Trail Rides Okay, Arena Work is Not

I took a phone call from Cindy who wanted some ideas on how to approach a solution for her horse problems. She said her horse is good at trail rides, settling in calm walk along the shoulder of a county road, up on the top of a long water culvert then into a field and trees, and return to the barn. Cindy said her horse doesn't spook even when birds fly or rabbits jump out of the bushes near her. But going into the arena is a whole other world. She describes her horse as antsy, tense, and nervous saying her horse sometimes seemingly try's to anticipate what she is asking of her. She also said if she has to dismount to fix something, the horse makes it a little difficult with re-mounting by moving a step forward or a step sideways or both. This is kind of reverse from people who ask me what do about their horses okay in an arena, but on the trail they have problems.

Hey, here's an idea. To whoever is reading this, ask yourself what you would say to Cindy about fixing what she is talking about, before you read on.

I asked Cindy what she was doing in the arena and she replied different things, just training her horse....going over ground poles, backing serpentines, doubling on the fence, trotting small circles, doing figure eights with simple lead changes and such. Cindy also said that she is sure it isn't a buddy sour issue with her horse's stable mates being within sight of each other, and they are not a magnet for her horses when in the arena.

My advice to Cindy was it may be that her horse associates the arena with work,.....a lot of work, and that maybe she should try something different to see if she can get a change. I recommended that just take her horse into the arena and walk in a big lazy pattern around the arena, lazy turns to go the other direction and stop once in a while and just pet on her horse. Maybe even dismount and rub on her then stand quietly by her and see how she does. Does she take a big breath and exhale? Is she licking and chewing? How is her head set, ears and eyes? Is her body less tense? Will she soon cock a back leg and rest the toe of one foot on the ground? And that Cindy doesn't even have to re-mount at this point. If her horse seems less anxious and relaxed, then just take her out of the arena, brush her and put her away. Do this several times without "training" her in the arena and see if that brings about a change. If so, then maybe re-introduce some work in the arena, but with a lot of pauses.

I also asked Cindy to look at how she is asking her horses to do all the things she wants in the arena.  A horse being ridden always in contact with a rider asking just too much of a horse that is not quite ready to give that could be a source of anxiety in the horse.  The anticipation issue is sometimes the horse moving in anticipation and avoidance of pressure on the bit.  I think I'm guilty of that and am getting better at checking myself, slowing down and remembering slow is smooth, smooth is fast.       

As far as re-mounting, it may not be an issue after getting her to relax in the arena. We talked about making sure that she is not over bending the horse's head when she mounts, or mounts with her body aways from the horse and in effect, pulling him off balance. Those issues she was aware off and she assured me she mounts clean. So what I used to do when a horse moved when I was trying to mount, was first, do not throw a leg over if the horse is moving, and if he did I would jip the horse around with energy a few circles then stop the horse and offer it a chance to stand quietly while I try to mount again. But, for the past maybe ten years or so, I don't jip a horse around in circles if the horse was moving while I was mounting. I'll back him from the ground for or five steps, then ask it to stand quiet so I can mount and I think this works more effectively without raising the horse's anxiety level. Secondly, if I did have a leg over and the horse started forward movement, I would check it and back the horse. On a green horse it would be a pretty slow back. On a seasoned horse, I would back with a little more energy.

The Power of Petting Horses

I recently had a discussion with a lady who asked me if I thought petting and rubbing horse would create a pushy, spoiled horse. She told me people at her barn warned her about that would give her horse bad manners. Over the years I come to believe that men, for the most part, are really much more likely not to be as hands on petting and rubbing horses as women are. Men make not have that type of contact with a horse foremost in their mind, or may think that's it's not very manly or such. I don't. In fact, I get a lot of ribbing like "you sure do like petting and rubbing your horses." But as far as petting and rubbing on your horses, I believe it's much in how you do it. It's like riding with spurs. If you use spurs judiciously and softly, they can help you and the horse, but used wrong, just to gouge or punish the horse, then you and your methods are going to be detrimental. Same as petting on your horse - do it in a manner that encourages pushiness is not good and getting the horse's head where it can smack you could be dangerous.

There is a secret, really several, on petting and rubbing horses,  but it basically come down to, yes it can help calm and horse, and 2 - no amount of petting will replace getting a horse to understand what you are asking, or what most people would say, training a horse. Two weeks ago, I brought home a 2 year old gelding from a horse auction. As you can imagine, he was very nervous being trailered to a new home absent of the other 2 year old geldings who had been his paddock mates for his young lifetime. Once I got him in his new pen and before I took the halter off, I rubbed on his nose and cheeks until his demeanor changed just a bit and I got his head to soften. It was just replacing his anxiety with some comfort, just changing his perspective for a bit.  And his first inkling that I was there to take care of him and he can trust me.  

Another time I was in the arena judging an event when a man rode his horse in to make his run. This horse, being in place without the support of the other horses, became very scared and would not continue move forward. After a few minutes, which probably seemed like an hour to the rider, the rider said he was going to dismount and lead the horse out. I asked the rider to wait a minute, then I approached the horse and petted on him stroking his nose then putting a hand on his poll and hand on his nose and getting him to soften a bit. After a short time, I told the rider, when I walk away he may follow, and if so, just give him his head and let him follow me. So I walked away and that horse followed me from one obstacle to another. I think I changed his thinking from being troubled with being by himself without his buddies to liking what I had to offer him and wanting to buddy up with me. It did not change his perspective on being by himself from here on out, it just was one small step in the process of letting him accept new things.

Like the 2 year old gelding I just brought home and the horse I described above, this is one of the first things I'll do with a horse to introduce softness in their head and neck. It's hard to do when they are scared and focused on the new environment or situation, but it can help get a change in the horse. But between rubbing and petting on their nose, around the eye socket and poll, I'll stop with one hand on their nose and the other on their poll and put just a bit of pressure until they drop their head. I always have a hand in position to block and discourage movement that is pushy or could be dangerous.


In the beginning, I'm just looking for the head to come down a bit. It may come down slowly and they may be bracy at first, but in just a few times that improves much. And like I said, in between the asking for softness, I do the rubbing and petting. Again, this is where you can encourage or preempt pushiness. A horse will likely turn his head towards you and you need to be prepared to block that. You want your hands and forearms in a position where you can block that. So one or both hands and forearms are always between your face and the horse. This is especially true if your horse likes to put his lips on you, nibble or even bite you. And I told MH that while it feels good to us to pet and rub on a horse, our enjoyment can't be the primary purpose.....it has to be good for the horse and used to relax the horse and change his thinking to create a window for learning. You can feel that change when the tension or rigidness goes out of them....that's the time to get out of there, before they get bracy.

I remember a very well known and universally respected horse trainer who said never rub or pet on your horse while they are feeding. I disagreed then and now, with the caveat that it's how you go about doing it. While a green or new horse is relaxed and feeding, I'll use that time to touch and rub him to see if he has any trouble areas. Sometimes a horse will pull his head up, turn and look at me, but they rapidly go back to their feed. By the time I pull that horse to do ground work or saddle him, he has already been touched about everywhere.

The often repeated saying. “There’s something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man”, which has been attributed to various sources, including Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan, to me isn't necessarily limited to riding a horse. The feeling we get, and especially the joy that people new to horses get, is just good for our souls. When riding back from open country and crossing a road to see a vehicle stop and people watch me, I never hesitate to ride over to them and have a chat which almost always results in the people getting out to pet my horse. One of my favorite stories was when I saw a car stopped and rode up to find a lady, probably in her late 30's, with her elderly mother to had Alzheimer's in the front seat. She said she was just driving her mother around to change her routine and decided to drive into the country. Her mother was wheel chair bound so she couldn't get her out of the car on the shoulder of the highway, so I asked her to roll down her window. I rode around to the passenger side and had my horse stick his nose into the car. I'll always remember the look of joy of that elderly women's face as she raised a hand an touched my horse's nose.

So yes, petting and rubbing on horse's is good for us and it can be good for the horse. Make it so.

Randy Rieman Horsemanship Clinic El Paso 2019

What do dressage horses, barrel horses, team roping, pleasure and ranch horses all have in common? It was that they and their riders were much better after participating in a Randy Rieman Clinic I hosted on 4-5 May 2019. Randy, who rode with Tom and Bill Dorrance and Ray Hunt, and roped with Bill Dorrance including learning how to braid rawhide from him, came in from cold Northern Montana to 90 degree West Texas heat to work with everyone on their specific problems. Thirteen total riders over 2 days gave everyone plenty of individual attention.

For some riders it was how to give the horse the freedom to find what you are asking for. For others it was a subtle way to ask for lead departures. And for everyone it was asking for a bend, and using more of your legs and being less reliant on your hands for that bend.

While all of the clinic participants said they came away with much more than they expected and thought the time and money they spent was a bargain for what they received,.... two of the clinic participants told me they were hesitant to come and pre-disposed to think it wasn't going to be worth it as they came from very specific uses for their horses - dressage and team roping, but Randy proved to them and everyone else for that matter that no matter what discipline you ride, no matter what breed of horse you are sitting, you can get better performance by putting together willingness and balance.

As good as Horseman Randy Rieman is, I suspect he is an even better man having to get to know him over the span of two clinic in two years. He stayed with me and had but to walk out the back door less than 100 yards to his classroom - my arena. Before and after the sessions gave me plenty of time to pick his brain across a wide range of topics. His insight into what Tom and Bill Dorrance were trying to impart, with understanding and communicating to the horse, was insightful to say the least.



Randy is close friends with Bryan Neubert and Joe Wolter and said more than once that there are no better horsemen then these two. I'll just bet that if you asked either of these two who the two best were, either one of them would put Randy on that list.   And if you haven't heard of Bryan Neubert, Joe Wolter or Randy Rieman it's likely because they are as least commercialized as they come. They do not benefit from the movies, television and magazines highlighting the already well known clinicians on a weekly and monthly basis, nor do any of them market a long line of logoed products. You also won't likely see the flash, smoke and music of a DownUnder style event either. Randy fit his El Paso visit in between his foaling season and his annual clinic tours in Germany and Switzerland where there is a large following of the Californio style horsemanship (that's the term I think of - Randy may think of it as something else), but in any account Randy is carrying on what Tom and Bill Dorrance brought to the public.

Randy Rieman is easier to book and cheaper to host for a clinic than some of the more common names everyone is going to, or watching tapes on. I can't imagine anyone not getting their money worth having Randy sort out their issues with their horses. He will simply make everyone better, and make you want to get better - learning to learn as he said. Give him a call. Put him on your calendar and host a clinic, you won't regret it, and I'll just bet you will come away with at least a yearning to learn more.

Randy Rieman
472 25th Rd NW
Choteau, MT 59422
406-925-2467

http://randyrieman.com/

Horses with Trailer Confinement Issues

Several people in the last couple of months have sent e-mails with the same basic issue that they are having a hard time resolving - horses who are okay at trailer loading but are anxious when the trailer is stopped. Some just move around and others kick and paw, and when unloading - some try to leave the trailer in a fast manner.  The common question is "should I leave my horse in the trailer until they calm down?"  

Different trailers and different circumstances, such as trailering with or without other horses, are going to affect some horses. A small, two horse straight load trailer may be too confining for horses used to a open stock trailer. Slant loads with the panels may seem too confining to some horses, especially larger horses - you may know horses like this.  If you have the chance to load your horse in different trailers, by all means do so. Doesn't mean you'll resolve problems down the road, just gives you a better chance at it.

Some horses are fine by themselves, or loading with other horses, and others get anxious when in a trailer next to others. The good news is I think you can minimize all these issues by loading and unloading, and/or trailering to some place over and over. I had a three year old Paint horse who took some time getting him to load. I hung a hay net up so he could pick at it once he loaded.  Once I had him loaded, I had him back out. Then I loaded him and kept him in the trailer for increasing amounts of time and we're talking about starting at around 10 seconds once his feet stopped moving.  When he was good with that, standing still for a few minutes, I loaded him and drove a few minutes in a wide circle, stopped, unloaded, mounted and rode for a couple minutes, then dismounted and loaded the horse and did it all over again for almost two hours. After that his first trailer ride was over an hour and I never had another problem with him - but all horses are going to be different. What is the same with all horses is that repetitions loading and unloading are good for all horses.

On a horse who loads good but is anxious about just being in the trailer, increasing the amount of time staying the trailer is also good for him. The first few times you may not get him relaxed, but my rule of thumb is to wait until there is some sign of relaxing, even momentary, and capitalize on that moment - timing is important. If you can safely be in the trailer with the horse and he is comfortable with your presence then sometimes that helps. I did this to my horses, talking to them softly, asking the horse to drop his head, rubbing on him, asking for one step backwards then one step forwards, but these were horses experienced in other trailers.




While you may enter a trailer with the horse, leading him or sending him in order to close a slant load or tie his lead up, please don't loiter in the trailer unless you can do so safely and have a reason to do so. A buddy of mine was loading a fairly bomb proof horse and lost half his finger then tying the horse's lead and the horse spooked and back off quickly, tightening the rope on his finger - and you can imagine the rest.

Another thing common to all horses is that if the horse really isn't broke to lead and can't back off a lead rope then he ain't going to do well backing out of a trailer. Some people I highly respect allow a horse to turn around in the trailer (if it can) and go out head first the first few times. I've done that before and I'm good with that, but eventually he needs to back out, calmly, and the sooner the better.

The trailer - staying quiet in the trailer - has to be a good place for the horse. He has to see and feel it as a place to rest. It's the same process we use when we get a horse to load, making the area outside the trailer work and at/in the trailer a rest spot - or a release from pressure. Many people, and I do this as well, will lunge the horse in a circle where the edge of the circle is close to the trailer, then stop him here and ask him to load. It's kinda like standing tied. Tired horses will stand tied better than fresh ones.

As far as leaving a horse in a trailer until they calm down - I would think they ain't likely to calm down over time if they are too amped up to begin with. That mental pressure is more likely to increase until maybe the horse hurts himself. Remember the horse has a soft spot just forward of his poll and some horse's have hit the trailer roof hard enough to kill or badly injured themselves. They make little padded hats for horses to protect themselves from hitting their head. I have never used one instead relying on having the horse totally comfortable with loading, staying in the trailer, and backing out. This just takes time, that's all.

Make sure your trailer is safe as well.  I was asked to help a gent get his horse loaded.  I told him I would teach him how to do it and showed up only to discover his trailer floor unsafe.  If  person can see that the trailer floor is unsafe, then the horse is certainly going to feel it and this will erode his confidence and will result in him having "trailering" problems when it really is "owner and  maintenance" problems.     

A final note:  If you drive with quick accelerations, fast lane changes and/or hard braking on stops then you are likely to undue much of the trailer work you put in on your horse.  I heard a long time ago that a horse is only has good as his last trailer ride. 

Giving a Horse a Job

It's often been said that a horse needs a job. In fact, he wants a job and the best job for a horse is working cattle. After a couple years of not being available to day work on neighboring cattle ranches, I was fortunate enough to spend the weekend working for a friend of mine gathering a four section pasture.

 Leaving at 5am for a 50 minute drive on the highway to get to the ranch road and another 50 minutes of rough dirt road, put Junior at me at the South end of the pasture. The Sun was just beginning to crest above the hills to the East with very little clouds in the sky, and the forecast from the normally lying weatherman promised a hot, sunny day which I looked forward to and the prospect of working a bunch of cows outside of my normal routine of arena sorting. As singer/songwriter Dave Stamey would say "my heart rang like a bell" as we got horseback. Heading into the pasture my partner Truitt said "you gotta watch out here,...there are more rattlesnakes in this pasture than any other." Thirty feet later we encountered our first rattlesnake of the day, but I didn't see another one until towards the end of the day where I had to kill one at a gate.

The late Spring and Summer rains in West Texas, more than double (close to triple) our seasonal average made riding up the numerous draws in the pasture difficult as the vegetation was at times higher than my horse's head. Junior and I often got caught up in Buffalo Gourd vines hidden in the grass and weeds. After it was all said and done, I was glad to have put boots on Junior's front legs and I pulled tons of cactus spines out of these protective boots that would have been in his legs.

We were working for the owner who gave us a rough count of 136 head to account for, and no matter what the number was, every draw and back hill had to be checked. The plan was to push the mothers, weanlings, calves and bulls (if they were so inclined to participate) to pens at the North end of the pasture where we would seperate the bulls and weanlings for another pasture, and, brand, ear tag, vaccinate and castrate the calves.

Radios were pretty invaluable as Truitt rode up on the ridges and was able to glass for cows that I couldn't see from the ground and direct me to where they were. Driving the cattle to the center of the pasture and moving them North allowed us to pick up groups that were spread out, including the Bulls who most of them wouldn't go on my accord, but in the end decided to follow the momma's and calves along. At one point I was having a conversation with a recalitrant bull who was not wanting to move when a Mule Deer Buck stood up in the brush about 20 yards from me and bounded off, kinda breaking the spell.

It was alot of work for two Cowboys to keep the herd together and moving, rarely did we have a squirter, but we were successful in getting those turned around. I'm thankful that Truitt believed in low stress stockmanship. We both have worked with those who don't, so while I did alot of trotting back and forth at drag keeping the herd together, I never broke into a lope,....neither one of us did.

Some of the calves never seen a human before. One little red calf in particular seemed really curious about Junior and I, neglecting her momma to stay close to the drag end where she could watch me. When we had a lull to give the newborns a rest, I would ride up real slow to the little red calf, stopping when I saw her ready to break, then I would stop and look at her for a bit, then I would back up. After 10-15 seconds of thinking about it she would begin to approach us. This is what Curt Pate calls drawing them to you. I'd walk off slowly and that red calf would follow. 

After five and a half hours of gathering and moving we had them at the pens at the North end of the pasture. We separated the bulls, all eight of them, ran them through the chutes to pour de-wormer on them, then loaded and trailered them to different pastures. Getting a head count of the remaining cows gave us 152 mommas and weanlings, and 38 unbranded calves.

The next day we separated the weanlings, then separated the calves. We moved the calves into a trap so we could get them into a squeeze chute table where they could be branded, ear tag, vaccinate, and castrated if they were a bull calf. My wife Susan and Truitt's wife Lauri worked the table efficiently and all the calves were finished by lunchtime. At the end of the day, the calves were put back onto their mommas and released in back into the pasture but not before the weanlings broke the pen latch and got mixed back up with the mommas. That turned out pretty well actually as we had to re-sort the weanlings from the mommas,..more work for our horses.

The opportunity to work my horse Junior a couple long days on cattle helped put all the things we work on in perspective....immediate transitions from a halt to a fast trot to step in back of a momma to get her following calf stopped,....stepping over on the front end and slowly working two weanlings and a calf until there was a space where we could step in and separate the calf to another pen,......walking real slow through the herd to check ear tags,......drawing a calf, that was face first in the corner, to us so we could get it turned in the right direction,....and just keeping Junior focused and positioned during the lulls in action where all worth a weekend totaling seven hours of long trailer rides over rough roads and all the things I had to push to the back burner of life in order to get out there.  Even tying the horses for a couple hours as we branded calves was good for them. And the calves as from the calf table they were turned out into a pen were the horses were tied which is going to make those calve easier to handle as weanlings.  Giving a horse a job,... I was glad to have it.   

Laying a Horse Down and other Gentling Methods

Martha wrote to ask about trying to get over the hump on a real anxious horse. "Dear Sir, I was in a clinic watching a trainer laying a horse down onto the ground on his side to get the horse to trust him. One of my friends said that you can do the same thing with draping a towel over the horse's head so it can't see and has to learn how to trust the person. I have a horse that is always being hyper and can't hardly stand still and was wondering if laying him down on the ground or doing the towel training with my friend's help would help. Sincerely, Marta."

I've laid a few horses down and am ashamed to say the first few times I did it, it didn't need to be done. In other words laying the horse down was for me and not for the horse. In fact, it is likely it did some good only once. One time it took me 20 minutes from start to getting him to lay down. This was about 10 years ago and once I got started and I couldn't just stop and allow that horse to understand his resistance was successful. I remember hoping nobody saw me. Not that I was embarrassed about taking so long, but just embarrassed because I realized I was doing this just for me - that the horse did not need this at this point, nor really ever would benefit from laying down.

So I have to say that laying a horse down is not something I would suggest unless I was there in person to see the horse and the issues with the horse and even then it would be a high probability that I would recommend against it.

As far as what you mentioned on 'towel training', I have used a shirt to do blindfold training so the horse would allow me to have control on the ground, leading him with a shirt wrapped over his head. I was doing this so I could do it again if I had to lead him through smoke or a fire, or to cover his head to protect him from hail during a storm.  It came in handy a few times, actually.

What I found out was that this helped the horse mentally quite a bit, making him more soft and accepting, so there is some merit or use to your described towel training, however my primary motive was to prepare him when I needed to cover his head.

You do have to have an element of trust with your horse when you can drape a cover, like a rain slicker in the photos, and lead him on the ground or ride him.

 His steps will be tentative as, of course, his sight is taken away, his sense of hearing is somewhat degraded and some horses will have to gentled in handling their head and particularly their ears before you can start....but all goods things for the horse. But I don't think it's going to replace laying a horse down, when that is necessary, because when laying down a horse his flight ability is taken away.



There are some other issues that can contribute to a horse appearing to be what you call hyper-active: Excessive feed and/or high sugar content in feeds; horses not being ridden much.  You have to teach him through pressure and release, what you expect of him. Sometimes I have started of with a horse that can stand quiet by working him with some energy (this is the pressure) then offering him a chance to stand quiet (this is the release).  Sometimes standing quiet will only last a short time, but if it is an improvement, then take it and build on it.

Now I want to be real clear on this next point as it is just my observation and I mean no offense to anyone................Most people I work with are ladies. The issue with ladies is that a much larger percentage of women have more empathy for their horses than men have for their horses. But women are more likely to let their horses get away with behavioral issues perhaps viewing their horses as equal partners, as opposed to being the leader of the team.  In some cases this contributes to the horse being non-respectful such as moving his feet anytime he wants to, or pushing into the handler's space, and pulling on the lead line or reins.
  
On the other hand some men just seem to have too much ego, some of the time, wrapped up into horses, taking non-compliance from the horse personally, and are more likely to see the horse as a replaceable tool.  I used to be that way, and frankly, like an alcoholic, am always cognizant that I likely have the personality where I can still regress to that.    

There is no doubt that some of the best horse people are women and I have no doubt there are thousands of women who are a better horsemen than I am or will be.  What I can't understand is that generally women have no problem telling men what to do - my wife sure doesn't.  So  an example is putting the toilet seat down - so  I know ladies have it in themselves to be the boss of a partnership.  It doesn't mean being unfair, just means being in charge.   

Bad Habits?

I have had several readers either write comments on my You Tube videos or send me e-mails notifying me of my bad habits. While somewhere I appreciate that, I'm also actually surprised people take the time to address my peculiarities. I don't take offense to these comments, but for a sense of accuracy I'm taking the time to address these bad habits here.

Wearing Spurs. I don't always wear spurs and rarely on a horse I'm riding for the first time, like a young horse. But comments like "you'll never achieve the next level of horsemanship with spurs - get rid of them!" just don't consider the fact that it's not the tool, it's how the tool is used. If you don't know how to use spurs then by all means, don't wear them. Sometimes I even suggest that a particular rider ditch the spurs so they can have some more freedom trying to use their legs as aides without worrying about gouging their horse. Besides I don't know what the levels of horsemanship are,.....I'm just trying to get to be adequate.

Always Wearing Gloves. These comments have ranged from "Why do you always wear gloves" or telling me that "if I had any skills I would not be wearing gloves". Well, my lack of skills has nothing to do with wearing gloves - it may likely be associated with a general lack of intelligence, but my lack of skills certainly ain't because I'm not trying. I pretty much always wear thin pigskin gloves and I don't think I give up any feel by riding in them or working a horse from the ground. I ride, throw a loop (not well but I try), tie knots and practically have gloves on anytime I'm outside the house which is a consider time. Heck, I even tried to eat supper one night with my gloves on, but my wife pitched a fit so I took them off. In my near 60 years I have had many weeks and months of down time with a hand injuries such as rope burned palms, broken fingers, or, cut and badly chapped fingers. Wearing gloves greatly reduces this, in fact, I'd recommended it.

Holding a Lead Rope in a coil. While I never teach people to coil a lead rope when walking or working a horse from the ground, but I pretty much always do myself. Sure, carrying the lead rope in coils, especially small coils, can be dangerous if the horse bolts, and that's why I don't let youngers do it. I'm used to coiled ropes and it's easier for me to manage and feed the rope out of my hand when I am sending a horse or otherwise needing more slack in the rope.

And many ropers every day across America carry a coiled lariat rope when roping and have learned to be safe with it. Bottom line is that if you don't believe something is safe, then please don't do it.

Dismounting. When I dismount, say coming off the left side, my right leg swings over the cantle then plants on the ground then my left foot slides out of the stirrup. I do not lay across the saddle, with both feet out of the stirrups then slide down so that both feet hit the ground at the same time. People who write to tell me there is a better way to dismount,....well, I don't know, maybe if I was riding an 18 HH horse then I may dismount that way - both feet out of the stirrups and sliding down, but I kinda limit myself to horse's I can mount from the ground,....without a ladder. I was at odds with competitive organizations who penalized the way I dismounted with their rules that both feet have to hit the ground at the same time. It's likely more important to have control of the reins, slightly tipping your horse's head to the side of the dismount - to keep him from moving into you as you dismount. And it's likely as or more important to have a horse that stands still during and after the dismount. Some other things also come into consideration for dismounting safety, like how much foot you keep in the stirrup, what material the stirrup surface and the sole of the boot are. I always ride in leather covered stirrups and leather soled boots. This is more slippery than a rubber soled boot and easier to adjust foot position while riding, as well as easier to get your foot out of the stirrup. The weight of my foot in the stirrup pretty much keeps it in place and my riding heel keeps my boot from sliding forward through the stirrup.

While I have many more bad habits I think I'll stop here even those its against my wife's urging to come fully clean. But I told her that leaving the toilet seat up was not necessarily a bad habit nor had much to do with riding horses.

Stretching Horses

Molly wrote to ask if I stretch my horses out and what, if any, supplements I can recommend to her for joints and muscele health. "Hi, I looked all over on your site to see if you have any articles or videos on stretching horses or if you believe that does any good. Also, on a middle aged horse around 15 years old, what , if any, joint supplements or muscle supplements would you recommend?" Thank you for any consideration in answering this. Molly."

Yes, I do stretch my horses out, not all the time, but more often than not. From the ground I'll lunge a horse around at a slow jog to warm him up alittle and get the blood flowing to his extremities as I think stretching cold muscles increases the chance of an injury (muscle strain or tear) especially on older horses. Pretty much just like us humans. I think that if you have a horse chiropractor in your area, he/she may be able to give you some good stretches and other ideas on stretching horses. So I guess you can tell I also support equine chiropractic care in some cases and only if you get a good chiropractor.

Stretching the horse's legs out, when he is saddled, can help get the cinch sorted out and maybe more comfortable for the horse, as well as just continue the process of getting the horse gentled on having his legs handled which is good for your horseshoer and particular good if you ever get your horse tangled up in wire and you have to cut his legs out and move a leg or foot out of the way. If you stretch out the horse when he is saddled, go back and check the cinch.

On the ground, I'll bend the fore leg back and pull slightly up on the leg and hold for 10-15 seconds. This is much the same thing a Vet will do to check for leg injuries, stretching in the same manner then having you trot your horse of to see if there is any lameness that would be associated with a chronic leg condition. I know people also stretch their horses in this manner, and some also include a small shoulder rotating into it. I don't do that.

I'll also stretch the front foot out until the horse's leg is straight - like in the picture. I don't jerk on it, I just apply a little steady pressure until the horse fully gives me that extension. Many times after you extend that leg fully, the horse will pull down on his leg stretching it himself. Again, I'll hold for 10-15 seconds or so. When doing these stretches, I don't give the horse back his foot/leg until he relaxes, otherwise you are teaching him that he can pull his foot away he wants to. Your shoer will be grateful if your horse is well mannered and doesn't pull his feet away when handling them.

As I go from one side of my horse to the other I'll sometimes lift his tail straight up and not release it until he is soft about it. From the beginning you might hold the tail up for one second then release and build on that until he is comfortable with you holding the tail up for as long as you have a mind to.  This is a routine handling thing as well tail brushing is so when I go about stretching the tail it is usually no big deal for the horse.

 

When I stretch the tail I'll grip the tail just above where the tail bone ends and pull straight back, not sharply, again just a steady pull. I'll hold for about 5 seconds, release, then do it again for maybe 10 to 15 seconds and lean back to put just a little more of my bodyweight into the stretch.  Don't do this on a horse that is not soft about having his tail handled, until he is. But all this tail handling will pay off making your horse softer about his tail and safe for you taking his temperature with a rectal thermometer or if and when you get a rope underneath their tail - this is called rimfired, where the horse will clamp down his tail tighter than a Sister of Mercy in a Nevada cathouse.

For the back legs, I'll lift up a leg (see above picture at left) just like when your shoer puts the leg on a stand and hold for 10-15 seconds, then unflex the leg and pull it out directly behind the horse to full extension (see picture at right). Again, I'm not jerking just putting steady pressure until the horse softens and relaxes.  

Once in the saddle, I will do what might be described as 'pre-ride checks'. This is when I'll ask my horse for lateral and vertical flexion to get him prepared to listen for my signals before we ever start moving. I don't do this all the time like I really should, just more often than not.

As far as supplements go, I don't use muscle building supplements.  I gave used red cell before on really underweight rescue horses, but do not routinely use it. 

 

I do have one horse on joint supplements. Glucosamine, Chondroitin and Hyaluronic Acid (HA) are the big three ingredients found in most joint supplements. Sometimes you'll see Yucca extract or MSM added for their pain relieving and anti-inflammatory properties. I think Glucosamine is the most important of the joint supplements. Talking over the years with human and horse nutrition researchers, many believe that Glucosamine likely works, but there is no empirical evidence that Chondroitin or HA works. That matches my experience on using human joint supplements. Many believe that Vitamin C is also as good ingredient in joint supplements to help the soft connective tissues to the joints. But whatever you use be sure of the quality, based on the raw ingredients, manufacturing process and subsequent certifications as these are probably key to the effectiveness of any supplement.   Hope this helps Molly.   

Natural Feeding For Horses

I was recently asked by U.K. based author and consultant, Alexandra Wesker, MSc, to review her new book "Natural Feeding For Horses - Discover Roughage Based Feeding for the Physical and Emotional Health of Your Horse".

Ms. Wesker writes that she had a hard time as a Equine Nutritional Consultant in finding a book to recommend to her clients, so she decided to write the book she was looking for. The result? A thoughtful, well researched and written book that will make a positive impact on horses as it makes it's way into the hands of horse owners. This book can be used by new horse owners who just want a basic understanding of horses, digestion and feeds, as well as the old experienced hands who want to delve into formulas for developing a feeding program based on their horse's size, breed, activity level, and considering the digestible energy and nutritional vales of feeds.

What is Natural Feeding? In a nutshell, it's feeding a roughage (hay) based diet and feeding in a manner like nature, including horse's eating off ground level. Alexandra addresses this in detail and why this is very important. Like many people, I have used several different types of feeders and was happy to find large plastic milk crate type boxes so I could feed my horses at ground level, which is how they are designed to eat, as well as keep the feed off the ground to minimize the ingestion of sand.

But this book is more than that. I liked the section of the book discussing various grasses such as Orchard, Timothy, Bermuda, the various Fescues, Brome, Blue Grass, Ryegrass and others, and the charts on the nutritional value of hays.

Others will appreciate the Suggested Diets chapter. Ms. Wesker follows up with many examples of horses, their breed and activity, and feeding examples. So, if you have ever been confused about determining the digestible energy content of the feed you provide your horses, or what level your horse needs based on it's activity and size, then this book and it's easy to understand formulas will help as she walks the reader through determining activity levels, required feed level, designing feeding programs, and information on safely replacing feeds with cereals.  She advocates about consistency in the feeding program and the necessity of making changes gradually.

The last thing I would like to say if that Alexandra recognizes the emotional or mental health aspect of horses and advocates horses being able to move, obtain overhead cover and not be kept in solitary conditions - which I appreciate as I see way too many horses who are viewed and treated as tools or objects and not living, thinking and feeling creatures. Stabling a horse, by itself, in a small stall, no matter how good your feeding program is, is akin to mental/emotional abuse. Those conditions alone are likely to cause behavior and digestive problems. It is my wish that all horses could be given a fair deal by their owners and a continuing education in horses and their care is the road towards that.

Buy the book, you won't regret it.   You can also check out Alexandra's website: Natural Feeding For Horses.

You can order a copy of Natural Feeding for Horses through Amazon.com