charm

Is there anyone else out there who is allergic to horse saliva? I'm a lifetime horse owner and trainer, and until a few years ago I never seemed to have a problem, but within the last few years I would occasionally break out when I went out to play with my horses. More recently I began to suspect the horse saliva of causing the problem, and sure enough, a few weeks ago my horse slobbered all over me and I broke out within about five minutes into very itchy, white bumps wherever she contacted me. I got over it within about a half hour or so, but I find it odd that their saliva bothers me but their hair and dander doesn't.

Am I looking at becoming even more allergic as time goes by?

So I have to boast, and thank several people who were very supportive when I asked for advice about a new mare I bought. I took her out tonight (Finally a cool evening!), rinsed her down, saddled her up, took her next door to ride, and she did fantastic! I mounted her the first time, without a fuss, and although she walked off a couple of steps, then she stopped, stretched her neck down, and sighed-- totally relaxed. For those who don't know, when I brought this mare home three months ago, it took me a half hour to mount her-- she was that paranoid about the whole thing. We went on to have a lovely nice ride, she was so good the whole time, not even acting herd bound, which is her other big issue. I'm beyond proud of her, and it feels good knowing she's got a chance to make it as a riding horse.

So to help me keep this feel good attitude, tell me about one of your horse success stories? I will be letting this go to voting, fyi, so that everyone can pick their favorite success story.

Alright, I know that many different breeds use training and shoeing and even abuse to get a certain style of movement. I don't know anything really about Hackney horses, and I wondered if they are trained to move with that much action, or if it is natural, or a combination of nature and training? What is involved in creating that high movement? I noticed that some Hackneys are used for dressage and driving and don't have as much action. Is that a different type of Hackney, or is it a difference in training?

Inform me! :D

That impersonating someone is actually illegal, and not just against community guidelines? For example, if I called up pretending to be a famous horse trainer, or even just someone who regularly posted on Yahoo Answers, I could actually end up with the police at my door arresting me for Fraud?

Kinda scary, huh?

Have you ever had someone impersonate you or your horse?

Another question made me think about cross breeding of horses. I actually like some crosses, like the National Show Horse. Other crosses make me blink or shake my head, like the Fresian quarter horse Fugly that someone was selling locally a while back.

So in your opinion, what is the stupidest crossbreeding out there that you have run into, and why do you think it's stupid, or what was wrong with it?

Background information:

Mare purchased two months ago. Her nervousness was obvious even at purchase exam, as was owners ("Oh... you want to ride her?"). No explanation from former owner, other than saying that mare was fine when they bought her last year, and they suspected drugging.

Horse is 10 years old, a former broodmare until she dropped off the map about five years ago, so her recent history is a guess. She is mildly to moderately herdbound, but seems willing to consider that possibly people could count as her 'herd'. Her responsiveness to cues and ability to pick up both leads on demand suggests she is fairly well broke. She ties, leads, longes like a dream (Possibly some natural horsemanship Ray Hunt type work on longing there), saddles, bridles, trailers, all the good stuff. Is a more nervous personality-- paws occasionally when nervous, can throw a fit when other horses are taken out of the stable, will dance when ridden if she gets upset by something. Also has the potential to rear when nervous.

The problem: She does NOT want to be mounted, and even once mounted she stays nervous and upset for a few minutes. She is athletic enough to really blow up in a big way if pushed, and desperate enough to please that when she moves away from being mounted, she turns and tries to give you her face, as if to say, "Here.... just pet me, we don't really want to do this mounting thing." She's also smart enough to notice little things, like my tugging my jeans up before mounting (triggers her to move away). Note: this mare will sweat during a mounting as we work with her-- I'm really not getting the whole "I'm too lazy to want to work" vibe from her at all. She came with her own set of stitches, so I'm suspected a wreck that started either with being mounted, or right after being mounted.

So does anyone have any different, off the wall methods for dealing with this type of problem?

Alright, basic information:

Mature mare

Smell of thrush from all four feet, worst in her right hooves. Appears to be in the heels, under the frog.

Mare is sore/lame in at least two feet.

Some swelling in her right legs (about halfway up the cannon, so not profound, but noticeable).

Condition has lasted over a week now.

Treatment:

Cold soaks for swelling once daily for 20 minutes. Horse dried off afterward.

Bleach applied once daily into cleft at her heels-- problem appears to be there and under her frogs.

Bute 1 gram daily as needed for pain.

I am switching her up (on vet's advice) to following treatment:

Keeping the cold soaks once a day.

Bleach twice a day.

Bute 1 gram twice a day.

Antibiotics 30 ml once a day.

What worries me is that I've been treating her, and she isn't resolved. Her stall is picked daily and is dry, our paddock is, if anything, TOO dry, and none of the other horses are showing signs of anything like this. She's uncomfortable enough at this point to want to spend quite a bit of time laying down in her stall, although her appetite is fine. Please don't tell me to have a vet see her-- once holiday weekend is over, I'll be able to get her into a vet, but until then I'm curious to know whether anyone else has ever had thrush "for no normal reason" in a horse, and if anyone has a different treatment other than what we are trying right now.

So I was looking through NWHA showbills, and I'm completely lost. I know that two gait is flatwalk and running walk, and three gait usually adds the canter. But what is:

1. Liteshod

2. Kegshod

3. Country Pleasure

4. Trail Pleasure

5. Plantation

There are English and Western divisions-- does anyone ever ride huntseat in the English divs? Also, remember that these are for NWHA, not TWHBEA. Does that make a difference?

I'd appreciate any links to sites that explain the differences in the classes, because I was looking earlier and I couldn't seem to find actual explanations.

So we all know that a new horse on the property can be a big mess for a while, but I'm floored by how downright mean my three horses are to the new mare. I mean, they aren't even trying the whole nose sniffing thing. They moved right into "I hate you and you better run or I'll kill you" mode. I know that usually it all blows over, but I'm really shocked by how nasty everyone is being to her.

Does anyone have tips or ideas to help soften the whole experience? The poor thing was halfway to colic today with all the stress.

Currently we have a one acre turnout paddock, and individual stalls for nights and bad weather. I can easily turn her out alone for a while, turn her out with only one or two at a time... whatever will make her transition the easiest.

I'm a relative newcomer to digital photography and video. As usual, I want more than I have-- taking action photos with my Canon Sureshot 1200 has been pretty frustrating in anything other than pure sunlight, regardless of playing with the settings. I don't know if I messed something up, or if this is typical, but I suspect it's typical.

I am wondering if, instead of upgrading to a better digital camera, I would be better off purchasing a digital camcorder and then doing captures in order to get nice quality photos? How does the price range compare? In particular, I'm unhappy with the lag time on the stills I try to take with my camera-- it's pretty much impossible to use photography for any action pics. They either blur, or it takes the photo long after I want it to, or both. I know there is a delay on digital cameras-- I'm just not convinced I can solve that when taking football photos and such. Hence my question:

Can I find a camcorder that would allow me to capture stills that would be equal in quality to an actual digital photo? Or am I going to be looking at thousands of dollars for what I want to do?

Any and all suggestions are welcome, and thanks in advance for putting up with what I know is a pretty entry level question.

Has anyone ever run into this? One of my horses has decided, in the last 24 hours, to develop a thick yellow discharge in the corners of her eyes-- her right eye socket appears to have some swelling, and both eyes are rather red rimmed.

Nose clear, Temps fine, eyes themselves are clear. Discharge is not enough to 'run down her face', but enough to worry me, since it's begun rather quickly and is in both eyes.

I know there are other professionals who wander around on this board. Anyone else ever had something hit both eyes at once? And yes-- I intend to call the vet in the morning, but it would be nice to hear of someone else who had a similar issue. This mare was hauled into a show last week-- no stabling, but a dusty arena with other horses.

http://charmchars.googlegroups.com/web/Horse%20was...

Two vitamins that horses can NOT manufacture.

Seems like I should know this one, but it's late, and frankly none of my normal resources know either, so I don't feel so badly. And no, it's not for HOWrse or whatever that is called. It's a 4-H question my son needs to answer (well, him and about everyone else he has asked from the club, lol)

So I was supposed to be going to a parade, but of course we are in a downpour, so I'm online instead, with my horses in the barn munching hay.

What are some neat ways you have of dressing up your helmets? Obviously the parade is on my mind, but I'm also wondering about other events. In Hunters you are pretty well limited to traditional black. What about for fun events, or dress up occasions? Any ideas?

Please don't turn this into a nasty sort of vent thing, because it's really a controversial topic. The thing is, I don't understand the acceptance of pinned ears in Parelli trained horses.

I'm sure there is a reason that it is considered okay within Parelli circles, since so many of them perform that way-- I just don't know the logic or training philosophy behind it.

Any ideas?

I caught the end of Star Trek Generations on tv yesterday. It involved Kirk (William Shatner) riding what I assume is one of his own horses in the movie. Now I knew that he showed Saddlebreds, and had won some stuff. I just never realized that he seriously knew how to ride. That man can move a horse! I was totally impressed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4flM_skuv4&feature...

This is the clip, about 7:00 minutes into it. I mean, side pass and the whole nine yards. It was really neat to watch!

So am I the only ignorant one? Did you know William Shatner was a good horseman?

I know that sounds like a strange question, but I was looking at the Fugly blog today, and there is yet another story of horses starving. The defense in this situation suggests that the horses are old, and that is why they are thin, but it also looks like they have access to grass, but not to mineral or grain. So... what moral obligation do we have to feed older horses? If I provide free choice hay to a horse, and it still drops weight, am I morally obligated to do more? (personally I would say yes to this one)

At what point have I done enough? I had to put an older mare down a few years ago-- she was skinny and getting worse, while being fed high quality hay and all the senior feed she could eat. Was I wrong to put her down? Should I have done more? I'm really interested to hear what lines people feel can be drawn on how to feed and care for horses. I think everyone agrees that a horse with no pasture, no water, no hay is abused. What about those 'hard keepers' or old horses? When is it abuse? When is it simply the natural progression of old age, leading to eventual death?

So Ghost Rider and I were bantering about Rollkur, and whether it was used in Western pleasure. I started Googling around, and ran into a lot of different opinions about the stock horse western pleasure (AQHA for example).

Are western pleasure horses forced to perform that way? I really would like to hear from other western pleasure riders who specifically show or train horses for pleasure. I have seen:

1. Killed tails, and extra heavy tail pieces to keep tails still.

2. Cut tongues, from severe bits.

3. Bloody polls or armpits from ropes used to tie the horse's heads down while they are lunged or worked.

4. Horses ridden with their faced to their chest, while being spurred to maintain their gait.

5. Hanging (tying high)

6. Water withheld the day of the show.

7. Toes trimmed short in front to limit forward reach and improve 'balance' by putting horses more on their haunches.

I'm not saying this happens everywhere, but I do wonder how much it happens. Without naming names (which isn't safe) can you say if you do see this stuff? Or did I just happen to fall into a rather rough area of the country when it comes to western pleasure?

All comments welcome, and while I can't control it, I'd like to see thumbs up for answers, instead of thumbs down. Thanks! :)

So Ghost Rider and I were bantering about Rollkur, and whether it was used in Western pleasure. I started Googling around, and ran into a lot of different opinions about the stock horse western pleasure (AQHA for example).

Are western pleasure horses forced to perform that way? I really would like to hear from other western pleasure riders who specifically show or train horses for pleasure. I have seen:

1. Killed tails, and extra heavy tail pieces to keep tails still.

2. Cut tongues, from severe bits.

3. Bloody polls or armpits from ropes used to tie the horse's heads down while they are lunged or worked.

4. Horses ridden with their faced to their chest, while being spurred to maintain their gait.

5. Hanging (tying high)

6. Water withheld the day of the show.

7. Toes trimmed short in front to limit forward reach and improve 'balance' by putting horses more on their haunches.

I'm not saying this happens everywhere, but I

Alright, seriously... opinions on this? How does anyone actually get that far in competition without breaking their neck?

Oh, and Meagan-- what do you think of THIS horse's heart and scope?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opMiCyoRzYM

Did anyone read the report in Equus about feeding horses MORE concentrates, to the extent that all or nearly all of their intake is grain/concentrates? Does anyone have experience doing this or any opinions on such a feeding plan?

I was pretty disappointed to read it-- their 'study' was following six geldings for a month? How does that evaluate any long term damage or benefits from feeding like that? And why did they compare it to a two feeding schedule, instead of comparing it to pastured or free choice hayed horses?