Treating A Pony Suffering From COPD Or Heaves

February 25, 2012 By 1 Comment

One of the most difficult horse conditions to handle is COPD, or just pony heaves, particularly because the physical pain the steed is afflicted with during an attack can be very intense. A COPD attack during equestrian sport can cause a pony to pull out of competition, what with sustained coughing, flared nostrils, trouble breathing, and other symptoms of breathing distress. You can forget about horse riding if your mare is suddenly gripped by heaves.

In the past mostly aged horses suffered from heaves, though today, performance horses even in their prime can also be affected by the awful near-equivalent of human asthma. What this suggests for horse riders is a constant risk for fouling up in competition, and disturbances waiting to happen in other equestrian activities, even just plain horse riding. There are common ideas re heaves—particularly about its causes and permanence. COPD is believed to be triggered by allergens like mould or dust or hay—a more omnipresent factor in horse care and coaching. But observing performance horses and those with delicate personalities and corresponding lung or respiratory weakness will lead one to believe that stress—both physical and emotional, and it’s often true that both are at work at the same time—can also be a trigger for COPD attacks. Also, heaves is yet to be demonstrated to be permanently curable, but its symptoms during an attack can be alleviated and even pre-empted.

Some horses simply have weak lungs and breathing systems. These parts are most affected when they’re introduced to stressful circumstances. The hay or other allergens may still play a part, but we’ll target the stress-related factor, which may very well point out why performance horses that endure severe coaching for exacting equestrian sport develop the condition. Horses have parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous states. The parasympathetic nervous state is what’s ‘turned on ‘ in horses in a standard situation. But when reason to be alarmed pops up, they flip from parasympathetic to sympathetic state to engage the stressful stimuli with either the fight or flight reaction. Some horses experience attacks of heaves as soon as they’re going into the sympathetic nervous state.

Physical and emotional stress are indeed factors that develop and trigger heaves. If you’ve got a mare that’s puny in the lungs and rattles in the chest, then you’ve got a prime candidate for heaves. The straightforward act of horse riding in an unfamiliar environ can lead her to breathe heavier and start coughing.

Fortunately , there are methods to combat and diminish COPD symptoms and effects, specifically in the shape of administering adrenal supporting supplements; supplements like Eleviv. Eleviv can help ease effects of heaves in minutes, and can also pre-empt them by being present in feed or administered thru syringe before undergoing an equestrian activity or training exercise that can possibly put stress on the horse. Depending on the pony, you may even start feeding hay again as long as Eleviv is being administered.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about cheap horse rugs

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Slow Horse Coaching Investment Always Yields A Higher End Result

February 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Horses are often investments—meaning they have to be trained to do what they are intended to do so their owner can profit from them. Whether that’s trail riding, straight forward horse riding, show jumping, eventing, or dressage, owners need their investment to pay a return. A common mistake is to expect the investment to repay too quickly.

Once there was a big gap between eastern and western schooling methods. The difference mostly is in the rate or the pace in which the horses were trained with the objective they were intended. A dressage horse trained thru historic western orthodox techniques would begin its equestrian career early, and by the time it reaches its prime it would probably be retiring from dressage competitions. Whilst a horse trained through eastern orthodox coaching techniques would only be starting its career when the western trained horse retires. For the investor, the horse owners, the old western way means rapid profit. For owners of horses trained in the old ways of eastern training, they’d need to wait longer for their investment to return a profit, but they would reap the results of the investment for longer.

There are a few reasons as to the reasons why rushing a horse results in a shorter equestrian career. One is that almost all of the time training entails physical development in the steed. Their muscles need to grow used to the motions they are going to be doing for a lifetime. This means conditioning the muscles, getting them used to the required motions without straining them, and taking care to keep them that way. Another vital factor is that the routine established in training must be instilled effectively into the horse’s mind. This needs time. Whether or not a stud or mare can be taught to jump over sizable obstacles in a short while, you can’t expect it to perform the same way every time if it wasn’t given sufficient time to memorize the jumping motions such that it becomes virtually second nature.

There’s also a human aspect in this: the rider also needs time to learn his role and the way to effectively play his part. He must learn the best way to use his aids and what cues work best for his horse. Like the horse, if the rider is not given enough time to take everything to heart, this would result in a less than perfect execution of the routine and would in turn result in a dulling of both the horse’s and the rider’s sense for the routine.

So while there are trainers that are talented enough to teach horses lessons in as little as 3 to six days, the results won’t be as distinguished or lasting as a lesson taught in 3 to 6 weeks.

Next time you’re coaching your pony and her learning curve is slowing your pace, always recall that she best learns without undue haste.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about stable rugs

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Ponies Practice New Manoeuvres Whilst In Pasture

February 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Horses have similar characteristics to humans, and a number of these can be used to overcome our equestrian coaching problems and learning blocks.

Horse riding is a recurring cycle of care, coaching, and then application of the things taught and learned till the pony in question is solid on her cues and knows how her rider wants her to respond in every situation. Before a pony reaches that stage , however , generous amounts of time and effort will unavoidably be consumed. And for such equestrian sport as dressage, an equine ballet of beauteous precision, rather more time and effort and frustration is a requirement. Thru the method of training, both trainer and horse can be stressful, compelling, and irritating. There are occasions when the health of a mare being trained might be put at risk—the danger coming from a trainer’s need for her to learn. Pushing her too hard beyond her tangible learning curve now would only function to stress her out and put negative stress on her. And administering performance boosters to young horses is likewise inadvisable as too much may endanger their health in the long term.

So it’s a good thing that like us as horse riders who learn on our own, so do our horses learn in pasture when they’re left to their devices.

This may be difficult to believe at first. But to see how it occurs, the next time you introduce a manoeuvre to your mare, observe her while in pasture thereafter. For instance, teach her to pivot around to reverse direction. This is a very unnatural move—horses go round in a semi-circle to reverse directions at freedom. After a session trying to teach her the lesson, ensure she’s got a handle on the basic motions, and do not worry about the move not being perfect yet. Give her a break and let her graze for a bit. Observe her as she grazes in pasture—instead of reversing direction the natural way (the half-circle) she will start reversing directions through the manoeuvre you taught her. Though the movements could be clumsy as she’s yet to polish them, seeing your horse do the move on her very own is amazing in itself. And as she continues using what she is learned to reverse direction, given time she’d inevitably become good at it. Every time you let her out onto pasture, she’ll continue to utilize any moves you’ve taught her in favour of what she initially knew. And the longer she uses them, the better she gets at them.

This suggests if we use this natural behavior of our horses we will teach them up to the point where they no longer display further progress, then just let them out to practice on their lonesome. This extra step in an equestrian coaching regime means we avoid putting too much pressure or administering too many performance improving drugs while letting ourselves rest too. And better yet—horses learn best when their lessons are spaced out at a regular interval and in between lessons they practice at liberty. Their practice-method of self learning is restricted of course; do not expect them to pull off any graceful dressage moves while in pasture.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about cheap horse rugs

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Hay Is Not Horse Nutrition But Fun

February 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

While you might think from observing the disposition of your horses the hay you are giving them is enough for their needs—this isn’t the case, particularly for horses that perform in equestrian sport or do some heavy activities. The final analysis is that hay, though allegedly a nice treat, does not have enough nutrition and essential energy giving calories and carbs for horses undergoing heavy equestrian training for sport or labor. Your studs and mares simply chew on them like it’s their favorite treat because they are used to nibbling on lone stem feed and in reality must do so to mostly entertain themselves across the hours of the day they have to keep on walking and chewing.

And they need to keep on walking and chewing about 24 hours per day. Sure, hay can offer the necessary nutrients and energy for easy exercises as horse riding and daily horsing around, but beyond that, the needed nutrient has to come from someplace else. If you measure the nutrient price of hay, you’d be troubled they’re so insufficient for your horse’s coaching wishes.

Consider this: most horses kept exactly on hay and hay and alfalfa feeds and given training to perform equestrian sport need to be given performance boosters early and have to retire early. The average age for performance steeds who are fed mostly hay is six years—some horses trained in established Eastern techniques only start being trained when they are six years old. These hay-only studs and mares need performance shots as early as three years to keep up with demanding equestrian sport or physically precise activities. Why?

Let us consider the human body, which is very similar to a horse’s. In reality factors that affect human health (even human hair growth) also affect horse health (mane and tail growth for steeds). In humans, more than 60% of illnesses are related to their diet. Applying this to our equine buddies, then their illnesses, or in our case their performance and early retirement, can be attributed to their food intake—specifically the absence of correct nourishment.

But don’t take this to mean you must abandon hay and accept better feed. Hay is a quintessential part of feed—both in stalls or in pasture. They have to be continually around for the horses to chew on. What you can do, is to cook up your own recipe of nutritional whole food additions and either administer or mix that recipe into your horses ‘ other feed. A 1,000 pound mare wishes only a couple of ounces of nourishment packed supplements with the typical hay to be well placed to perform well in even demanding equestrian sport.

Do not be misled to believing that your horses can perform dressage level equestrian sport feeding on hay alone. Such precise sport as dressage and similar Olympic events require them to be trained thoroughly, and intensive coaching should invariably be accompanied by providing sufficient holistic nourishment. If you didn’t just invest in a steed for straightforward horse riding and her novel value then know that hay is best fed for her entertainment, not her nourishment.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about horse rugs.

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A Horse’s Health Care Starts With Its Stomach

February 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you’d like a good steed that you can enter in reining, show jumping or dressage events, tune your horse’s medical care programme to improving the condition of its digestive system.

A number health worries that a pony can suffer with are directly related to the health of its digestive tract. As an example, a steed’s first line of defence against illness-causing agents is the healthy bacteria in its tummy. More therefore what’s accountable for the production of biotin, which is required for horses to have healthy tails, manes, and hooves, are the good bacteria again found inside the steed’s gut. Thus, an unhealthy bowels having a poor working small intestines or lower bowel or stomach can cause studs and mares to get colic, ulcers, food allergies, an unhealthy skin condition, a leaky stomach, and weight problems. In simple terms, a good horse is a product of a good guts and the converse also applies: an unhealthy digestive system makes an unhealthy pony.

So how does one go about taking care of your horses ‘ digestive system? The simplest key’s to increase the population of the good bacteria that flourish in their gut at a desirable, healthy level and keep them alive. If you are interested to know more about the technological foundation behind this or would like to know more about good bacteria in the stomach and their effects on horses, you can check out fascinating and educational websites on the net. There are currently several websites catering mainly to equestrian needs like health care for horses among others.

Basically, an equestrian just has to feed their horses a good meal rich with vitamins and minerals and those that promote the presence of live good bacteria in their gut. Give diet supplements if the food to be given doesn’t contain the indispensable amounts of minerals and vitamins to make a healthy pony. For steeds with delicate stomachs, be certain to give something to reduce the risk of getting colic. Better yet , provide them enough of the sort of food that can keep them from having ulcers. These sound simpler said than done, but in actual fact an equestrian can easily provide all of these by mixing a few ingredients to make a tasty pony supplement recipe.

These are some suggested ingredients that should be incorporated to make a nutritious home made horse supplement: beet pulp or hay (a lot of them) to stop stomach acids that cause ulcer; a dose of acidophilus or bifidus to keep an elevated level of good bacteria; blue-green algae and mangosteen juice, the trace minerals and antioxidants of these mix to heal stomach ulcers; and Eleviv, which is especially beneficial for traumatized horses by helping them transition from a fight or flight nature to a more placid nature.

Gather the ingredients and do some mixing in your kitchen for a nutritious horse feed that boosts their digestive system and therefore their general health. Give this supplement constantly to your horse and you will soon find yourself riding a gorgeous, healthy mare.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about stable rugs

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Interpreting Your Horses Expressions To Boost Training Results

February 25, 2012 By 1 Comment

A good equestrian knows how to read her horse’s expressions. Because before you can teach your mare dressage movements or even just enjoy riding her, you have to implant the basics in her first, which entails her understanding you and you understanding her. And our equine pals can’t exactly let us know how they feel—we have to read their expressions. We’ll take the practice of basic roping for instance.

It isn’t difficult to find a roping teacher or lesson thanks to roping clinics. Trainers who set up such clinics usually provide manuals or at a minimum advise the equestrian to accustom their pony to ropes and prepare the animal for the actual roping clinic.

Manuals that are meant to accustom horses to ropes or lassos as preparation for roping training have detailed instructions regularly with large graphics to better aid the owners in understanding how to carry out the lesson and thus prepare their mares. With such manuals, you should not have an issue preparing your equine partners, unless they’ve had a bad experience connected with ropes. I they have then ropes would definately make your horse panic when you try and rope her.

A pony, for instance, which was roped to be caught when it was three and was sent to be gelded, shod, and trained, in all chance has since developed fright of ropes. The rope is associated to being caught and the negative experience that followed. You should expect such a horse to gallop away at the appearance of a rope or lasso, and wouldn’t stop unless a wall it cannot jump over is in the way.

So what do you do when your mare has developed fear of ropes or, for some unknown reason, panics when you get into the saddle and start to lift the rope off the saddle horn? You can go to an expert, a pony trainer, to get some assistance. A plan of action much like the following would probably be recommended:

Return to the groundwork level. While holding the rope, quietly stroke your mare. Then start swinging the rope at you side. It is understandable if the horse accepts your strokes while you’re holding the rope but will panic after you start swinging the rope. What you need to do is continue softly swinging the rope and keep an eye out for signs from your mare indicating the she is thinking. Horses blink, twitch their ears, breathe quicker, or quiver their lips when they think. These are your cues that your mare is thinking—most likely, processing what you are doing or making an attempt to do. When you see a sign that your pony is thinking, stop swinging the rope and praise him.

“Release” your horse from that part of the lesson. She has already recognized the exercise and is prepared for a repeat or another exercise. When you see your horse snorting, breathing deeply, moving her feet, licking or chewing or both, yawning, shaking her body or head, or dropping her head, then that indicates that you can release her from the lesson.

Horses have their own way of expressing themselves. A good equestrian should focus not only on dressage-level routines but should also take time to learn a horse’s expressions and how to translate them to better understand her equine friend. She should similarly help the mare get over her fear, if there’s any.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about riding hats

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The Three Characters That Make A Top Class Horse Rider

February 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Obviously every rider who gets into competition wants to become the best, if it is in dressage, jumping or eventing. Is every rider a potential super star? Or is there some other quality, something else that only the favoured few are born with? Recent studies on successful folks give powerful pointers that successful riders do share some common qualities that lesser people do not possess.

1. Determination

Successful riders practice, practice some more and than push themselves to the edge by practicing some more. If you need to get to the very top of whatever field you are engaged in, your commit all of your soul, your energy and your time to taking yourself up the ladder of talent, one rung at a time. If you’d like to be a top rider, you need to eat, drink, breathe and live riding: nothing else should be permitted to divert your attention all through the days, the weeks, the months and the years. You should train under the supervision of a recognized expert who is constantly perfecting your methodologies. He or she should be someone of exemplary eye for detail and an overriding passion for all things equine.

2. Physical and Fitness and Psychological Alertness

You cannot truly be the best horseman unless you’re the fittest. Only the mediocre believe that saddling up a good fit horse and riding is all that it takes. A decent fit horse needs a good fit rider. The top riders at the Olympic Games and other events put themselves through the grind also: they are regulars at gyms, swimming, jogging, something or the other that when pursued rigorously leads to peak health. Most riders at the top of the totem pole nowadays use the services of nutrition experts and fitness gurus. For themselves, apart from the pros they hire for their horses. If you’d like to give yourself an edge, begin with an effective fitness program.

3. Grit

Folks are keen on attributing reasons for success. Frequently, you will hear comments at events and competitions talking about how so and so “usually wins as he (or she) comes from a rich family who can afford the best horses and the best coaching facilities”. Etc. You won’t hear many comments about the grind the winner went through: the hours of sacrifice and toil, the hours of single-minded perseverance. Practically every single winner has overcame through reversals at some stage or the other of their life. Plenty of them actually came from modest backgrounds: they did not have loaded folks and stables of pedigreed horses. Irrespective of family and financial background, every single person at the very top got there by expending blood, sweat and tears.

If you lack the steely determination to be successful, you’ll drop out at the 1st difficulty that you run into. On the other hand, if you are absolutely single minded about doing whatever it takes to become a winner, you can do worse than begin with a definite plan of action. The core elements of your scheme should include:

1. Riding as much as feasible under the watchful eye of a high quality coach;

2. Sticking to a correct fitness programme like pilates and selective diet;

3. Persevering. Reversals are a part of life and every endeavour in life; someone “a Chinese person, I think “terribly correctly declared that failure is not falling down, failure is refusing to get up after falling.

Every time you trip and fall, get up and take the next small step. It is the first of the leftover steps to success.

Horses are Heather Toms ‘ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers like all things about horse rugs .

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Treating Horse Influenza

February 25, 2012 By 1 Comment

There are lots of commonalities between a horse and an equestrian owing to the many likenesses in physiological makeup as well as traits and temperament between humans and horses. Among the numerous things humans have in common with their equine friends is the flu. As flu can simply spread into a contagion in groups of folks, equine flu can also simply cause chaos in a herd of horses. But don’t panic when a wave of influenza spreads in the ranks of your esteemed steeds, aside from missed horse riding sessions, no other extreme events should happen. Most horses recover without developing complications , and only a few ever die from the flu.

Temperatures of 101 to 106 degrees F are telling indicators of equine influenza. When the coughing comes along, you can be quite sure that you are basically dealing with horse flu. Obviously it’s common for the cough to come after the fever, and it’s generally dry, hacking cough initially. After a few days the coughing will sound moister, and will reduce in frequency, and then at last fade away after a few weeks. But do not depend on just these to self-diagnose your horses. Always seek expert, vet advice. You do not want to confuse something as innocent as influenza with viral arteritis or viral rhinopneumonitis. The vet can run blood tests and confirm what ailment your horses are having, and his findings of flu are more decisive than your most informed guesses.

The high temperature is bound to go down after a few days or so. Other equine influenza indications include weakness, stiffness, nasal discharge, absence of energy, and loss of appetite. When your horses have the flu they will not be up for horse riding, far less dressage training. Different symptoms persist anywhere from 2 to 7 days. Any longer would merit another vet check.

Equine flu spreads like human flu, through the air in the shape of very infectious material spewed out in each cough of a discomfited steed. So that you can think how fast flu will spread in a group of horses when one of them easily coughs out infectious viruses. And again, just like with human influenza, there is no exact remedy for equine flu. No medication can kill the viruses causing the illness. What can be done is to rest the ailed steeds in clean, well-ventilated stalls and that physically draining exercise is avoided. The equestrian has a major role to play in making certain her steeds go through the difficulty without effort.

Though symptoms generally vanish after a week, a stud or mare that had influenza can take as long as three weeks to a few months to get back to tip-top shape prepared for any amount of horse riding sessions and dressage training. Both younger and older horses are more at risk to equine influenza, and as such should be given due attention. Further bacterial infections and complications need to be pre-empted in these steeds too. Vaccine shots are available to provide assistance in protecting horses from the 2 kinds of flu, so ask your vet about them.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about stable rugs

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What To Look For When You Start Purchasing Horse Tack

February 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Horseback riding is an extremely entertainment for many people all around the country; however it’s a costly pastime. There is English Tack and Western Tack depending depending on the sort of riding you prefer. Both need plenty of pieces of tack which you want to purchase and they can be costly. It is vital to make sure that the tack you get fits your pony properly and does the job correctly.

The most vital and costly pieces of horse tack that you’re going to ever purchase is a saddle. English Saddles and Western Saddles come in a large range of varied styles and variations. It’s important that you ensure you know precisely what kind of saddle is OK for your horse and the sort of riding you do. Most saddles are made from leather as this is an especially sturdy and robust material. You'll need to wash and oil your saddle frequently to ensure that it is kept in good condition.

There are a number of pieces of horse tack which are essential to help grooming; these include mane brushes, hoof picks, brushes, and sponges. You must also get a shedding blade which can remove hair during certain seasons. Ideally you need to groom your pony on a day-to-day basis. You also must dispose of all the dust in their hoofs as this can end up in infections. Shampoo is another essential item to put in your tack box.

It’s best to select quality tack products instead of choosing the cheapest horse tack available. Horse tack can be expensive however it should last you for a very long time to come so long as it’s cared for properly. Spend some time selecting quality and reliable pieces of horse tack which should last you for several years to come.

Horse tack is vital for anyone who owns a horse but it doesn’t have to be excessively dear. Do your homework and buy the best quality tack within your means.

Sam Roller has written 1 or 2 Equestrian Guides. He stresses you get the proper equipment for both you and your horse weather you ride English or Western style.

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Win Money at the Races with Free Horse Racing Tips

February 24, 2012 By 1 Comment

Among all the forms of gambling today, horse betting tracks are one of the most in demand and very attractive weekend sporting attraction all over the globe. Of course, while there is really no secret and firm guarantee in making big money out of horse racing, careful study and research can increase your winning chances. Also, there are free horse racing tips that can help you. Therefore, if you believe that in order to win money at the races numerous details have to be taken into consideration, then here are the best free horse racing tips to become a sure horse race better.

Study the form. Check out the horse jockey and the horse winning history. There are a lot of variables to consider. For instance, how much distance can that horse run? Has that horse ever tried to run over the type of ground he will run for today? Can the jokey handle extra weight? It is more than just studying the horse, and because there are so many things to consider in order to  make sure return on race wages, many would follow a tipster.

Know your staking methods. You don’t just place bets on a horse. You have to select first your staking plan. For example, many would go for level stakes. This means you start on small bets then slightly increase your stakes until a winner is obtained. You may also place two or three bets on several horses. But remember, you can bet this way if that’s your preferred way of betting or you may just stick with minimum bets on the favorites to guarantee you sure return of your money.

Select the right bookmaker. Aside from hiring a tipster, many find keeping a record of bookmakers a good habit and effective way to increase their chances of winning in horse races. However, keep in mind that you have to be wise enough when making deals with bookmakers especially if the amount expected to be won is higher than the amount your chosen bookmaker can only pay.

Gauge when to stop. Do not think that regular horse racing winners don’t lose money because they do. Even long-time wining betters lose a lot of money in the process that is why there is a great need to identify when to stop. In most cases, those who want to have a big return on their bets would hastily throw big money even on their first bet. Pioneer’s advice is to take betting slowly especially if you still don’t know exactly how to play the board. Decide on your limit before you place on a bet and always stick on it. This way, you do not lose more than you can bear to lose and you also increase your chances of winning more than you really expected.

Keep in mind, in order to become a successful punter, you have to learn everything about horse racing. Do not forget to follow these free horse racing tips and you’ll see, in due time, your bets would return to you with bigger profits.
 

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