EQUINE WELLNESS
Equine
Your natural resource!
WELLNESS
holiday ISSUE INSIDE TASTY HOLIDAY RECIPES!
SAVING
BOWEN
SCOUT
FOR BALANCE Solve imbalances with this popular therapy
How a holistic approach brought back health
OUT TO
grass?
OUTBREAK! Quarantine protocols to protect
When it’s time to retire your horse
your horses and farm
CLUB FEET
MUCH ADO ABOUT PMU Focus on a controversial industry
Causes and corrections
REFLEX POINT
TESTING
November/December 2009 Display until December 15, 2009
A unique way to assess nutritional health
$5.95 USA/Canada
VOLUME 4 ISSUE 6
EquineWellnessMagazine.com
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contents November/December 2009
28 14 features 14 straight tO the pOint Is he nutritionally balanced? Are his organs working optimally? Now you can find out using reflex point testing.
18 equi-bOw: bODy balancing fOr hOrses This increasingly popular therapy can help your horse with imbalances you many not even realize he has.
20 Much aDO abOut pMu A close-up look at a controversial industry.
24 apple Of yOur eye Holiday delights for the horses in your life.
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28 Out tO grass? Retirement isn’t just for older horses. Here’s how to tell when it’s time to stop working your equine, and how to make the transition as stress-free as possible.
38 Duty calls Cleaning and inspecting your horse’s “private” areas may not be a task you relish, but it’s important for his health and comfort.
45 JOin the club Find out what could cause a club foot in your horse, and how to prevent, treat and even correct it.
48 getting a “feel” fOr it – part 2 When developing a “better feel” of your horse, adjusting your inner attitude is the name of the game.
54 Outbreak! When infectious diseases strike, having proper quarantine plans and procedures in place can help protect your horses and farm from a world of worry.
60 saving scOut A holistic approach and lots of TLC helped this pinto mustang back to health and happiness.
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24 DepartMents
cOluMns
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neighborhood news
8 editorial
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from agony to ecstasy
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a natural performer
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51
book reviews
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your health tail end
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heads up!
equine wellness resource guide
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Marketplace
64
classifieds
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events calendar
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apple Of yOur
eye HoLIDAy DELIGHTS FoR THE HoRSES IN yoUR LIFE. by auDi DOnaMOr
rom the time I learned to walk, horses were always a part of my daily life. I couldn’t wait for my dad to come home from his ofice, so I could ind out if I would get to go with him to the stable to visit Little John, and the other horses. Visits to the stable were like the holiday season and the very best birthdays, rolled into one great big wonderful event.
f
December was always a magical time at the stable. We’d be all bundled up, and if I was really good, there would be hot chocolate for me, and extra special treats to give to the horses. Now, over 50 years later, I still think of those extra special moments at the stable, going from stall to stall with my treats for the horses. It seemed to me they knew when I was coming to visit, and even now, just thinking of those times brings a smile to my face. While treat recipes have evolved over the years, the
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basics remain the same – something that tastes good, and something that is packed with goodness. Have fun making your “apple slides” and “carrot shots,” and do try making your own wreath. It’s lots of fun, and one more way we can celebrate the joy and love of the holiday season.
Apple slides
Carrot shots
Ingredients • 6 red apples • Local honey, e.g., blueberry, wildlower, dandelion, desert sage* • Whole oat lakes, oatmeal, or simple granola (oats, sunlower seeds and sesame seeds) • Cinnamon • Sundried unsulphured cranberries
Ingredients • 1 cup pureéd carrots* • 11/2 cups whole oat lour • 2 heaping tablespoons carob powder • 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon • 1 teaspoon Endless Pawsibilities VaryBerry™ Power Powder, or cranberry extract • 2 heaping tablespoons unsweetened desiccated coconut • 1 cup simple granola (mixture of rolled oats, sunlower seeds and sesame seeds) • 1/2 cup iltered water • Extra granola • Sundried unsulphured cranberries • Try adding 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of Acadian sea kelp for an extra nutritional and lavor “pop”
Instructions 1. Try to use organic ingredients whenever possible. 2. Preheat oven to 300°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. 3. Slice apples to a thickness of 1/8” to 1/4” and place them on the cookie sheets. 4. Drizzle honey on the apple slices. It will spread to the edges of the slices. (They aren’t called “slides” for nothing!) 5. Sprinkle with your choice of oat lakes, oatmeal or granola. 6. Sprinkle with cinnamon. A loose tea strainer is perfect for this task. 7. Bake for one hour. 8. Freeze the apple slides right on the cookie sheets. If you are “gifting” them, purchase a glass plate at the dollar store, or buy a neat China plate from a garage sale. Lay the apple slides on the plate, decorate with more sundried cranberries, add some fresh berries or an apple rosette (see next page) and cinnamon sticks. 9. For quick trips from the house to the barn, apple slides can be frozen in layers in Ziploc bags, and defrosted as you need them.
Instructions 1. Try to use organic ingredients whenever possible. 2. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 3. Pureé carrots in a food processor or blender. 4. Add all other ingredients, with the exception of the extra granola and cranberries. 5. Form dough into large “trufles,” about the size of a tablespoon. Roll in granola, place on cookie sheet and add a fresh or sundried unsulphured cranberry or two. 6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, then allow carrot shots to cool completely before storing in an airtight container. 7. One batch makes 24 carrot shots. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. The dough freezes beautifully. *In place of pureéd carrots, try unsweetened apple sauce, unsweetened apple butter, pumpkin butter or hemp butter. Combinations work well too.
*If you have an insulin resistant horse, you can use apple juice or hemp oil in place of honey. Hemp oil is packed with nutrients and has a wonderful nutty lavor that horses love. By the way, apples and oats are low on the Glycemic Index. equine wellness
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Suzanne and Tigger enjoy a very slow, balanced canter.
ride circles
around’eM! by bOb Jeffreys anD suzanne shepparD
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FROM AGONY TO ECSTASY Loping circles can be a lot of fun. perfecting them by changing the speed and circle size adds an extra dimension of interest and enjoyment for both you and your horse. erfect circles at the canter or lope really show off your partnership with your horse. Although circles are practiced in all disciplines, we’re here talking about loping large, small, fast or slow circles, as in the world of reining. There’s almost nothing sweeter than watching a really large, fast circle dialed down to a nice, easy slow canter within a deined area, without a strong pull on the reins or an abrupt jolt to the rider. So how do we get there?
p
TWo CoMMoN pRoBLEMS
the center to the other side, and resume the circle. Do not change directions or leads. This succeeds because it makes your horse work harder when he drifts than he would have to if he stayed on the circle. Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing dificult. Hmm, sounds familiar, doesn’t it? To handle the horse “falling in” to the middle, use a similar but slightly different approach. As he falls in, immediately straighten him out by turning him outside, and then ride a straight line to the nearest point where you can re-enter the circle. You don’t cross the center this time because that would be taking him where he wants to go in the irst place. Rather, as he falls in, turn him outside, then ride a straight line back to the circle.
When you want to change the size of your circle from large to small, or vice versa, simply use your reins and legs accordingly.
Let’s assume your horse can lope on cue in the correct lead, and that you are riding correctly, in good balance, without leaning into the circle or sending unclear signals. Be sure to look about 20 to 25 feet ahead in your circle – in other words, focus on the next quarter of the circle you’re riding, not the quarter you are on. This will send your focus clearly out, helping your horse succeed. Then you’ll need to teach him to “guide” willingly. What we mean here is that when you put him on a circle, he’ll stay on it with little or no help from you. When you irst start to teach this lesson, what will normally happen is that your horse will either drift out of your circle, effectively making it larger, or “fall in” toward the middle, making it smaller. We don’t want to be constantly correcting either or both of these faults. So let’s say you want to ride a 75’ circle, and the horse starts to drift outside that diameter (toward the gate, one of his buddies, or for whatever other reason). You need to turn him toward the inside of the circle fairly abruptly, ride a straight line right across the center to the opposite side, then re-enter the circle gently. Every single time he drifts out, turn him inside, ride a straight line across
Bob and Blackjac lope a very fast circle bridle-less! Do the exercises described in the article as one step to this advanced maneuver.
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