Equine wellness
January/february 2010
Equine
Your natural resource!
wellness
rehab & rescue special issue What’s your horse’s
learning style?
food for equine Wellness Magazine
thought
How to beef up a malnourished rescue
keepingtrack
Why you should make a record of his health info
The $1
dressage champion Craniosacral
therapy 101
Stall bound? Keep her busy while she recovers VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1
January/February 2010 Display until February 16, 2010 $5.95 USA/Canada
VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1
America’s first horse Kick off the dust! A look at dust control options for the arena Rehabbing
retired racehorses EquineWellnessMagazine.com
equine wellness
Contents January/February 2010
13 features 13 Craniosacral therapy 101
This subtle modality can have a dramatic effect on your horse’s well being.
16 Educating equines
What’s your horse’s learning style? Natural horsemanship and animal communication can help you find out.
24 Keep him busy Is your horse undergoing stall rest and unable to work? Find out how to keep his mind and manners sharp while he’s recuperating.
26 Off to the races!
Considering a retired racehorse? Here are some obstacles you may face, and how you can begin connecting with your new friend.
41 29 Food for thought
Many rescued horses are thin and undernourished, but don’t just give him all he can eat. Take the time to feed him the right way.
34 Put your foot down
Taking on a rescue horse often means taking on health issues, including hoof problems. Here are some guidelines for trimming a rescue.
41 America’s first horse
He might be small, but the Spanish Mustang played an instrumental role in the development of the “Old West”.
46 Keeping track
When was the last time your horse had a dental check? Answering questions like these is much easier if you make a record of his health information.
50 Rehab how-to’s Nursing a horse back to wellness means learning how to do health related tasks.
54 Give dust the dust-off
Dusty footing can be bad for you and your horse, but some control options are better than others. Learn how to choose the right product for your arena.
64 happily ever after
Need some inspiration? Two equestrians share the journeys of their personal rehab horses.
equine wellness
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46 Departments
Columns
10 Neighborhood news
8 Editorial
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21 Heads up
Holistic veterinary advice Talking with Dr. Kelli Taylor
32 A natural performer
37 Equine Wellness resource guide
49 Book reviews
59 Marketplace
56 From agony to ecstasy
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62 Did you know?
63 Events calendar
16
Classifieds
50 equine wellness
Keep him busy Is your horse undergoing stall rest and unable to work? Find out how to keep his mind and manners sharp while he’s recuperating. by Kelly Howling
I
remember when I purchased my very first horse. He was a large 16.2hh gelding. Like anyone when they get their first horse, I was very excited to begin working with him and developing a partnership. Just a few days after bringing him home, he came up very lame. He’d had a couple of large hoof abscesses brewing, and the additional moving around he was doing in his new environment brought them to the surface. As he was still on facility-ruled quarantine, it was simplest to put him on stall rest until the abscesses resolved. It is disappointing not to be able to ride your new horse – but there’s nothing quite like playing “veterinarian” to discover plenty of little things to work on with him during his convalescence!
Mind your manners My gelding did not want to stand with his foot in the bucket of warm water/Epsom salts. He did not want any icky concoctions syringed into his mouth. He was not particularly patient about holding his hoof up for lengthy periods while I struggled with poultice, vet wrap and miles of duct tape. In short, after a few days confined to a stall, this 24/7 turnout horse was getting a wee bit exciting to handle. Your horse’s training does not have to stop just because he is on stall rest. If anything, it can be just as important to keep working with your horse in some fashion during this time. Bored horses with energy to burn can “forget” their manners, and come up with countless new games to test out on their handlers.
Keep things interesting Following are some of my favorite things to work on with horses that are on stall rest or rehabbing. As always, your safety comes first – if your horse does not handle stall rest well, and is overly difficult or energetic to handle, only do things you know you can do safely. Balance your training sessions with how your horse is feeling – you don’t need to play with him for an hour at a time. Horses that are in pain or feeling somewhat miserable are going to be more touchy, just like people. A few repetitions of an exercise or technique are sufficient. Do not do anything
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equine wellness
Horses that are in pain or feeling somewhat miserable are going to be more touchy, just like people. with your horse that will aggravate his condition, and know when to ease off.
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Body yields. Yielding is an easy thing to work on with your horse at any time – you can do it while working around or grooming your horse in the stall. Have your horse softly move his front or hind end away, move sideways, back up, lower his head, and so on.
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First aid practice. Painful injuries can bring out the worst in our horses, and understandably so. It can be tough to help your horse understand that if he would just let you clean that sore cut, you’ll be able to help make it feel better. If I have to syringe anything into my horse’s mouth, I like to practice a few times by putting something yummy in the syringe so he doesn’t start to anticipate the syringe with an icky taste. Injections are generally not a horse’s favorite thing, so it can be a good idea to practice teaching your horse to relax for needles, rather than getting tense and worried. A popular way to simulate this is with a toothpick – the horse gets the sensation of a needle without breaking the skin. Depending on where the horse’s injury is, I will also practice my leg wrapping technique, and teach the horse not to helpfully lift his leg as I am wrapping. It may be necessary to teach your horse to stand for cold hosing, or to stand in a bucket or water or ice.
make time for while your horse is in work. If you have a horse that is difficult to halter or bridle, softly work on having him accept each of these things. Work on mane pulling and braiding, if that is in your grooming regime, and basic clipping (every horse should be able to accept clippers, in case of an injury/emergency). If you have a horse that can get rude at feeding time, remind him how to behave in a mannerly fashion.
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Touch acceptance. If I have a horse that’s touchy about certain areas of his body, I will use stall time to increase touch acceptance. Again, don’t aggravate certain areas if the horse is in pain, and read the horse to know when to leave well enough alone. We commonly work on hoof handling, desensitizing the ear-shy horse, handling/cleaning the horse’s nether regions, and whatever else a particular horse may get fidgety about. Stall rest does not mean putting a halt on training or bonding with your horse. In fact, it can be very beneficial in the long run. Again, when working with a horse that is injured and on rest, keep your safety and your horse’s pain level/attitude in mind. Do not do anything that will aggravate him or his injury. Have fun with your horse, and by the time he is ready to go back to work, you will have an equine partner that is better in areas you perhaps overlooked or didn’t make time for in the past. Some of the exercises will improve your skills too!
Bored horses with energy to burn can “forget” their manners, and come up with countless new games to test out on their handlers.
I wouldn’t practice techniques involving an affected limb or even a leg that is not affected, since if the horse objects and picks up that leg, he will transfer more weight to the injured limb. Stick to areas that are not going to annoy your horse.
3
Everyday reminders. This involves working on things you don’t always have or equine wellness
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