Horse Care Courses

Taking a horse care course before you get your horse or pony is a great way of making sure that you have the necessary knowledge to look after your equine. There are courses being run up and down the country, some over a few weeks, others a day course such as the one shown in this post at Hesbert Hall, even if you can't actually manage to attend a course you can still take on online. Anyway for today we'll take a look and see what the Hesbert Hall Equine Course offers:

HORSE CARE AND MANAGEMENT THE BASICS - SUNDAY 2nd October 2011 9am - 4pm

WHAT ARE WE DEALING WITH?

How evolution has made horses the kind of animal they are - social, grazing, running, prey animals     and how this affects our care and management practices.

The need for company: discussing conventional versus group housing and turnout.
Nutrition and feeding: the best types of feed and how to provide necessary nutrients for different     equine types and lifestyles.
Movement, exercise and work: natural patterns versus domestic routines.
Equine psychology and behaviour: why horses behave as they do, why they can appear to us to 'misbehave' which is really survival tactics, and what to do about it.

FACILITIES & EQUIPMENT NEEDED

Stables and shelters: equines are active, strong animals. They need strong, safe fences or             hedges and strongly-constructed stables and shelters. Sizes, materials, fittings and equipment,         bedding materials and mucking out.
Land requirements: grazing, freedom and exercise. Grassland types and management.
Feed and water containers: buckets, tubs, mangers, haynets and 'haybars', automatic drinkers,     troughs. Feed storage.
Grooming:  brushes and other kit.
Yard equipment: brushes, shovels, wheelbarrows, bedding forks.
Tack: saddles, bridles, harness and training equipment. Clothing.
First aid kits: a basic kit of essentials.
Exercise areas: indoor, covered and outdoor arenas, off-road riding, hacking.  How much exercise     and what type?

SKILLS AND TIME REQUIREMENTS

Your attitude: calm, firm and positive.
Handling: leading a horse in hand, moving him around, picking up feet, putting on and taking off headcollars, rugs, saddles and bridles. Boots and bandages.
Grooming: a basic grooming routine.
Health checks: what to look for, vital signs and when to call the vet. Insurance.
Mixing feeds: giving your horse his feed. Feeding in stable and field. Giving hay and haylage.
Mucking out: how to manage different bedding systems and materials.
Cleaning tack: make sure you can put it all back together before you take it apart! Products and     methods.

Find out more about Susan McBane

BOOKING ESSENTIAL

Maximum Number: 15

Price: £65 including lunch

For full details on this particular course visit Hesbert Hall Courses

BHS Horse Care Advice Free Leaflets

The following publications are available to download free of charge from the BHS website:

Buying and Owning Your First Horse

Loaning or Leasing a Horse or Pony

Sample Loan Agreement

Cutting Cost Without Compromise

Responsible Rehoming

Euthanasia

Tetanus and Influenza Vaccination

 

Colic

African Horse Sickness

African Horse Sickness – Frequently Asked Questions

BHS Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses & Ponies at Events

BHS Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses & Ponies at Events – Notes

How to Weigh Your Horse

Condition Scoring

Guidelines for the Keeping of Horses: Stable Sizes, Pasture and Fencing

The Cost of Keeping a Horse or Pony

Essential Health Care Requirements

Prevention and Management of Laminitis

The Dangers of Ragwort

Ragwort - friend or foe?

Pasture Management

Worm Control

Basic Feeding

Bedding

Respiratory Health

Strangles

Strategy to Eradicate and Prevent Strangles (STEPs)

Sweet Itch

Cushing's Disease

How much to feed your horse?

Baileys Horse Feeds has a really useful feed calculator on their website, they help you establish your horse's bodyweight to enable you to work out the amount of feed required according to workload.

Demonstration of How To Do the Tellington TTouch®

Watch Linda Tellington- Jones demonstrate a TTouch circular movement on YouTube, read more about it on Linda's website and blog Linda Tellington-Jones Talks Story 

Spanish Riding School of Vienna at Wembley 2011

The world famous Spanish Riding School Of Vienna will be performing at Wembley on 24th, 25th, 26 & 27th Novemeber tickets start at around £28.00 for more information or to book visit The Spanish Riding School Wembley 2011

THINK - horse and rider safety on the road

Horse Sense  - Pass horses wide and slow

Car drivers and horse riders both have a right to use the road. By considering each others' needs and following some basic advice, drivers and riders can help avoid accidents involving horses on the road.

THINK! Advice

Advice for motorists

• Slow down and be ready to stop if necessary
• Look out for riders' signals to slow down or stop
• Watch out for sudden movements, horses can be easily frightened and unpredictable
• Don't sound your horn or rev your engine
• Pass wide and slow when overtaking; giving the horse plenty of room. Don’t accelerate rapidly once you have passed them.
• On roundabouts, horse riders will keep to the left within the roundabout until reaching their exit, when they will signal left. They will normally signal right only when approaching exits they don't intend to use

Advice for horse riders

• Always display fluorescent/reflective clothing on both horse and rider whatever the weather or light conditions
• If at all avoidable, don't ride in failing light, fog or darkness. Avoid icy or snowy roads
• If riding a horse that is not used to roads, ask a rider with a horse who is experienced and calm to accompany you
• Never take a mounted group of more than eight horses on the road
• If riding two abreast, move into single file as soon as it is safe for the motorist to overtake. Don't ride more than two abreast on the road
• Always cross major crossings in a group, rather than trickling across one by one
• Leave details of your intended route and estimated time of return with a responsible person

extract from directgov

Tape Worms in Horses - Anoplocephala perfoliata, Anoplocephala magna & Anoplocephaloides mamillana

Autumn is upon us and it's now time to treat against tapeworm.

Diagnosing tapeworm in live horses is difficult as not finding tapeworm eggs in faeces does not mean that the horse is free of tapeworms, therefore egg counts are not reliable in the detection of tapeworm. The ELISA blood test for tapeworm antibodies is more reliable but even that isn't 100%.

Horses become infected with tapeworms when grazing or eating hay or bedding that is infected with the orbatid mite (forage mite) which is the intermediate host of the tapeworm. Eggs develop in the orbatid mite into immature tapeworms (cysticercoids) which will develops into an adult tapeworm  in the horses intestine, eggs are spread via the tapeworm segments illustrated above.

Tapeworm infestation is a major cause of spasmodic colic, current research estimates that over 20% of cases of spasmodic colic are related to tapeworm burden, they are also responsible for Ileal Impaction.

Exposure to tapeworms is greater during long periods of grazing eg. summer turnout, which is why we traditionally treat fro tapeworm in the autumn and then again six months later. Control tapeworm by worming with Equitape which treats Tapeworm only and should be used in addtion to your normal wormer or use a combination wormer such as Strongid P, Pyratape P, Equimax, Eqvalan Duo, Equest Pramox etc.

Remember keeping the horses enviroment free of dung is the most effective parasite control measure. Dropings should be removed from the field at least twice a week, stables and feeding untensils should be kept clean.

Photograph source Kleider Veterinary Services

Feeding Corn Oil to improve the condition of your horse's coat

Did you know that a little corn oil in your horse's feed will improve the condition of his coat? And yes you can use oil from the supermarket. As always make any feeding changes gradual (The Basic Rules of Feeding Horses) and start with only a splash. Some horses won't like the taste at first, mixing with chaff helps, but once your horse is happy with this you can gradually increase the amount fed to around 80ml / 2.7fl ozs a day for a shiny coat.

Colic in Horses : An Owner's Guide - Free iPhone app

A free app from the iTunes store for horse owners -

This application has been developed by an equine veterinarian and walks horse owners through steps to be taken when their horse is colicky. Owners will learn to perform a basic physical exam and what the parameters can mean. They will also learn when to call their vet out versus when to get their horse to the hospital asap.

Dr. Keith Taraba is the owner of Northeast Texas Equine Services in Pittsburg, TX. He has nearly a decade of experience in managing equine colic and has received training at one of the nation's most renowned equine referral centers.

Robert Duncan's "Tribute To The Horse" - Ladies and Gentlemen: The Horse!

Where in this world can man find nobility without pride, friendship
without envy, beauty without vanity?
Here, where grace is laced with muscle, and strength by gentleness confined.
He serves without servility; he has fought without enmity.
There is nothing so powerful, nothing less violent; there is nothing so quick,
nothing more patient.
Our past has been borne on his back.
All our history is his industry:
we are his heirs, he is our inheritance.
Ladies and Gentlemen: The Horse!
Robert Duncan

Robert Duncan's "Tribute To The Horse" is read every year at The Horse Of The Year Show, known as the "World's most famous horse show"  this years HOYS takes place at Birmingham's NEC from 4th - 9th October for further information and to book tickets visit http://www.hoys.co.uk/

Your Horse Live 2011 - Win Tickets

 Laura Bechtolsheimer, Geoff Billington and Oliver Townend will be teaming up to share knowledge and experience  at this years Your Horse Live. And that’s not all - International Grand Prix dressage rider Anna Ross Davies will be making her Your Horse Live debut and performing an exclusive dressage to music pas de deux with fellow rider Roland Tong. Anna will be explaining what goes on behind the scenes to bring a beautifully choreographed dressage display to life.

With some 300 trade stands this years Your Horse Live, 12th - 13th Novemeber, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire is bound to be a great day out.

The free magazine Equi-Ads, available from tack shops, feed merchants etc,  has teamed up with Your Horse Live to offer 4 readers a chance of winning a pair of adult tickets to the event. All you have to do is answer a simple question:

Where is Your Horse Live 2011 taking place?

and send the answer along with name, address, telephone number by email to liz@equiads.net or answer on a poscard and send your entry to: Your Horse Live Competion, Equi-Ads Office, 1 Tayview Industrial Estate, Friarton Road, Perth, PH2 8DG.

Full details of the competion can be found in the September edition of Equi-Ads, for more information on Your Horse Live 2011 and to book tickets in advance visit http://www.yourhorse.co.uk/your-horse-live-2011/

Monty Roberts "From My Hands To Yours" UK tour dates

Monty Roberts returns to the Uk with his "From My Hands To Yours" Tour, How to Create Your OWN Safe & Willin Equine Partner.

Watch Join Up live, and see how it can encourage trust and understnading.

How Western training techniques can help You produce a softer, lighter ridden horse.

Solutions for everyday problems such as napping, loading, spooking, mounting etc.

"An action packed show to Inspire, Eucate & Entertain"

22 Sept - South Staffordshore College, Penkridge, Staffs.

24th Sept - Brook Farm TC, Stapleford Abbots, Essex.

29th Sept - Arena UK, Allington, Lincs.

1st Oct - Gleneagles EC, Auchterader, Perthshire.

3rd Oct - Greenlands Ec, Carlisle, Cumbria.

15th Oct - Hadlow College, Tonbridge, Kent

21st Oct - Bishop Burton, Beverley, Hull.

23rd Oct - Myerscough, Preston, Lancs

2nd Nov - The Grange Ec, Okehampton, Devon.

4th Nov - Hartpury College, Hartpury,Gloucester.

For further information visit http://www.intelligenthorsemanship.co.uk/ or telephone 01488 71300

Saddle Pads

What do you do when you find that your horse has changed shape and your saddle no longer fits perfectly?

 Ideally you'd have a saddler come out and refit the saddle or purchase another that fits correctly. But what if you believe the problem to be due to a temporary change in shape caused eg. due to loss of condition / lack of fitness. Do you invest in another saddle that may not fit in a few months time?

The answer to your problem could be the use of a saddle pad, there are a large variety available to eliviate all sorts of saddle fitting problems on a temporary basis. The one pictured above is the Prolite Wither Pad designed to s lift the front of a saddle and eliminate pressure caused by the points of the saddle tree on high-withered horses or where muscle wastage makes saddle fitting difficult.

The Wintec Front Riser Pad has an extra layer in the front to provide increased lift to saddles sitting to low on the withers and is ideal for fitting horses with a very low wither or minimal muscles across their shoulders.

The Prolite Adjustable Relief Pad has removable inserts which can be adapted to alter the fit of the saddle as muscle tone changes.

The Aerborn Aerolite Combi Riser is relief pad with additional removable shims in both the front and the rear aimed at adjusting the balance and fit of your saddle. Its pressure relieving, impact and friction absorbing properties help to alleviate bruising, saddle sores and dissipates the weight and pressure distribution under the saddle without reducing saddle stability. It's for use on young developing or rehabilitating horses, large yards where one saddle would be used on numerous horses or for just general condition change through the seasons

The Wintec Rear Riser Pad is made from shock absorbing foam which is moulded to fit the chamber of the saddle. It gives an extra layer to provide increased lift to the back of saddles for horses that are changing shape or have a poor top line and is ideal for fitting horses with a very high wither or sway back.

This is just a small selection of saddle pads currently on the market to give you an idea of what is available, they are great as a temporary measure but please remember that you really do need a well fitted saddle for both your horses and your own comfort and the best way to achieve this is with the advice of a qualified saddler.