New World Screwworm Threat to Livestock

You have likely heard of the New World Screwworm recently discovered in Texas and New Mexico. This threat to livestock did not materialize overnight. Animal Health Authorities have been tracking this threat ever since it cropped back up in the Darien Province of Panama a couple years ago, and knew it was only a matter of time before it made it's way North through Central America, then Mexico and into the United States through the Southern border.

The New World Screwworm is a parasitic fly that deposits larvae, on the living tissue in or near open wounds of animals, where they burrow into the flesh and feed on live tissue as opposed to most maggots who feed on dead tissue. In fact, in the old days medical personnel have used maggots to debride wounds of soldiers and other patients to prevent gangrene. The New Word Screwworm is primarily a threat to livestock and other mammals such has pets, but the risk to humans is pretty low. Infected animals usually present painful, worsening wounds that may smell bad and fail to heal. Visible larvae in wounds, unusual discharge, and signs of distress in the animal are other potential indicators. If untreated, the infestation can lead to severe tissue damage, open up other infections, and even lead to death of the animal. Check your livestock and other anials routinely, treat and monitor wounds that you see and get ahold of you Vetrinarian if you suspect infestation.

The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) public notice confirmed on 10 June 2026 that it (the TAHC) has designated multiple counties in South Texas as infested zones due to confirmed cases of the New World screwworm. These counties include Zavala, Uvalde, La Salle, Gillespie, Kerr, Kimble, and Webb counties (see map below). A quarantine is in place, meaning warm-blooded animals cannot leave these areas without inspection, treatment, identification, and a movement permit from TAHC authorities. Additional surveillance zones surround these infested areas to monitor potential spread. These zones are actively tracked, and updates are provided daily as new cases are confirmed.

Feedlots in West Texas feedlots are feeling the implications of this threat as border closures and restrictions on importing Mexican cattle have severely curtained their business. Eradication efforts are pretty straightforward and have been used for the past 70 years, and recently in Southern FLorida in 2017 by releasing sterile New World Screwworm male flies. Female New World Screwwom flies only mate once in their lifetime, so eggs laid by a female fly serviced by a sterlized male fly produces unfertilized eggs that do not hatch into the flesh eating larvae. Eventually no live larvae are hatched andn the New orld Screwwom population dies off.

Additional Resources:

Texas Animal Health Commission

U.S. Department of Agriculture National Invasive Species Information Center

Colt Saddle

A fella named Jerry M. contacted me to ask who made the saddle he saw on my 4 year old Curly Zeke that I have been dropping articles on, so I thought there maybe another one or two people who are interested in the particulars. BTW, I'm not selling it. The interest would be in a good quality saddle, from a well known maker, for such as reasonable price.

The past 18 months, after the passing of my wife, have been really different than preceding years. I have seen more young, green horses in the last year and a half than I have in 10 years. So I was looking for a bit lighter and less expensive Wade saddle that I can put on green horses and save my best custom saddle for my horses that are further along and a little more trustworthy. This likely stems from an incident years ago (sometime in 2004 as I remember) where I had a young horse's feet go out from underneath himself and he tumbled resulting in a completely torn stirrup leather and a torn out breast collar D ring.

Thankfully the horse was fine and as a result of this accident a friend of mine introduced me to an 80 year old Mexican gentleman, who was the last of the S.D. Myres saddle makers, and he repaired my saddle. This was actually a pretty funny story as he reattached the breast collar D ring, put a new stirrup leather on and replace the fleece and he wanted to charge me $75, which was like 1940's prices. I gave him $250 and we ended up bringing him a load of wood for his wood stove in his shop as we discovered that his wife had long past kicked his out of the house and he was living in his shop of all things. br>

>br>
The saddle on Curly Zeke that Jerry wanted to know about was made by Heritage Horseman Supply, the saddle making and tack part of Scott Grosskopf's Buckaroo Businesses in Billings, Montana. They don't know me from Adam, and likely only saw my name once - on the purchase invoice - so there is no relationship between us, I am just pleased that they offer a line of quality saddles for a very reasonable price. On the phone with them I was told their idea was to offer a good saddle that working cowboys could afford. And they achieved that. The saddle (see photo above and video below) is the Yellowstone Series Classic 15" Wade.

I like smooth, unpadded seats, but on this saddle I wanted the seat and fenders in rough out as I can use all the help I can get to stay on board if a green horse thinks he has a little bronc in him. I also wanted a Cheyenne roll on the cantle to give myself something to hold on to as well. The Wade saddle with a deep seat and big diameter, low profile horn is a good design if you are going to work, rope and dally cattle.

Anyway, here you go Jerry and any others interested - This is the link to Heritage Horseman Supply.

Third Ride Outside the Pen on Curly Zeke

I really, really like a horse that I can smoothly open and close gates on. In fact, it's manditory, although when I ride a green horse out of the round end for the first few times, I'll usually ride the horse out through and back into an already open gate. I'll open the gate and push it open then ride through. If you are some people who have had their knees or legs banged up against the gate posts going through or coming out, you know what I am talking about. Going through an open gate a few times gives me a pretty good idea if I can keep him in the middle.

I have had some video camera malfunctions on the first couple rides. Okay, not really malfunctions, but I either didn't orient the camera properly or have a charged battery in place. So the video below is Zeke's third ride outside the round pen. He still is bracing on left and right lateral flexion, more so on the left, so we're working through that. At the walk, I concentrate on giving him a fairly loose reins when he is straight, even for a moment, all rein and leg pressure are non-existent and eventually he will understand that and seek that feeling. When I ask Zeke for a transition into the trot, I don't force him to keep the trot. If he needs to go back to the walk that's fine. Soon he'll keep the trot. You can get into trouble asking the horse for something he's not mentally prepared for and if you let him take his time to be comfortable, it'll be no time at all until he is.

The same is true, I believe, about a horse speeding up. We have a tendency to rate them down, but it's confusing to a green horse, and unless he's a run away horse, the horse will soon rate himself back down. We can direct them, but pulling on both reins is confinement and invites a troubled horse. I only have a little over five acres to ride on without getting on the county road to get to the open desert but I have all sorts of new things for a green horse to explore, so that's what we are concentrating on in the short term.

The first video below is an initial ride out of the round pen and spending a short amount of time doing some 180 degrees turns at a walk. This builds confidence in each other outside the round pen where he horse not may be as comfortable. I'll try to go back forth the round pen gate a couple times. I didn't expect to have issues with Zeke, and nothing came up. So the next time, or even the time after, I can work on opening and closing the gate on horseback. To have a good chance of doing so without any troubles, I'll rely on the work we have did on bringing his front end over, controlling the front end independently of his hind end, and his hind end over, indepndant of his front feet, so I can position the horse up on the gate without having to lean too much to access the gate latch. Side passing over to the gate will come later.

In the second video (below), I'm asking him for a trot so the asks for lateral felxion and a change in direction come a bit quicker. I have to be cognizant of his compromised hing end (missing lateral patella ligaments) and am trying to ask for wider turns so it's easier to keep his momentum up. That'll soon lead to asking him to step undernath himself with the inside back foot, building him up to turing like a cow horse.

Continuing the Starting of Zeke

I am continuing starting Curly Zeke which I began as a long 3 year old, after the diagnosis of this gelding missing his lateral patella ligaments on both back legs. So the plan is to work him on the ground to build up his endurance and muscularity and minimize or at least carefully watch how much time I spend on his back as to reduce the burden on him. I give him one to two days off between sessions to let him rest and any residual inflammation from his patella joint injections and Adequan IM injections, I am reminded every time I work him that it's a shame that such a good minded horse, with otherwise great conformation, had the bad luck to born without these ligaments.

In exposing a horse to new things it is easy to overload the horse and when the fear and flight instinct dominate it is practically impossible to change his thought or reaction process until he can come down from the height of his fear. Generally, when beginning to expose the horse to a scary object, his body language lets us know that the horse is beginning to exhibit concern or even fear, and, it lets us know when to stop, retreat if necessary, then proceed (sometimes by inches). Such body language is stopping forward momentum; tension in the horse's body and even weight leaning backwards about like he's going to do a turn on the rear end; head comes up to elevate line of sight and see directly of the center of the eye; ears turned and pointed forward; and, the horse quickly and nervously looking left and right and to his rear. These are major things the rider or handler on the ground can observe.

So the reason we expose horse's to things that are bothersome or fearful to them is to try and exercise the thinking side of their brain as opposed to the reactive side. Horses are doing to be different and the level on what scares them. Working in our favor is the horse's natural sense of curiosity. One of Zeke's really good points is his curiosity and acceptance of new things. In between short session of lunging or riding him I have been experimenting on what he accepts and just how fast he does it. The ever present West Texas wind was blowing a meal bucket against a tie rail making a lot of racket when I had him tied to the trailer using a Functional Tie Ring. Zeke would glance between himself from time to time, so I untied him and led him to the offending bucket. And even though the noise and movement of the bucket was pretty loud, he walked right over and punched it with his nose. We just stayed there for maybe 30 seconds until he was distracted at something else, then we went back to what we were doing.

During breaks in the working sessions, I have sacked him out with a crinkly bag, pulled a cans of tin cans and with minimal ground work with ropes all over his body and legs, I have thrown loops off of him. The videos below of exposing him to the crinkly bag and pulling the sack of cans were the first time each that he had been exposed to that stimulus. In the video throwing a loop off him, that was the second time I had done so.

Equine Dental Exams and Floats

I have written before on the importance of getting horses' teeth checked regularly. All my horses over the 26+ years have had dental exams and some level of teeth floating - which is basically correcting the uneven surfaces of the teeth.

As a horse chews forage or other feed in like a circular motion with their upper and lower jaw, uneven surfaces of the teeth can and usually result. This creates sharp points or waves that starts to decrease their ability to chew feed properly, and uncorrected can cause the teeth to cut the inside of the mouth causing pain, and can show up in many other ways such as resistance to biting, riding or turning/rotating their head. You may see partially chewed feed dropping from their mouths or laying on the ground or in the bottom of their feeder. Bad teeth can also cause partially chewed feed to be swallowed increases chances of a intestinal blockage (colic).

The actually floating of the horse's teeth involves using a speculum to open the horse's mouth then a hand rasp or a power rasp is used to draw across the surface of the teeth to correct the issues. It takes training and skill to know what you are seeing in the exam and to use the tools to correct the teeth. It may be hard to find an equine dentist, but if you can find a good one, it's worth the relatively small cost for a dental exam and floating. I have seen non-sedation floating, where the equine dentist works on the horse's mouth without the benefit of the horse being sedated and did not like what I saw. I have viewed videos of what was claimed to be non-sedation floating as well with better results, but it hard to trust videos, and I just can't imagine a horse getting their teeth floated without sedation. While some states do not allow equine dentists that are not Veterinarians to sedate horses, I think it's more common than not for some equine dentists to access sedation drugs and use them. I prefer a Veterinarian to sedate my horses and float their teeth, or to sedate and monitor the horse for a non-Vet equine dentist.

For twenty years or so, I have had my Veterinarian to do the floats, but this year she has partnered with her daughter who is a equine dentist and body work specialist. These are two of the most awesome people anyone could every meet. As a bonus Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF), also known as Magnawave therapy, was performed on my 4 year old with the missing lateral patella ligaments.

Pulsed Electromagnetic Field therapy or PEMF, if I am not mistaken, was pioneered by NASA, and uses electromagnetic fields applied through tubes, paddles or mats to increased circulation, decrease inflammation and pain, and enhance cellular repair. I've actually had it done on myself and know it to be effective. It's not a cure, but a therapy. The picture above is Magnawave being applied across the withers and shoulder of my 4 year old, but he also had the Magnawave therapy on his stifle and upper hind legs as well, where he has inflammation in the patella joint due to the missing lateral patella ligaments bilaterally. Horses stand well for this treatment and in the past I have had horse's drop their heads, drool and seem to fall asleep, so I'm pretty sure this therapy works.

      This is the Equine Dentist and Body Care Specialist, She works out         of the greater Phoenix area but does travel like she did coming to El         Paso to service 7 or 8 days worth of clients. If you are going to                 contact her, I suggest text messages.

       Casey Orduno
       915-543-1455
       KC Equine Dentistry and Body Care, LLC

Cowboy Knives - Custom v Production

These days you can't hardly find anyone not carrying a knife, usually a folding knife with the ever recognized clip showing outside a pocket on their wranglers. Folders are very utilitarian excepting that maybe they are hard to open one handed by some people, especially when wearing gloves. Folders are safe too, providing you have a manual opening or spring assist mechanisms. The auto opening folders, using a push button to fully extend and lock the blade raise the potential of accidentally opening and cutting yourself, in my opinion, which comes from experience as I had one 25 years ago and spent hours at Urgent Care waiting to get my thumb sutured up. But then again, most people aren't as accident prone as me. In fact, sometimes I wonder why God hasn't just let me die yet for my ignorance.

Back to knives.....I have been carrying small fixed blade knives for practically all my life. I had a local custom knife maker build a couple of small fixed blades to my specifications. But Joe passed many years ago, however not before I sent several guys his way who rode with me and admired by knifes he made for them.

Between Joe passing and a couple years ago I had no option but to direct people to a couple custom knife makers, but many balk at $200 + price tags. Then I discovered a knife maker who makes several knives I found suitable for a cowboying knife. By suitable I mean a blade length of 2 7/8 to 3 1/2 inches (4 inches wouldn't be too long either), full tang and decent thickness for durability under rough use, and, forged from a steel that will hold an edge. These are the knives I offer on my site. Seven inch total length with a 3 1/2 inch blade, 1/8 inch thick for toughness, Damascus steel forged from 5160 and 4340 steel, finger groove for retainability when hands are slick or when wearing gloves, full tang blade with either cow bone or stabilized rosewood handle secured with five pins, and a lanyard hole where I rattlesnake braid a strip of leather to aid in drawing.

These knives are very reasonably priced at $60 and can be offered at that low priced because they are made from Damascus blanks and cut on CNC machinery, so they are not custom knifes, except maybe for the fit and finish, but they sure look it and perform as well as any knife I have owned.

I recently did a search of custom makers on the internet, which prompted Google to think that's all I wanted to see and be reminded of in the weeks since, but showed me many production knife makers offering alike knives at prices exceeding $250. However, there are other options that offer good value and a good knife. Cow Camp Supply has very reasonably priced quality knifes, fixed blade and folding, suitable for carrying horseback. One the knives that Sparky Wallace, the owner of Cow Camp, offers is a very popular palm knife. On the higher priced side there is the Montana Knife Company who offer very stunning small fixed blade knives suitable as well for the working cowboy, hunter or anyone else who finds a small fixed blade knife a tool they can't do without. A nice fixed blade knife is certainly a great tool to have on hand, as well as being a very nice gift to pass onto someone.

Curly Zeke, Part II Questions on Lateral Flexion

Just a couple days after I published the article on working on lateral flexion on starting Curly Zeke, my coming 4 year old QH gelding, I received a call from Laura who asked me some great questions concerning Zeke and my improvement/non-improvement and issues with him understanding a soft ask for lateral flexion. These question made me think on how I was approaching the whole thing as I had to explain it. While I really don't care what other people think of me,......wait,.....the FBI. I do care what the FBI thinks of me. Or the IRS for that matter. Anyway, I do care what my horses think of me and if I can do something better for them, I need to find that way. Here are her questions, my thoughts and answers to her, and some self reflection on what I could have done different.

How much do you accept? Meaning when I am asking a horse, in this case Zeke, for a soft give to an ask for lateral flexion, how much bend in his head and neck, giving to the ask, do I need from him before I stop that lesson to resume another day, and how much lateral flexion do I need before I can ride him?

I should only ask what he can give at the moment. Going into working with him, I should not have precoceived ideas on how much I watn that day from him. But I'm guilty on not following that. I went back to just asking for a few degrees or inches of flexion, then buildig on that, slowly. Its actually a faster way, but more importantly its more accepting to the horse. WHat also is so important, is the pause givbene between asks. Again guilty of getting in a hurry, so I have to cognizantly recognize that trait in myself.

Laura said she understood the idea of letting the horse find the release when giving to the rider asking for lateral flexion, meaning waiting on the horse to give and find the release, but is there a point when you demand a give such as with bumping?

Demand is a big word. Not really a good word or thought to use with horses. Maybe insisting on a try, but even the thought to try is sufficient. I think poor or fristrated horsemen have an instinct to pull hard. Evne worsea a jerk. While bumping has it's place it's best used sparlingly and differenty on horse to horse. When Zeke braces for an ask for lateral flexion to the left, he like other horses has a tendancy to fade to the right. Sometimes I'll switch to an ask for right flexion and use my right leg to get him back on his line. Sometimes, I'll bump just a bit on that left rein and sometimes I change the angle of the rein slighlty higher as to lift his shoulder and ask for the left leg to step out and forward and use my right leg to reinforce the ask for flexion. You'll just have to experiment with your horse, and even on another horse, do something different. Helping the horse untrack in his hind end as shown in the video below is good for both getting a horse to follow a feel for lateral flexion and to help him untrack his hand end.

Curly Zeke Part II, Getting Lateral Flexion

Continuing with starting Curly Zeke, I have been working on him understanding and following the feel on the lead rope or reins when I ask for lateral flexion. He definitely has a weak side giving to the left with a brace, and on both sides he is tipping his nose and keeping his head low so his ears are not level. Obviously we would all like and need lateral bend of the head and neck in a horse where he keeps his ears mostly level, especially during forward momentum if we want a balanced horse.

I'll work him in halter and lead asking for lateral flexion but not more than he is ready to give. I think there is a tendency to get a horse bending his head and neck round way past 90 degrees, in effect touching his nose to his shoulder or to the stirrup, and that is more lateral flexion than I need or can use. I may change my opinion on that down the road as the horse gets more handy and soft. One of my other horses, a 13 years old gelding, is very responsive and soft when I ask and always gives me more than 90 degrees. I do not intentionally ask him for that much flexion, he just gives it to me. But again, 90 degrees is more than I need to turn or position up a horse, especially starting to ride a green horse.

The videos below of working Curly Zeke in a round pen asking for lateral flexion for circles and 180 degree turns at the walk and trot are pretty much what I have to have going on with him before the first ride out of the round pen, as well as being able to untrack his back end. So the same with any horse, being able to direct him or turn him and untrack his hand end. The four videos go from on the ground with Zeke in a snaffle bit, from the saddle, then at a walk and trot.

I try not to just drill, drill, drill on lateral flexion. I'm hoping the videos and description of starting Zeke will give people a basis for comparison so if there is any frustration people can see the issues and progression of Zeke and we begin to work through them. While I'm putting a ride on Zeke, first in the round pen, then later outside, I'll also work on the beginnings of good stop, backing up (but just a couple steps), and, bringing a front foot out to the side as in the beginnings of a turn on the hind end. And lastly before I've done really any of the above, I've got Zeke responsive and soft at untracking his back end while I'm in the saddle. He's doing very well with moving his back end that we could move to asking for the untracking and expecting him to pivoting with a front foot instead of taking a step or two forward.

Curly Zeke_Part I

In May 2024 I picked up a well bred 2 year old Sorrel Quarter Horse Gelding. This is his story, so far. At the annual sale, which was a University Horse Program sale, I watched several two year olds being jipped round a round pen while the announcer detailed the colts' lineage and such. After doing a hands on inspection of these 2 year old's after they were brought out of the round pen and tied up for a bit, I decided that I wasn't going to bid on any that I had seen. Nice well bred horses but they were from lineages that cultivated petite heads, small bone structure (even for 2 year olds) and small feet. On my way out, I saw this sorrel gelding in a pen and wondered why I did not see him earlier but realized that I had got to the sale just a bit late so thought he must have been introduced earlier. I asked the attending horse program student what he could tell me about the horse and all he could say was that the horse was a biter. I replied that most colts are mouthy and that didn't concern me. Anyway, I checked the colt out, smallish but big boned and good sized feet, and despite not seeing him move around, when I got home, I made a bid online and won him. Picked him up a few days later and brought him home.

My intention was to do ground work on him and get him gentled to a saddle for a couple short rides, then at three years old put some more understanding on him and at four years old add onto to his work load and riding time. However, that saying "the best laid plans,......." struck again. Last year I noticed that the horse, who I named Curly Zeke for his flowing wild mane and forelock, would often drag a back leg until it was nearly straight then jerk it back up. It looked like what is commonly called 'fixating patella'. I turned him out often so he could move in a bigger area and intended to get images on him to see what was going on.

In January I took him to a Vet, experienced with injuries associated with racehorses and overworked futurity prospects, and Zeke was diagnosed with missing Lateral Patella Ligaments, bi-laterally with inflammation of the patella joint. Those ligament were not blown or torn. He was missing that ligament (on both sides) that was apparently a birth defect. The only good news is that the Vet said that of the patella ligaments, this one was the least consequential for the 'stay' mechanism which allows the horse to lock his legs and sleep standing up. So after injections into the joint, the plan became to put Zeke on weekly Adequan injections, for 7 weeks, to help maintain joint health and build cartilage, and to gradually build him up. However he would never be a horse that could be used on 12 hour gathers riding big circles in a big pasture - the patella joints would just become too fatigued. And after six months, take him back for more imaging. He is, like all my horses, on Platinum Performance CJ supplement.

So Zeke's condition does not make him any else valuable to me. I'm going treat him now as I start him as I would any four year old but with considerations of his hind end which will limit his endurance, and I'll always be looking for signs of discomfort so I can ensure he has as pain free life as I can provide. Starting him as already taught me or re-taught me lessons, and that's the whole point in the horsemanship journey, to never stop learning. Unfortunately, I don't have enough years left to learn to become adequate but I'm still going to try.

What I did with him before sending him around wearing a saddle, and before the first ride, was pretty much standard: I began getting the horse soft in the face and head. Willingly breaking at poll, lowering head, nose vertical to ground, poll on or about in line with the withers. This gets the horse ready for haltering and later bridling, Giving to pressure on the head helping relax the horse, gentles the horse about having ears handled, when you ask the horse to drop his head from your hand pressure on his poll.

Getting a halter on the horse, have the horse get soft and drop his head, use voice commands and pressure on poll to do so.

Broke to Lead; following a soft feel. Becoming increasingly soft and responding to the change in feel of the lead rope (pressure and angle) to move his feet, or to not move his feet. Horse should stand and stay in front of you on a loose lead, until you pickup the lead (pulling the slack out of it) which changes the feel and the horses moves towards you. Being able to back on a wiggle of the lead rope. This understanding also allows you to stop him coming forward. Start him understanding the feel of the lead rope when asking him to step obliquely with a front foot.

Standing near the shoulder or just in back of it, being able to tip his head slightly and ask his hind end to untrack away from you. Before get on him for the first time, I also get him decent as giving me lateral flexion with his head and neck.

Being able to send the horse past you with the lead rope. This should rapidly progress to asking and the horse responding to moving on a loose lead. In the beginning it will likely be necessary to use the poppers of the lead or a flag to get forward movement. I just do so with the least amount of pressure as necessary. This progresses quickly to asking the horse to untrack his hind end away from you, so he ends up facing you. Pretty soon, you ask him to untrack then bring the front over the other way to go the opposite direction.

I'll get the horse ready for a snaffle bit, but putting a thumb or a finger in the corners of his mouth to get him used to opening his mouth. Start with like a half second then build up gradually to keeping your thumb/finger there for maybe 5 seconds. I do the same with the end portion of a lead rope so he can feel something across his tounge.

I'll get the horse sacked out with a flag.

Desensitize the horse's barrel, flank, legs with a rope. I start with the lead rope, then move to a lariat. I make sure he is good at having a rope under his tail which will freak out some horses. I'll work on getting the horse use to the lead rope and later a lariat spinning around him and going up over his head.

I'll get the horse good at sending like I described above then into a trot. Allowing the horse to find the end of the lead rope bumping his nose and he'll learn or find a comfortable spot keeping his head straight or at least not positioned to the outside.

I work at getting the horse comfortable about positioning up to the fence as later I'll mount him from the fence or another platform.

I get a saddle on a horse as soon as possible to get him used to the weight and the sounds associated with the saddle. I begin to saddle with the lead rope in the crook of my arm and as the horse lets me know he's good at that, I'll use a tie ring.

So I do all this before I throw a leg over. I plan on doing a couple more articles and videos on Zeke as he progresses.

Blindfolding your Horse

Many years ago I wrote about blindfold training and what prompted me to do so was two incidents (each time a different horse) where I was stuck in a hail storm without any cover and I took off my long sleeve Wrangler shirt off to drap over my horses' heads, with my forearm on their brow and nose in a kind of tenting the shirt fashion, to reduce the impact of the hail hitting them. Another reason to get your horses used to blindfolds is in case you have to lead them through smoke and fire as in evacuation from a wildlands fire.

And yet one more reason to blindfold train your horse is to just add to all the gentling you done on them and add another drop of sand in the trust bucket the horse has for you. For this reason, I drapped a bandana over one of my horse's heads, covering his eyes, and led him around on the ground with the lead end of my mecate reins. It was pretty anti-climatic. The first time, both horses I did this on the other day, was not a big deal. One horse is coming 12 or 13 years that I had been riding for 2 years and the other a green horse coming 4 that I have had about 6 or 8 rides on. Both initially hesitated for a second or two as I asked them to follow a soft feel, but led out quiet and following the direction of the lead. Because it's windy almost year round here in West Texas, I didn't want the bandana blowing off so I tucked the middle or short triangle end under the browband headstall then each of the long tails underneath the headstall check pieces.

And I didn't just wrap the bandana over their eyes and get to leading. I started with covering one eye then the other, then both while standing quiet. Then I started over again and asked for the horse to keep the bandana covering both eyes for a longer period, maybe 15 seconds. Since both were good and conformable with that, I covered one eye and asked for a step forward, and repeated on the other eye. Then both eyes. But the idea is to take the bandana away, in a slow, quiet way, before the horse gets anxious. Petting on them on their neck while the bandana is covering an eye or both is a good idea as well.

When asking the horse to follow a guiding or directional feel of the lead rope, give the horse more time to react to that signal as they no longer can see or read your body language. Ask for one step or even a leaning forward, stop, then ask again building on each progress. Sometimes even on a horse that is not blindfolded, the horse may not react to the soft guiding feel of the lead rope, even if they have been routinely leading and following the lead. It may help to change the angle of the ask of the lead rope, stepping out to the horse's frontal oblique before quietly drawing the lead rope up.

Finally, horses are going to be much better about things moving around and over their heads if you get them used to this early on, such as flipping the lead rope over their heads until there is no response, brushing the sweaty, matted hair behind their ears after a ride, sitting in the saddle and rubbing on their neck and checks with the coils of your lariat, and things like that. I think that all makes better, more accepting horse and safer too.

Does Performance Dictate Training, and Training Dictate Performance?

I was thinking about this subject the other day when I was remembering trail rides I would go with my late wife, and thats been awhile since she was unable to ride for the last few years of her life. But, God Bless her and her thoughts for the horse, she would kind of nag on me for working on things with my horse rather than what she termed as just enjoying a trail ride. So I would go back and forth on the question of 'when is riding just riding, and not training'?

It's been said by many much more learned people than I, that giving your horse a job where he can focus on performing what he needs to do, to assist the rider in getting that job done, is a strategy on making a better horse. When people hear that, like I do, we all nod our heads...that makes sense. But invariably, the thought comes up on what is the difference between teaching a horse or giving him an understanding on something like doing a turn on the hocks or crossing a bridge, and an actual job like moving cows or checking fence?

One of those differences may be the level on which the rider holds himself/herself and the horse responsible for how they do something, as opposed to the focus on just completion of the task. If we are trotting miles to get to a pasture gate, we would very likely be much more forgiving to the horse on their straightness then we would if in an arena trying to achieve straightness. I am not advocating riding with acceptance of poor performance, nor am I suggesting that we have to correct small imperfect movements in the horse, but it does seem to me that 'training' and performance (doing a job) are sometimes, maybe a lot of times, different.

If you are at a competitive event, which is performance, at some point that ends and what you are left with is your memory on what you need to work on. Same thing with doing more traditional work, like gathering or sorting cows, you would finish that and look back on how and what you need to do to improve.

Decades ago, when I discovered that there was more to riding horses than pulling on the reins and kicking them in the belly, everything was learning what my holes were in what I could do horseback. Sometimes giant holes, and today if seems like I haven't filled too many of holes up sufficiently. But those difficulties shaped what I would work on.

When I was an Army Range Rider, my horseback patrols would highlight many things that I would work on when riding for myself off duty. It was just necessity as I did not want to find myself without skills or tools to handle the difficulties I had just experienced. Riding on a narrow trail with a steep drop off into an arroyo (a dry river bed) and uphill on the other side with thick Cholla and Prickly Pear cactus, I learned that my horse and I needed to be able to back uphill a bit, walk forward in a very small circle and/or do short, sharp serpentines in order to get turned around when that trail ended. And through necessity a horse just can't back up hill without being soft in the poll, head down and vertical so his weight is balanced and he doesn't drag his front end and fall with the back. A horse can't do small circles with balance unless he is soft and giving to lateral flexion and the rider has to b able to control his feet with the reins and use his legs to bend the horse and get the hind end to untrack. I'm here to tell you that the first time I looked at a 20 foot drop off and did not have those tools sufficiently to be pretty sure that we could get out of such a predicament, I worked on that until my horse and I were sure.

Another time, I was checking wind mill fed stock tanks in grazing units when I saw a dead cow blocking the sluice from the wind mill tank to the dirt tank. To make a long story short, there was no way because of the uneven and steep terrain that I could throw a rope on the dead cow and pull her out of the sluice so I had to dismount, put a loop around the dead cow's hind end, loop the running end of my rope around the saddle horn and ask my horse get his dead cow pulled out by getting my horse to back up with me helping to pull on the end of the rope around the dead cow's hind end. While I had pulled logs on horseback on this horse I wasn't sure we would be able to do it from me on the ground, but eventually did, so what did you think I did at home? I practiced getting my horse to back on a feel on the lead rope from me in front of him and then pulling short logs then railroad ties in the same fashion. Funny thing is that have never had to have a horse pull or drag something with me on the ground since.

More thoughts on pre-ride ground warmup

I have written before about owing it the horse to get him warmed up in both his body and mind before throwing a leg over and heading out. I recently listened to a podcast where the speaker talked about working on a crew at a large outfit where most of the cowboys after saddling their horses would spend the available minutes, before trotting out behind the boss, talking and telling stories rather than warming their horse up then wondered why some of them would be bucked off.

It's also pretty much common knowledge that lunging, or other ground work warming up, won't necessarily get the buck out of a horse by itself, but certainly a quality warmup allowing the horse to operate off a soft lead rope or rein can get him to looking to the handler, getting his mind on following direction, and getting blood flowing to his major muscle groups. It also allows the handler to discern any stickiness in the horse's gait which could indicate lameness. I have never had a problem having to wait on people to saddle up whether they were taking their sweet time grooming, tacking up, warming up,.....whatever. And I can't remember anytime when I hurried saddling a horse when I thought people were waiting on me. Didn't bother me much as I was there for my horse and not to satisfy people I was riding with or people in a clinic. Of course, that wouldn't be proper nor tolerated working for a cowboying outfit as you need to be ready to ride before the Boss is, but being ready to ride before the last man would get you a few minutes to get that horse warmed up and to his mind ass well.

Sometimes, when I pull a horse from his pen, the 2-3 minute walk to the tie rail can become a ten minute walk as I check him out enroute.....positioning up correctly when leading, stopping, backing, coming forward one foot at a time as I ask, swinging a front leg out, untracking his back end, etc.. So if he is not accurate on leading up, we'll correct that. All this reinforces the horse listening to your direction on the end of a lead rope. So if it's necessary to lead a horse, it's worth doing it with quality.

After saddling, and before I throw a leg over, I'll back the horse up using the as soft a feel as I can get by with and ask him to stand quiet, reinforcing ground tying, then ask for him to come forward sometimes using the lead rope of my mecate and sometimes using a hand signal. I'll ask for a front leg to step out laterally and sometimes ask for the hind end to untrack away from me. Again, getting the horse to look to you for direction.

Lastly, I'll direct the horse in a circle, first at a walk then a trot, getting the proper bend for that size of a circle and doing so on a loose lead, then untrack his hind feet with the hind foot nearest me stepping underneath his body and in front of his outside hind foot, then bringing his front end over and heading in the opposite direction.

So I do all this, usually spending 5-10 minutes at maximum, because I think I owe it to the horse to get a it warmed up and prepared for the ride.

The Cowboy and Western Art of Susan K. Guile

I wanted to do something so people other than locals could see the Cowboy and Western artwork of my late wife, Susan K. Guile. Susan, 5 March 1961 – 21 October 2024, was a native Texan growing up in Wichita Falls, Abilene and Del Rio, Texas, and other states as well, in a military family where she developed a love of animals, especially horses. She graduated from Shippensburg State University in Pennslvania with a Bachelors Degree in Fine Art. While in Texas, she rode with the Escaramuzas (female Charros) in South Texas, rodeoed in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Alabama, and rode Classical Dressage in Germany with one of the last Prussian Dressage Masters.

She also worked for several years as a wrangler and trail guide at a ranch in Southern California. Settling in El Paso, Texas in 1999, Susan taught horsemanship for over 20 years instilling a love and respect for horses for many adults and children. She used her love of horses and the western lifestyle to paint realistic oil on canvas scenes of horses and cowboys and other iconic western scenes for which she was well known for in the El Paso Art Community. She would only paint from photographs she owned, aside from the occasional commission piece, so man of her painting were of her husband (me) which is unfortunate as she could have had better subjects. These are some of her works below:

This piece (above) is titled "Jubal" of me and a Mustang gelding who proved to be a difficult horse, even dangerous at times, but taught me so much. Took me awhile to make friends with him, but I actually used him to teach a couple clinics off of. The original painting was 30x36 inches oil on canvas.

I'm old, with many wrinkles, but Susan used to accuse me of telling fibs when the corners of my eyes would crinkle up. She called this my tell. So the title of the painting is "The Tell". I have to admit I cannot keep myself from making up ridiculous stories and get gullible people to believe me. She painted this painting of me. The original was 22x26 inches oil on canvas.

This piece (above) is called "The Last of the Range Riders" when I was a Conversation Law Enforcement Officer, colloquial called an Army Range Rider and riding a young horse (Chance) breaking him into duty. The location was the Otero Mesa in New Mexico on Bureau of and Management grazing units where we had enforcement jurisdiction. The original painting was 30x54 inches oil on canvas.

Susan also painted from time to time in water colors, and this work (above), which she called "Best Friends", is me introducing Jubal the Mustang to my best friend Petey, a Gordon Setter. The original painting was 18x24 inches oil on canvas.

Susan took a photo, hard to do at night, of me drinking coffee by the fire pit, and turned it into this painting she titled "Campfire Contemplations" above. The original painting was 22x28 inches oil on canvas.

Althoughg she painted many others, old barns, homesteads, longhorns and horse, the last ne which I'll share here is titled "Welcome Breeze". From a photograph taken in the hot desert summer, you can tell there is a light breeze blowing my wild rag and the horse, Junior's, tail and mane. The Franklin Mountains Noorth of El Paso, Texas are in the background.

One of Susan's last was to get her artwork available for her family and friends to get prints and what not. I finally got that done, putting her work on Fine Art America where the images can be made into prints and posters, note cards, t-shirts and even coffee mugs. I already warned her family they better not get a coffee cup with my likeness on it only to drink weak ass coffee from it. Anyway, I hope more than a few people can enjoy her efforts. She was as good as a woman, wife and rider as she was an artist.

Merry Christmas 2025

Advice on Growing Old

An old cowboying partner of mine, we are both in the last half of our sixties, sent this to me. He copied it from a post on Facebook. Much of it I slowly realized over the past few years which illustrates that if you are able to learn, sometimes that wisdom comes with age....if you allow it. So, the following advice resonated with me with the only things really missing are to thank the Father daily for our blessings and help those less fortunate than yourself if you can. Merry Christmas Everyone!




When I turned 67, I sat in my favorite chair, looked back at my life, and whispered to myself, “So… this is the beginning of the final stretch.” And slowly, the truths I had avoided all my life began to surface. Kids? They’re busy writing their own story. Health? Slips away faster than sand through open fingers. The government? Just headlines, promises, and numbers that never change your daily reality. Aging doesn’t hurt your body first — it hurts your illusions. So I sat down with myself and carved out a handful of bitter but necessary truths.

Kids don’t save you from loneliness
Children grow, life pulls them in every direction, and you become a memory they visit when time allows.
You smile… and yet something inside you remains strangely hollow.
Kids bring joy — but they are not a shield against loneliness.

Health is not forever
One day, the outings you once jumped into with enthusiasm feel like a marathon.
You realize health was never a background character — it was the main pillar holding your life steady.

Retirement and money
Retirement is not a reward — it’s a reality check.
Depending on the system is like standing on thin ice.
Bills grow, needs grow, prices grow… but support doesn't.

So I rebuilt my life on new rules — honest, sharp, practical rules for living with dignity.

Rule 1: Money is more reliable than anything else.
Love your kids, cherish them — but don’t make them your retirement plan.
Save for yourself.
Even small savings create big freedom.
Financial independence is dignity.

Rule 2: Your health is your real job
Nothing else matters if your body refuses to cooperate.
Move. Walk. Stretch.
Guard your sleep like treasure.
Eat cleaner. Reduce the poison disguised as sugar and salt.
Illness doesn’t discriminate, but it respects those who take responsibility for themselves.

Rule 3: Create your own joy
Waiting for others to make you happy is the fastest way to heartbreak.
So you learn to enjoy the small things — a peaceful breakfast, a good book, music that warms the soul.
When you know how to make yourself happy, loneliness loses its power.

Rule 4: Aging is not an excuse to become helpless
Some people turn aging into a performance of complaints. And slowly, even those who love them start stepping away.
Strength is attractive. Resilience is magnetic.
People respect the ones who stay capable, not the ones who surrender.

Rule 5: Let go of the past
The good old days were beautiful — yes. But they’re gone, and there is no return ticket.
Clinging to the past steals the present. Life today may look different, but it still holds moments worth living.

Rule 6: Protect your peace like it’s your property
Not every argument needs your voice.
Not every insult needs your response.
Not every relative deserves access to your emotions.
Peace is expensive.
Protect it from drama, negativity, and draining people — even if they're your close ones.

Rule 7: Keep learning something — anything
The day you stop learning is the day you start aging.
A new recipe, a new word, a new app, a new hobby — your brain needs movement just like your body does.
Learning keeps you young. Stagnation makes you old.

Strength and freedom still belong to you.
Aging is an exam no one can take for you.
You can adapt, rebuild, and rise stronger…....or sit back, complain, and wait for someone to rescue you.
And if no one comes to rescue you .......
Stand up for yourself because you still can
. And that single truth is enough to transform the rest of your life.

~ Unknown author

Standlee Forage Podcasts - Continue the Learning

I've been a fan of Standlee Forage, headquartered in Eden Idaho, for years now. Finding their products a very high quality, I use a wide range of them. I've also just become a recent fan of several different podcasts, listening to them as I go about my daily chores or projects. So I was happy to learn, although months behind every one else, that Standlee hosts podcasts on Horse Nutrition. Here is the company announcement on their podcasts called "Beyond the Barn". Hosted by equine nutritionist, Dr. Tania Cubitt, and marketing consultant and livestock owner, Katy Starr, episodes will feature breaking down misconceptions and offering tips for feeding and caring for horses, other livestock and small animals, as well as interviews with other qualified experts and individuals in the agricultural industry and Standlee Premium Western Forage.

New episodes are released bi-weekly on Tuesdays, and are available on Apple and Spotify platforms. Not being a very technical proficient person, I look the podcasts up on the Standlee Forage Podcasts Episodes page through my lap top and send those links via e-mail so I can go to them on my phone and I use handsfree bone microphone over the ear headphones. If any of you are laughing at my lack of technical expertise, well I also admit that I have a rotary dial phone.

Here is a sample of some of the Standlee podcasts and their direct links:

Ep. 024, Why Horses Need to Be Fed Differently During Winter, 50 minutes

Ep 065, What Can Happen If Horses Don’t Drink Enough Water, 38 minutes

Ep 087, Is your horse deficient? The critical role of Vitamin A and E in their diet. 29 minutes

Ep 069, The consequence of ignoring vitamins and minerals for horses. 1 hour 6 minutes

Ep 081, What type of salt does my horse need? 37 minutes

Ep 105, Five Nutrition Mistakes Horse Owners Make in Winter. 18 minutes

You can still go to the Standlee Forage website and read their feed and livestock care articles too.

Question on Lateral Flexion and Reset

Cathy sent in a question on lateral flexion. "Hello, I wonder if you could write about some tips for lateral flexion issues in my 4 year old Morgan gelding. The woman who I bought him from tried to start him several times, but had to quit each time due to reoccurring health issues. So I am restarting him from scratch. He is saddle broke so I can ride him around in a arena without any trouble except he is not very responsive when I ask for lateral flexion. After working on this, several days a week over the last 2 months, he still is (most of the time) stiff when I pull on a direct rein to get his head to one side or the other. I understand and use the pressure release concept but as I reach a point where he is stiff I don't feel like I can release because he is not giving. And then very oddly enough, once in a while, or actually more often than not, he will keep his head turned when I release the direct rein and I want to go to the other side. Trying to pull him in the other direction is difficult and I usually have to wait until he brings his head back straight to try again which seems to take a while. Is there anything you can say or suggest that may help?"

I might try starting back on the ground in a halter again as it may help to remove any distractors to your gelding such as you in the saddle. Standing to one side, by the front cinch, or his shoulder if he is not saddled, and try not to ask for a lot at once, but pick up the lead rope, take up the slack and hold just to get a inch or two of lateral flexion. Be aware of your timing. Just as soon as he begins to give lateral flexion, maybe not even giving you anything but just before he does, give him a release. Pet on him, wait 6 or 8 seconds and begin again. This seems like it will take forever, but it will get you to where you want to be faster with the horse understanding how to get the release. You build on how much he gives you.

I think everyone has had these lateral flexion issues. I know I certainly have. Sometimes I have went to bumping a little on the reins for lateral flexion. And bumping is really not the best description, more like a small shake to bring his mind back to the taunt rein asking for that lateral give. If I would get it (the horse giving me lateral flexion) but it wasn't soft, meaning when he does give but remains tense, I would hold and await on him following what I wrote above and it payed off.

What you are describing when your gelding does give you lateral flexion, but still has the brace in there, is like a grudging concession rather than a willing give, if that makes sense. And what you describe being on your horse, once giving to an ask for lateral flexion and him keeping his head turned (basically his nose to your stirrup) after releasing contact of the rein...I have experienced that many times as well. What I used to do is put a little bump or feel in the other rein to the side to direct him back towards the center line. Sometimes I use would put a little bump upwards in the opposite rein to do the same. Neither with good consistent results. But, what works for me these days, and is less confusing to my horses, is that when his head is off to one side and he seems content to keep it there, I'll touch him on the opposite side, usually just behind the front cinch with my spur or inside heel of my boot. And I'm talking about a touch. I am not applying pressure. This will direct his mind to the other side and he will bring his head back to the center. This same thing or concept is also useful during forward momentum when your horse bends his head to the side by moving forward to perhaps look at something. I think most of us want our horses looking where we are going and not to the side. But I am not unrelenting on this. I'll allow a horse to look briefly to one side or another, but it has to be brief and not much of a over bending of his head and neck.

The short video above is my three year old gelding Curly Zeke who is just not that interested in lateral flexion, but what is interesting is that he is good on one side, but less so on the other. I can direct, changing directons, in him moving out, on soft direct rein, its just the standing still lateral flexion asks are not where I would like him to be. In the video I ask him for lateral flexion to the left. His head stays there after the release, so I use my right spur to touch him on the right side, like described in the above paragraph. It serves to bring his mind back to the right with his head and neck moving to the center. I would suggest you play around with this, just remember it's a touch and not a lingering feel on his barrel.

Equine Nutrition and Care Education

I think most people would agree that the day a person stops learning or trying to learn is a day that should not come about. In fact, one of the many commonalities between all of the top hand clinicians around the country is that they try to get better everyday. It would be wise to take a page out of their book.

About 30 years ago I pretty much based my horse nutrition on pasture, baled dry alfalfa and grass hays and alfalfa pellets or cubes...just didn't know much else. Sure, I knew there were a bunch of processed feeds and supplements available, just never really delved into those. It wasn't until I managed a large public barn with an average of 30 people boarding up to 60 horses with as many different feed programs, did I began understand that equine nutrition was a huge hole in my knowledge. Most of the horse owners were pretty much the same, only knowing about how they fed without really any understanding on the why and what their horses needed. On a quarterly basis, I brought in subject matter experts in horse diseases and vaccinations, equine nutrition, hoof care, saddle fitting and other topics, as much for myself as for continuing education of the horse owners boarding there.

Since then I have cast about to search and understand much more in depth on horse feeds, supplements and health care. I have routinely changed my horse's nutritional program over the years as I understod more about feeds and my horse's needs. Over 20 years ago I met a Veterinarian who I admired very much for her competency and constant search for more knowledge. Because of her hectic schedule as a Vet, Mother and Horse owner she would often listen to podcasts and DVD's while driving long miles from one farm call to another.....talk about leveraging your finite time. Recently she sent me a source of equine nutrition and health care educational podcasts that she thought I may like to listen to. So lately I have been listening to these podcasts while I did normal chores.

The podcast is called Scoop and Scale hosted by Clair Thunes, PhD, and Jill Jackson whose goal is to help improve horses' care and welfare through owner knowledge. They probably know that the more a listener knows, the more they want to learn. I think readers here would benefit listening to these podcasts which cover a range of topics from: understanding metabolic issues; hoof health; reading feed labels; pre, pro and postbiotics; parasites; pasture management; and much more. They have 60 podcasts on their website list. And they are free. It makes it really easy to listen to these episodes if you have a hands free headset. Nothing say's you can't listen them to from the comfort of an easy chair either. I hope some of you will find value in this source of equine knowledge.

https://scoopandscale.com/

Getting a Green Horse backing out of a Trailer

I received a call from very nice lady named Loretta who asked about tips on getting a young horse to back out of a trailer. "Hello, I wonder if you would have some tips on how to get a horse to back out of a trailer? My 3 year old readily gets into the trailer and stands calmly but when I try to get him to back out, he won't. He just picks up his rear hooves and puts them down and I can tell he is worried."

This is what I might try and I have been doing the same on a 3 year old gelding I have. First I would ensure the horses can back up off a soft feel. He should stand still with a loose lead rope on a halter, and when you pickup the lead rope and wiggle/shake it, with as minimal energy as you can get by with, to get him to back up. What I work for is soon having him back up when I just pick the loose lead up and hold it head high. That shows he is operating on a soft feel. You don't want to have to chase him back. That's going to work against you when you are asking him to back out of a trailer when he is already fearful about stepping out into space.

Another thing I find useful is to back him along side a fence. I start first by sending him along a fence, and when he is good at that, I narrow the space between myself and the fence and send him. You only do this if you feel he is sufficiently good enough about going between you and the gate - you don't want your horse to run you over or step on your feet. Soon I'll stop them right between me and the fence, and I'll ask the horse to back a few steps. This also works as preparation to go through a gate, especially narrow gates.

Once the horse can back softly on firm ground, then you might try leading him onto a piece of plywood or some other platform that is close to the ground and when the horse does that willingly and softly, then stop him on that platform and ask him to back off it. I actually don't use plywood, but that would be a good low platform to start with. I have a bridge that I sometimes used in the Arena Challenges that I put on in the past, and the bridge is narrow enough to neceesiate having your horse backing straight so he doesn't step off the side. It's also a good exercise for you and the horse as you have to be accurate with your timing when you ask him to stop in the middle of the bridge after he steps on.

I use my shoeing stand which is on the back side of one of my hay barns and has three open sides. My 3 year old is comfortable here as he has been trimmed a half dozen times or so on the shoeing stand. I start with bringing him onto the shoeing stand from the lowest side, maybe a four inch rise from the ground. Get him settled then ask him to back off it and give him a pause. I actually let grass grow on this side, fed by the water run off when I hose down the stand. I let the horse take a few bites of grass. Then I'll move him to another side of the shoeing stand that is maybe 6-7 inches off the ground and ask him to step up.

I'll repeat getting him settled then ask him to back off the stand. I do this as many times as he needs to step confidently and without worry. Then I move to the highest side of the shoeing stand which is about ten inches off the ground and repeat the whole process. The video below is asking my three year old Curly Zeke to step off the high side of the shoeing stand.

When you get him back into the trailer, then you may try this: Bring him as far into the trailer as you can. Then ask him to back a step or two, stand for 5-10 seconds, bring him forward and repeat. As he gets more comfortable backing a few steps, you can ask for more steps, but as the trailer flooring feels much less stable than the ground or rubber mats on a concrete shoeing stand, the horse is going to be a bit less confident about backing and stepping off into space, so give him time to get comfortable.

And finally I think there is no bad stigma on turning a horse around in a trailer and leading him out,......in the beginning. Every time he is led into a trailer and is comfortable, he gains confidence, and soon the less than absolute stable trailer floor concerns him less and less. But certainly before you turn a horse around and lead him out, try bringing him into the trailer as far as you can and giving you a few steps backing. I would try all this a few days in a row and would be very surprised if he wasn't backing out of the trailer in an increasingly soft manner by then.