|
Are
those arena lessons getting stale? Try starting a drill team
with your group riding lessons. Drill team maneuvers can be
designed for any size group and ability levels. Let the students
pick the music to get the interested in the program and to
think about the rhythm and beats of the different gaits. Drill
team riding is a lot of fun, promotes good control of the
horse and build teamwork.
Kathy Reimer
Eden, NY
CHA Asst. Clinic Instructor
|
|
Use a thin fleece sweat blanket
under your saddle pads to protect your thick pad, especially
if you use horsehair or other unwashable pads. You can often
buy cheap fleece by the yard, then just cut it a little bigger
than your saddle pad. They are easy to throw in the washer
(when your mom isn't looking) and keep clean.
Patty Bogart-Head
Maple Valley, WA
CHA Clinic Instructor
|
|
Many
common household products can be used on your horses, especially
their feet. Iodine or a bleach solution works wonders for
thrush, both as treatment and preventative. A little squirt
down the grooves of the frog (commissures) when you clean
out the feet will keep your horse's foot healthy. And a baby
diaper and duct tape are excellent for bandaging the foot
when treating a hoof abscess.
Laura Elliott
Trussville, AL
CHA Asst. Clinic Instructor
|
|
"Founder"
is a layman's term for the equine disease known as Laminitis,
an acute or chronic inflammation of the laminae (connective
tissue between hoof wall and the skeletal structure of the
foot). Grass founder occurs when horses overgraze on lush
grass pasture and may be caused by a chronic weight gain.
Grain founders is more acute and happens when the horse eats
25 pounds or more of grain in one setting. Other causes of
laminitis are possible and the condition can cause severe
lameness or death. Through aggressive vet and farrier treatments,
many horses can be rehabilitated. The classic signs of a foundered
horse is when he is reluctant to move and stretches his legs
way in front and maybe behind him in an effort to lift weight
off his feet; his feet may feel very hot to the touch, front
feet are most commonly affected, one or both, or it may include
hind feet too. This is a true horse emergency and the vet
should be summoned immediately. Efforts to ease the pain should
be made and may include standing in mud or deep sand or running
water over the feet. Treatment by a knowledgeable farrier
over the long term may restore even the most severely affected
horses.
|
