The WildHorse Blogsite

More Horses at Lesser Cost

Tip! Self Discipline - Horses take a lot of time and work, so your child will have to be dedicated to learning how to ride and handle horses effectively. I have found that dedication is rarely something that children lacks when it comes to horses.

For 36 years now, innovating the line of reusable cotton gauze filter technology for automobiles has been the bread and butter for K&N Engineering. And what bread and butter it is that the steady growth has been established to make K&N a global company. From its roots of being a family undertaking, the filter company grew into immense proportions, having offices already in the United Kingdom and Netherlands. A leader in its field, K&N already has an extensive line of factory and replacement drop-in filters, Fuel Injection Performance Kits and its own line of Golden oil filters.

For starters, the automobile engine is essentially a giant air pump, combusting a mixture of fuel and air with a carefully timed spark. The more air the engine has available, the more horsepower it can make. The F150 K&N Intake lets the engine breathe cleaner air for more torque and tremendous power. It hinders dust particles from entering the engine’s combustion chambers. The cabin air filters, meanwhile, purify the air that enters the truck’s ventilation system.

The K&N air filter utilizes a special filter media made of cotton gauze and oiled with K&N’s special filter oil. This combination of gauze media and filter oil serves as a tough wall so that dirt won’t be able to get past. It doesn’t get steadily choke like what a standard, stock air filter does. Instead, the dirt captured by K&N air filter even acts to filter out more dirt. This gives the engine a steady diet of clean air for more horsepower. This condition also shows how improved the throttle response of an engine is.

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Throttle response is measured by the amount of delay or hesitation that the vehicle exhibits between when the gas pedal is pressed down and when the engine responds by delivering power. Improvements in throttle response give s more “pep” in the car’s acceleration.

As the K&N air filter gets dirty, it can readily be washed up and re-oiled via the K&N recharge kit. It is a Lifetime filter, which means there is no replacement needed. It also means that it even draws a bigger bang for the buck as there is no more shelling out of additional money for replacement, low-performing air filters.

K&N air filters also add on fuel saving for an engine. As the engine is getting the maximum amount of clean air through the K&N filter, it becomes more efficient. This shows a drastic improvement in fuel economy as the engine doesn’t have to gasp for more air caused by an inefficient air filter. Other plus factors for better fuel mileage is by making sure that the tires are properly inflated and removing unused accessory racks and heavy items whenever a vehicle is not in use.

Tip! Learn Trust - Horses must be able to trust their handlers. One of the first things that your child will learn about handling and riding horses is to be trustworthy and dependable, because if the horse doesn’t trust its handler it will not obey him/her.

As the engine breathes easier, K&N air filters contributes for cleaner air. Its High-Flow technology reduces vehicle emissions related to pollution. The cotton composition is renewable, unlike the paper-made ones from trees that would surely take many years to grow to maturity.

These are just but a some of the breath-taking features of K&N air filters. Molded with many years of industry expertise, F150 K&N Intake will continue to heave cleaner air for optimum engine performance.

Evangeline Austero is woman kart racer. She enjoys being on the fast lane. She is a sportswoman through and through, from soccer to squash to triathlon. She dreams of becoming the first F1 woman driver, and she recommends K&N products like the F150 K&N Intake (http://www.speedyperformanceparts.com/cold_air_management/f150_5.4l_v8/772556kp/) for every racer.

Of Barn Doors And Horses

Tip! If you choose to work with green horses (youngsters) you have to recognize that you are taking on the role of teacher/parent/
disciplinarian and in that role, anytime you lose your temper you cause more work for yourself down the road and you confuse the horse. It is specifically for this reason that I don’t recommend HOT clubbers purchase green stock.

There’s nothing more important to most people than protecting their family. The safety of your loved ones, your sweetheart or husband or wife or children, matters more than money, status, or the kind of car you drive. After all, if your loved ones aren’t safe, do material things really count for that much?

Many years ago, I lived in a brownstone in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. It was a neighborhood “in transition” in those years, and we were diligent about locking up. But one night I woke up at 3:00 a.m., startled to find a flashlight shining in my eyes. It was a police officer, and when my sweetheart and I sat up in bed, he whispered to us to be silent, then quickly told us what was going on.

A fireman at the firehouse across the street had happened to see someone climb through our first floor window and alerted the police, who had hurried over without sirens, entered the same way, and were now searching the house.

Upstairs, they caught the man in the landlady’s bedroom - holding her at knifepoint while he prepared to rape her. The knife was from my kitchen.

***

The next year we moved to SoHo in lower Manhattan. The first thing we did was install a new, high-security cylinder lock and a police lock on the door to the second floor loft. Since there was no way to reach the windows, we felt much safer.

One evening four or five years later, I came home from my job in midtown and couldn’t understand why my keys wouldn’t work. I turned the cylinder, felt the bolt move, unlocked the police lock, but I couldn’t budge the door. Something was very strange.

Finally, I realized that I was locking the door, not unlocking it!

When I walked in, I knew that my instinct that something was wrong had been right. I saw in an instant that my home had been burglarized. The thieves had climbed up and in through the back window (which faced an alley), using the skylight of the ground-floor apartment to reach the second floor. Somehow, they hadn’t broken a single pane of glass during their climb. Then they forced the window and, once inside, rifled our belongings at their leisure.

Tip! Self Discipline - Horses take a lot of time and work, so your child will have to be dedicated to learning how to ride and handle horses effectively. I have found that dedication is rarely something that children lacks when it comes to horses.

I called the police, of course, and New York’s finest arrived quickly and set to work. One dusted for fingerprints while the other walked through the loft with me as we took inventory.

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Missing were two TVs, a 0 VCR, all my videotapes, some cash, and . . . a suitcase! The detectives recognized the signature style of a pair of burglars working the neighborhood: they always took things they could put in the suitcase and carry out without attracting attention, and they’d probably walked out with the loot in broad daylight, just as though it belonged to them.

We were unharmed and grateful, but it’s still devastating to know that strangers have been inside your home, poking through your drawers, rifling your papers as they look for cash, touching your belongings. Those two experiences made me feel - though I don’t pretend that it’s anything like the same thing - as though I had, somehow, been raped. Violated. Sullied.

Both times, I thought our home was well protected. I had put quality locks on the doors, and in Brooklyn we had three doors to protect: the main entrance at the top of the steps, the lower door to the “garden apartment,” which was part of our duplex, and, of course, the door to the garden in back. The ground floor windows were all barred, and nobody could - I believed - climb up to the second floor and get in. I believed the same thing about SoHo.

Tip! Learn Trust - Horses must be able to trust their handlers. One of the first things that your child will learn about handling and riding horses is to be trustworthy and dependable, because if the horse doesn’t trust its handler it will not obey him/her.

Both times, the locks worked exactly as they were meant to. Nobody got in through a locked door. But clearly, those locks weren’t enough. Like the proverbial barn without a horse, the brownstone duplex and the second-floor SoHo loft both needed window gates for real security.

My advice as a long-ago victim of burglary? Get top quality locks on all the doors to your house, but don’t stop there. Protect EVERY access point to your home.

In other words, think ahead, and plan ahead; imagine your loved ones at risk, and unlike me, lock the barn door before the horse escapes.

Horses 101: The Complete Guide to Buying & Caring for Your Horse This ebook is full of vital information that every horseowner should have. It covers everything from buying a horse to feeding and more.

Originally Published: http://www.mr-locks.com/news.php?id=48

Solving the Biting Problems with Green Broke Horses

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I received a letter from a reader who is back into horses after many years away and has purchased a young, green broke horse. Her question was about biting. She mentioned in her note that the horse is grabby with its mouth and has started to nip her. Her choice of discipline included slapping him in the face, and she mentioned that afterwards she always felt guilty so she would go over to make nice/nice with the horse because she didn’t want him to be mad at her. I want to address this letter in the column for a couple of reasons that have nothing to do with biting:

1. There are a lot of similarities between training young horses and young children; the fundamental difference is about 1200 pounds. As anyone who has raised young children can attest, a 30 pound child can drive an adult out of their minds on a bad day and factor in the additional size of a young horse and you will have a sense of the challenges that can arise when working young, green-broke stock.

2. As with raising your children, it is critical to love them enough to be consistent, set boundaries and stick to your guns. Otherwise, you are doing them a disservice in the long haul. I want horsemen to get a sense of the amount of mental and physical work that is involved in training young horses so that you can make an intelligent decision when looking for your next horse. If you are coming back to ride and have fun, buy a well trained, finished horse and have the time of your life. There are plenty of fad trainers on the market today claiming that they can train a horse in 30 minutes. If you have raised children, you know how impossible that statement is and while you can get a horse to do certain things in a short amount of time, it will always take hundreds of hours to season a young horse properly so they end up as a reliable, trustworthy, steady mount and that is a lot of work. My rule of thumb is this; the real difference between green broke and seasoned is 400 hours of your time!

Tip! How to Learn From Our Mistakes - When your child first starts learning to ride and handle horses they will make a lot of mistakes and will learn quickly not to make the same mistake twice. That is what horsemanship is all about.

There was one point about biting that I did want to address here. I don’t want people slapping their horse in the face when it is the face that caused the problem. There is a school of thought that suggests that you should hit whatever part of the body committed the transgression. While I understand the logic, I don’t agree with it. I live by the same logic that engineers live by (do it once, do it well and don’t make more work for yourself along the way). My version of that rule is this, “never fix one problem by causing three new problems.” Slapping a horse in the face for biting may or may not stop the biting problem, but I guarantee it will create all kinds of head shy problems. If you teach your horse that your hand is a potential weapon, each time your hand approaches his face, don’t be surprised when your horse jerks his head away. This boo boo is sure to bite you when you try to bridle, groom the face, clip the face, put on halters, float teeth, treat medical issues or pet your horse. Teaching your horse to be head shy is counter productive and makes more work in the long haul.

Tip! Learn Patience - Horses are like children themselves, and training a horse is much like teaching a child. When your child has become a confident and skilled rider, letting them help train a horse will be an excellent experience for them.

By the way, I sent our reader a long, detailed blue print for fixing the biting problem without causing more problems in the process. However, in this column, I really want to focus on the underlying issues in her letter and those have little to do with biting.

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1. One of those issues is that training horses require a thinker, and neither requires you to necessarily be a rocket scientist but, you are required to be smarter and be able to out think the horse in your charge and as any non-pro who has worked with green stock can attest, there are days when it is hard to tell who is smarter and who is out thinking whom!

2. If you choose to work with green horses (youngsters) you have to recognize that you are taking on the role of teacher/parent/disciplinarian and in that role, anytime you lose your temper you cause more work for yourself down the road and you confuse the horse. It is specifically for this reason that I don’t recommend HOT clubbers purchase green stock. If you are coming back to horses looking for some fun and a relaxing outlet that you can enjoy when you can find free time in your schedule, buy a finished, older horse.

3. The other issue that I thought was important about the letter was the idea that the horse owner didn’t want to hurt the horse’s feelings so after disciplining the animal, she would go over and make a fuss over him. Trust me, in the wild, if the alpha horse reprimands an animal lower on the pecking order for getting cheeky, he/she won’t be going over to make nice/nice afterwards. Horses understand that there are boundaries and that is part of normal herd behavior. There are plenty of fad trainers on the market today talking about bonding with your horse, making friends, and becoming part of the herd, but at the end of the day, it is your job to teach and educate and that is best accomplished when you operate from the position of head of the herd, not just one of the boys. In the case of the reader with the biting horse, it is equally counter productive and confusing to sock a horse in the mouth for biting and then, for no apparent reason, fawn all over him two minutes later. When working with green stock, it is all about consistency.

Tip! Self Discipline - Horses take a lot of time and work, so your child will have to be dedicated to learning how to ride and handle horses effectively. I have found that dedication is rarely something that children lacks when it comes to horses.

A parent who says they never discipline their child and only wants to be their friend is a parent who is headed for disaster because a child who operates in a world without any boundaries is a child who will drive you, the neighbors, all the school teachers and the rest of the civilized world- nutty!

If your kids are raised and you loved the process, buy a green broke horse because it will be very similar to your experience rearing kids. However, if you have raised your children and while you don’t regret doing it, you wouldn’t want to go there again, bear that in mind when you are out shopping for your next horse. If you are a HOT clubber, you have earned the right to have fun. Buying a seasoned, well trained, finished horse is like spending time with your adult kids. Buying a green broke horse is like spending time with a toddler! In the case of my reader, the biting issue is the first of dozens of other challenges she is going to be facing in the months and years to come while working with a green broke animal. The value of her letter is that it brings up the ultimate question: Do you want to spend hundreds of hours teaching and training a horse to ride - or hundreds of hours riding a horse that is already trained? Food for thought when you get ready to shop for your next horse!

Tip! Learn Respect - Children will learn to respect their horses and themselves. Horses are large, dangerous creatures and they demand respect, yet in order to be handled safely they must also respect their handlers.

About the Author: Bonnie Marlewski-Probert  P.O. Box 548  Yellville, AR 72687  brmp@aol.com  www.TheCompletePet.com  www.Whitehallpublishing.com Bonnie Marlewski-Probert is an internationally respected writer and speaker. In addition to her work in the horse industry, Bonnie has also written for some of the top magazines in the world including Good Housekeeping, Science Journals, RV and Travel publications and a variety of Animal-related publications. She taught college courses on the art of writing and getting published and wrote a teaching guide called, “If I Can Do It, So Can You!” Bonnie has published more than 1000 magazine articles, ten books, two how-to videos and two syndicated columns. She is an internationally respected speaker for her content and for her humorous presentations. For more information on any of Bonnie’s books: A Parent’s Guide to Buying That First Horse, Debugging Your Horse, The Animal Lover’s Guide to the Internet, Horse Tales for the Soul, Volumes 1 - 5, Dog Tales for the Soul, Volume 1 OR for her videos: Debugging Your Horse and Trail Riding, Rules of the road, please visit ==>http://TheCompletePet.com

The Power of Horses - Guiding Us to Greater Growth

Tip! Self Discipline - Horses take a lot of time and work, so your child will have to be dedicated to learning how to ride and handle horses effectively. I have found that dedication is rarely something that children lacks when it comes to horses.

There are few natural leaders in our world, and even fewer role models who can teach us how to unlock our potential, show us how to live with intention, and help us embrace life’s fullness. Horses do this every day. They are natural leaders living fully among their herd with a clear intention of survival, safety, and order.

In their natural environment, horses’ survival depends on their ability to sense pending danger before it presents itself. Their heightened awareness tunes them into the positive and negative energy in their environment…and in humans. Their behaviors can help us uncover the actions needed to realign us with our surroundings and ourselves.

EquiCoaching involves working with horses and a coach who is experienced in human dynamics and horse behavior. Working with horses in this method creates significant growth experiences and provides insights often hidden from our awareness. This new knowledge opens the door to conscious choice, confidence and change. It does not involve riding. Instead, it requires quiet interaction with horses - observing them, asking and answering questions, and learning from them in a gentle way.

Horses impact humans in profound ways. During an EquiCoaching session, one participant talked with a gentle herd about the clients who pick at her and eat up her time, leaving little for family or herself. As she spoke of this, two horses nibbled at her pants and sleeves and crowded her. She giggled with excitement at the two and considered them loving and attentive. Another horse stood back, quietly observing. When asked about this horse, the woman walked over to him, gently stroked him, and talked of feeling bad because he was left out of the fun. She spent little time with him and quickly moved back to the two who had been “eating” at her.
 She realized that she enjoyed the clients who took all of her time; she liked feeling needed by them. Meanwhile, her family was patiently waiting for her when she had time for them. She experimented with moving away from the nibbling horses and spending time with the patient one, and recognized that it felt good to be with him. Yet she could easily step back to the other two, if she chose to do so.

Her revelation led her to allocate less time for her demanding clients, while still maintaining the relationships, and focus more time on her family and herself, creating a better balance and greater peace in her life.

One entrepreneur spent time approaching horses in their environment. He quickly noticed the fear rising inside him as he walked toward the horses. When he acknowledged this fear to the horses, he was able to walk up, touch them, and be with them. He pondered his approach to potential clients and recognized the same fear when he entered into those situations. With this new awareness, he began identifying his fear, breathing through it, and calming himself before meeting with a potential client. This shift resulted in more new clients and a 53% increase in business.

Another woman lovingly brushed a horse during a session. The handsome gelding turned and put his head against her. She thought it was sweet and that he liked her. As she continued brushing the horse and responding to questions, the horse nudged her. When asked if the behavior bothered her, she said no. The nudging intensified with each question and response, but she continued as if nothing strange were happening and assured the facilitators that she was fine. Finally, the nudges turned into a push that moved her about a foot. She was asked if this behavior bothered her. Again, she said no. With continued probing, she realized that the inappropriate behavior should have bothered her; it never occurred to her that she didn’t have to put up with it.

Tip! If you choose to work with green horses (youngsters) you have to recognize that you are taking on the role of teacher/parent/
disciplinarian and in that role, anytime you lose your temper you cause more work for yourself down the road and you confuse the horse. It is specifically for this reason that I don’t recommend HOT clubbers purchase green stock.

The woman recognized similar patterns in her personal and professional life and decided to make some changes. This awareness felt like a “new found freedom” to her, one that remains strong and allows her to set boundaries with others.

History shows that horses have changed our lives. They gave us the ability to work the land and move from one place to another. They carried us, lightened our loads, and taught our ancestors how to survive. Horses have given to humans freely for thousands of years, and continue to guide us in living with intention…. we just need to be quiet and listen.

Sue E. Thomas, president of Managing Asset Potential (M-A-P, LLC), has over 25 years of business experience, 17 years of equine experience and 15 years of Human Resource Management. She possesses an in-depth knowledge of human interaction and team dynamics. She has extensive skills in organizational development, leadership development, facilitation and executive coaching. Tip! Learn to be Open Minded - Every horse is different and will have to be handled differently. A good horseman never stops learning, even experts and trainers will admit that they learn something new everyday from their horses. For more information visit us at www.mapotential.com

Stress in Horses

Tip! Self Discipline - Horses take a lot of time and work, so your child will have to be dedicated to learning how to ride and handle horses effectively. I have found that dedication is rarely something that children lacks when it comes to horses.

Just like us, our horses get stressed. Stress seems to be an inevitable part of modern life and we can even pass on such feelings and problems to our pets and animal companions. In the same way when our animals become stressed we know it and it affects our riding and enjoyment.

But how damaging really is tension and anxiety. How can we avoid it and why is it important for animals as well as people?

Stress is a natural response of the body to something that threatens it whether that threat is mental or a physical accident or a disease. When the body senses that something bad may happen to it, cells release chemicals that start to protect the body from what ‘might happen’. This threat to the body might be a sudden change in the weather, a new horse in the field that might cause a fight, some change to management regime or maybe the loss of a companion in the same field. Some of the chemicals that the body releases in such situations are natural steroids which calm damage in the body down whether that damage occurs in the mind or the muscles. Other chemicals start to prepare the body for taking evasive action i.e. running away quickly.

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So we can see that stress is actually a natural state of the body. If we or our horses did not get worried or stressed about things to some degree we would be much more likely to get into trouble in difficult or dangerous situations. The trouble comes however when stress continues for long periods of time without us being able to get away from what is causing it. Then the natural chemicals in the body that are supposed to protect the body actually start having negative effects. The body steroid hormones start weakening the immune system, body chemicals make us ‘revved up’ in order to escape the stress and cannot do so and by products of all this chemical activity called ‘free radicals’ start damaging the cells and make us grow older more quickly. It is a bit like ‘revving up’ an engine for a long period without going anywhere. Of course it is not good for the engine after a while. Recent studies show that short periods of stress are actually good for the body because the healing process of the body afterwards gives it a lift. If a person has no occasional challenge to make them think more acutely the brain degenerates and becomes less able to function well.

Tip! Learn Respect - Children will learn to respect their horses and themselves. Horses are large, dangerous creatures and they demand respect, yet in order to be handled safely they must also respect their handlers.

So what does all this mean for horses? It means that if your horse is locked up in a stable for prolonged periods and does not like this it can get stressed and this damages its health. It means that horses that loose their companions and are then left by themselves get ill eventually. It means that if a horse is constantly worried about a heavy competition schedule and non-stop traveling it is likely to get ill relatively easily.

How do we prevent the longer type of stress causing damage to our horses? The key is of course good management and an understanding of how a horses mind works. For many people this is not natural and it is worth reading up on how horses behave in the wild and in domestication and trying to fit in more with what a horse is happy with. For example most people are well aware that horses like to be fed at regular times during the day and get stressed out if regimes are upset. If a horse never knows when its feed is coming it is a constant state of anxiety.

Horses 101: The Complete Guide to Buying & Caring for Your Horse This ebook is full of vital information that every horseowner should have. It covers everything from buying a horse to feeding and more.

When a horse has been stressed for prolonged periods of time sometimes extra help is needed. Bad experiences can affect a horse strongly for the rest of his or her life - just like a person. In the same way a period of one month’s stress because of an inability to get on with another horse in the same field may take several weeks to get over after normality has returned and this is where herbs can fit in nicely.

Many herbs are great at tackling stress and help animals adapt to stressful situations. The most important of these are called ‘Adaptogens’ (help bodies adapt). Examples of such plants are Indian and chinese ginsengs, Astragalus and even tumeric. Other plants have strong antioxidant properties which help get rid of toxic free radicals which are releases at times of stress. Most people think of different types of food, vitamins and minerals as being the only sources of antioxidants but many herbs are specifically more powerful than anything else at providing this form of protection.

Tip! Learn Patience - Horses are like children themselves, and training a horse is much like teaching a child. When your child has become a confident and skilled rider, letting them help train a horse will be an excellent experience for them.

So when horses and people are stressed the strategic use of herbal mixes to reduce stress can make an enormous difference. Rather than reaching for the diazepam a quick drink of a suitable herbal drink can get you back on the right track in an hour or two when otherwise you might be uptight for days. In the same way for horses the careful use of a good herb blend can help your horse recover quickly from a difficult situation or cope with stress more easily until you are able to remove the underlying cause.

Stephen Ashdown MA, Msc BvetMed MRCVS, a veterinary herbalist and managing director of Global Herbs has conducted research these past 10 years into the use of herbs for horses.

A Quick Check for Your Horses Health

Tip! Teaches Sensitivity - Horses can be very sensitive creatures. They have keen senses, and can sense if someone is afraid, angry, happy, etc.

Do you check your horse’s general condition on a regular basis? Do you know what to look for to make sure your horses health is where it should be? This is something you should make a habit of doing on a daily basis. And once you know what you are doing it should not take you very long. This will prevent something minor turning into something major.

First, each day when you go out to visit your horse, whether at your home or if you board your horse at a farm, think about what your overall impression of her. Does she look well, does she have a healthy appearance? What are your first thoughts? Below are major areas to observe.

Mobility - Does your horse move with comfort, on or off the halter and lead. Is her coordination good, is she reluctant to move, stiff or seem to be in pain when she walks.

Posture - When you look at your horse at a stand still, is she standing squarely on all four legs or balancing on three legs with the fourth hind leg in an easy resting position? Alternating the resting hind leg is a sign of a sound horse; they should not always rest the same hind leg.

Expressiveness - A horse, like most animals, facial expressions show that they are not feeling normal, from a small ache to a large pain, there facial expressions will show you how they are feeling, sometimes they may even act out with anger if you accidentally touch the area that is hurting, the horse may try to lash out and bite or kick you. Keep an eye out for glassy stares or an anxious pre-occupied appearance.

Horses 101: The Complete Guide to Buying & Caring for Your Horse This ebook is full of vital information that every horseowner should have. It covers everything from buying a horse to feeding and more.

Reaction to Your Visit - As your horse gets to know you, she will definitely respond to your presence, either with a whinny or other time of reaction. Learn how your horse reacts, if she does not react to your presence when she normally reacts this is a big red flag that something may be going on and that she does not feel well.

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Hydration - If you are familiar with the skin pinch test, this will show you if you horse is hydrated. If you don’t know this procedure, just pinch a small amount of skin on the horses neck, it should return to its normal place, if the skin stays up the horse is dehydrating or already dehydrated. A very fit horses skin may be a bit thinner and take longer to return to its normal position, this does not mean they are dehydrated, so you may want to also perform the capillary refill test where you use your thumb to pressure blanch a spot on their gums just above the corner incisor, then remove your thumb quickly and count the seconds it takes for the color to return. The capillary refill time is a measure of blood pressure and volume.

You should also check and monitor your horse’s vital signs. This includes her pulse, respiratory rate, temperature and the capillary refill time. First, stand beside your horses rear end, on her left side if you are right handed and vice versa for left. Stand close to avoid getting kicked. Drape the arm closest to your horse over her rump and gently grasp her tail. Have a lubricated thermometer ready in your other hand. Lift her tail gently, if she clamps down, gently wiggle her tailbone to assist in relaxation. Gently insert the thermometer into her anus, taking care to hold the end of it gently with your thumb and index finger, keeping the thermometer in place for the recommended manufacturer’s time limit. Remove and read. It’s that simple, just be cautious the first few times you take her temperature.

Tip! If you choose to work with green horses (youngsters) you have to recognize that you are taking on the role of teacher/parent/
disciplinarian and in that role, anytime you lose your temper you cause more work for yourself down the road and you confuse the horse. It is specifically for this reason that I don’t recommend HOT clubbers purchase green stock.

Most importantly, if you are unsure or have any signs that something is not normal with your horse, check with your veterinarian or veterinary staff at your barn and have her checked out, a simple problem can be corrected quickly, but some things that are let go, may turn into a serious life threatening illness, so pay very close attention to your horse and her health.

Nanette Hughston is a freelance writer from the southern United States Region. She has a bachelor’s degree in finance. She rides dressage with Grand Prix Level Trainer, Tracy Masterson at Highlife Farms, Orlando, FL. For more information and articles please see her website at http://www.dressageamerica.com and to visit her training site, please visit http://www.highlifefarms.com for dressage and hunter/ jumper information. Permission for reprint is granted with full bio remaining intact.

What is It About Horses and Young Girls?

Tip! Learn Trust - Horses must be able to trust their handlers. One of the first things that your child will learn about handling and riding horses is to be trustworthy and dependable, because if the horse doesn’t trust its handler it will not obey him/her.

In a world of computer games, the Internet and shopping malls, what is it about this four-legged farm animal that seems to capture the heart of most of them?

According to a recent study by the American Horse Council, 1.9 million Americans own horses — just over 4 million people are recreational riders and 3.6 million show horses. The horse industry has a $112.1 billion impact on the US gross domestic product: greater than the movie industry and the tobacco manufacturing industry.

Even with people mainly in cities, horses have really disappeared from daily life for most North Americans. And yet their appeal hasn’t faded.

I wonder why.

As a youngster, I was enthralled with horses. I read books about horses, took riding lessons and all of my drawings were of horses. It’s a girl thing mostly. I didn’t come from an equestrian background.

It does have benefits. You learn to control a large muscle-y animal which may prepare you for being married to another version of one. A horse weighs about half a ton. You can’t be shy around a horse. You learn to be confident and firm.

The general care of a horse which includes brushing, mucking out stalls and feeding gives you a feeling of responsibility. It’s a healthier environment - a riding stable can delay the problems of dating and drugs. It
 ’s a great physical activity.

In an age where teenagers find that television’s problems are dealt with in 30 minutes, riding takes a longer, more dedicated approach. I think girls who ride make better drivers because you’re trained to look forward and plan what’s ahead. No one wants to get hit by an overhead branch on a trail. It’ is a monetary investment but I think it’s on par with boys playing hockey and the equipment that entails. Overall, I would say it is money well spent.

About the Author: Gwen Jones
 http://www.equestrianboutique.com
 Gwen Jones is an adult living in Toronto, Canada and rides when she can.
 Equestrian Boutique

Trailering Your Horses Safely!

Tip! Learn Respect - Children will learn to respect their horses and themselves. Horses are large, dangerous creatures and they demand respect, yet in order to be handled safely they must also respect their handlers.

There’s a horse show across the state in a few weeks, and you’re planning on being there with your horses. However, it’s been awhile since you last pulled a horse trailer, and you’re a little concerned about your trailering skills. After all, you want to arrive at your destination safely, with the horses as calm and relaxed as possible.

Guiding a loaded horse trailer down a country road or highway requires practical experience and know-how. There’s very little room for error. What do you do to ensure a safe, uneventful journey?

How to Ensure Safe Trailering

If you’re out of practice, or if you’ve never towed a trailer before, obtaining adequate personal experience prior to the actual event is of the utmost importance. Just as if you were learning to drive for the first time, you should begin by practicing basic driving skills before getting out in traffic with the trailer.

The more experienced you become, the more prepared you will be for anything that may potentially happen. With more confidence and a higher level of awareness and preparedness, you should be better able to handle any unexpected situation that comes along.

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Find a level field or a parking lot in which to practice. Mark your course with several highway cones, then, set out to work on the following driving skills:

Turning with your trailer.

Backing your trailer.

Tip! Learn Patience - Horses are like children themselves, and training a horse is much like teaching a child. When your child has become a confident and skilled rider, letting them help train a horse will be an excellent experience for them.

Parking your trailer on a grade.

Stopping the trailer rig suddenly.

Ready for the Highway

After you’ve practiced all the basic driving skills while pulling your horse trailer and you feel confident in your ability to handle the rig safely, you’re ready to test your skills out on the road.

Try towing your trailer for short distances, at first. Make sure that you feel comfortable with turning corners in traffic, with backing your trailer, with parking on a grade, and with being able to stop your trailer quickly (should the need arise). Once you are confident in your towing abilities, you’re ready to travel any distance with your horses.

Just remember to always be alert when out on the roads. Drive defensively and be prepared for any possible situation.

Neva Scheve is the author of The Complete Guide to Buying, Maintaining, and Servicing a Horse Trailer. She and her husband Tom are the owners of EquiSpirit Horse Trailers. Built and designed for your horse’s safety.

The Secret That Keeps Horses Trainable!

Tip! There are a lot of similarities between training young horses and young children; the fundamental difference is about 1200 pounds. As anyone who has raised young children can attest, a 30 pound child can drive an adult out of their minds on a bad day and factor in the additional size of a young horse and you will have a sense of the challenges that can arise when working young, green-broke stock.

As you likely know already, horses have at least 10 times our strength. If they also had our intelligence, they would probably be riding us humans. Fortunately, horses cannot reason like human beings and therefore will never have superior intelligence.

Since they don’t have reasoning abilities, horse training becomes a challenge because you now have to understand how their intelligence works. You have to know what works and why to really be effective.

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The biggest secret that makes it so we can train a horse is the fear of pain and/or punishment that our creator instilled in their mind. We can use that built-in fear to our advantage and teach the horse what we want him to do.

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The trick is to not push the horse too far with his built-in fear. We must never abuse this knowledge because it will backfire. Once it backfires then we will have problems with the horse we’re training.

How does it backfire? Let’s take a novice horse owner who fulfills his dream to have horses and train them. Unless he’s studied a horse’s nature he will probably get into big trouble with his horse because of the delicate balance of the horse’s built-in fear.

For instance, the very first lesson you must teach your horse is to have confidence in you. If your horse doesn’t have confidence in you, he will neither trust you. Both are enormously important to horse training.

Tip! Teaches Sensitivity - Horses can be very sensitive creatures. They have keen senses, and can sense if someone is afraid, angry, happy, etc.

Think of confidence in this way. If you’re a child who’s just seen a scary

Tip! Learn to be Open Minded - Every horse is different and will have to be handled differently. A good horseman never stops learning, even experts and trainers will admit that they learn something new everyday from their horses.

movie on TV you probably want to sleep with Mom and Dad for the night. They’ll protect you. You’ll be safe with them. Hopefully, you know these things to be true because you have experienced it with your own parents.

But if you didn’t feel like they’d keep you safe you wouldn’t have confidence in them, would you?

A horse’s thinking is similar to that. He must have confidence in you when you’re working with him.

A horse can be taught confidence in different ways. I prefer to the Jesse Beery confidence lesson.

Jesse Beery, a famous horse trainer from the 1800’s, uses his confidence lesson as the beginning place of training his horses. He said, “This is the most important lesson of all.” To learn more about Jesse Beery go to:

Tip! Learn Respect - Children will learn to respect their horses and themselves. Horses are large, dangerous creatures and they demand respect, yet in order to be handled safely they must also respect their handlers.

http://www.horsetrainingandtips.com/Jesse_Beery_etips.htm

Interestingly, it’s also the easiest.

How nice it is that the most important lesson is the easiest to do.

Essentially, the confidence lesson takes advantage of (but never abused) the horse’s built-in fear. In a way, the fear is harnessed and carefully used to get the horse’s confidence in you. It’s akin to getting a child to watch a scary movie and being there to protect him or her when they get scared.

When the horse experiences the fear, you’re there to save the day. You make it so he depends on you to be his superhero.

When the horse gets fearful, you have to be there to tell him everything is okay. You do that through petting him. Talking to him in a soothing manner. Using a pleasant tone of voice.

I have a friend, Gene, who loves his horses but when they don’t do certain things he think they should do, he punishes them. (By punishing, I don’t mean he hits or whips. A horse can feel punished just by a threatening tone of voice for example)

Tip! Learn Trust - Horses must be able to trust their handlers. One of the first things that your child will learn about handling and riding horses is to be trustworthy and dependable, because if the horse doesn’t trust its handler it will not obey him/her.

Anyway, I rode with a group of people one day and Gene was in our group. We came upon running water. You could call it a small river or a big creek. It was about 30 feet wide and varied in depth from a foot to three feet.

Every horse crossed the water but Gene’s. Gene got so upset that his horse wouldn’t cross that he began booting his horse in the ribs. That poor horse wanted to comply with Gene’s request but the running water scared him. The horse was spooking.

The horse paced back and forth, occasionally sniffing the water but never crossed it. The whole time Gene’s legs were wildly kicking the horse trying to get him to cross - yet the horse remained spooky.

What Gene didn’t realize is the horse was fearful and needed his help. Anytime a horse is fearful of a place or a thing he should be reassured with pleasant, soothing voice sounds and/or petting him.

If you do what Gene did, you just gave your horse another thing to fear. Not only does that horse fear crossing running water, now he fears he’s going to be punished for it. And it’s likely that anytime the horse comes upon running water both fears will crop up and Gene will have a horse that would like to comply but his instincts are so powerful that he probably won’t (unless Gene figures out what to do)

Tip! Self Discipline - Horses take a lot of time and work, so your child will have to be dedicated to learning how to ride and handle horses effectively. I have found that dedication is rarely something that children lacks when it comes to horses.

Think of it from the horse’s point of view.

You’re a horse that cannot reason and you’re instincts are self-preservation. What keeps your self-preservation in check is the built-in fear. Fear makes you run from danger. Fear is what keeps you alive. If you don’t understand something you fear it even more.

Now knowing all that, imagine you’re the horse and you’re standing at the edge of the river. You won’t cross it because you think there’s danger in it somehow. On top of that, someone is on your back, pissed off and kicking you in the ribs because you won’t go forward.

Not only are you scared of the water, but now you’re getting kicked in the ribs and feeling punished. You want to be obedient and go forward but your instinct is too powerful and tells you not to.

It would be like telling a scared child who just saw a scary movie that he had to sleep in his own damn room.

Tip! Learn Patience - Horses are like children themselves, and training a horse is much like teaching a child. When your child has become a confident and skilled rider, letting them help train a horse will be an excellent experience for them.

But what if Gene had understood his horse was scared? What if he helped his horse deal with his fear.

How would he do this?

When Gene and his horse approached the water he could have spoke to his horse in a pleasant, soothing manner. When the horse was getting scared Gene should have recognized it as fear and not as disobedience.

He could have petted his horse to reassure him all is okay. He could have talked to his horse in a pleasant manner. He could have let his horse sniff the water and check it out on his own.

Instead, the horse was now confused, scared, feeling punished, less trusting of his rider, and who knows what else.

But if Gene would’ve recognized the fear in his horse then he could have helped his horse overcome it. Gene lost the awesome opportunity to gain a significant amount of the horse’s confidence and friendship in that river scene. Too bad too. That’s a beautiful paint horse.

About The Author

Andy Curry is a nationally known horse trainer and author of several best selling horse training and horse care books. For information visit his website at www.horsetrainingandtips.com. He is also the leading expert on Jesse Beery’s horse training methods which can be seen at www.horsetrainingandtips.com/Jesse_Beerya.htm.

If Wishes Were Horses Then Beggars Would Ride!

Horses 101: The Complete Guide to Buying & Caring for Your Horse This ebook is full of vital information that every horseowner should have. It covers everything from buying a horse to feeding and more.

And if Bull frogs had wings they wouldn’t bump their little rear-end when they landed. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that rushing all over the place you are being your most productive self. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that when you take time out for thought you are wasting your time. All play and no work makes Jack a poor boy, but, quality time in thought can turn your wishes into diamonds.

Tip! There are a lot of similarities between training young horses and young children; the fundamental difference is about 1200 pounds. As anyone who has raised young children can attest, a 30 pound child can drive an adult out of their minds on a bad day and factor in the additional size of a young horse and you will have a sense of the challenges that can arise when working young, green-broke stock.

As Plain As Black And White!

It has been said; if you invest one percent of your time in study, thinking and planning, you will make an amazing difference in the speed with which you reach your goals.

Everyday has 1440 minutes in it. Invest one percent of that time everyday in study, thinking and planning and you will be amazed at what those fourteen minutes can do for you.

Developing this daily habit will bring you ideas and solutions not just when you are in your study time, but, almost anywhere. You could be walking down the street, or giving a speech. You could be singing in the shower or cleaning a dirty diaper. Yuk.

Now, pay attention: “Goals”, are not wishes. Wings don’t belong on Bull frogs and beggars can’t be choosers. And, you are not going to achieve your goals by wishes, or begging, or, lying around and licking your wounds. Goals are accomplished by taking the bull by the horn and wrestling that rascal to the ground.

Easy As ABC!

How do you do that? There are three things you need to do. (1), you need to write the goal down. (2), Aim your sights high. And, (3), Create a deadline.

Writing the goal down gives it purpose and clarity. You got to know what you’re going after or else how will you know if you ever get it? Writing the goal down also will make an impression on your memory. As an idea comes to our minds, that we have an interest in, we tend to analyze the thought with our “thinker cap”, and determine if we can achieve it.

Tip! Learn to be Open Minded - Every horse is different and will have to be handled differently. A good horseman never stops learning, even experts and trainers will admit that they learn something new everyday from their horses.

If the idea has merit, we continue to analyze till we either find ourselves blowing and going like a locomotive, or fizzling out like a wet fuse. You will always find yourself pursuing energetically, something that has made an indelible impression on your mind.

Just Between You And Me And The Fence Post!

If it hasn’t made that kind of impression, then you will not find the kind of fire in your desire that you need to go for broke. Your goals will still be like that stupid bull frog that wishes he had wings. Now, obviously, going broke is not what you want to happen. But, the attitude is what is important.

Aim your sights high. It takes no more effort to aim high and accept prosperity, abundance, peace, health, life; than it does to settle for misery and poverty and small potatoes. Now, no one has ever achieved one hundred percent of all their goals. But, why settle for a pig in a poke.

Tip! If you choose to work with green horses (youngsters) you have to recognize that you are taking on the role of teacher/parent/disciplinarian and in that role, anytime you lose your temper you cause more work for yourself down the road and you confuse the horse. It is specifically for this reason that I don’t recommend HOT clubbers purchase green stock.

The problem comes where we aim so low that we accomplish that goal with relative ease, and then, when the goal is accomplished, we realize all we got was this great looking slick bull frog, but the sucker’s got no wings.

Now, at that moment, we’re not thinking, now wait a minute! This sucker doesn’t fly because I set my sights so low, that I became over confident, and reeled that bad boy in like a pro. Our great accomplishment just doesn’t seem to satisfy and something seems lacking.

You’re Not Just Whistling Dixie!

It is a lot better to shoot for the stars and miss them half way, than to shoot for the ceiling and miss it half way. There seems to be a direct relationship between how easy we can accomplish our goals, and the mental power propelling the motivation.

If you’re not expending considerable energy to reach the stars, then it ain’t the stars you’re reaching for. You might as well be reaching for a clouded crystal ball, and reciting, twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.

The stars don’t give themselves easy to anyone. When you set your sights for the stars, you will subconsciously increase the amount of effort that you apply. You have too. The higher the goal, the more your reason will tell you to be objective and honest with yourself. It will become mandatory that you expend enough effort to move your mountain.

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So, you will set a series of steps that have to be reached in order to go to the next level or higher position. Goals are never reached, no matter how high or low, in one step. And, each level that we find ourselves having reached, we gain a little more confidence and head for the next level.

Get A Move On!

Ask yourself this question. Where will you be and what will you be doing ten years from now if you keep doing what you are doing right now? This is the importance of setting a deadline for the goal. When you write your goal, you will specify the time limit for achieving it. This gives finality to it.

Keep this in mind. Always be aggressive in asking life for more than what you really want. Ask for more than what you think you’re worth. Why should I do that? Because, people have a tendency to meet the demands and expectations that are placed upon them within their time constraints.

Waiting With Baited Breath!

After you rise to the occasion and present the prize to yourself, then the next time you set out to accomplish a goal, you will be mentally prepared to grab the whole enchilada, take a licking and keep on ticking.

It will be very beneficial if you outline the goal from beginning to end. Just don’t try to answer every question at the very beginning. This is sometimes not possible. We don’t always know all the answers when first starting out. This is why fear sometimes will hold us back. But, fear is never a friend to your goals. And, besides, the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.

Herein Lays Your Door Of Opportunity!

This is so important for you to take action on the goal and start moving towards it one step at a time. And, keep moving and keep moving. It won’t move closer to you unless you’re moving closer to it. And, if you let the pony die, the ride is over.

Richard Vegas ©

About The Author

Richard Vegas is a popular recording artist and internet marketing professional. He invites you to subscribe to his FREE weekly ezine “Wing-Tips” Teaching The Success System That Never Fails, at: http://www.1-work-at-home-based-business-opportunities.com. You may also hear some of Richard’s free music at: http://www.richardvegas.com.

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