to relax. Others need you to keep them occupied from the get-go, so mixing it up is key.
3. Always spend time walking to start and finish. While I don’t necessarily walk for 20 minutes every ride, I do always walk at least for 10. Walking is critical to the health of your horse’s soft tissues (tendons and ligaments) in particular; warming them up and cooling them down slowly will help prevent injury.
4. Don’t longe every time for your warm up. Longing is a great tool for training and for loosening a horse up. However, those small circles can wreak havoc on your horse’s tendons and joints if over done. It’s not a great idea to do it every time. And even though it’s boring, take the time to walk first.

I’ve learned that a warm-up for Ace should consist of 20-25 minutes of walk, trot, and canter work with a loose rein on the rail. The only variation that actually works well is if I do my warm-up without stirrups. He actually seems to really like that for some reason. I avoid anything that feels like work until his muscles have unlocked. But once a good canter both directions has done its job he’s happy, loose, and ready to try anything I ask.

What have you tried for warming up your horse? And what seems to work best for your individual horse?

But when we have all of those basics of horse care covered, there’s still one thing we need to do for our horses to ensure they get healthier and recover when they have issues: TIME.

When a horse is underweight, we want to pump as much food into him as possible and see a difference in a month.

When a problem crops up with their hooves – cracks, thrush, injuries – we want to treat it and be back to riding in a week.

When he’s lame, we want to give him bute for a few days and be riding again by the weekend.

I have bad news and good news for you. The bad news? These things take time and you may have to be patient. The good news? Horse can fully recover from these things with time (and proper care).

Ace’s 2.5 Years to Better Weight, Hooves, and Condition

When I got Ace he was probably about 150 pounds underweight, had no muscle what-so-ever, and hadn’t had hoof care in over two years. Despite all that he was remarkably healthy. I wasn’t in a huge rush, so I took my time with him. He started on a good feed program, heavy on the hay and turnout time. I got him a great barefoot trimmer who trims his feet beautifully every 4-5 weeks without fail. I started him slowly under saddle, taking a lot of time adding new skills to his repertoire and spending months – even years – on exercises all about building up his conditioning and strength. Here’s Ace the day he became mine in August 2008:

I expected that after about a year, Ace was as good as he was going to get. I figured we’d reached the weight and condition that he would maintain moving forward. He had filled out some, almost to the point that his ribs were no longer visible, and had started developing some nice muscling through his hind and neck. Here he is a year and half later, in January 2010:

He was still looking relatively similar to this last summer when I managed to capture this nice picture of him moving on the longe line, but with some nice muscling continuing to develop slowly:

Then came winter 2011. Ace and I continued to go for rides on average 3 days a week. We alternated ring work full of transitions, lateral exercises, and collection, with regular hacks out in the snow. The workers at the barn made sure he had plenty of hay throughout the day and good pile at night. He actually put on weight during this long, cold winter. Around December, I noticed that his ribs were totally gone and his butt was now round and solid – no more dips on either side of his croup. The muscling in his neck has developed to the point where it transitions smoothly into his shoulder. He offers to collect after a good warm up. He’s apparently been feeling so good that he’s decided he’s king of the barn and has gotten quite bossy with his pasture mates.

I about cried when I captured this amazing picture of my horse just this past weekend:

I never guessed that Ace would ever be able to look this good! I’ve been on Cloud 9 all week.

My secret to getting Ace from that first horse in August 2008 to this most recent one in March 2011: time and patience.

Give Your Horse Time

Rushing your horse to better health requires shortcuts and quick fixes that don’t resolve the underlying issues and won’t keep your horse healthy for the long term. Giving your horse time to heal, recover, or just get healthier will always always pay off much better in the end than going for the quick fix.

The same is true for health and training – it’s always better to go a little more slowly and take your time rather than trying to rush things. You’ll end up with a healthy, happy, well-trained horse who is an absolute joy to be around – like Ace.

I want to hear your stories! Do you have a horse in fantastic shape now – but that took a lot of time to get there? Or conversely, do you have an experience where you went for the quick fix and it didn’t work out so well?

I know, that’s a good thing!

Stopped out to stick Ace on the longe line and see how he was moving, even took my camera so I could video him and show all of you – but there was nothing interesting to see other than the fact that he was nearly fine. No more head-bob, no more obvious un-soundness.

Jeanine thought he looked all the way better. And really, there was very little issue that I could detect. I wouldn’t give him 100% yet. I know him better than anybody and while he didn’t look lame any more, his stride still wasn’t exactly normal. But nobody else in the world would even notice but me.

So, the official report as of last night is:  97% sound.

I fully expect that he will be back to normal tonight. I plan to stick him on the longe and watch him, and if all is well take him for a light ride.

I’m not at all sorry that this appears to be an incredibly short blog series.

PS – Luna is apparently jealous that Rooney had a great outdoor adventure, as she continues to try to dart out the door every time I leave the house. Someone please inform her that we are once again in wintery weather, and to trust us that it’s better to just stay inside.

It all started with Luna and Rooney, my two cats. They are pampered, well-loved indoor cats who are typically pretty happy with the good life of house kitties. They were my first “kids”, and I’ll admit, I’m rather quite attached to both of them. Luna is the typical diva cat who climbs in boxes, only lets you pet her when its her idea, and lives to eat and play. Rooney is really a dog trapped in a cat’s body. He comes when called, would spend every hour of every day in my lap if he could, and sits on command. Here’s how it all went down on Sunday …

The Cats Conspire Against Me

The weather was nice this weekend and we had the windows and doors open to let the spring in. L and R have been planted by the kitchen window smelling the smells, riveted on the activity of the birds and squirrels in the yard.

Luna: “Hey Rooney! It’s soo nice outside. We should figure out a way to escape so we can go have an adventure outside in the neighborhood.”

Rooney: “That’s a great idea. We’ll need to create a diversion so we can sneak out when mom comes home from the barn tonight.”

Luna: “What if one of us distracts her by pretending to run out the door, and when she chases us away, the other can slip out behind her? She’ll never even notice! I’ll take one for the team and be the diversion. You’re black and will be better camoflauged, and you were a street cat before so you can handle yourself better.” Plus if you get out for a day, that’s a whole day where I can have the entire house to myself.

I’m convinced that was their evil plan. I came home from the barn late Sunday evening, and Rooney must have slipped out when I came in unnoticed in the dark.

Monday I was getting ready for work, and suddenly realized I hadn’t seen R all morning. I flipped. I ran through every room of the house calling for him, opening doors, checking cupboards. I didn’t think he could have gotten outside without me knowing it, so I was convinced he was near-death curled up in some hidey-hole – the only reasonable explanation for why he wasn’t coming to me or meowing his head off about being trapped.

Luna: “Good morning world! What a nice night it was without my brother to annoy me. I had a leisurely breakfast all to myself, and some play time with the milk bottle ring after that. This is really kinda nice being an only cat again. …. Uh-oh. Mom isn’t taking this so well. Oh no! She’s crying.  A lot. And totally messing up the house looking for Rooney. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I better pretend like I’m helping her look for him. Oh Rooooooney, where are you! Are you in the suitcase? How bout under the stairs. Shoot. I don’t think mom is convinced. This is getting bad. I had better go find Rooney and tell him to get his tail back here because mom is totally losing it. Crap, she blocked me from getting out the door. Not good. I guess I’ll have to be cuddly and try to cheer her up in the meantime. He had better come back soon …”

Luna is right, I was a hot mess about my missing cat. Rooney is always at my feet and has never gone missing for even a few minutes. It was very out of character for him. And Luna really was totally ignoring me at first. She started to catch on though, and spend the rest of the day following me around, trying to dart out of the house every time I opened the door, and cuddling with me on the couch.

Eventually we realized that Rooney had to have escaped the house, as there were tell-tale pawprints on the hood of my car in the garage.

We went to bed, left the garage door open a tad, and a bowl of cat food in the garage. Tuesday morning I woke up to my hubby walking into the dark bedroom, telling me he had something for me, and setting my wayward cat down on the bed.

I hope Rooney enjoyed his two nights and a day out on the town. I sure didn’t.

Ace Is In On the Conspiracy Too

Either Ace is in on the conspiracy to make me crazy so that I appreciate all of my animals more, or he’s just jealous that the cats stole all of his attention … because he was lame when I went to ride last night.

I tacked him up, hopped on and walked around for a few minutes to warm up. I asked him to move into a trot, and immediately felt the unmistakable signs of a mysterious lameness. His head was bobbing and his stride felt horrid. I hopped off so I could watch how he was going on the longe, hoping maybe I’d just put the saddle on weird and it was pinching his shoulders. No dice. I saw the slightest evidence of a hitch at the walk, but he was unmistakably lame at the trot.

For the first time, it looks like his lameness is originating in a front leg. It was the first time I’ve seen him with a head bob. And the first time he’s been perfectly even and normal in the back end when he’s not sound. He’s only ever been lame in the back since I’ve had him (related to some hoof issues). It was clearly a front leg.

He wasn’t so off that it was obvious which leg was causing the problem. His head was bobbing down with the right front, making us think the issue is in his left leg. Even though he was off, Ace was otherwise feeling good. His ears were up, he was offering to canter, and he was generally happy.

Jeanine (trainer and day worker) said Ace and his buddies played really hard in the pasture yesterday, so hopefully he’s just feeling that.

So he got a gram of bute with his dinner last night, and is taking today to rest in his stall. I’m going to stop out after work to see how he’s moving. I’ll give him a few days to either get better or worse before I get too worried. In the meantime, he can hang out in his stall and get spoiled by everyone who comes into the barn throughout the day.