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?

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:

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.

Of course, before you can do what’s best for your horse, you have to take the time to educate yourself on what that really entails.

I think the fact that horses’ teeth constantly erupt and have to be filed down is one of the biggest news stories of the century for the non-horsey or new-to-horses crowd. I can picture the eyes widening every time I tell someone about floating Ace’s teeth every 6-12 months. And that’s just the first of many surprises when I fill people in on everything that goes into keeping a horse healthy.

Horses are big, tough looking animals with amazingly sensitive systems. It’s not like having a dog or cat that you let outside a few times a day and then toss some generic food and a bowl of water. There’s a lot you need to know beyond how to ride and handle horses.

And unfortunately, there’s also a lot of bad information out there about horse care.

Yes,  a lot of that bad information comes from the internet and the fact than anybody can post anything. But a lot of it is heard around your barn aisles – from friends, managers, trainers, and sometimes even your vet. A lot of it is modern conventional “wisdom”. Old husbandry practices that were the norm decades ago have been lost in lieu of modern convenience and resource limitations. And it’s not always good for the horses.

We owe it to our horses to do our research and really learn how horses’ systems work and what’s best to keep them healthy. We should never rely fully on what one person tells us.

Since Ace came into my life 2.5 years ago, I have become a crazy researcher. I read magazines, veterinary articles, health websites. I talk to hoof care professionals and vets and trainers who have been horsemen their entire lives. And one of the benefits of working with Freedom Health (makers of Succeed Digestive Conditioning Program) during my day job is that I’ve had access to all kinds of research and experts on equine digestive health and nutrition.

As a result of getting educated from so many great resources, I’m a much more knowledgeable horse owner and am more equipped than ever to keep Ace healthy. And it’s paying off: he’s in the best condition of his life right now.

The area of how we feed horses is one in which I think we are bombarded by the greatest amount of bad information – and a lot of it coming from the feed companies who are primarily out to make a profit. But when horses aren’t fed to match the way their digestive systems are designed – we start causing some serious problems.

The most serious health risk our horses face today is colic. And while some episodes of colic are unavoidable, many of them are a result of how we take care of our horses. The good news is that means there is something we can do to help keep our horses from colicking. That is such an important message to get out that I’ve helped Freedom Health to launch an education and awareness campaign called Crusade Against Equine Colic. It’s all about teaching you, the horse owner, techniques for feeding and caring for your horse that will help to keep colic at bay.

It’s a really great, informative site if I do say so myself (kinda like this one ), so please to do go check it out and help spread the word. The Crusade is also spreading the word via Facebook and Twitter.

Colic doesn’t need to be the number one killer of our horses.

I know many people who absolutely love having their horses on their property and providing for their every need personally. I am not one of those people.

Even if I had the option to keep Ace at my house, I would choose to board. I enjoy my horse more when I can concentrate my time on playing with him, riding him, and giving him that extra special attention. I wouldn’t have the time for that focus if I was doing all of his care myself. I like the freedom to go away to visit my family out-of-state for a weekend, or sleep in on a rare Saturday.

But most importantly, horses are a social activity for me. As much as I love Ace, I’m not into horses just for my relationship with him. I love being around other horses and horse people on a regular basis. I like trail riding with friends, talking with my trainer friend, hanging out with the teenage girls, and getting the wide experience involved with so many different personalities and ideas. That’s what I would miss the most if I didn’t board my horse. Even more importantly, Ace loves his boarding barn. He’s a social horse .. with people that is … so he loves having a steady stream of people who dote on him throughout the day.

There are definitely plenty of good reasons as well as drawbacks to both boarding and  home care. Here are some of the pros of cons that I think of for each (with a big shout out to the peeps on Twitter and Facebook who helped flesh out these lists!)…

Considerations When Choosing To Board Your Horse

I grew up riding at a large boarding and lesson barn, and now as an adult found a wonderful boarding barn that I love for Ace. There’s certainly a lot to love about boarding, while it does have some significant drawbacks.

Pros of Boarding

• It’s social. I mentioned this already, but I love the social aspects of boarding. Lots of horse friends and their horses to hang with around the barn, on the trails, at shows. It’s fun to be with people who share your passion.
• The facilities. You often have access to more facilities when boarding, such as an indoor arena, wash stalls, and tack rooms. The indoor arena was a major factor for me in choosing to board, as cold weather doesn’t deter me any!
• The care. It’s nice to have other people who are there on a daily basis to clean your horse’s stall, feed him several times a day, and handle his turnout. I’m fortunate that my barn cleans stalls 7 days a week and is staffed by incredibly attentive people who never miss even the slightest problem with my horse.
• The freedom. You have the freedom to go away on trips, stay home if you aren’t feeling well, and take care of other aspects of life without neglecting your horse’s care.
• The supplies. You don’t have to worry about tracking down hay, feed, bedding, and any other necessary supplies that can sometimes be difficult to find at a good price, at the right quantity. And you don’t have to worry about unloading and stacking those bales of hay either.
• Sharing the vet. Sharing a vet call is  one way you can save some money boarding over home care. When you can split a $50 farm call fee between five owners, that’s good savings!

Cons of Boarding

• It can be more costly. When you board, you are paying for the people who are taking care of your horse for you, as well as for the facilities.
• Less input. When you board, you have less input in how your horse is cared for than if you had him at home. You may want him to have more shavings, but that’s added expense for the owner who may nix it. It’s more difficult to institute complicated feed or care routines that take more time on the worker’s part. You also must adhere to the farm’s vaccination and de-worming policies, which can run contradictory to your preferences.
• Extra costs. Many farm owners will charge you extra if you want them to give your horse supplements, put on and remove blankets, provide medical care such as wrapping legs, or even turnout. All of those require time, and time is money when they have to pay an employee to handle those services for your horse.
• Barn drama. It happens everywhere. Kinda unavoidable when you put a bunch of women (and a few men) into a close situation with all their “kids” too.

Considerations for Keeping Your Horse At Home

Every once in a while I daydream about how nice it would be to look out my kitchen window and see Ace grazing in a large, lush pasture behind the house. I would venture to guess every horse crazy has that dream from time to time – and for many that is a reality. There’s certainly a lot to be said for having your horse at home, but there are also a few drawbacks.

Pros of Having Your Horse at Home

• Accessibility. There’s something beautiful about having your horse right there, greeting you first thing in the morning and when you get home from work, available to visit and ride any time you want.
• Control. With your horse at home, you have total control to care for him in the way you see most fit. A lot of the horse owners I know who’ve really taken the time to get to know their horse as well as equine anatomy and best care practices, will be super picky about feed, routine, and more. You can also control the atmosphere and the people and horses around your horse. At home, you can do things exactly the way you want to.
• Cost effective. You can save money by keeping your horse at home because you aren’t paying for the man-hours needed to care for your horse daily and maintain the property.
• Attentiveness. With your horse at home, you see him several times a day. This allows you to catch any issues or injuries very quickly.
• Relationship. Part of building a relationship with your horse is knowing everything about him … his stall habits, when and where he likes to sleep, how he interacts with other horses in the pasture. You are in a better position to observe all this with him at your house.

Cons of Keeping Your Horse at Home

• It’s all on you. All the time. No sick days, and no vacations unless you can find a very responsible pet sitter and pay them accordingly.
• Fewer facilities. Most people with horses at home don’t have an indoor arena, so can’t ride in inclement weather. You have to get creative in many areas that would be covered by a decent boarding barn.
• More responsibility. You have to find hay and bedding suppliers, and find ways to get these materials to your farm and stored. You are also responsible for property maintenance … mending fences, keeping water troughs from freezing in winter, keeping the barn in tiptop shape.
• Ebbs and flows in costs. You may not have that good-sized monthly boarding bill, but you will have very large expenses several times a year when you need to bring in a hay shipment. Also, there’s no one to share those vet farm call fees with.
• Isolation. You may not have friends nearby to share rides and horsey time with.

I don’t know about you, but that gives me a whole lot to think about!

When it comes down to choosing what’s best for you and your horse, I think you need to set your priorites and then go over which option will best fit those priorities. For me, access to an indoor arena and other horse people totally trumps what I see as the biggest con of boarding: lack of control. The opposite may be true for you.

Do you board your horse or keep him/her/they at home? Why is that the best for you and your horse? And did I miss any pros and cons on these lists?

We’ve talked so much about how hard it must be for Edward Gal, and how much we hate to see such a special partnership broken up. But we haven’t really talked about how disconcerting this must be for Totilas. This horse just lost the most important person in his whole world, and on top of that was moved out of country to a new barn, a new stall, with new caretakers, a new rider, and a new routine. Think that’s easy?

Buying and selling horses is standard practice in the equestrian world, whether you are a professional or have horses for pleasure. Some of us don’t think twice about selling one of horses. And some of us couldn’t even comprehend selling our beloved equine friend.

Why We Sell Horses

For the professional, buying and selling horses is just a part of every day business. Whether you’re a trainer, breeder, or owner, it’s all about keeping yourself in the black and having horses that perform to your and your clients’ needs. There’s no room to get emotionally attached to every horse that comes through your barn. I totally get that.

For us horse owners who have horses for enjoyment, there are still reasons we sell our horses. Maybe the one we have simply isn’t a good match for us, which can at best leave us frustrated and at worse make the partnership dangerous. For amateurs who compete, sometimes it’s about upgrading to an even better horse with a better chance of doing well in the show arena. Or maybe it’s that the horse doesn’t have the aptitude or affinity for your chosen discipline. Sadly, sometimes we have to sell our horses because we can no longer afford them.

Why We Don’t Sell Our Horses

On the other hand, there are many horse owners who are committed to giving their horses what is now commonly known as a “forever home.” Offering a horse a “forever home” means that you will keep him and care for him for the rest of his days. Proper food, vet care, medications and supplements, hoof care, and regular attention are all a part of the bargain, even after your horse retires from under saddle work. It often means that you will take care of him as he ages, which frequently includes arthritis, cushings, and other medical conditions that develop. It means that even if your horse is injured or sick or disabled, he will always have a place in your barn.

For many of us, a horse is more than just a means to an end (a good ride or a pretty ribbon), he’s a family member.

I’d like to think that Ace has a forever home with me. The only reason I’d ever consider selling him or sending him to another home would be if for some reason I could no longer afford to care for him properly. Love isn’t enough to keep him fed, and I’d never go for that as a substitute.

What About You?

I firmly believe that there is no right or wrong here. We are all into horses for different reasons and with different goals. For some of us, that means keeping our horses forever. For others, buying and selling horses can be about what is best for us and our equine partners.

So where do you fall? Do you consider yourself a forever home? If not, why would you consider selling your horse and what steps would you take to ensure he goes to a good home?

So, while I’m happy to wait a little longer to start blanketing … I’m also getting stuck with nasty winter dirt and days too cold for a bath.

The grass is pretty dead now and it’s been raining, so the horses are turned out in the “dry” lots to save the pastures. (Not sure why we call them dry lots when we use them when it’s muddy.) The unfortunately natural result of spending his days on dirt means that Ace has been getting filthy. And because it’s getting colder and less humid, his hair is staticky and refusing to relinquishing its coat of dust very easily.

I’m sure I’m not the only horse crazy girl who prefers her horse to be sleek and shiny and clean at all times, and who will put in a good amount of elbow grease to get him there. But sometimes in winter, a good brushing just isn’t enough. Here are a few tricks I’ve either tried myself or heard about for battling winter crud.

Cover It Up

My favorite way to keep my horse clean in winter? Keep a blanket on him! OK, OK, I know that’s not a good reason to blanket a horse. And it’s not the reason I do either. But it is a really really nice side effect. And since we’ve already established that I’m not blanketing Ace for another few weeks, here are some other methods I like….

Wipe Down with Show Sheen

I learned this trick for a great horsey friend when I boarded Ace at her horse for a year. Show Sheen and other finishers are a great way to get your horse’s hair to relinquish the dust that even brushing doesn’t seem to remove. The trick is to spray the finisher onto a hand towel and then use the towel to wipe down your horse from head to toe. The finishing spray will help grab hold of the dust and stick it to the rag instead of your horse. Bonus? You horse’s coarse winter coat will feel much softer and will make it more difficult to future mud to stick. Just remember to avoid using it under the saddle area so that your tack doesn’t slip and slide.

Wipe Down with Liniment

I’ve never tried this one, but I read about it in Equus magazine in one of their winter articles. It’s the same concept as wiping down with Show Sheen. Add a little bit of liniment to warm water. Dip in a sponge and be sure to wring it out thoroughly. You can then wipe your horse down and it will remove that coat of dust. The drawback of this over the Show Sheen is that you will have to get your hands wet. The benefit? It won’t make the hair as slippery.

Horsey Vacuum

I have never tried an equine vacuum myself, but many of my barnmates use one regularly for when they go to shows in the winter and its too cold to bathe. Apparently you can get vacuums specifically made for horses. And they don’t seem to mind them a bit, either.

Your Favorite Tricks

Do you have any favorite tricks for battling the winter crud on your horse? What about favorite tools, like a vacuum, product, or brush? Have you used any of these methods before and what did you find worked best for you?

Horse owners for clean winter ponies unite!

But one thing I didn’t realize I should be worried about is Ace’s digestive health. That is, until I had the great fortune of meeting the folks from SUCCEED Digestive Conditioning Program earlier in the year. I work for a web marketing agency by day to support my horse habit, and those two qualities blossomed into a working relationship with SUCCEED. The crazy horse girl in me still jumps up and down and gets a little excited that part of my day job actually includes working with people who are just as into happy, healthy horses as I am (and I promise, I am in no way shape or form getting paid or even asked to promote them on my blog!).

What I do, however, want to promote is a really great new series I’m helping to write on their blog called Your Horse Ulcer-Free. It’s an in-depth look at gastric and colonic ulcers and better methods of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. After years of writing informative posts based on my own online research and experience, it’s really cool to get to consult with actual veterinarians, equine nutritionists, and some seriously knowledgeable folks about horse health topics.

While the SUCCEED Equine blog will cover some company news and sponsored rider updates, its primary emphasis is to educate horse people about overall horse health. A lot of the topics will include in-depth looks at just how important a healthy digestive tract is to all areas of your horse’s health and performance. The chronic worrier and chronic Googler in me is very happy about having this as a resource.

The first post in the Ulcer-Free series is a basic overview of ulcers, which occur at a very high rate particularly in horses that travel and compete. As a horse owner myself, I think this is information we all need to learn more about. So please do go check out the overview of equine ulcers, and subscribe to the blog while you’re there so you don’t miss the upcoming posts in the series.

Tell me, have you ever struggled with ulcers in your horse? What worked for you? What didn’t? And what questions about ulcers do you have?