Are Lunge Lines Dangerous?

Abbey wrote to ask if using Lunge Lines are dangerous. "I am back into horses after a 15 year lay off. I am working with a seven year old Arabian mare who I just love and she is working out great, I will most likely be buying her, but the owner cautioned me when I was lunging her on a line. She said using a lunge line was dangerous and I should lunge her at liberty in the round pen. The mare is rideable and not a green horse by any means, so I am not getting the dangerous lunge line bit. What is your opinion on using a lunge line? Thanks!"


Hey Abbey, I don't think lunge lines are inherently dangerous, whether you are using a 25 foot lunge line in a round pen or arena, or using the lead line to move the horse around. I suppose if your lunge line was to long and you coiled it up on the ground you could step into the coils and if the horse bolted and you couldn't get her head around then maybe you could be drug. Same for wrapping the lunge line around your hand or arm. But who does this? 

In the picture below, you'll see my lunge line, which is 23 feet long, laying on the ground as I control it with my left hand and use a flag to move my horse around with my right hand.  I can't remember ever getting tangled up in the lunge line where it posed a danger to me or my horse.    I have lost track of how many times I have dropped the lunge line on accident, only to pick it up and continue on.  If I'm using a lunge line or long lead on a horse in the round pen and that horse gets into trouble, such as spinning into the line and getting wrapped up, I can simple drop the line.

I use pretty long lead lines on my rope halters, usually 14 feet, so I can lunge my horse in small circles as a warmup when I get him from the pen and to see if he has any lameness issues. This is also useful to remind my horse that I am the leader (at least today) and get him focused on me.

I make 23 foot lunge lines using yacht braid rope with large brass bolt snaps and use them to not only lunge horses with,but I'll use two of them to ground drive a horse sometimes. But a majority of the time I free lunge my horses  (what you call lunging at liberty) in a round pen.

Lunging with lines is useful to green horses to teach them to give and to bend to disengage their back ends. Plus I use lunge lines (or lead ropes) connected to the rope halter to work their feet and legs getting them desensitized to ropes slipping across their hocks or a rope going underneath them.  I wouldn't try to use a lunge line at first on a totally wild horse, preferring to free lunge until I get control of his feet and see that horse's anxiety being replaced by acceptance and curiosity. 

I think that it is probably as dangerous, maybe even more dangerous leading a horse on a short lead line than using a lunge line, given all the things that can happen close up if you are not careful and/or the horse broke enough.  Such as the horse spooking and stepping into/onto you or tossing his head and hitting you with it.  Simple thing to do is to ask the mare's owner what she means by lunge lines being dangerous and consider the validity of her answer, but I think it's probably a good idea to be handy with ropes and lines and think you can do so without risk to yourself for the horse.  Hope this helps. Safe Journey.   

Horseback ALS Bucket Challenge

Most of you have seen or heard of the ALS Bucket Challenge where you dump iced water over your head and call out several people to do the same or to donate to the ALS. Everyone from your neighbor to George W. Bush has done it. I'm doing the callout to four cowboy friends of mine to dump the ice on their heads AND to write a check to ALS.

ALS is somewhat close to my family as my wife's best friend's Mother succumbed to ALS so this is memory of Suzanne Jones.

Anyway, I'm calling out these four people: Leonard Benally, aka LRB, a neighbor of mine and good hand with horse. Today was his birthday so Happy Birthday LRB - now dump the ice on your head.

I'm calling out Dan Buckingham of Apache Junction, Arizona, who I used to ride with as Army Range Riders, and who was also my classmate at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Dan, I reckon it's an even bet you've been chased out of Arizona by a herd of angry women with pitchforks, but I know when you see this you'll get 'er done like you always do.

I'm calling out Texas Ranger Sergeant Trampas Gooding. I know Trampas is healing from some injuries, but when you do, get on that Mustang Gringo and show us something.

Lastly, I'm calling out Bob James of Artesia, New Mexico. Bob is a great American. Served his country in many ways, in many far away locations. I just hope he doesn't shoot me when I see him in seven weeks at the Cowboy Symposium for the crack about his bald head.

Don't forget to write a check to ALS amigos.

Vesicular Stomatitis (VS) in Texas Update

Vesicular stomatitis (VS) is a viral disease that can affects horses and other live stock. It is an endemic disease in the warmer regions of North, Central, and South America, but outbreaks of the disease in other temperate geographic parts of the hemisphere occur sporadically.[1]

VS normally has an incubation period of two to eight days before the infected animal develops blisters that swell and burst, leaving painful sores. The virus can be transmitted through direct contact with infected animals or by blood feeding insects. Infected animals also can spread the virus when their saliva or the fluid from ruptured blisters contaminates feed, water or hay shared with herd mates. Sick animals should be isolated and may need supportive care to prevent a secondary infection where blisters have broken. Painful lesions also can form around animals’ hooves, resulting in temporary lameness.[1]

People handling sick animals should wear rubber or latex gloves as a biosecurity measure to prevent the spread of disease to other animals, or to themselves. In rare instances, humans can contract VS and develop a flu-like illness that lasts four to seven days.[1]

When a producer or private veterinary practitioner reports that an animal has blisters, erosions or sores, Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) or U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) veterinarians, trained as foreign animal disease diagnosticians, will assist in the disease investigation. They will work with the owner’s private veterinary practitioner at no charge to take a health history and ask questions about the animals’ recent movements to and from the premises. Finally, blood samples, swabs and/or tiny snippets of tissue will be collected from the blisters or sores on the affected animals. The samples will be packaged and shipped to the appropriate laboratory for testing at no cost to owners. Most results are reported in two or three days, but virus isolation testing may require up to 14 days.[1]

In the meantime, all animals on the affected premises will be placed under a hold order by the TAHC to stop animal movement as a measure to protect against the spread of disease. It is vitally important that livestock owners report potential cases of VS, so that samples can be collected and tested to confirm VS and rule out other diseases. If VS is confirmed, infected animals are quarantined for 21 days after all lesions are healed.[1]

[1] - Texas Animal Health Commission Brochure on Vesicular Stomatitis

The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) received confirmation of eight new cases of Vesicular Stomatitis (VS) in horses in Central Texas. Five new premises are located in Travis County and three new premises are in Bastrop County:[2]

One premises is located 4 miles east of Webberville in Bastrop County
One premises is located 6 miles southeast of Spicewood in Travis County
One premises is located 8 miles northwest of Bastrop in Bastrop County
One premises is located 4 miles east of Webberville in Bastrop County
One premises is located 4 miles northwest of Webberville in Travis County
One premises is located 2 miles south of Garfield in Travis County
One premises is located 3.5 miles northwest of Webberville in Travis County
One premises is located 2.5 miles northwest of Webberville in Travis County

To date, 21 premises in eight Texas counties have been confirmed with VS. Affected counties include(d): Kinney, Hidalgo, San Patricio, Nueces, Jim Wells, Bastrop, Travis and Guadalupe counties. Four premises have been released from quarantine: 1 in Kinney county, 2 in Nueces county and 1 in San Patricio county.[2]

The newly identified infected premises are currently under quarantine by the TAHC. Affected horses will be monitored by regulatory veterinarians while under quarantine. Premises are eligible for quarantine release 21 days after all lesions have healed. There is no known exposure to other horses around the state, or at any equine events.[2]

[2] - TAHC Vesicular Stomatitis in Texas Update

Several states have provided the TAHC with information on enhanced entry requirements they are imposing on Texas livestock (including horses) due to the recently announced VS cases in Texas. For information about these movement restrictions, contact the state or country of destination and/or click on this link - 2014 State Restrictions.

For more information about VS, open and read the TAHC’s brochure on VS.

Go here for a fact sheet on Vesicular Stomatitis from the USDA-APHIS.

Click on this link to the USDA-APHIS for current national VS situation reports.

To locate your local TAHC regional office, click here.

Tarp Training for Your Horse

Gary wrote in and asked: "I saw one of your videos where you had your horse crossing a tarp. How essential do you think tarp training is for horses? I tried this with my horse with a yellow poncho since I did not have a tarp. My horse did not want to go anywhere near the poncho when I had it on the ground and when I picked it up, he liked that even less."

Hey Gary, I don't call using a tarp - "tarp training", it's just a prop that I use to get my horses comfortable with different things, the same as ropes, standing water , large balls, etc. Tarps are useful since they can be folded up smaller and made larger as the horse becomes comfortable. They make noise which can be scary to the horse. They can be used in many different ways such as on the ground for the horse to cross over or can be draped over the horse to get him ready for a blanket for the first time.

If you horse ran from the poncho, and then you took the poncho away, your horse probably thinks he did the right things by running away. So be careful on rewarding the wrong response.

I've heard some people say that they would never use a tarp since it's something the horse will never see. I have a difference of opinion. While horseback I have found large blue tarps in the desert where hunters (or poachers) have laid out game for field dressing.  I have ridden in a rodeo grand entry, right past signs (basically tarps) lining the fence panels and flapping like crazy. I have untied my slicker and put it on while horseback and from the horse's perspective, that slicker was just like a tarp, and I have seen the obligatory tarp obstacles in many trail or obstacles challenge events.  You are really just helping the horse learn to think first as opposed to reacting first.  And like I said before, sacking a horse out on a tarp before moving to a blanket for the first time, is probably a smart thing to do.

There is a lot of debate of colors of tarps (or of other objects) having something to do with the horse's acceptance. I just don't know.  I'd have better luck figuring how women think, rather than learning how horses see colors, so I just use different color tarps - whatever is handy basically.

With an extra suspicious horse, I may fold the tarp up small and just lay in over the rails or on the ground where he can take his time investigating it. Being a curious animal, eventually the horse will seek out the tarp, drop his head and nose onto it, and pretty much figure it out. That's really all about letting him have as much time as he needs to convince himself that the tarp is nothing to worry about.

In a pen with a horse and a tarp for the first time, I would do basically the same thing - fold the tarp up so it's not to large and let the horse get comfortable with me approaching him with the tarp. If that horse moved away, I would continue a slow approach until his feet stopped, then I would retreat, give him some time to think about it, then do it all over again.  You can do the same thing with a horse under halter.  As the horse stops moving reward him with removing the tarp.  Each time you'll be able to get closer and he'll be more accepting of it.

If I'm moving, say lunging, a horse across a tarp on the ground and that horse wants to stop to drop his head and investigate the tarp, I'll let him do so. If he side steps around the tarp, I'll let him do that too and continue to move him by the tarp. It isn't too long before he is ready to step on it, maybe with only one hoof, but soon after that all four feet are on the tarp. While on horseback and crossing a tarp, I won't ask the horse to move forward across the tarp until he is ready. You will know or will soon figure out what signs such as head and ear set, tension in his body, etc., indicate if he's ready or not.

With a tarp or any other obstacle, I won't buy into avoidance such as turning around. If the horse moves his front or back end end away from the obstacle, I'll just correct him to stay straight on. If the horse does turn around on me, I'll turn him right back into the tarp and again not ask him forward until he's comfortable with the tarp.

I progress to draping the tarp over the horse, and hanging it on a lead rope as I lunge them. I have had my horses drag the tarp which is something you should only do when they are really comfortable with and even then starting by approaching the horse while dragging the tarp, then maybe tying the tarp to a rope and running the rope around the saddle horn so you can stand back and pull the tarp towards the horse.

It probably took me longer to write this post than it does most horses to get accepting of a tarp, but every horse is different and it's best to give him the time they need. But to answer your first question Gary, sacking a horse out on a tarp is not mandatory or anything, it's just useful. Be safe.

Hauling Horses - Service Your Truck's Tranmission

Truck and Trailering Tip - Service Your Transmission.  I see many people that are under trucked when pulling horse trailers. SUV's pulling a two horse trailer; a half ton pickup pulling a three horse slant - all very common and you have probably seen the same. With the price of 3/4 ton and larger pickups hitting just south of where the price of a starter home begins, many people don't have much of a choice if they want to keep trailering to horse events.

A few years ago it came time to buy my wife a new pickup. She was not fond of my truck of choice - a Ford Super Duty - so we looked at other options and settled on an new 2011 Toyota Tundra. The 10,000 lbs rated towing capacity seemed adequate for her two horse stock combination trailer which was around 5,000 lbs when loaded with two horses. And this truck trailer combo was pretty much going to be driven on flat, hard ball roads to and from events so I was pretty comfortable with her choice as we'd use my Super Duty for hauling horses anyplace else.

Recently we were using her truck to trailer a couple of horses to a team penning event and the maintenance light came on. I took the Tundra to Alamo Fleet Services who has kept my vehicles running all these years and whose general manager is an old friend of mine who broke horses for a local rancher until he was forced, like a lot of cowboys, to get a job that paid the bills.

Alamo told me what I pretty much knew, that the Tundra wasn't made for routine trailer pulling and if I want that truck to last for the short range, flat ground hauling that I had in mind, I would have to have the transmission serviced more often, and they recommended every 20,000 miles. They also told me that the majority of transmision failures are from worn out old fluid.

Normally, most transmission are serviced by draining the fluid, dropping the pan, replacing the filter and re-filling the fluid. According to my mechanics this not allow the fluid in the torque converter to be replaced, leaving several quarts of old fluid in the tranny and the contaminated transmission fluid can cause gear grinding, delayed transmission response, or stalling.

Alamo Fleet Services uses the BG PF5 Power Flush and Fluid Exchange System which removes the old automatic transmission fluid completely while at the same time adding new fluid in a method that does not allow for the intermixing of new and old fluids, meaning the new fluid will last significantly longer and protect the transmission.

They also recommended I use a transmission additive from BG called BG ATC Plus Automatic Transmission Conditioner, PN 310, which restores seal pliability and prolongs Automatic Tramission Fluid life by protecting it.

Alamo also recommended a couple of more additives as well. A fuel system cleaner called BG 44K, which they said is helpful in cleaning the fuel injectors and carbon off of the pistons tops nd improves performance.

The other additive they recommended was BG EPR Engine Performance Restoration which helps to restore, fuel economy and power.

So consider doing yourself a favor and find a vehicle maintenance place that is knowledgeable and that you can trust. A little money spent, more often, will usually save you big in the end. Safe Journey.

Judging Your Horse's Manure

If you are like me, you are always evaluating your horse's manure, whether in a stall, corral or on the trail. Sometimes I'll be riding with people who see me do a short circle around a manure pile that my horse just dropped and sometimes I get asked why? The reason I do this is that you can get an idea on the health of horse or maybe get a lead on emerging problems by evaluating their manure.

I'm not only looking at what the manure looks like, but how many piles that horse will drop in a given day, and each horse is different. My quarterhorses and grade horses will drop 9 to 12 piles a day, while my Mustang only drops 6 to 7 piles a day.  Any quantity much different and that horse bears watching just a little more closely. 

Each horse's normal manure will look different. Some horses normal manure will be flakey and sometimes break apart when hitting the ground; other horses may drop smaller piles with balls more roundish than not; and yet others may drop egg shaped balls. If I put all my horses in one corral I can tell what manure pile belongs to what horse which is helpful on determining if any one horse is dropping significantly less piles than normal, which can be indicative of a looming problem, usually dehydration and subsequent colic.

Normal manure is generally formed manure balls that appear to be a little wet. If they are not glistening with moisture then I would not get worried unless they appear to have a mucous type covering.   After a while you'll know what is normal for that horse and what is not. The picture of manure at right is pretty normal.

Very dry piles can lead you to believe that the horse may be hydrated. Sometimes I'll soak his hay in water for a couple feeding to see if he gets moisture back into his manure. If I have been watching that horse then I see mucous on the manure then I would absolutely call my Vet. 

Manure piles that are somewhat or mostly unformed, like the picture at left, could be a result of sickness or discomfort, from sand or a change of feeds.  The manure in the picture wouldn't spin me up unless it started becoming worse - wetter and less formed.

Runny and unformed manure piles, almost looking like a cow pie, can be indicative of sand in the gut. My Vet tells me that some horses can have as much as 80 lbs of sand in the gut. The horse's system will drive fluid to the gut to help remove it, hence the wet unformed piles. Dehydration becomes a real threat from this.

You can test for sand by collecting some of the manure that hasn't contacted the ground and put it into a quart sized ball jar. I'll put about 3-4 inches of manure in the jar, then fill with water, shake and let it settle for 15-20 minutes. If there is sand in the gut,  it will settle to the bottom of the jar and be visible. The picture at right is manure, like a cow pie, likely caused by too much sand.  And while it is likely feed issues cause digestive problems which you see in the manure, I also think that, in some horses, their manure can show increased stress. 

If sand is present, especially in any quantity, you need to take action. I will never hesitate to call my Vet, but I also try to stop problems before I call her. I use Sand Clear, a pelleted psyllium seed husk supplement, that I add to my horses fortified feed for a five day period every 4 to 5 weeks, and on one horse in particular I usually put him through a 10 day regime of Sand Clear once every 4 - 5 weeks as he seems to take in more sand than the other horses.

I think that some horses, particularly older horses, may benefit from pro-biotics.   I feed pro-bios in paste form, about every six days, to a couple of my horses.  While I think it may be helpful, I just don't know for sure.      

Another thing to look for in your horse's manure piles is bits and pieces of undigested feed. This can be because your horse is not chewing his feed completely enough - maybe a problem that can be fixed with getting his teeth floated.  Again, preventive care in the form of routine dental exams is a good idea.  Have a safe, and healthy journey.  

Cowboy Humor - The Blue Ribbon

Warning! This is PG-17 type humor. A Texas Ranger sent this to me. Since the Rangers are the most respected, honest and incorruptible law enforcement agency ever, I thought I could get away posting this.

The Blue Ribbon

A couple has a dog that snores. Annoyed because she can't sleep, the wife goes to the vet to see if he can help. The vet tells the woman to tie a ribbon around the dog's testicles, and he will stop snoring.

"Yeah right!" she thinks, leaving the vet and heading home.

Later that night just after going to bed, the dog begins snoring, as usual. The wife tosses and turns, unable to sleep. Muttering to herself, she goes to the closet and grabs a piece of red ribbon and ties it carefully around the dog's testicles.

Sure enough, the dog stops snoring! The woman is amazed!

Later that night, her husband returns home drunk from being out drinking with his buddies. He climbs into bed, falls asleep and begins snoring loudly.

The woman thinks maybe the ribbon might work on him.

So, she goes to the closet again, grabs a piece of blue ribbon and ties it around her husband's testicles. Amazingly, it also works on him!

The woman sleeps soundly.

In the morning, the husband awakes from his drunken stupor and stumbles into the bathroom.

As he stands in front of the toilet, he glances in the mirror and sees a blue ribbon attached to his privates.

He is very confused and as he walks back into the bedroom, he sees the red ribbon attached to his dog's testicles.

He shakes his head and looks at the dog and whispers, "I don't know where we were ... or what we did ... but, by God, we took first and second place."

Raincoat Spooking Horses?

Deb has left a new comment on the post "Scary Objects and Spooky Horses": "I went out this am to feed my two mares in there stalls/runs and it was raining, I wore a dark windbreaker and hood, they both acted like I was bear! I spoke and petted but they both acted too fidgety for me. How best to work it out with them?"

Hey Deb, interesting comment and question you sent in. I think there is a lot about how horses see, especially concerning colors or at low light that people, or at least I, don't understand too well.

Are there some other circumstances like heavy sudden rain catching the horses out in the open? or heavy rain hitting a metal roof and making a God awful racket? I got caught out in the open in a heavy rain storm with a young horse once and he was still all worked up even after I got him underneath some cover. So is it possible that maybe your horses didn't see or hear you coming because of the rain and you caught them by surprise, much like the adrenaline we get when we narrowly avoid being in a traffic accident.

On the speculation on just how well horses see color and at night or low light - you can google it and see a lot of articles on this from scientific explanations or theories to experiments. Here are a couple article on the vision of a horse:

Understanding How Your Horse Sees

How Does Your Horse See?

A couple of years ago I did a short day light experiment where I place several things one of my horse's has never seen on the fence and road him up to each to see how he would react to each. Each item was close to be the same size and there was little to no wind so there was no scary flappiness going on. And before any of you write me and tell me flappiness is not a word,......if you know what I meant, then there is no need to bring my making words up to my attention - leave that to my daughter.

Anyway, back to my experiment. I used a folded blue tarp, a folded section of green canvas tentage and a yellow rain slicker. Which do you think my horse had the biggest issue with? It was the blue tarp. The green canvas tentage and the yellow slicker he had absolutely no problem with. But he was a little concerned with the blue tarp as he stopped and needed encouragement to approach it.

Another time I was looking for some cows that escaped a holding pen at night. I was moving along a dirt road next to railroad tracks and the moon has cast a shadow of a tree across the dirt road. My horse stopped and did not want to move forward. It took me a minute to figure out that he must have thought the shadow was a big hole. I just took the time for him to get comfortable where he was until I could get him to step up into the shadow.  Survival instinct for sure, but bad night vision?  I just don't know.    

Anyway, on your question on 'how to get them through being anxious when you approached in a dark wind breaker and hood',.....the way I'd approach it is like anything else new to them, present them with that situation again, dressed in a dark coat and hat/hood at low light, and see how they react, progressing as slow as you need to go until they are comfortable with your different looking approach.  Good luck and safe journey.   

Military Horsemanship and Animal Packing

The Marine Corps, recognizing the importance of horses for many different reasons, has built very nice horse facilities on both coasts for the stabling of service members horses as well as for  therapeutic horsemanship for wounded Marines, and running education programs such as Vet Tech courses and Horseshoeing program for veterans. The Army, perhaps having a harder time with funding, has taken the reverse course, and in some cases, closing down horse stables on military installations which force service members with horses to find local stables for their horses. I managed the last horse stables on Fort Bliss, closing it down in February 2007.

The story below came out in USA Today about the U.S. Marine Corps Packing Course and U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers (Green Berets) participating in the training. Actually, military pack animal training has been on-going for quite some time. In the 1970's and 1980's, it was common for Army Special Forces units to send "A" detachments to commercial pack animal schools or contracting guide services to run pack training.

Around 1987, the 5th Special Forces Group, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, started up the 3 week Special Operations Animal Packing (SOAP) Course dedicating full time instructors which trained not only Special Forces team but other military units in animal packing not limited to Horses and Mules. Packing on llamas, dogs, goats and elephants was also taught under the supervision of Master Sergeant Larry Jones. The picture at right is MSG Jones with a sawbuck pack saddle.

The Special Operations Animal Packing Course spurred developent of modified Decker pack saddles, and packing techniques suitable for the loads and special equipment for Special Forces operations, as well as re-writing Field Manual 31-27, Pack Animals in support of Special Operations (Officially released in 2000).

After the initial U.S. invasion of Afghanistan following the 9-11 attacks, Army Special Forces team would rotate through Fort Bliss-El Paso Texas area to train in the desert and mountainous environment prior to deploying to Southwest Asia. Sometimes these deployments to Afghanistan would place an "A" detachment in remote areas where vehicles were sometimes impractical or not available, but Afghani horses were. I was asked to train several teams in horsemanship, so I developed what I called a Functional Horsemanship course for these teams, attempting to make them safe and operable with horses in a very short amount of time.

New horsepower for war zones: Special Forces saddle up

The men emerged over the crest of a ridge and guided their horses along a tree line, skirting a wide meadow. They picked their way along narrow trails, climbing higher into the Sierra until a panorama of snowcapped peaks and a broad green valley unfolded beneath them.

The men, Special Forces soldiers dressed in jeans and other civilian clothes, led their horses into a thick stand of pine trees, where they dismounted and let the horses drink from a clear mountain stream before breaking out their own rations.

At this remote training area high in the Sierra, the U.S. Marine Corps is reviving the horsemanship skills that were once a key part of the nation's armed forces but were cast aside when tanks and armored vehicles replaced them. The need to bring these skills back was driven home in Afghanistan in 2001, when the first Special Forces soldiers to arrive found themselves fighting on horseback alongside tribesmen in rugged terrain without roads. Many had never ridden a horse before.

"We don't want to reinvent anything," said Marine Capt. Seth Miller, the officer in charge of formal schools at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center. "These are skills that were lost."

Marine instructors are teaching the students, most of them Army Special Forces soldiers, how to control horses, care for them and load packs. The students are taught how to calculate routes and distances for rides and what to look for when purchasing horses from locals. For example, checking teeth is a good way to determine age and avoid getting ripped off by a farmer trying to pass off an ancient mule or horse.

In a throwback to the old Wild West days, instructors are considering training soldiers in how to shoot from a moving horse.

No one is talking about bringing back the cavalry, but horses are an effective way for Special Forces and other small units to move around the battlefield, instructors said. They can travel long distances quietly and don't require the gasoline and massive logistics trains that encumber motorized forces.

For all its advantages in technology, the U.S. military has been dragged into the most primitive of fights in Iraq and Afghanistan, driving home the point that technology isn't always the answer.

"We get caught up with what's new and high-speed," Miller said.

On a recent morning, 13 students packed their mules and horses shortly after sunrise at base camp, preparing for a 14-mile ride that would take them high into the Sierra, mountains that were familiar to gold prospectors more than a century ago. Students ride a total of about 110 miles during the 16-day course.

"My butt's going to be sore," said Air Force Tech Sgt. Jeryd Leuck, who specializes in search-and- rescue operations, as he prepared to mount his horse, Chesty. Leuck said that before he started the course, his only equestrian experience was a childhood pony ride.

The students mounted horses and picked their way up a steep, shrub-covered slope that would take them out of the base camp. Six mules were part of the patrol.

The animals are remarkably efficient. Mules can carry several hundred pounds and walk up to 55 miles a day, requiring nothing more than grass and water. If required, they can survive several days without water and longer without food. They have no problem climbing to heights of more than 10,000 feet, at altitudes where some helicopters struggle because of a lack of lift.

"This has been proven to work," said Marine Maj. Sven Jensen, operations officer for the training center, pointing to a group of men resting by their horses and mules as sunlight streamed through the trees. "This has worked for the last 3,000 years."

The Marines Corps, which takes an almost perverse pride in a Spartan lifestyle and a fondness for low-technology solutions, has offered a mule-packing course here since the 1980s. It launched the horsemanship training about three years ago after receiving requests from Army Special Forces soldiers.

It's the only such course in the U.S. military, and demand is high.

USA TODAY was allowed unlimited access to observe training as long as it didn't identify by name or photograph the faces of the Special Forces soldiers taking the course. Because they sometimes conduct covert missions, Special Forces soldiers typically request they not be identified publicly.

The only requirement for students is that they are part of the special operations community, since they would have the most use for the training.

Tony Parkhurst, director of the horsemanship and mule packing course, built the curriculum by delving into old cavalry manuals and studying American Indian tactics and techniques. The equestrian sports of today, such as dressage or jumping, are too specialized to be of much use to the military. Instead, Parkhurst studied procedures that were popular when horses were used for transportation and plowing fields.

"The Indians were actually better than our cavalry," Parkhurst said. "They were phenomenal guerrilla fighters."

Cavalry officers in the 1800s had to calculate things such as how far horses could march, how much food they consumed and how best to pack them with equipment and weapons.

The pack saddle used for mules here would be recognized by Genghis Khan's army, Parkhurst said.

The Marines have stopped at nothing in an effort to recapture the skills lost when the military turned to mechanized warfare.

Not many people know how to shoot from a moving horse these days, so the Marines turned to Annie Bianco, who goes by the name Outlaw Annie and is a leading practitioner of the small but growing sport of cowboy mounted shooting. She fires a six-shooter at targets from a galloping horse. A couple of instructors from the training center visited her ranch in Arizona.

Bianco knows how to desensitize horses to the sound of gunfire. "Horses are flighty animals," she said. "Their first response from gunfire is to try and get away from it."

What instructors have discovered is the horses of today are softer than their ancestors, who plowed fields and carried riders over vast distances. "We've bred them and made them more athletic over time," Bianco said. "That's made it more difficult to find the well-rounded horse." Most of the horses used at the course are former mustangs, or wild horses, trained by inmates in the Northern Nevada Correctional Center. They are both well-rounded and cheap.

Although the Pentagon is turning back to age-old battlefield techniques, it is hardly giving up on technology. In fact, it's trying to make a robotic version of the mule. The $62 million program is called the LS3, or legged squad support system, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency describes it as a "highly mobile, semiautonomous legged robot."

The Pentagon consulted with some of the instructors here to learn more about real mules. The instructors seem skeptical that technology can improve much on the real thing. Parkhurst said, "I can buy a whole load of mules for $60 million."

Review of CSI Saddle Pad

Having worn out a couple Impact Gel saddle pads, I was looking to buy another good saddle pad. I have used about every type of saddle pad,...sheepskin lined, felt, and even neoprene saddle pads, which I used under a blanket and mostly for arena roping. I never liked the neoprene pads and how they build up heat under the saddle no matter how many air holes they had.

I did work with SaddleSkin, in developing a saddle pad from a non-natural material that is the same Cooling and Trauma Attenuation material and design that is used between body armor and the user's clothing, to reduce trauma from bullet impact to body armor being absorbed by the body, as well as to provide a cooling effect to the skin surface. The SaddleSkin worked as advertised, protecting the horse's back and keeping the Horse's back cooler through air channels and holes. I also found that the SaddleSkin also kept the saddle from slipping.   However, I just really like felt pads, so I was looking to get a felt pad replacement.

I have known about CSI Saddle Pads for a couple years now, but the price kind of put me off, so after a couple of months of getting used to the idea of spending that much money, I finally ordered one directly from CSI.

Much like the Impact Gel Saddle Pads, which uses a gel pad in between layers of felt to absorb and reduce trauma to the horse's back, the CSI Saddle pads uses what they call a "flex plate" to dissipate trauma from pressure of the saddle's bars on the horse's back. The flex plate is visible in the photo at left.

The CSI Saddle Pad is actually a two piece pad. The bottom piece is a traditional felt pad, available in 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch thickness and a top piece that is automotive carpet sandwiched around the flex plate. There is a thin line of velcro sewn into the bottom spine of the top pad (flex plate) so that it can mate with the bottom felt pad and not slip. The photo at right shows the two layers and you can see that the bottom felt pad is relieved to reduce bulk for the front cinch.



Both pieces have air holes that line up and are designed to let heat escape the horses back.    The photo at left shows the air holes in the spine of the pad.  The bottom felt pad is reversible as well, extending the using life of this pad.  And as you can see from the two top photos, the CSI pad is formed for the withers.  It fit nicely on the three horses with varying wither heights that I tried it on.  I don't think anyone would be disappointed with a CSI Saddle Pad.


CSI hosts a series of videos    on saddle fit, horse balance, back and health issues. In the video below, Rhonda Martin discusses how saddle fit affects the function of the horse.

Saddle/Tack Tip - Saving your Blevins Buckle Keeper

Have you ever seen a Blevins Buckle come undone when someone is riding? It's usually caused by the blevins buckle keeper coming off or riding up allowing the blevins buckle to pop out of the holes in the stirrup leather. When this happens, it's possible for the rider to have enough weight in the that stirrup to cause him or her to lose their balance and come off, particular when riding to the inside.

Sometimes it can even be funny. Years ago I was working with my daughter and her friend running barrels and my daughter's friend's father, who was one of those guys who thought he could bend a horse (not to mention people) to his will, butted in because he didn't like his daughter uses both hands (direct reining) when riding - he was calling it "plough reining".    Anyway, he took over his daughter's horse to demonstrate what he wanted and as karma would have it, he went around a barrel, and lacking a stirrup hobble, the Blevins Buckle came undone, his stirrup fell off and so did he. He got mad and went away,.....I'm just glad he went away...the horse was glad too.

Most people ride with Stirrup hobbles on their saddles, not only to keep the stirrup leathers together, but to keep the Blevins Buckle keeper from sliding off the stirrup leather. On a couple of saddle's I not only use a stirrups bobble but I use a slotted concho and length of saddle string to create a button on the bottom of the stirrup leather to catch a loose Blevins Buckle keeper as a backup to the stirrup hobble. You can run the piece of saddle string through two of the holes intended for the blevins buckle, or you can punch a new hole new to an existing hole for the saddle string to be run through the slotted concho. The photo at right shows the blevins buckle keeper and the slotted concho I rigged at the bottom of the stirrup leather.











The photo below shows how this appears when the stirrup is turned when your foot is in it.  It does not interfere with my boot going in or coming out of the stirrup

I was in a Jackpot the other weekend when one of my partners lost her Blevins Buckle keeper. She did not have any stirrup hobbles, so when she eventually found it and got her saddle all sorted out, we ran a short piece of saddle string through a couple of the holes below the Blevins Buckle to catch the Keeper if it came loose again.  Always handy to keep an extra piece or two of leather strings around. 

Some of us short legged riders will also have the issue of too long of stirrup leathers producing a length of leather hanging down. Not necessarily a good idea to cut these off as it restricts lengthening the stirrups for longer legged riders.

Usually the excess length is wrapped around and kept in place with the stirrup hobble, but sometimes it's not long enough do that. On one of my saddles the excess stirrup leather was too short to wrap around so I punched three holes in the bottom of the excess stirrup leather and tied it into the stirrup hobble. The photo below shows how that is rigged and how that looks. Hope this helps someone out there that may have this similar problem.

Safe Tying Solution - The Functional Tie Ring

Most of us had had a horse spook while tied. What normally happens, if the horse is tied hard and fast, is that the fear of whatever spooked him is exacerbated and/or replaced by the fear of being confined by the halter and the pressure of that halter on his poll (behind his ears), and sometimes pressure behind the jaw and on the nose if the halter is fitted right.

The weak spot in most halters is the metal snap connecting the lead rope to the halter - this usually breaks when a horse pulls back hard. If you are using a tied on lead rope, like on a rope halter, the halter itself can break.  Had that happen once.

If your horse is in a trailer when the halter or lead rope breaks, the horse can drive his head into the top of the trailer and sometimes with fatal results.

Have you ever seen a horse spook while cross tied? If the surface is slippery, the horse's feet can go out from underneath himself and a neck or leg injury is possible.

There are several tying devices on the market that allow the lead rope to be fed through a ring so when the horse pulls back a friction controlled release is obtained. The Clip is one such device. The reason I'm not fond if it, is that the ring (hole) that the lead rope is fed through is pretty small making it hard to fed larger diameter lead ropes through, and, one side of the clip has a rope channel with a knurled screw type device that is designed to be used to tighten the rope so it won't feed out if you prefer, but it can damaged lead ropes if you aren't careful or if the horse pulls back.

Another device is the Blocker Tie Ring or Aussie Tie Ring, which is pretty much the same purpose, but the design is a little different in that is uses a pivoting, magnetic arm for the rope to feed around.   

If you are not familiar with the Blocker or Aussie Tie Rings, it may be easier to go to the link to see them, but basically this device resembles half a snaffle bit. A lead line is fed through a ring and a pivoting arm is flipped up between the bite on the lead rope. A magnet on the pivoting arm holds the arm in place. I have seen a lot of these in use, but again the size of the hole is just a little bit small for my liking and it is possible to feed through a lead rope backwards so that when the horse pulls back the arm releases and frees the horse. To be fair, if someone isn't paying attention and "reverse ties" a horse then they probably have other problems as well. The main advantage with this tying device is that it can stay connected via a snap link while the lead line is fed through and the pivot arm flipped up into place.

For about 10 years now I have been using a different tie ring and after being asked repeatedly to make it available to others, I applied for a patent and received a provisional patent on what I call the Functional Tie Ring.

There are other uses for the Functional Tie Ring other than to quick tie horses.  Using the Functional Tie Ring you can teach your horse not to pull back but putting some pressure on him and causing him to pull back where his body weight pulling back feeds the lead rope through the tie ring in a controlled manner giving him a release.  When you repeat this the horse will pull back less and less, figuring out that he doesn't need to pull back at all.

If you use thicker three or four strand cotton ropes for leads ropes, they are easy to fit through the big hole and loop around the Functional Tie Ring, more so than if you use another tie ring with a smaller diameter hole.  And the Functional Tie Ring is reversible - you can hook the snap link to the bigger diameter hole and use the smaller hole to feed smaller lead ropes through, like if you are using the lead rope or get down rope portion of mecate reins. 

I use my tie rings on the cross ties on my shoeing stand and wash stand.  I've had horses pull back once in while but it is a minor event compared to what usually happens when a horse pulls back then feels that pressure from the halter and panics. 

I also use the Functional Tie Rings looped through a rope from my trailer to a tree or pole creating a high line to picket my horses on.  This provides a loop to snap or tie your leads onto.  And lastly a note on bungee trailer ties.  These are bungee cords with snaps and both ends and are designed to provide the horse a release when they pull back.  I advise never to use these. I have seen twice, maybe three times where a horse has pulled back, breaking the bungee or the snap and having that elastic cord snap back and hit the horse in the face.    

The video below helps explain how I use the Functional Tie Ring.  You can click on the link here to purchase a Functional Tie Ring, and these is a static link on the left hand side of the website. 

Safe Journey to you and your horses.   

Do You Use Protective Boots on Your Horse?

One of the things that will drive your heart through stomach is the sight of a bowed tendon or any number of other leg injuries that potentially can make a horse chronically lame.  There are good products such as sports medicine boots and bell boots available that can help reduce these injuries. I think horse owners should consider whether their horse can benefit from protective equipment during the many different types of activities and riding environments they are using their horses in.

While splint boots and sports medicine boots are different,  some people have taken to using either term to describe both. I use what the industry calls sports medicine boots which are basically wraps, with a neoprene liner, and secured with velcro, that cover most of the pastern, cradle the fetlock and wrap around most of the cannon bone to provide support to those tendons and protection from trauma such as the horse clipping his leg with the opposite foot. If the horse is wearing shoes this can result in a pretty significant cut and damage to the flexor tendon.

Bell boots, also called over reach boots, protect the heel bulbs from the back feet over stepping and clipping the heel bulbs. Again, when wearing shoes this can be a pretty bad cut and usually lames up a horse. Sometimes when over reaching, the back feet can step on the back end of the front shoes and spring a shoe. Riding horses long enough and you'll experience one or the other, or both. Bell boots can protect your horse's front feet especially when riding in events or terrain that make over stepping more likely. While there are inexpensive pull on rubber bell boots, I prefer the wrap around bell boots that have a velcro closure in front and a raised guide in the back that fits between the heel bulbs to keep the boot from turning (called "no turn" boots).

Riding, especially in a lope, in deep sand can make over stepping more likely and cause an injury as can events which require direction changes at speed such as cutting or roping. I suppose jumping horses can be prone to heel bulb or tendon/ligament injuries as well, but I can't speak from experience on that as I only jump horses on accident which usually results in the horn of my saddle making contact to my gut, or, worse yet, other vital areas. 

While I didn't always put sports medicine boots and/or bell boots on my horses, now days I err on the side of caution and if I'm exposing or using my horses in certain events I'll usually put one or the other, if not both, to give my horse some protection.   

The other day I went to do some ranch sorting so I put sports medicine boots on my horse. When we got back and took off the boots I notice a tear in the inside left boot which indicated my horse catching his left leg with his right front hoof.   See picture at right.  

So somewhere between trailering him back and forth and sorting cows in the pens, this occurred. I was pretty much glad that I put those sports medicine boots on.

Professional's Choice and Classic Equine are two of the companies making hoof and leg protective gear.  A pair of sports medicine boots starting at around $65 and a pair of decent bell boots for under $30 can make a good addition for a safe ride - just give it a thought for your horse.
 

Wild Horse Contraceptive Pilot Program

This is a report from the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) on a fertility control program on Wild Horses using the immunocontraceptive drug PZP. This drug is administered through a dart gun. This is a one shot vaccine which has an effectiveness of one year. Reported to be well under $30 a dose, this seems like part of a good solution to minimize the growth in Wild Horses herds. Maybe it’ll also keep the gathers down where rough handling and abuse is pretty much normal, and makes me just sick to see horse's treated that way.

The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, under the auspices of its parent organization Return to Freedom and in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management, has embarked on a pilot fertility control program for wild horses living in the Fish Springs area of Gardnerville, NV. The horses are living in a Herd Area adjacent to the Pine Nut Herd Management Area (HMA). Learn more about the program here.

AWHPC's Deniz Bolbol was in the field April 23-25 to remotely dart mares with PZP fertility control. She reports:

This project is a great opportunity to make Fish Springs a model pilot program of private-public partnership and community involvement of fertility control for wild horses. Like other BLM HMAs - Little Book Cliffs in Colorado, McCullough Peaks in Wyoming and others -- the local community is volunteering to help the BLM manage wild horses in the Fish Springs area of Gardnerville. The program is targeted to manage and reduce the number of horses in the Fish Springs area through humane fertility control and natural attrition. Had this pilot program begun in November or December 2013, as we recommended, we would have worked to immunized all mares. But the wheels of government turn slowly, and the project did not receive the go ahead until recently. As a result, we are doing the best we can with the situation this year, given the late start.

To date this year, 9 foals have been born. This not only makes those 9 mares non-candidates for fertility control (because they could have already bred back making fertility control efforts futile as PZP is safe and does not negatively affect or abort fetuses), but also complicates efforts to administer PZP because newborn foals are highly guarded by their mothers and families making the horses difficult to approach. To protect foals - the most vulnerable members of the family - mares are increasingly flighty and less tolerant of humans approaching them. This heightened protectiveness hinders the PZP darter's ability to get close enough to dart.

Our experience in the field this week resulted in the darting of a number of mares, and increased our knowledge base about the Fish Springs horses and the necessary ingredients for a successful fertility control darting program. We look forward to returning and working closely with the BLM and the local residents to humanely manage these beautiful wild horses.

Surviving the Heat - Horses and Humans

What prompted this post is the heat wave that many parts of the country is facing right now. Here in West Texas, after weeks of mid to high 90's in May, we are now experiencing 102 to 109 degree temperatures with no relief in sight. This of course poses the danger of dehydration and heat injuries to humans and horses alike. To horses there is not only an increases in the chance of colic, but kidney failure as well.

Dehydration happens when the horse or the human loses water and electrolytes, normally through sweating, and fails to replace it. The average horse owner can tell a horse may be dehydrated by excessively dry manure or even a lack of manure; general lethargy of the horse; decreased capillary refill of the gums; decreased skin elasticity; and a lack of saliva especially if you are riding with a bit that would normally help the horse salivate.  Horse can appear to be drawn up where their barrels met the haunches. You may not recognize it as dehydration, but you'll know something isn't right.       

I have a hard time telling the color of the gums or how fast the gum's re-fill after removing pressure with my thumb but I do use the skin pinch test. I'll use my thumb and fore finger to pinch loose skin on the neck (some prefer the back) and see how fast it lays back flat. If the loose skin fold stays tented it means the horse is dehydrated.

Another thing to look for is how often your horse urinates and how clear the urine is indicating the level of hydration. Just like human's yellow tinged urine can be a result of mineral or vitamin supplements if you feed those, but certainly your horse is having hydration problems if the urine is more darker than clear and appears to be thicker.

The key to preventing dehydration, and potentially a serious heat injury, is prevention. The horse needs access to fresh water 24/7. Fresh water is not just a stock tank with water - it is relatively dirt and debris free water. When I ran a large horse barn, the most common interaction I had with owners was the lack of adequate water for the horses they boarded there.  All horses are different in what they consume water wise in a given day, but is doesn't take long to figure out what is normal for each horse. 

Many like the automatic waters. Ritchie is the most common name in automatic waterers. I don't use automatic waterers as I prefer to be able to gauge the amount of water my horses take in each day. But these devices can certainly save time and are easier to clean than a large stock tank.

Horses also need at least a white salt block to replace the lost sodium. This is a very cheap solution as one $5 or $6 salt block will last a horse for along time.   For some horses, a mineral block is a better solution, although most of the cheaper mineral blocks are mostly salt. My horses won't lick these mineral blocks, so I keep a couple of salt blocks available to them free choice. If you are concerned about your horses getting the proper minerals then there are a couple of good choices on the market in the form of solid blocks: Redmond Rock advertises 60+ minerals in the Redmond Rock. ADM Alliance offers their Moormans Grostrong (Mineral) Quad Block which comes scored into fourths so a quarter can be broken off and placed in a horse's feeder if you have horses that are fed separately.

After abundant, clean water and at least a salt block is provided to the horse, I believe that to give a horse a fair life, a shelter where they can get out of the Sun (and rain) from time to time is necessary. It makes me angry at owners and sad for the horse when I see them day after day in pens without overhead cover or anything to provide shade, and especially so when these pens are small and cannot provide adequate room for exercise. In fact, that's a slow death for a horse - to be placed in a small pen, again day after day, and only have contact with another living being once or twice a day when the owner can be bothered to throw feed to the horse.

One more thing I do if I going to riding in really hot conditions is to let the horse eat water soaked hay out of a bucket.  Maybe you can't make them drink, but if they are hungry they will the wet hay getting a substantial amount of water. 

Humans need to be concerned about dehydration as well. Most of us wake in the morning in a state of slight dehydration. Drinking a diuretic like coffee then doing chores in the hot Sun without water creates a susceptibility for a heat injury. Some people, either because of embarrassment or maybe their horse are too tall for easy mounting, will actually reduce their water intake as they don't want to have to dismount and pee some place. These riders need to be aware that dizziness, headaches, fatigue, dry mouth, darker urine and/or decreased urine output are all signs of dehydration - you better then some water into yourself pronto.  I suggest drinking 8 - 12 ounces of water when you wake up, before your coffee.

And don't save your water for later.  If you want to ration something, ration your sweat and your direct exposure to the Sun.  Drink your water - it won't do you any good otherwise. 

Even in the winter time, I never head out on horseback without a canteen. And there are options other than the canteen looped around your saddle horn. Saddlebags are a good option to carry water bottles and a Camel-Bak or other hydration pack worn over your shoulders backpack style are good things to do to ensure you carry water ,.....now all you have to do is drink it. In fact, Camel-Baks are great since if you get throwed or if your horse runs off on you, you'll still have your water supply with you.

               

Memorial Day - 2014

On this Memorial Day, remembering those who gave the last full measure of devotion. If you ever think things are turning south for this country, all you have to do is take a look at those young men and women who gave the last full measure of devotion or those who left one or more limbs on far off battlefields to keep those real and dire threats as far away as possible from this Country, and you will know that this country still continues to produce great and selfless people.  God bless and care for our fallen and our wounded.   

John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends".  

 

Cold Backed or Crow Hopping Horse

Paul wrote in: "First off I love your site and the education and advice you provide. My horse often gives me a hard time when I go to ride him. He's 17. He starts with crow hopping and sometimes light bucking and so far the only thing that works is for me to get off him and lunge him for 30 minutes or more and then he gets quiet. Any suggestions as it is becoming so time consuming when I want to ride and lose way too much time in the process. Thanks."

Thanks for writing Paul. Assuming no problems with the bit or saddle fit, you already have one part of your answer - when you lunge him he gets quiet. That's because you are making him work, directing him to move his feet. And I think this only works when the horse is engaged with you. If he is moving around and distracted, like with his head looking outside, then I would change directions, and change directions often.

So when I have a horse that wants to throw a little fit, I make him work. When we make them work it forces the horse to focus on us. You have heard the saying "making the wrong thing work and the right thing a release", so when you give them a break from work, it's noticeable to them. I think some people approach this from the other end, thinking the work is punishment and they want to horse to understand when they act up, they get punished with work, when it's actually wanting the horse to seek the release.

An example is when a person tries to mount and the horse moves off. Sometimes the rider will jerk on the lead line or reins and try to make the horse stand still which usually doesn't work, then tries to mount again. If that rider would move that horse around, moving his feet with energy, then allow the horse to stand, the horse feels that release and will most often now stand for mounting. The rider didn't get to this point by punishing the horse,...they got to it by moving the horse's feet then allowing the horse to feel the release.

The other thing is to get him to agree that you are in control. Again, we do this by making them move their feet. This can be lunging him or it can be backing him,...or, moving his hind end or his front end over. Practically anything where you direct him and he complies, accepting you as the leader. When I take a young horse or an older horse with an attitude, in hand (under halter), I stop him, back him, get him to come to me, move his front end over, and move his back end over. It is sort of like a pre-ride ground check.

And when you think about it, working and moving the feet are the same thing, or working is the idea and moving the feet is how to get there.

Having said all that, no amount of lunging will take the buck out of a horse, so when I lunge a horse before I ride it is to warm him up and let me check for any problems, and to reaffirm to him that I'm in charge by moving his feet under my direction.

But sometimes you just got to get to work and don't time to lunge a horse, so as I lead a horse from the corral to the tie rail, I'll stop him, back him, have him step out on a light lead past me, and roll his back end away and bring his front end over. I may throw the lead line over the side away from me and have him disengage his back end then bring his front end over. All this takes just a few minutes and serves notice that we're getting ready to go to work, kind of like a reminder that you are in charge.

One of my horses, who is coming 13, is really good as crow hopping early in the ride if I asked for a lope, or sometimes when I hold him back and he wants to run. I don't get down then lunge him, but I may do several different thing. I just may double him, rides circles, or stop and back him 30 feet or so then trot out,.....if I'm asking for a lope and he crow hops, sometimes I'll push him into a gallop and when he wants to slow I won't let him.

Your question is a common issue, and while I certainly don't have all the answers and I hope this helps. If it doesn't then keep seeking the answer. Safe journey.

Bosals and Hackamores, What's the Difference?

I have received two e-mails with these comments: #1: "I don't like a Bosal. I think they are too harsh on a horse. I prefer a Hackamore." #2: "What is the purpose for the rope underneath the horse's head for your Hackamore?"

I'm not sure how to answer the first question, other than it shows the sometimes confusion over a Hackamore and the Bosal.    What is pretty clear is about anything you place in a horse's mouth or over a horse's nose can be harsh and cause pain if you are too hard and fast with your hands operating the reins. Granted, there is a lot confusion concerning terminology on bosals and hackamores, but when I use the term Bosal, I mean the nose band by itself. I use the term Hackamore when the Bosal is connected to a headstall and reins.  In the picture above right, I have the headstall connected over the side button of the bosal as opposed to between the side buttons and the nose band. I like it this way so the headstall is not so close to the horse's eye.

Traditionalists and really good horsemen (I am neither) will use a Bosal with just a hanger rather than a headstall. A hanger is really a leather strap that goes over the horse's poll and sometimes a thin leather string will be tied from the Bosal to the horse's forelock to help keep the Bosal in place.

I use a regular browband headstall with a fiador (see the picture at right). The "rope under the horse's head" is the fiador which keeps the horse from shaking the headstall off his head and keeps the horse from shedding the headstall when you are on the ground leading with the rein portion of the mecate reins. The fiador needs to be pretty snug behind the jaw.  In the picture I am taking up slack in the left rein causing the slack in the fiador.  When pressure on the reins is released, the Bosal will drop back into place.    

The Mecate rein, also called McCarthy reins, are a one piece rein, usually 20-22 feet long, connected to the Bosal by tying it into the Bosal above the heel knot and using the excess as a lead line when leading the horse in hand. When riding, this lead line can be coiled and tied to the saddle using the saddle strings (see photo at left), tied to the saddle horn, or is fed up through the rider's belt so it can be fed out easily when pulled from the Bosal end - this way if you come off the horse accidentally, you won't be drug if the horse takes off on you.

The part of the Bosal over the horse's nose is called the nose button and there are difference thickness. Given the same quality of braiding on the nose button, bigger diameter nose buttons will spread out and therefore lighten the pressure on the nose more so than a thinner bosal. As a horse becomes more finished in the Hackamore, a lighter and thinner Bosal would normally be used.

A direct rein is normally used when riding a horse in a Hackamore, especially in the beginning as the mecate reins connect at the bottom of the bosal, just above the heel knot and direction can be unclear or confusing to a horse in the beginning. Neck reining can be introduced as the horse becomes good in the hackamore and be built upon.

Certainly an improperly positioned hackamore, too low on the nose and over the soft tissue and cartilage can hurt a horse, and being too harsh with your hands can be painful as well, but there is no reason to think a bosal is in and of itself a harsh tool. In fact, I think a horse that is normally bitted can benefit from also be ridden in a bosal if for nothing more than a break on his mouth.