How To Train Your Horse To Lift Her Foot

February 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Horse riding isn’t all about riding—a giant lump of it is about looking after your horses. Taking care of your horses ‘ feet is one of the most pressing and challenging jobs you need to perform to maintain the horses ‘ overall health. Being proud creatures and particularly protecting of their appreciated hooves, horses won’t easily let you pick their feet up. You’ll find that more frequently than not, going about it haphazardly would finish up with you being kicked stupid.

Horses that have undergone intensive equestrian training all commenced with the fundamentals, and among the fundamentals of caring for them is caring for their feet. It will not be straightforward to get them to lift their feet up for you, but with enough patience and if you follow these steps, you’ll soon win.

The key things you want to remember are Restraint, Repetition, and Reward.

These three regularly surface in several facets of equestrian training—especially when doing basic actions. When it comes to making your horse raise her feet for you, you will need to apply all 3 repeatedly. First things first: work in an enclosure where you can get to work safely, and start with the front legs. You want to ascertain if you want more control of her. If you do, put a bridle or halter on her. The process entails repetitive steps of making her become used to your signals (without stomping on you). Run your hand down from her shoulder to her foreleg. Usually nothing happens yet, and if the usual holds, ask her (utilizing the reins naturally) to step back in order to shift her weight. When she does, release the rein and let go of her foreleg and reward her. Repeat this until she shifts her weight when you place your hand on her foreleg.

The following steps are the same, only applied to different, possibly more delicate areas of your horse’s feet. When she consistently shifts weight when you place your hand on her foreleg, advance your hand down to her cannon bone. She’ll shift her weight back for sure. Restrain her from doing this. When her foot leaves the ground (even a little), release the reins and move your hand away and reward her with praise or strokes. Repeat this process until she’s ok with you holding her foot after she shifts her weight when you touch her foreleg.

When you begin to be in a position to lift the whole hoof off the ground without getting yourself kicked back, don’t push your luck. Set her foot back down as soon as her toe lifts, release restraints, and reward her. Each other try keep hold of the suspended foot longer. If you believe you can safely restrain her from pulling away or putting her foot down until she relaxes, then do so. Otherwise, just let go and reward her.

The hind legs are a different matter, as some horses simply are not used to lifting up their hind legs. Almost all of the time its more difficult. The same process of restrain, reward, repeat is followed — only this time you start with getting her familiar to shifting her hips away from you. From there, work your way until one of her hind feet leaves the ground. A note of caution though: the back legs are stronger than the front, and some horses are natural born kickers. If you believe you need to run her through a deadening program such that she does not kick your head off when you touch her back legs, then by all possible means, do so. Remember the closer you are to a horse the less impact a kick has.

Restrain her just enough to let her to know your objectives, reward her for each correct response, and repeat the process until it sticks. Basically, that is what equestrian coaching is all about.

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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Trusting Pony Instinct On Feed And Supplements

February 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

How are you feeding your horses? Are you force feeding a uniform feed regime to all your horses without leaving them any freedom to choose? If so , it’s about time you retire such a feeding practice and start trusting in a horse’s inbred senses that they might typically depend on. Many an equestrian has a stringent training regimen not only for safe and disciplined pony riding , but for a sport as definite and accurate as dressage. The issue is when an equestrian’s strict coaching regime influences his holistic health care for his horses such that he also gets really stringent when it comes to feeding them. Sure, he would probably know plenty about horse feed, but a stud or mare has its instinct guiding it—and they’re usually right on the money.

The perfect feeding regimen is something close to a correctly supplemented free choice feed environment. There are headstrong steeds out there that will not take a bite of anything you force them to take. If however you let them become used to free choice feeding routine and you think that giving them freedom to choose is affecting their health negatively, then introduce supplements to their feed. What our equine buddies might be really averse to are those unpleasant shots and additional medicines we mostly rush off to administer when they get out of condition.

And there comes a time, especially for horses undergoing equestrian training for such sport as dressage or physically demanding activities, that they do develop an illness of some sort. When they do, go on and take a veterinarian’s prescription, but do not expect your pony to gulp it down with pleasure. The first thing to do is to try regular doses of anything prescribed. If in all your earnest efforts and methods of administering it your pony seems to get a way not to take it—from leaving just the pills and eating up everything else in her feeding box to gulping it down and spitting it out as soon as you turn around—then there just could be a sound reason why.

If you have been coaching a specific mare for some time now, then you know she has her own temperament—but her hardheadedness isn’t due to merely a peculiarity in her disposition. Trust her instincts like she is doing, and you will see. If she indicates a certain bent to eat more of a particular feed, then let her do so. You might be shocked she gets better on her very own choice of feed even without the drugs. Or she might take the medication when she’s going through the indicators of her illness, and hates it when she’s not. Obviously, she knows what’s helping her along when she’s ill and when it’s required.

Just as a pony trained for sport affords you the advantage of easy and delightful riding, you can at least afford them their right to trust their instincts.

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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What You Should Know AboutSwamp Fever

February 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Ever heard about swamp fever? The correct term for this major horse infirmity is Equine Infectious Anemia, or EIA, and it’s much more major than just anemia. Though occurring in far less frequency than it probably did many years ago, this illness remains one of the most lethal and most severe among known equine illnesses.

The Virus:The pathogen that causes EIA is sort of unique, as it is the first of its kind for which a special condition is defined: antigenic drift. This basically means the pathogen can freely change its form to become untouched by antibodies—basically incurable. More bad news: EIA is passed on by insects such as horse flies and deerflies, as well as instruments that can carry affected blood from one horse to another.

Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Prescription:EIA has 3 stages: the acute stage, the subacute stage, and the protracted stage. In the acute stage symptoms appear—listlessness, swelling belly, chest or legs, fever, and loss of appetite. There are examples where the pony could go on to show no symptoms a month after she’s infected. Even basic drills like horse riding would be inadvisable, as after diagnosis the pony should be kept away from other horses in isolation, and in some states mercy killing is the prescription. Besides, infected steeds wouldn’t have the energy for equestrian sport anyways. 2 to 4 weeks after initial symptoms show, as much as 50% of steeds with EIA die. Those that do survive acute stages enter the prolonged stage, where more fevers, weight loss, and the anemia sets in. Diagnosed steeds may appear healthy, but can easily fall prey to the illness in a year, and symptoms can resurface when under stress.

The Coggins ‘ Test: A 95% accurate way to test horses for EIA is thru the Coggin’s test, developed in the 1970’s by Doctor Leroy Coggins. As the virus changes its form to be all but invincible to antibodies, identifying the pathogen in tests is most unlikely, so what the Coggins ‘ test does is identify the presence of antibodies that are meant to fight the EIA virus. When tested and an adequate presence of EIA antibodies are found, then the pony in under investigation is diagnosed being with swamp fever.

Precautionary Measures: While different states have different laws referring to EIA and its preventive measures and measures to be taken when a steed is diagnosed with it, pretty much all states require isolation of your horses. Aside from government bodies ‘ cares though, an equestrian should also:

-Dispose used needles and never share them between horses and always sterilise tools after use.

-Use pesticides and other effective insect control methods, as well as keep stables and stalls and other enclosures clean and hygienic.

-Quarantine and don’t breed horses that are infected, unhealthy, or under suspicion of having EIA.

-Always have Coggins ‘ test performed for events and places where horses will co-mingle.

-Keep new horse species away from the rest till a negative Coggins ‘ test result.

-Follow laws of the state about EIA.

EIA is one of the most substantial disorders that may end the career of an otherwise proficient pony, and there are worse implications to having the infirmity than easy retirement. Therefore , one crucial task of an equestrian is to guarantee her horses are kept away from the suffering that EIA can inflict.

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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Managing A Horse That Rears

February 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

One of the equine failings hardest to set right is rearing. It can be fatal for both rider and horse, and at its very finest, could be a horrifying experience for the rider.

To cure a pony of his rearing habit, you have first got to work out why he does it.

A lot of noise is generated about tie downs being the ideal solutions. Other proposals laud martingales and “popping”. Tie downs and martingales don’t address the main cause, they just touch on the symptoms. They essentially refer to the technique of forcing down your horse’s head if he should rear. Popping involves slapping a rearing horse between his ears, to give him the impression he hit his head on something when he reared. Various ideas about popping advise using rolled up newspapers, although where the rider suddenly is going to get a rolled newspaper is not explained. Some more exotic recommendations advise hitting the pony on the head with a bag full of water, so that the pony gets the mistaken concept he has been hurt and is bleeding. Again, this would suggest that each time you ride, you take along a plastic bag full of water.

In fact horses rarely rear. You can confirm this by watching wild horses, or maybe horses in a paddock. They rear only when at play or in a fight. Horses are fight or flight animals, and prefer to flee from perceived danger. If the pony feels forced to battle, he uses biting and kicking as his weapons. You can well understand that rearing is not an inborn reaction to any kind of circumstance.

Well then, what does make a pony rear? A horse rears in response to a heavy hand, or as a reaction to a bit that’s not fitting well and isn’t comfy or injuring him. If the horse has wounds or other problems in his mouth, that can cause rearing. In such cases, a horse rears as a reaction to agony. A pony also rears out of frustration if he is in a stressful situation and finds no way out of it. Whenever your horse rears, inspect his mouth and his teeth straight away and change his bit to the softest one you have on hand.

Reading and stopping rears

Generally, you can make out if your pony is about to rear. If he is at ease and moving as you need him to while on the bit, he is not going to be rearing. If he does intend to rear, he will telegraph his desire early: he’ll back up and go down in a crouch on his hind legs. When faced with this scenario don’t pull back on the reins; bring the horse’s head round in either direction and give him a leg cue in that direction. He’s going to move that way and forget rearing.

If your horse does rear, what do you do?

At any cost, avoid pulling back on the reins. Maintain your legs in normal position and see if you can lean forward. Put your hands around your horse’s neck and hold on. As he hits ground after his rear, nudge him forward in a new direction to discourage another rear. If you get the impression your pony is going to flip over, get your feet out of the stirrups and get off the horse by sliding down his back. Horses that flip over should be handled by a professional, as they can be deeply dangerous.

Always use soft hands on the bit and keep your pony going forward. Make sure you have a bit that will not chafe unnecessarily, and ensure your horse’s mouth and teeth are in healthy shape. Generally, leave it to the professionals to deal with a pony that has a bias to rear.

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 blanket

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Coaching A Mustang The American Horse

February 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Different horses have different temperaments and attitudes, and some can be so energetically proud that getting a handle on them is left to pro trainers, and even they have difficulty coaching the horse. Take the Mustang for instance.

The Mustang is perhaps the horse breed that may best embody American ideas of freedom and pride. When brought into an equestrian training pen, most trainers would admire the creature, but at the same time back away from being obliged to coach it. Mustangs are wild steeds, that’s definite, but like how other types of horses can be trained for equestrian sport or other functions, so are they able to. But whoever’s coaching them should be aptly talented and justly qualified. Herein lies the problem.

Owning any horse, even a Mustang, can cost as little as $130 plus a trailer home. Due to this, many would dare buy themselves a proud steed and try to train it themselves. Being all but complete beginners with little or even no qualification to train horses, they are fortunate if they can basically train the steeds to do something that looks like horse riding. In reality if they are able to do that, it only means the horse would then need to be retrained in the right demeanour for it to be suitable for equestrian sport. Making the poor animal un-learn nearly everything it was ‘taught ‘ is a tedious and prolonged process in itself.

So if nothing else but to avoid the hassle, it’s only proper that an excellent equestrian coach handle a breed like a Mustang. But what qualities of a coach would make her a great choice?

Experience and experience matter, especially when handling Mustangs, but beyond that the trainer or breeder should really care for the horse. This suggests she has the patience to whittle down the Mustang’s pride and stubbornness until he becomes a cooperative partner. The eagerness to spend a lot of time on the steed to consistently meet his aggressiveness patiently is most probably the foremost characteristic you would want in a coach.

The Mustang is kind of powerful willed, and will not follow a hesitant or unskilled hand that poses to steer it. But given sufficient time, patience, and the right coaching regimes and practices, even Mustangs become trustworthy and safe mounts. All they want is a compatible home and a leader.

The initial few barriers to break down are the hardest ones: replacing a Mustang’s flight or fight nature with proper replies to cues, removing the fear that makes the mighty steed bare his teeth or lash out, and essentially training what once was a wild animal.

More on the techie side of coaching though: horses should be well capable in foundation coaching. When beginners try their hand at coaching Mustangs, they tend to skip foundation training for many varied reasons, and this is never advisable nor acceptable.

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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Essentials Required To Boost Your Horse Riding Skills

February 26, 2012 By 1 Comment

Every equestrian wants to become the ultimate in pony riding talents. Perfection may be close to impossible to reach, but the serious riders keep having a go at it anyhow.

Use these 5 simple techniques to raise your riding skills:

1. Study Others

Constantly study videos of other riders. You’ll learn a lot about right posture and wrong posture. The visible media is a very handy tool for human learning, and it may astonish you to know just how much the study of good riders can assist you in learning. Try and attend riding lessons and pay close attention to what the trainer is saying. He’ll be communicating a lot good riding tips which will benefit you. Develop the habit of looking into the way riders and horses interact; see how they pick up on each other’s cues. If you polish your observation powers, you’ll learn a good deal.

2. Work with a Professional Coach

One of the surest ways to put an edge on your horsemanship is to work with an expert tutor. Enrol yourself in riding classes run by experts. Even professional riders use trainers to keep their skills sharpened and keep on top. Good trainers spot issues straight away, and help you iron them out. They help you and your horse improve individually as well as jointly: the better your understanding with your horse, the better your riding.

3. Do a Better Balancing Act

Even with hacking or trail riding, you cannot be an accomplished horseman without a well developed sense of balance. A good sense of balance is needed not solely to keep you on top of your pony, its also critical for good coordination with your pony while riding. Riding bare back is one of the best methods of improving your sense of balance. Try riding your pony without stirrups and reins also. To do that, you need someone else to assist you, as the horse should be guided by a lunge.

4. Keep Fit

You can’t expect to reach peak performance unless you are awfully fit physically. Do not make the gaffe of presuming it is just your pony that must be in perfect physical condition. You ride better when you are physically fit. You can try Pilates, which has become the in style sort of fitness regime among horse riders. This regime boosts the condition of the center of your body: it will help build up abdominal strength, which helps with ideal balance and posture while on horseback. You can try any sort of effective exercise that builds up your body strength and flexibility.

5. Practice

In case you have any doubts, which you shouldn’t really: practice does make perfect! Workshops, training sessions, fitness regimes and observation are useless unless you are learning constantly and applying your lessons into practice continually. As with any other activity, the more that you work at it, the better you become.

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

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Understanding And Curing A Roach Backed Pony

February 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

A roach back isn’t just an unpleasant physical deformation particularly on a horse, it is also a serious condition that may not be totally cured regardless of earnest efforts. For an equestrian who trains horses for horse riding and sport, a roach back needs to be fixed. Horses with such backs aren’t precisely ideal candidates for any activity concerning a rider. But what do you do when confronted with a mare with a roach back?

Understand the Condition

The physical nonconformity is a consequence of the affected pony not using her back properly. Developmental challenges that the mare has not overcome have made her back form badly, and consequently she can’t use it correctly. It’s important for an equestrian bent on making an attempt to fix a roach back pony to appreciate why the roach back came to be, as a steed’s reaction to treatments—especially body work—would be telling indications of where the agony or tenderness is and that would in turn tell the equestrian where to focus their work on. And a mare afflicted by a roach back will have no option except to respond to body work that’s changing how afflicted areas are formed and thus forcing her to relearn how to utilise them.

A pony that isn’t using her hind quarters and back correctly would necessarily tax parts of her body taking the extra load—usually her hind legs, especially from the stifles down. As such, she would need some treatment to ease agony or soreness of these parts.

Bony Horse Backs

In a few cases of roach back, a steed’s back may appear bony, perhaps even spiky. This is thanks to the pony not using his back and hindquarters like she typically should and as a result very little muscle has developed there. This suggests the deformed vertebrae is near to the skin, making the back look bony. To handle this issue and get your roach back pony ready for a minimum of horse riding outings, you need to bolster muscle development in those bony regions. How? Try using backing.

Backing would force your mare to use her hindquarters and her back, and that in turn would prompt muscle development in the right places. When done properly eventually your mare would develop just the correct amount of back muscle that would cover the bony appearance. Extend the usage of backing to develop lateral muscles by backing in circles in a round pen.

Trauma

A horse who’s gotten used to a roach back all her life will require special help solely to be rid of years of pain due to the condition. Even before it’s possible to start backing or body work, you as the equestrian first need to take care of any negative reactions that would impede the progression of the treatment applied to your mare. A great herb-based drug that helps calm horses and any reactions they may have is Eleviv.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about equestrian wear

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How To Take Pro Horse Photographs

February 26, 2012 By 2 Comments

When you first took up the mantle to become an equestrian, you most likely had visions of you horse riding and perhaps even dreamed of taking part in dressage events. But did you ever see yourself as a shutter-bug? There are times when you want to take pictures of your horses, and not just any pictures, but photographs that show their strength, speed and beauty. Whether they’re for the purpose of advertising or promotion or to show off recent achievements in competitions, as a rider, you will find yourself taking pictures of your horses.

And it isn’t like you’re taking photographs to save the memory—most of the time footage are employed when you want to sell a particular stud of mare. Of course , pictures of an athletic horse performing dressage maneuvers certainly would leave a good impression on possible purchasers. But you do not need to just take any picture of your horses, you need to take good footage of them. And photography requires practice. Professionals even have degrees or certificates that attest to their photographic capabilities, so do not think you can do it how they do easily. There are a few tips you can follow to boost your pony photography.

For one thing, the film you use matters. Top of the range film renders prime quality shots. 200 ASA is great film for the 35 mm format. And if you’re going digital, you’d need higher pixel (or as it stands today, megapixel) counts. But don’t waste the top quality , high price film (or megapixel battery consumption) on a bad day. Pick good days when it’s not too dark and not so bright. Your pony would look best if the lighting isn’t too bright or otherwise. Too much sun causes darker shadows, and this won’t make for a nice picture ambience, especially for dark horses.

A note on preparing the horse you intend to take a picture of: except for making sure she’s clean and healthy, make her look her most beautiful. Use appropriate props, for example platted manes and oiled hooves if that is proper for her equestrian activity. Also, everything she is going to wear should likewise be clean and professionally maintained. The horse isn’t the one and only factor in the picture that needs preparation though, the background needs some preparation and thought too. It’s best to set her up against a uncluttered background. And any handler or rider appearing in the shot should look their finest also.

You might need an additional set of knowledgeable hands to deal with the pony since you will be doing the shooting. And when you start shooting, ensure you get the very best angle of the pony. Stay clear of going too much to the front or rear, as these angles have a tendency to enlarge specific bits of the pony. Try and catch the better part of whatever action you need your horse to be doing—capture a shot with her extending her leading leg while in a trot or canter, for instance. And ultimately, just keep at it: most picture perfect moments are accidental, so just click away and you’ll get the correct one.

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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What To Look For In A Likely Dressage Champion

February 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Any equestrian, even those who only accept weekend horse riding, but love horses and everything about them however, would at one point dream of entering a dressage competition. But when that really becomes a possibility , the mere act of selecting from potential dressage level steeds could be a hurdle to overcome. What do you look for in dressage level horse?

The pirouette, a canter the movements of which are likened to a coiled lion, is a perfect maneuver that you should usually picture in your brain. A horse that can perform this move gracefully is a horse you can take up through the levels of dressage. Picture the old portraits of the American Revolution heroes on horseback, balanced for battle. Their steeds kind of sit on their hindquarters, and their fronts seemingly become lighter.

Except for steeds to be well placed to accomplish that and many other higher level maneuvers, they should not only have the skills and display the talent they also need to be built in a physical standard that fits with the thorough demands of sport like dressage. So when looking for prospects, check for these:

Whithers higher than croup “Called the uphill build, this fundamentally means a horse has a higher neck set, which in turn means she will carry herself with ease uphill. Check to see if in the point where the neck meets the whither if the muscles are concave or powerful, and will it require (and does it have the potential to) be worked on to be in a position to handle higher level frames?

Necks that allow flexion “In short , the length of the horse’s neck must be not too short and thick, though not extraneously long as well such that it’s tough to compact the steed.

No evidence of being ewe-necked “A horse could be born with an ewe-neck or early coaching might cause her to develop one. You’d desire to search for a robust, clearly defined crest rather than an overdeveloped muscle under the neck.

A straight back “Straight, but not hollow.

Natural suspension “Particularly for the canter and trot, horses with natural tendency is preferred over horses that were simply trained to develop a talent for suspension.

Good walk “While the canter and the trot can be improved, it is toughest to address horses that simply do not have a naturally free, good, swinging walk.

Gait straightness and purity “Though not as critical as the above factors, it is still superior to buy horses that have built in abilities to both extend and also collect within gaits.

Bloodline “It can’t be denied that genes play a very important role in selecting horses for such sport as exacting as dressage, so it would definitely be an edge if you get a horse with bloodlines of previous champions.

You can look into purchasing or leasing schoolmasters, horses that have took part in dressage but are moved down a level for various reasons. Naturally, knowing more on the sport by watching such events would be a good way to discover what else you want to keep an eye peeled for when looking for prospects.

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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How West Nile Virus Impacts Your Horse

February 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

When an equine illness is so devastatingly dangerous as to threaten the lives of both the horses and the equestrians handling them in an outbreak, understanding what is fact and what’s myth about such illness is tantamount to proper pre-emption and prevention. The West Nile Virus, after taking both equine and equestrian lives, is one such very dangerous disease that is surrounded by myths that need to be put straight.

The Unsafe Vaccine: One such myth about the West Nile Pathogen that not only finished horse riding escapades but horse careers (as well as equestrian careers) concerns the vaccine developed to prevent it. The myth goes that the vaccine itself is deadly, and has caused the deaths of some steeds it was applied to. That’s simply not right. The vaccine developed by Fort Dodge and the Merial vaccine are both effective and safe. The thing is, when a horse is already infected, no amount of vaccination can save it. And that’s what doubtless started the rumour and the eventual myth: an infected pony was immunized and died of the disease.

West Nile is History: Most trainers and owners are happily going for horse riding sessions and shows without realizing the need to vaccinate their horses against the West Nile Virus because they think it’s a thing of the past. While it’s right that the occurrences of West Nile Virus contagion has decreased, many horses are still believed to be carriers of the virus that are either slow in showing symptoms or will never show any. Most animal and horse nationwide associations endorse vaccinating steeds each year particularly those at higher risk due to their mosquito-infested geographical areas.

One Vaccination is All that is Needed: Most trainers may think that a horse vaccinated from the West Nile Pathogen last year is still safe from the pathogen this year. Proof does suggest that some horses can resist the virus now if they were immunized a year back, but without yearly vaccination, a steed (and her owner) can never be really safe from the West Nile Virus. Contracting even a diminished sort of the illness can spell disaster, as this disease due to a virus has no known cure, and when infected, a horse may then go on to develop neurological symptoms, which it might then give in to sooner or later.

Vaccination Against Other Mosquito-Carried Diseases is Satisfactory Protection: Many an equestrian has settled on a vaccination shot of equine encaphilitis and thought it enough to prevent the West Nile Virus from infecting their pony, since both sicknesses are carried by a common culprit: mosquitoes. That isn’t right. The carriers might be the same, but the sicknesses, and their causes, are different. A vaccine for one disease doesn’t protect horses from anything apart from the disease it was intended for.

The West Nile Pathogen is indeed a pathogen that needs to be avoided at all costs, and believing misconceptions about it isn’t going to help. Except for knowing myth from fact, sanitation and hygiene is important, particularly cleaning up water buckets and other containers, and making certain that no stagnating water is around.

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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