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Episode #11 of The Horse’s Mouth TV sees us join Lisa Huhn as she teaches her Triminology101 course in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Lisa provides us with a look at the physiological and biological truths of the horse. For more information on this amazing natural way of caring for your horse’s feet, email Monica at monica@thehorsesmouthtv.com.
Clearly Marked First Aid Kit in My Tack Room
When your horse has cut himself on a fence, is bleeding profusely from his appendage and the Vet is an hour from arriving, finding the bandages, VetWrap and tape to stop the bleeding now is a BIG deal and can mean life or death for him. It is your job as a horse owner to be prepared.
Having your own well stocked first aid supply will save you not only time till the Vet arrives but could mean the difference between a wound being stitched with no visible scar or one that will need months of open healing until skin can cover over.
Stocking your first aid bin need not break the bank and many items can be found in the local drug store section of your market. Side note: I like sanitary napkins for heavy flow days since they come prewrapped and stay clean even in your dusty storage bins. Newborn baby diapers work too and are nice around knees and hocks since they are stretchy on the sides. The duckies are always cheery on those cold mornings as you bandage and rebandage.
Horses hurt themselves in a myriad of ways and can suffer from a million different skin irritations, soft tissue injuries and abscesses in bizarre places that often look like a scene from Alien. More often than not, they occur on a Sunday when the Vet is at a wedding or taking a much needed day off to do laundry. It will help your Vet immensely if you are calm and able to clearly describe the extent of his injury so he/she knows what to expect when he/she arrives. Make sure he/she has accurate directions to your farm including which building you are located in. Have someone watch for their truck at a designated spot to expedite his/her arrival. Time is of the essence.
When the OTTB gelding had a run in with a cutting horse gelding (QH:1, TB: 0) which resulted in a leap over a round pen and major laceration to his front right leg, I was fortunate to be on scene and provide immediate care. Vet called, the QH’s owner and I set to secure our patient by dressing his wound with a sanitary napkin, one holding firm pressure to the bleeding and the other madly wrapping Vet wrap around the leg firmly but with enough slack to allow the leg to bend. Duct tape is a great tool as well when used top and bottom of the wrapped area to make sure the wrap stays put. Caution! Removing duct tape stuck to you horse’s leg hair is probably about as painful as your last bikini wax job judging by the teeth that tried to pick me up by my pony tail. Be gentle when pulling duct tape off, if you know what’s good for you. Baby oil on a makeup pad works well to get the gummy tape off.
Have a visible, clearly marked “First Aid” bin in your tack room with at least the following:
Your local tack store often carries specialty creams and salves with exotic ingredients like aloe vera, teatree oil and neem oil that smell as good as the packaging looks. Some work well for one ailment but not for others. Read the ingredients and directions carefully. The return to homeopathy for horses has meant that natural ingredients are found in hoof creams, bug sprays and coat conditioners and work fairly well. I also like having baby oil on hand for getting burrs out of forelocks, tails and manes. When in doubt, consult your Veterinarian. In another blog posting, I will tackle the wild and wonderful world of hoof care and dressing, stay tuned.
These supplies won’t insure your horse won’t hurt himself but they will buy you time and peace of mind that if that day comes (heaven forbid), with a cool head you can help your horse deal with whatever life’s little mishaps accidently throw at him until the Vet arrives.
Goldilocks and the Three Horses
If you keep your horses at home and feed them yourself, creating a personalized feeding program is doable. Keeping horses at a board facility means your horse is fed to an average level of care. As a boarder, you have two options: you either pay an additional amount monthly for customized feeding or drive the miles necessary before and after work to visit your horse and feed him yourself.
Feeding one horse and making sure his or her nutritional requirements is met is simple, feeding three horses effectively is complex and can make a horse owner’s sanity the stuff of fairy tales. Unlike Goldilocks, who found Papa Bear’s dinner too hot, Mama Bear’s dinner too cold and Baby Bear’s meal just right, creating a feed program that sustains each horse can be simplified with a little work on your part.
Feeding a senior formula, high fat, low protein, complete feed to the off the track Thoroughbred (OTTB) gelding; a low fat formula to the four year old Percheron X Thoroughbred filly; and a working horse ration to the in-training five year old, easy-keeping Canadian, needn’t have you running for the hills.
A customized, workable feed program in partnership with your stable’s barn staff can be had with a little creativity and a whole lot of collaboration, something Goldilocks should have considered before getting herself into trouble sampling stolen oatmeal.
Most stables will feed your horse the important supplements and additional fats he needs in his paddock or stall once daily for a fee. If he’s out on paddock, they will charge for their time to remove the horse from his shared pen, feeding him separately from his paddock mates, making sure all those expensive vitamins, glucosamine, flax seed, and kelp end up in his tummy and not in his buddy’s. A solo life in a large pen, while not ideal, can mean a hard keeper has weight on consistently so he can build fitness and enjoy working weekends with you.
After purchasing the feed, make sure you store it in a clean, dry location that’s secure from rodent invasion. I like those big plastic bins with locking lids used for storing camping gear you can purchase from discount family or large hardware stores. If you keep an eye out, you can often find them on sale before summer starts. Don’t forget to put your name and your horses name on the bin in large letters! Each horse should have their own bin.
Do not expect your barn staff to measure and fiddle with tricky scoops and buckets! It’s your job to measure out all the feed your horse needs per week to help your stable meet your horse’s caloric requirements. In the past, I used extra large freezer bags for premeasured supplements and feed for my skinny Thoroughbred filly, marked in big letters with the days of the week which the barn staff easily added to their feed routine. Make sure to recycle the plastic bags after washing them out with soap and water.
Make it easy for barn staff to feed your horse the rations he needs and save yourself the worry of wondering if he’s being fed properly while you’re busy working. While your horse is number one in your heart, he may be number 32 on their list of horses to feed that day. If a month into your new program, your Goldilocks is still munching ravenously and showing ribs, watch her eat. Is she dropping food from his mouth? She could be in need of a dental visit from your Vet and to have the sharp points rasped from her teeth. If she cannot chew her food properly, chances are the expensive feed and nutrients are not making it down her throat to that big burning furnace called her gut and ending up as bird food. Ask the barn staff what they’ve noticed about her. Is he being bullied from his feed? Again, do your homework.
A happy, properly fed horse is a happy, healthy riding partner and as Goldilocks discovered, life is good with a full stomach.
The Horse’s Mouth TV Episode #5 from Monica Culic on Vimeo.
The Horse’s Mouth TV episode #4 introduces Kathy Bartley of Bear Valley Rescue. Kathy and her husband Mike run a horse rescue near Sundre, Alberta and have rescued over 350 horses in the course of 7 years. We feature 5 great horses for adoption from the rescue and break down the costs associated with horse ownership. Horses can be a 30 year partnership and a big responsibility. We recommend taking riding lessons first with a qualified coach to ensure you understand the challenges (and joys) of responsible horse ownership.
The Horse’s Mouth TV Episode #3 Part 2 from Monica Culic on Vimeo.
We return to the Horse’s Mouth Episode #3 with trainer, coach and author, Chris Irwin who shares more great tips and tricks on using natural horsemanship methods to partner with your horse. Share! Like! Comment!
Interview with Chris Irwin, a leading coach and trainer-of-trainers in the international horse industry.