Tack Fitting

Checking his back and topline for symmetry

 Kim did some tack fitting this weekend at Happy Dog Ranch in Littleton, CO as part of the Holistic Horse Care Cooperative.  This gelding is "Earl", who is used for pleasure riding western and trail riding. 

Assessing saddle symmetry from the front

Checking saddle symmetry from the back

Letting Earl check out the saddle before we put it on

Press on the horn, the saddle should remain stationary

Checking the gullet

press on the lowest point of the saddle, it should stay stationary

the owner checking the balance of the saddle

Checking the bridle and bit, and looking for dental issues.  I did recommend adding a throatlatch or changing the headstall since a horse can rub this right off with only one ear loop.

Adjusting stirrup length

Riding with the impression pad and the saddle padded correctly

Impresion pad post-ride - the rider has some balance issues from an old injury, and the pressure point shown by the displaced dough fits with the rider leaning to the R causing the saddle to shift R, resulting in pressure on the L side of the withers. 

Handsome Earl

Show at the Saddle Club

Today we went to the local saddle club horse show.  I took Cole, the lesson horse, because he needed a day to do some schooling, and Jubilee, the young arabian because she needed a field trip, and Rain, so my student who is leasing her could show.

My student with Rain, warming up

Pre-ride coaching

Post-ride smiles

I do love my knuckle-head of a pony

Cole hasn't been out much this season, and I have been really bummed about not eventing with Cecil since he passed away, so we decided to take a day and support the local saddle club.  Cole went very nicely in showmanship, and his english classes.  We did ride western as well, but he was opinionated and wasn't worth photographing.  By the end of the show he was tired, disgruntled about not getting to hang at the trailer and work on his hay bag, and done showing off.  The thing about Cole is that you ALWAYS know what he is thinking.  He is always thinking.  He loves to show off, but if there are no jumps he eventually gets bored.  For example, at horse expo in Denver in March he was an incredible demo horse, launching over any jumps we set in front of him in the large events center at the National Western Complex and making my working student look incredibly good.  By contrast, when he rode western today, he had complaints about the bit (the rule book requires him to wear a shanked bit when riding western because of his age), complaints about the saddle pad not being quite thick enough, and complaints about the tedium of the equitation pattern.  Although set up perfectly for his canter departures, he took the wrong lead the first time EVERY TIME, then ground himself to a halt, then picked up the correct lead from a halt just to prove he could.  By the end of the day he was wagging his tongue out the side of his mouth at my assistant whenever he rode past her.  Hard to interpret that as anything other than, - pointing at my face - "there is something WRONG with my MOUTH".  Fortunately he was happy to be untacked and loaded right up the trailer to head home with his friends.  He really only competes riding western a couple times a year, and tolerates it extremely well considering his opinions on the matter.

So blessed to live here

Cole pretending to go fast

Documentation that Cole is capable of lengthening!

Square halts - no faults!

The guy does love a good stretch

Faster!

Beautiful place to show

Jubilee napping at the trailer

A friend riding her little mare who is for sale

Petite little thing!

Eye of the Tiger

Cole's silky purple pajamas

Cole got a bath because he's going to the saddle club tomorrow to show with me for the day.  Being a white horse, he needs extra scrubbing.  Being a white horse, he needs pajamas so that he stays marginally clean overnight in his paddock.  Being a white horse, he needs PURPLE SILK pajamas, that look strikingly like boxing silks.  The only thing that would make this more picturesque would be big puffy leg wraps on his fronts to mimic boxing gloves.  And yes, I did hum "Eye of the Tiger" as I put his clothes on. 

Rehabilitation

Today I spent the morning with a veterinarian I have worked with on many rehabilitation cases.  We looked at and evaluated three horses, all with different issues.  Often new clients will ask me how to rehabilitate a horse, and the answer varies widely from case to case, depending on what the injury is, whether we are focusing on emotional, mechanical, mental, neurological, or some other kind of issue, or combination of issues.  Here is a brief article that opens the conversation for rehabilitating a horse.

Rehabilitation Guidelines

These are basic guidelines for how to “bring a horse back,” to rehabilitate them physically, neurologically, emotionally.  It is a huge undertaking to rehab a horse.  It is a multifaceted and varied undertaking, and very specific to the individual horse.  One would never rehabilitate an off the track Thoroughbred in the same way one would rehabilitate a fat pasture pony re-entering work, or a horse with neurological balance issues.  At Bit of Honey Training we enjoy working with all types of horses, but the ones Kim likes best are the ones to stew over, thinking all the time about a new or different way to reach them.  These are some general guidelines, keeping in mind they must be modified to the individual horse.

• While it may be the same animal, you have a different horse each day.  Work with the horse you have THAT DAY.  Your goal is change, so this different horse is GOOD. 

• Never compromise your own safety or the safety of others, including the horse, his emotional and physical safety.

•  Listen to the horse and he will tell you what he is ready to try and what must remain a crutch a while longer

• Work incrementally, some horses need only one new stimulus per week, some need one new stimulus per day, some need several new stimuli in each session.                                                                                                                                                                                                  
• Sometimes a horse needs such careful timing of treatments that the practitioner must pay attention to whether the horse was able to walk for 2 minutes, or 2 min. 30 sec.  Details matter in rehab.

•  Cater to the horse’s strengths to build his confidence

• Never punish him or criticize him, even in thought.  Ignore all bad behavior (unless it is a safety issue) and praise/reward any miniscule steps toward the behavior you want to encourage.  Use caution in these discernments and read your horse.  He knows if the praise is genuine or not and some horses are more sensitive to criticism than others.

• Never over-face him.  If he feels incompetent or unequal to the task that has been set he will not attempt to work for you, and some horses will shut down completely in fear/apprehension/frustration.

• Remember you are the leader.  There is a time and place for healing yourself, but don’t ask a horse to heal in you what he must be healed of.  (ex. You are both afraid of dogs)

• Spend time with him NOT working on rehab.  Allow him to “be” with you as he would “be” with another horse.  You can still be the leader and also have him like you.  The best herd managers (equine or human) have the respect of their herd, AND their herd likes to be with them.

• Quit before he gets frustrated in a session – end on a positive note.

•  Repetition can be very effective or very detrimental – read your horse THAT DAY.

• Be present mentally as well as physically when with your horse.  If you are frustrated with work at the office he will only know that you are frustrated.  Horses react negatively to negative emotions – you are working in a mirror.  If you are too upset to focus on rehab that day, skip it.

A horse with neurological problems receiving an e-stim treatment from the veterinarian

Obstacle work is often recommended for a horse needing rehab.  I have developed a combination of pole work techniques that nicely sequence through the simplest of exercises to quite complex tasks.  These are the guidelines I give out with these exercises. 

Guidelines for Rehabilitation Pole work

Take detailed notes of each training session (a calendar works well) note:

·         Which set of patterns you used

·         How the horse reacted

·         Any aids used (physiotape, proprioceptive dangles, therabands, etc.)

·         Time horse took to figure out pattern, if the horse figured it out

·         Length of session (5 min, 10 min, 45 min, etc.)

Be careful to avoid tight turns to go back through the poles.  Even when done slowly and in hand, tight turns can be hard on horses in physical rehab., and tight turns can be precarious for horses with neurological balance problems, depending on severity.  A horse can fall or re-injure if the turns are too tight or fast, and it is important to realize the balance shift, muscular involvement, and strain on joints that takes place in a quadraped doing a tight turn.  Excessive lunging or running in the round pen should be avoided for the same reasons.  Always quit before horse gets frustrated. 

If an exercise is too difficult- i.e. he hits his feet a lot, he stops in the middle of the exercise, he turns and stares at you a lot, go to a simpler exercise.

For neurological cases, if these exercises will help, your horse will improve with a noticeable difference in the next 30-40 days. 

Exercises must be done consistently, 3-5 times per week to be effective.  Multiple short sessions are better than one long session.

Most difficult

Circular patterns  

Angles, circles, faster gaits

Grouped Poles

Raised poles

Flat ground poles in series

Flat Ground pole alone

 Straight and slow

Easiest

 


You'll notice that rehab work is quite detailed, precise, and requires a ridiculous amount of attention to timing and note-taking.  Often the exercises are not complicated for a human to do with a horse, but the discipline required on the part of the human is beyond what many people will do consistently, accurately, and while documenting it all.  There is nothing wrong with putting a horse into rehabilitation with a professional, and it may give your horse a much better chance at recovery.  In fact, many of the horses at Bit of Honey Training initially arrived for training, but when we learned of the horses' deficits they are put into a program for rehabilitation at Bit of Honey instead.  

If you have other questions or would like to schedule an evaluation, feel free to contact Kim through www.bitofhoneytraining.com 

Edna Update

Has anyone noticed this food bowl is EMPTY?

Edna the great dane is staying with us for a bit while her humans are back East taking care of some family circumstances.  Although she is geriatric at 13 years old, Edna fits in great with the Bit of Honey herd.  She loves not having to be in charge of anything because there are border collies for that.  She likes to romp outside with the other dogs, and hang out in the grassy areas to watch the games of tug-of-war. 

Last weekend we took her with Miles the border collie to Owen's soccer game on Sat. in Wellington. Miles LOVES soccer, he intensely watches the entire game to see the running, the yelling, the balls in the air, the whistles.... Miles never wants to miss a thing!  Edna thought it was boring. She laid on the grass and waited for people to tell her she was a beautiful and good dog. Which they did.

Though she lacks enthusiasm for soccer, she makes up for it as a riding coach. Today she and the border collies helped me teach 3 lessons.  Edna stands right near me in the middle of the arena and watches the rider, occasionally doing her happy dance (swinging her head in a circle and lifting each front paw alternately) when I cheer for the horse/student. All three dogs were lined up with me in the center, we just didn't have a camera on us. Edna also wants to run with the border collies to chase the large birds in the pond, but she's too big to jump through the fence like they do, so she just trots laps in the yard watching them and cheering from the sidelines.

Because of all this activity she has lost some weight. She looks fine, but I can easily feel her ribs. I increased her kibble a bit, so she's getting 3 meals of 2 cups each. She's pretty pleased with the whole arrangement.  Dear Edna misses her family, but says she's having fun at Kamp Kim.

It is a sad sad thing to wait so long for dinner.

Edna Update: we took her to soccer again this weekend, but this time with Nase because 1. Miles was very swampy after his trail ride, and 2. We had 3 showings on the house and needed the dogs out. A thunderstorm rolled in as the game was going on, so Nase hid and shook under my lawn chair while Edna lay right next to him for comfort at the game. Then we headed to Petsmart to buy Nase a thundershirt. I've heard good things about them and it seems to be helping him a little. Edna was very sociable and visited with all the staff, all the other dogs, large or small, and was of great comfort to Nase in his time of need.

I sometimes get wrapped up in what I'm doing and forget Edna's lunch, so she has started approaching Owen and talking to him. When he asks me if he should feed her, she does her happy dance. This series of events has led us to refer to Owen as the Ned substitute, or "Nedstitute".
I've also noticed that Edna particularly loves little girls, old ladies, with the high voices and little petting motions. She almost seeks out the little girls at the soccer games, and the older ladies who come by the house for church things. It's very endearing.

Not to pester you with Edna stories, but this afternoon was pretty funny.  I was late getting her lunch and so she was a little nauseous.  I gave her lunch in her bowl, but outside on the stoop in case she threw up.  She didn't really want to eat, but stood there staring at the food.  Sabbath the cat sauntered over, since HE likes dog food, and went to put his face in her food bowl and help himself to some kibble.  Edna looked appalled, opened her giant maw and enclosed Sabbath's head in her mouth.  When he withdrew, slightly slimy, she gave him the stink eye.  So he turned around and walked with me to the feed room while Edna proceeded to eat the kibble herself.  I guess a little competition for food is a good thing? But Edna says to watch out for those kibble thieving cats.

Questions for Choosing Your Professionals

How do you choose a farrier, veterinarian, or trainer?  Here are some questions I use when I've moved to a new area and need to screen potential professionals for my horse.  Since the list of people to phone interview from the google online search can be quite long, it can be helpful to start interviews with a list of professionals who were referred to you.  If you find a trainer you like, get names of farriers and vets from her.  If you find a vet you like, see who he has had good experiences with for a farrier or trainer.  Word of mouth is powerful in the horse world, so take everything with a grain of salt, but use the information presented to you.


Farrier

How long have you been working as a farrier?
Do you shoe horses or only do barefoot trims?
Is therapeutic or corrective shoeing available?  What types?
What are your certifications?
Who have you apprenticed with?
Can I watch you trim/shoe a horse?
What do you charge each for a trim, front shoes only, and all-around basic shoes?

Garmin's feet 2012

Garmin the pony's feet 2010

How do you feel about working with a veterinarian?
Do you do all your own farrier work, or do you have apprentices?
Can you provide references? (Get them, then call them!)

I ask these types of things partly to get the answers, and partly to see how the farrier communicates.  I want to make sure this is someone I can talk with comfortably, and someone who will take the time to listen to my concerns, questions and thoughts.  The answers you want from the farrier depend on you, your horse, and your horse's needs.  I do ask the corrective shoeing questions even if I have a horse who does well barefoot, because that may change at some point for medical reasons or changing horses, and I want to keep the same farrier if I like him. 

Veterinarian

How long have you been practicing veterinary medicine?
What are your specialties, what cases interest you the most?
What other professionals in the area do you work with/collaborate with?  Trainers, other veterinarians, farriers?
What services do you offer?  (If you want them to work on your cows as well, make sure they do bovine medicine!  Similarly, if you want your veterinarian to be competent in acupuncture, laser therapy, chiropractic or body work, ask about it)
How far in advance do routine appointments need to be scheduled?
What is your availability for emergencies?
Do you bring a technician with you to handle the horse?
Do you recommend and/or perform humane euthanasia when necessary?

Dentistry using hand floating

Do you do equine dentistry with power tools and/or hand floats?  Why?
Do you recommend vaccination?  Which vaccines?
References available?  (Get them, then call them!)

Again, these questions are partly to get the answers, partly to see how the veterinarian communicates.  You want a vet of whom you are comfortable asking questions.  It is important that you are able to understand the vet's recommendations, and that he can explain things to you in a way that makes sense, not just in veterinary terminology.  If you initially get a receptionist, ask her questions, but also ask to speak with the veterinarian as well.  This will tell you how busy the vet is, and whether he can make time for new clients.  The answers you want from the vet depend on what you are planning to do with your horse, for example a broodmare will have different special needs than a competing performance horse. 

Trainer

How long have you been training?
What types of horses do you mostly work with?
What type of horse is your favorite to work with?
What is your background and what kind of riding do you currently do?  english, western, trailriding, jumping, reining, dressage, cattle sorting?  If you know what discipline you want to pursue, ask about it.
What is your training philosophy?

Do you offer circus pony training?

Give the trainer a training scenario, and ask how she would handle it.  Good examples are difficulty trailer loading, bucking, starting a horse under saddle, teaching a horse ground manners.
Do you have a barn vet and barn farrier?  
Am I allowed to come watch you train my horse?
How involved can I be in my horse's training process?
Can I take lessons on my own horse?  Do you have lesson horses?
Do you have any certifications?
Do you carry equine liability insurance?
What is your barn like?  What are your typical clients like?
Is showing/competing a requirement for working with your barn?
Do other trainers work out of your facility?
Do you travel to other facilities?
Do you require helmets?
Before I commit, may I watch you work with a horse?  Teach a lesson?
What is your commission on sale horses?  How many do you sell in a season?
Prices for training including how many training sessions per week, price of lessons, etc.
References available?  (Get them, then call them!)

The answers you want to these questions will vary depending on your circumstances.  It is very important that you are comfortable with the trainer and can ask her questions, especially if you want to be able to work with horses on your own when the trainer is done with them.  Even if you are just placing a horse in training to get it sold you want to ensure that the trainer is ethical and will treat your animal kindly, as well as be honest with you and potential buyers. 

What other things do you look for when screening potential professionals for your horse's "team"?

Dog Snow Days of May

Deep thoughts with Edna

Tasty snowflakes

Miles says, "let's run, Edna!"

Zoom zoom

Dog conference

Miles chasing Nase

Happy Nase

Nase smile