S peak i ng for t he Hor se s: Not Ju st a Too l

By: Dr. Matt Fehr, Animal Medical Center, Great Bend, Kansas

As we go through our day to day lives we all have tools that we use, every day, that aid us in the jobs we do. Some tools are just there to make things a little easier, while others are nearly indispensable. Obviously, since this is an equine column, the tool I am going to talk about is a horse.

Though not all feed yards utilize horses, those that do, find them to be a nearly indispensible tool, one that makes nearly every job of the cowboy easier. From riding pens and sorting sick critters to shipping fats, the horse is there, every day, in all kinds of weather, carrying his cowboy companion and aiding in the day to day grind of feed yard life.

Ok. Now it’s time to contradict myself. I know my first paragraph was all about describing how a horse is an indispensable tool to the feed yard cowboy, but they are so much more than JUST a tool. Horses are a living, breathing being with a spirit and a soul capable of becoming a best friend and truest companion to the one that depends on them every day.

Those of you that spend your day in the saddle KNOW that a horse with a good mind, that is eager to work, will make your day much easier and much more pleasant. However, a horse with a negative mind that is not in the mood to work, will make your day much more difficult and leave you exhausted at the end of the day.

Right now, those of you that can read, are saying, ‘Yea, what’s your point?’ My point is that we can greatly affect the attitude of our horse with how we treat them every day. That living breathing soul that packs you around every day has feelings. They feel pain. They get tired. They get sore. They mentally get cross and need encouragement to straighten their mind. They need TLC!!

The horse is NOT a hammer that you can use to drive nails all day, throw it in the bed of the truck, then use it to drive nails again all day the next day. They are a tool but they are a tool that needs to be well cared for. They need to be well fed. They need time off when they are tired and sore or injured. You CAN NOT treat them like just another hammer and expect them to give you their all every day.

Most of you understand and agree with what I am saying, but there are a few that will read this and toss it aside muttering some explicit language and questioning my manhood. Those are the ones I am trying to get through to!

Over and over I see horses that are lame or horses that have sores on their back or whose spine has been out of alignment for so long that they can’t engage their hips without bucking in pain, yet they are still being ridden all day every day. Think about yourself for a minute. If your back hurts, you don’t want to work; it makes your day a struggle and generally probably makes you grouchy. Now, look at the cowboy next to you, think about you with a sore back carrying that cowboy around the yard all day. Pretty soon you will give up. Pretty soon you will hurt so bad that you can barely move and your attitude will become so sour that nobody can stand you.

When that happens, do you want that cowboy to give you some time off and maybe get your back adjusted, or would you prefer him to gouge you with his spurs all day and whip you with the reins every time you refuse to trot because your back hurts so bad you want to fall down.

So, I encourage you all to take just a little more time each day to provide better care for your horse. Pay attention to his attitude, is he telling you he’s hurting?

Take the time to brush him before you throw saddle over his back. Check your blanket for burs and debris that can rub his hide and create saddle sores. Yes, I understand that any horse can get a sore from time to time, but many are preventable with a little care.

Take the time to take care of the sores when they do occur, don’t just continue riding and making them worse. If every horse you ride is covered with sores and has a sore in both corners of the mouth, which is probably a rider problem not a horse problem, it may be time to change your mind set a bit.

If that horse pins his ears and runs to the other side of the pen when you go to catch him, maybe he needs a mental health day, or maybe he is hurting and needs some medical attention. Try to remember that your four legged companion is a living creature who deserves care and respect, be his friend not just his boss.

Insight: The majority of a horse’s sensory input about its movement and balance come from the small muscles under the skin. If a horse has white spots on its withers from a saddle, that means there is already permanent muscle damage under that spot. Those white spots are not a badge of courage; they are an indication that the horse has lost some of his sensory input and some of his motor control. Any decrease in input and control make them less efficient and more prone to injury.