PEANUTS

By Ted Howard, Ted Howard Stockmanship, Production Animal Consultation

Peanuts wasn’t the easiest horse to be around. He always wanted attention. He would paw his metal bunk if he felt you weren’t moving fast enough with his feed. He was never very excited to be caught, and when he was being saddled, he spent most of the time pawing the barn floor. H owever, he w as a great heel horse and a solid addition to my stockmanship work in the feedyards. He could adjust his speed to any situation at hand. I trusted him with any rider I asked him to carry, most importantly my granddaughters.

A few weeks ago, my granddaughters came out to ride. They had only ridden for a few minutes when I saw them dismount and start leading Peanuts and their other horse back to the barn. Peanuts had broken his back leg above the hock loping in a dry field.

Accidents can happen at any time. However, accidents are more prevalent this time of year with the difficult ground conditions and cold weather. Not only are we under more pressures in the winter months, so are our equine partners. Colder weather increases the nutrient and water requirements for our horses. It is important to make sure the energy in our horses is maintained at a high level. The inconsistent footing in the pens and alleyways is also a pressure for our horses.

In previous articles I have discussed the importance of the correct horseshoes for different types of ground conditions. Toes and heels, as well as rim shoes, need to be used appropriately to give your horse greater traction. We must also remember to use the horse that is best suited for the situation or day.

Horses are all different in their range of abilities. Just like in the horseracing world or on the barrel racing circuits, each horse handles ground differently. Some racehorses can run in mud while others cannot. Barrel horses have different successes depending on their abilities to manage all kinds of ground. Therefore, we cannot be surprised in the feedlots that we have horses that are better than others handling different types of ground conditions.

I normally see three horses per stockman used in a rotational manner. Two horses are interchanged every other day and another horse is turned out resting. This system rotates every ten days to two weeks. Know your horses well enough to know which one is appropriate for the day’s conditions. Sometimes a younger, less sure-footed horse is best used on a day that is not quite as slick or treacherous. However, with that being said, we cannot overuse our solid, more sure-footed horses.

More sure-footed horses handle the muddy or slick ground conditions and allow us to pull cattle quietly. Horses that struggle keeping their feet under them tend to be nervous and preoccupied and therefore create unease in the cattle. Our cattle are struggling with the same ground conditions and will move more tentatively and perhaps slower. Remembering to allow the cattle to set the pace to the gate when pulling them is important.

We need to set up ourselves and our horses for a very safe experience. We cannot benefit our horse, the cattle entrusted to our care, or our team if we are hurt. Working on our horsemanship in the warmer months helps for an easier winter season.

Now that we are headed into spring, we can start to rebuild the confidence in our horses. The tough ground conditions have caused us to lower our expectations for our horses. We haven’t been riding every corner of our pens to help with tighter time constraints and cold weather. However, this has set a poor example for our horses. As the climate changes, we can get back to our regular routines and ask our horses to travel throughout the pens freely. This will rebuild their confidence.

The horses that have been ridden all winter deserve a long break due to sore joints walking in deep mud. It is very important that we rest our horses for their physical and mental health. Each horse is special in its own way and deserves the best care we can provide.

I hope each one of you has had a “Peanuts” in your life or will someday have that special horse, that when they leave this world, you will remember them as one of the greats.

Ted Howard’s life has always revolved around the horse. He holds a deep respect for the horse and has always made his living with one. Twelve years riding pens allowed him to recognize the importance of the horse in relationship to handling cattle. Ted has owned a horse shoeing and training business and currently owns and operates a cow/calf operation. Running cattle on grass and in stock fi elds allows him to use stockmanship principles in an environment different from the feedyard. In 2013, Ted was offered the opportunity to consult with Production Animal Consultation’s Animal Stewardship division. By specializing in horsemanship, Ted can help others utilize the horse to become better stockmen in the feedyard industry.