Mister's First Ride

Horse: Mister
Tack: Scotch's Western Saddle, Fleece Lined Hackamore
Purpose: First time carrying a rider.

Description:
Mister was ready. And after his breakout last week it was obvious he needed a job.

Mister is now two years old and some change and 15hh. He has been lunged with decent regularity (not as often as I would have liked but often enough to know speed cues). He has been lunged with a circingle and saddle as well. All he needed was a rider.

After a short walk-only lunging I hopped on using the mounting block. I think it's best he gets used to the mounting block from the start and he did decently. His first reaction to a rider was "backwards!" It was obvious he didn't quite have his balance but he quickly figured it out. Once he decided to go forward on his own I knew we were in the clear.

Just like every horse, he already knows where the gate is. That was his first destination. It took a bit of gentle prodding to get him away from the gate. Steering was definitely an issue but he was trying hard. After we unglued ourselves from the southeast end of the arena his next destination was the horses on the paddock fence to the north. A much smaller discussion ensued there and we were on our way.

We did a couple dozen loops of the arena, keeping it slow and not really working on much except a general sense of direction and balance. We did test the breaks and they were there. He would have preferred playing follow the leader with Crystal and Dutchess who were also in the arena being ridden but he was willing enough not to.

Overall, I have to say it was a success. It was decently an easy ride and he will be a pleasure to work with moving forward.

Tally-Ho and the upper Gaits

Horse: Tally
Tack: My personal Western Saddle, English Bridle with Loose Ring Snaffle, Draw Reins connected at the side
Purpose: Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast

Description:
Today was the first time I was able to get some good quality time with Tally since she had her feet trimmed and shoes reset. My goal was to encourage a slower and smoother way of moving at the trot, and then to touch on her trot to canter transitions that are definitely lacking.

I used draw reins connected at the side to try to add an element of stability to her movement. I used them loosely and only as a secondary rein. My hope was to reconnect her neck and head to her body. She tends to overflex her neck onto turns or as avoidance and I wanted to try to get her back in line. While she was very responsive to the draw reins I definitely want to ride her without them as she leans into them as a crutch. They are providing her the support she needs to straighten out but I don't feel like they are teaching her the lesson I had hoped.

While Tally will never be a really smooth ride, particularly at the trot, I found her gaits much improved from a week ago when she had her shoes reset. Her feet had definitely been too long and was affecting her way of movement.

We worked for an extended amount of time on her trot. My main goal for her trot is to slow it down. The energy that she puts into it is being translated into upward movement instead of propulsion so I wanted to take some of that energy out of the equation and replace it with focus.

As different as she is from Beau, I find her struggling with many of the same issues at the trot as Beau had when I first bought him: high head-carriage with a hollowed back that is often substituted for a fake collection with just a deeply arched neck frame, lack of speed diversity within the gait, and a very bouncy forward movement.

By the end of our trotting work she was moving at a very nice slow and focused speed. She was much smoother and was actually engaging her entire body into the movement. While she was bending decently, she had a little bit of an issue fishtailing around corners when I asked for more bend with my inside leg and less shoulder with my outside. She was still overflexing around turns with her neck but it was easily corrected with leg.

I also noticed that she always throws me on the left post.

She still has a hard time truly differentiating leg cues in terms of direction and speed but as always it's there, just gotta keep going with it.

We practiced canter transitions. While a couple of them worked out nicely some were, as usual, a mess. I'm just going to keep on working on the concept of slow and steady. She speeds up her trot thinking I'm asking for more speed when really I just want the gait change.

Once I did get her into a canter we really worked to slow it down. It seems to be the trend of the day. She is QUICK, but fast at the expense of form and control. If I have her in a nice slow canter she steers nicely and stops, well average at best. When she gets going so fast it all is lost.

Next lesson is going to be called "Tally Whoa," for sure!!

Mud Management

So the mud management webinar suggested cutting my paddocks into small 1 acre single and double turnout paddocks with gravel footing to use as sacrificial areas...... not sure if I actually like this idea. It means that many of the paddocks around the barn would be dirt year round and that horses who cannot go out in the big field because they don't get along would never have any grass.

Notes from the webinar:

Green Horse Keeping: Mud Management

Equestrian Professional

April 19, 2010

Speaker: Alayne Blickle - www.horsesforcleanwater.com

Mud

Issues associated with living in mud:

• Scratches
• Mud Fever
• Rain rot
• Thrush
• Increased insect problems (mosquitos, filth flies, midges)
• Hypothermia
• Weight Loss & General Unthriftiness
• Sand colic:
  • Ingestion of dirt, sand and soil particles

Issues for owner convenience and efficiency

• Difficult to do chores
• No fun to catch horses or clean for a ride
• Looks bad!

Environmental impact:

• Mud, erosion and run-off of sediments deteriorates nutrition of the soil and can cause problems for aquatic life

What is mud?

• Fine organic material + soil + water = mud

Fine organic material is key because it holds 200x its weight in moisture.

Mud Buster Options:

1. Establish a sacrifice area
   An area is sacrificed and understood that grass will never grow in that area. It should be on a high, well-drained area with vegetation as an absorption buffer area below it because as this area becomes hardened there will be a lot of run-off.
   This is where horses are kept on the winter when pastures are dormant and soil is soft. Prevents over-grazing. 
2. Pick up Manure regularlyA horse produces about 50# of manure on a regular day. Manure is the basis of most mud because it provides that organic absorptive material.
3. Use footings for paddocksSacrifice areas need footing: gravel, sand (can be dusty, do not feed on sand, in sloped areas, sand can migrate; but, horses love rolling in it), hog fuel (large chipped wood product – be sure it’s non-toxic). 
4. Use footings in other high traffic areasHigh traffic areas: watering areas, in front of gates, walk ways.Options: Stall and trailer mats, used conveyor belting
5. Install gutters and downspoutsCapture clean rain water and keep it clean and out of the mud.Roof rain runoff can be routed directly to a water trough for watering horses. 
6. Use trees as mud managersTry to always use native trees and shrubs.Evergreens are great because they do not go dormant in the winter and continually use water. Rows of trees and shrubs can intercept run-off.

Reflections on Progress

The mothers last night, particularly Cathy, came up to me glowing and said "Erika! This is a real barn now! It's a real business!"

Meredith and Zoe were two of my first students here at Painted Bar Stables. They have been around almost 2½ years now and they remember when it was just me teaching a couple lessons after work with my horses.

At the point when I bought the stables in early 2008, the barn was a mess because the previous owner was unable to keep up with the repairs and also apparantly unable to keep the liqour bottles out of the barn. At the point the girls started riding here there were only 5 stalls I had cleaned out the rubbish, repaired the doors so that they could close and lock, and made them safe for horses to live in. It took me so long just to get those stalls ready.

At that point the fences were in complete disrepair except for a couple just near the house. I was amazed that horses even stayed in the back field. I was still collecting tack beyond my personal saddles and it was insufficient. I'd probably also say that my teaching was rudimentary at best at that point, simply because I didn't have time to keep up with my research and own knowledge.

Moreover, I had no help. It was just me and I was also working a full-time job in Ithaca.

The past couple of months (not to mention the couple years before that) there has been such amazing progress! Yesterday, Cathy walked into the new tack room for the first time and  her jaw hit the floor. Every saddle was clean, organized, repaired and maintained on it's own rack. Every horse had not only an adult western saddle assigned to it, but also was assigned to kid saddles and English tack as well.  She saw all of the volunteers working like clockwork and she was impressed. She saw that I could actually focus on the kids in the lessons and know that no horses were waiting for me because Lisa was running such a tight ship for the evening shift. And she saw how clean and put together are farm is, how organized we are, how we have everything worked out. 

I could not have done this without everyone. Our farm has reached an amazing level of success and acheivement because of each person that contributes. And what is amazing is that we can still go even further!

So thank you to our volunteers and motivators, past and present:

Tia Bernagozzi

Sabrina Bruso

Sylvia Cadwell

Deb Chapman

The Champion Family

Lyn Gerry

Andrea Jacobs, who has for some reason put up with me and my endless neediness since I first met her 3 years ago

Victoria Katz

Dakota Landon

Kerrigan Long

Sonny Pagliaro

Ryanne Phillips

Jenn Schmid

Christian Thompson

Dani Van Orden

Linda Van Orden 

Missy Van Orden

Lee Welles, who motivates me more than she realizes

even Amber Schorpp, who taught me many many lessons

And of course our latest additions:

Lilian Balasanian

Alaina Christine

Ashley Tieppo

Rachel Cronin

Dorothy Sherrill

Jen Schrage

Lily Oxley

I especially want to thank:  

My parents, Dean and Barb Eckstrom, for simply putting up with me and giving me such amazing opportunities and pep-talks.

Lisa Birch for her enthusiasm, hyper-organization practices and her amazing ability to motivate our volunteers.

Oh... and Colin for making sure I wake up every day, don't have a mental break down, and ensuring that I might actually eat lunch on a clean plate and have a couple pairs clean socks, even if I took them out of his drawer.

Poisonous Plants Webinar Notes

My notes from tonight's webinar on Toxic Plants. Please be aware I have not edited them and that some plants were spelled phonetically. 

Poisonous Plants

Hosted by TheHorse.com

March 30, 2011

Anthony P. Knight, BVSc, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, is a professor of large animal medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University. He received his veterinary degree from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, in 1968. After completing a master’s degree at Colorado State University, he joined the faculty in 1974. His current professional interests include livestock heath, foreign animal diseases, emergency management, and plant toxicology. He has written two books on poisonous plants of animals in North America, and maintains a poisonous plants website for use by anyone wanting poisonous plant information.

Karyn Bischoff, DVM, MS, Dipl. ABVT, is a veterinary toxicologist at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center and an assistant professor at Cornell University. She graduated with her bachelor's degree in Animal Science from the University of Wisconsin (Platteville campus), and she obtained her DVM from the University of Illinois. She earned her master’s degree at Oklahoma State University while completing a residency in toxicology, and she went on to complete a pathology residency at the University of Florida before ending up in the lovely rolling hills of upstate New York.

Can a horse tell a toxic plant from a non toxic plant?

They do naturally avoid toxic plants. Bitter tastes tend to avoid them if they have something else to eat. Some plants are very palatable and even addictive. Some plants are also more toxic under certain conditions than others.

What would increase a horse’s risk of eating a toxic plant?

Seasons can make a plant more toxic. Climate conditions can be more toxic. And some plants are more tasty after sprayed with herbicides because they produce more sugars.

Are poisonous plans still poisonous if they are cut and baled in hay?

Yes. They may not be as toxic as they are when they are green but remain toxic when dry. A good example is milkweed.

Are there any general symptoms of harmful plant ingestion?

There are not. Plants do all types of different things: sudden death (you plants); chronic disease (ragwort); colic (gimsun weed, walnut); kidney failure (oaks), etc…

What should be a horse owner’s first response when plant ingestion is suspected?

Take them off of the suspected source (hay, pasture, etc…). Symptomatic therapy is the best.

Are there any medications you should keep on hand?

Banamine if they are showing colic to relieve those symptoms. Laxative to remove them from the GI system.

Activated Charcoal (not BBQ coal) can be very healthy as an absorbent – if you can get a horse to eat it!

What is the most common toxic plant?

West Coast – Hounds Tongue. Causes irreversible liver disease. Loco Weed. Milk Weed.

East Coast – Rag Wort causes liver disease. Red Maple Poisoning.

Florida – Crotolaria

Environmental conditions and their affect on plant toxins:

Drought changes the compounds of the plans. Also affects the plants if they are in the shade versus the sun. Rainfall also makes plants grow more vigorously.

A stressed plant generally has more potential for poisoning than a healthy plant.

Is there a horse by horse basis for toxicity that could cause some horses to react and not others?

Sometimes plants need to be ingested in HIGH quantities to have an effect. “It’s the dose that makes the poison.”

Some of these plants don’t produce clinical signs for months.

What is a good resource online for identifying poisonous plants with good photos?

http://southcampus.colostate.edu/poisonous_plants

Cornell’s poisonous plants website

USDA Plant Database

Wikipedia – if you know what you are looking for

Is there a website where you can send in photos of suspicious plants?

http://southcampus.colostate.edu/poisonous_plants

Dr. Anthony Knight is very willing to identify the plant for you: aknight@colostate.edu

Local plant stores can also identify plants so you can research further.

Plant biologists and taxonomists at universities.

Poisonous Plants:

Japanese and English Yew plant  --- Sudden Death

Water Hemlock  --  The root is the most poisonous. 4-6 oz. kills a horse.

Can weeds cause hives and edema?

Yes there are possibilities. Poison Ivy doesn’t affect horses.

Recent evidence to show that tall fescue (especially of the Mediterranean type) that is infected with the fungal entophyte will cause swelling of tissues.

Can poisonous plants cause laminits?

Yes. Some are associated.

Black Walnut Shavings. 20% of the bedding or more can cause it. Ingestion of bark and twigs can also do this.

Sarsaparilla variation.

Usually signs would be within a day.

Can dandelions cause issues?

False dandelion causing string halt causing them to lift their feet very high. It is most common in Virginia.

This is actually a very old disease and not all string halt is plant related.

False Dandelion = Cat’s Ear = Flat Weed

Can plants cause irritated gums with blisters?

Butter cup can be quite irritating to the mouth when eaten regularly.

Could be that the hay has weeds with sharp horns in it.

Could be a chemical on the grass.

Could also be a viral disease.

What plants cause liver failure?

Ragwort. Cineceo. Rattle Box. Amsinkia (fiddle neck). Cow’s tongue.

Finding the source of the plant is very difficult because it is a chronic disease, not a sudden disease. Sometimes you can only identify in certain seasons which makes it more difficult.

What plants can cause choke?

Plants with a hard pit in them. Apples and pears. Persimmons (can also cause GI obstructions further down).

Treatment for minor cases can actually be CocaCola!

Are acorns safe for horses?

The oak tree is not usually good for horses, including live oak. It can cause Colic, Kidney Failure, etc.

But a handful of acorns is not going to hurt the horse.

Are cherry trees safe?

Cherry trees have the potential to contain cyanide compounds. Cattle, Sheep and Goats are much more susceptible than horses. A horse isn’t going to be able to convert the glycosides to cyanide as quickly.

That said in a frost or stress conditions for the tree, and the horse eats large quantities, it could cause cyanide poisoning or sudden death.

Is there any danger from pine needles and pine bark?

Pine trees are toxic to pregnant cows. Pine needles and pine bark have no nutrition  but there are not the same reactions in horses as in cattle.

Are maple trees toxic?

The most toxic one is the Red Maple. The poisonings vary by location, but usually in late summer or autumn when the leaves are wilted or drying up.

Damage is caused to the red blood cells causing them to become anemic.

Trees to avoid:

Black Walnut

Red Maple and its hybrids

Oak

Black Locust

Golden Chain tree

Horse Chestnut, Buckeye

Choke Cherry and other cherry trees

Kentucky Coffee Tree

Russian Olive

Persimmon

Chinese Tallow Tree

China Berry

Avocado

Toxic Shrubs to Avoid:

Yew

Oleander

Yellow Oleander

Privet

Hydrangea

Rhododentron (azalea)

Japanese Peiris

Laurel

Black Laurel

Boxwood

Burning Bush

Lantana

Angels Trumpet

Mesquite

Day or night blooming Jasmine

Scotch Broom

Are nightshades poisonous to horses?

The contain glycol-alkaloids that can block motility in the intestine and can cause colic. If they eat enough it could actually stop the heart and lungs.

Potato and Tomato vines are issues, as are green potatoes. These are also nightshades.

Is wild carrot the same thing as queen anne’s lace and is it poisonous?

It is the same and there is no reported toxicity.

Horse Nettle?

They can increase the neurotoxicity of ivermectin.

Horse nettle is different than stinging nettle and is not poisonous.

Indian Paintbrush?

Not poisonous. It is an indicator of high selenium content in soils so the surrounding grasses could cause chronic selenium poisoning with long term exposure.

Butter Cups?

They cause irritation in the oral cavity and are bitter. They are usually the last plant standing in pastures!

Napweed?

The only one that is toxic is Russian napweed that causes chewing disease and can damage the brain and inhibit their ability to bite off and chew food.

Other napweeds are not poisonous.

Thistle?

More of a problem for ruminants but horses are fine with them.

Horsetail?

Tends to like wet areas and is not a good food – indigestible. It has been associated with blindness and colic.

Skunk Cabbage?

Not very palatable and can cause damage to the mucosa of the oral cavity.

Lilac?

No problem!

Bamboo?

Toxic and can develop a neurotoxicity. But there are no reports in North America.

Holly?

Contains high caffeine content.

Bougainvillea?

Non-toxic but could be injurious.

Lavender?

Non-toxic. Can make your horse smell nice though.

Fruits and Vegetables to not give as treats?

Potatoes. Green potatoes. Green tomatoes. Avocados.

How can you safely get rid of noxious plants when horses are on pasture?

Mowing can greatly impact the pasture. Let horses eat half and leave half. If there is viable grass the grass will crowd out the weeds.

Herbicides can increase the toxicity and how attractive plants are as food for horses.

Tickled Pink!

I have a student here who is taking the semester long riding course at Cornell for credit. She has learned a lot there but feels like she needs more riding time to really succeed at that course. She needs help with her balance and coordination at the trot and she's absolutely right - more riding time will get her where she wants to be!

The other day after her lesson she said "Your horses aren't like the horses at Oxley. They go where I tell them to go."

Needless to say, I was tickled pink. For a number of reasons.

1. I grew up at the Oxley Equestrian Center, working as a youth and teenage stable hand, riding their horses, taking their lessons. Amazingly enough, the horse that she rides there is one of the horses I actually learned to canter on. I have a lot of respect for those horses and the workload that they take and the fact that they still behave so well. I also know that they are all worked very regularly to ensure that they keep up to date on their training. 
2. I STILL ride at the Oxley Equestrian Center every Monday night because sometimes, I just need a break from riding here in the cold and need to go to a real jumping facility to hone my skills. I love having a bunch of people there ready and willing to offer advice, consult, and even rip my own riding to shreds because I just can't get that at home. Plus, I have always found the horses there willing and excellent for jumping and most of my horses here are still green at jumping courses.  
3. My horses are good lesson horses, but I always saw them as trail horses first: no spook, no flee, no qualms, sturdy, rugged and willing to do and go anywhere. 

It never occured to me that the work I was doing with them has actually changed them into not only good lesson horses, but phenomenal ones. They all move off of the leg, they can collect or extend when asked, they all can frame up, they can move laterally, they can bend (some better than others), and they can pick up the canter on cue almost every time (most can even pick up the canter on the proper lead in my very small indoor arena). For a group of lesson horses, that either came to me green broke or as true-blue trail horses, I am impressed.

Yes, they don't always act like push-button rides, especially if the rider is sending mixed messages or is off in la-la-landl; but what they do offer is the perfect platform to teach on. For instance:

• If your heels aren't down Maxie most definitely will not trot in the arena. 
• If you are too hard on the reins, Pepsi will start to make her lip-smacking noise. 
• If Scotch even thinks that you're about to fall off she will stop and look at you. 

Add to that the fact that a majority of my lesson horses are mares. That's unheard of, I know. But these girls are so good. They listen so well, and even though they can make some ugly faces once in awhile, they always behave themselves under saddle. 

This whole thought tickles me pink.

Takeaways from the Ithaca Agway Seminar

Some great takeaways from tonight: 

1) Too much of any mineral is a bad thing. Salt included. Just because your horse keeps eating salt doesn't mean he needs it! They might just be bored or there's an underlying condition.

2) Diarrhea can be the result of potentially feeding TOO high quality of food. Horses NEED indigestable fibers that will pass through their system, clean out their digestive tract, and come out as poop. Just because you are feeding them fiber, especially high quality fibers that get digested, doesn't mean that your horse won't have diarrhea. Probiotics, though not helpful in healthy horses, may also be helpful for the rear digestive system in these cases.

3) SOME supplements are SOMEtimes helpful to SOME horses SOME of the time. Even the high quality supplements may not actually benefit your horse. Most horses do not need supplements when being fed a proper diet. Under extreme work or during health conditions SOME supplements are helpful to SOME horses SOME of the time, but they won't be helpful to every horse and might even vary under different conditions. 

Further, there is no regulation of the claims that animal supplements make so they can advertise whatever they want it there are no reprocussions, not any scientific or peer-reviewed studies to prove anything.

Most of the contents of equine supplements are filler (water for instance). Just because something is on the ingredient list just means that there is one particle of it in a supplement. Inclusion of useful agents doesn't mean that there is a effectual dosage in the supplement.

4) RIA = Rider Induced Anxiety. The leading cause of problems in horses. This is my personal favorite.

5) As I've always said before: Always make sure you give your horse a chance to win! It was great watching Joann Long work with horses through obstacles to help make sure the rider gives the horse a chance to win.