Cavalletti exercises are excellent for strengthening your horse.

Cavalletti exercises are excellent for helping your horse develop rhythm, build his topline, gain confidence over obstacles and become a better athlete.

Proper placement of the cavalletti, or even of ground poles, is critical. If the poles are too close together you will cause the horse to shorten his gait; too far apart and it will cause your horse to rush or become unbalanced. You should always start your horse over distances that are natural for your horse. Once you’ve established rhythm and balance you can adjust the distances to enable training. For example, increasing the distance between the poles can help your horse build the strength to hold a trot lengthening.

Instructions

• For work at the walk, place poles 3 feet apart, starting with poles on the ground.
• For work at the canter, start with the poles 9 feet apart.
• When your horse is comfortable with this distance and no height, then raise one side of the poles without changing the distance.
• You can begin to increase the distance between the cavalletti once your horse is moving rhythmically through the series. This will help your horse build the strength to sustain suspension.

Tips and Warnings

• Cavalletti work is very tiring for horses. Make sure to take breaks and do not overdo the exercises.
• Every horse is different. Be prepared to adjust the distances to suit your horse.
• It’s much easier to set up cavalletti when you have someone on the ground to help you. Otherwise you’ll be hopping off your horse every time he knocks a pole out of position.

Video Demonstration

Dosing your horse with a syringe is an effective way to administer oral meds.

Giving a horse medications is not always as easy as mixing a powder into its feed. Sometimes you need to administer them orally using a syringe.

Of course, squirting a paste into a resisting 1200 pound animal can be a source of great amusement for those watching and frustration for those administering. Here are some tips that can help you succeed.

Instructions:

Practice before you need to make it count. When you give meds “for real” you can’t have them spit half the dose on the ground. It’s a good idea to do a trial run or two using a pleasant tasting substance (like apple sauce) in the syringe.

• If you are right handed, stand on the right side of the horse, facing in the same direction as the horse and holding the syringe in your right hand.
• Once the syringe is loaded, relax your horse by stroking his head and massaging his neck
• Once your horse is calm and relaxed, put your finger in the corner of his mouth and massage gently.
• Next, place the tip of the syringe in the corner of your horse’s mouth.
• Raise your horse’s head slightly
• Move the syringe tip around to stimulate movement of the tongue.
• And inject the apple sauce or medication.

Tips & Warnings

• You can make a palatable paste out of many types of pills or powders by mixing them with either applesauce, molasses, or Kool-Aid
• Cross tie your horse or have someone hold him using a lead rope. Some vets suggest giving oral meds in the horse’s stall where they are more confined.
• Make sure that if your horse spits some of the medication out, that you adjust the dosage and that you clean it up. Some medications, such as Ivermectin de-wormer, can be toxic to certain breeds of dogs.

Video demonstration:

Accurately measuring your horse can help ensure good blanket fit.

A properly fitted blanket can help keep your horse warm and dry during chilly winter months. Fit is important. A blanket that is too small will restrict your horse’s movement and cause rubs; a blanket that is too large will let cold air, snow and rain in through the gaps and can also be dangerous if it slips or turns on your horse.

Here’s how to measure your horse to get a good fit:

• Have you horse stand up in a squared position with their weight evenly distributed among all four legs.
• Tie or cross tie your horse if you don’t have a friend who can hold him.
• Take a tape measure and start to measure from the center of your horse’s chest. If you are measuring by yourself, you might do the measurement in stages. If you have a friend who can hold the tape at the center of the horse’s chest you might be able to do it in one go. If you don’t have a tape measure you can use baling twine and just measure the length later.
• Bring the tape around his shoulder.
• Follow along his barrel and continue around the hip. Follow your horse’s skin closely, including the dip into the flanks.
• End a the center of the tail. Follow your horse’s skin closely, including the dip into the flanks.
• The total length that you have measured is the size of the blanket that you need. Most blankets come in even sizes (every two inches) although some manufacturers offer sizing every three inches. If it’s 2″ size difference always move up to the larger size. Also, keep in mind that some blanket manufacturers size slightly differently (for example, stopping before the tail) so check their measurement instructions before your buy.

How to check blanket fit:

• Check to make sure the blanket is not too tight around the neck. If it is, the blanket could rub especially when your horse grazes or eats off the ground. Look to see if there are pressure spots over the shoulders. An ill fitting blanket will rub the hair right off.
• There should be a small amount of overlap at the front of the blanket. Many styles use velcro to help keep the front closed. Some people like to criss cross the front buckles to allow more room at the neck. I prefer to find a blanket with the right cut as crossing the buckles doesn’t provide an air tight closure.
• Make sure the blanket is long enough. It should extend a few inches below the top of the tail and should hang down long enough that your horse’s sides and belly are adequately covered.
• The surcingles should fit with just a hand’s width between the strap and your horse’s belly. If the strap hangs too loose, your horse could catch a foot in it; too tight and it becomes uncomfortable.
• Leg straps should also be adjusted so they are loose enough to allow movement but not long enough to cause problems. There are several ways to fasten leg straps: you can criss-cross them underneath the horse, fasten them front to back on the same side, or interwine them and snap them on the same side. The purpose of the leg straps is to stabilize the blanket and prevent it from shifting. I prefer the criss-cross method.

Video demonstration:

As a horse owner it’s important for you to be able to know how to check your horse’s vital signs.

An adult horse has a resting pulse rate of 28-45 beats per minute (count the double ‘lub dub’ as one full beat). You should check your horse’s pulse rate several times so that you can establish a baseline for what is normal. A pulse rate of 50 bpm or higher at rest is an indicator that a horse is in physical distress, is excited or nervous, in pain or suffering from a disease.

Checking the digital pulse in the fetlock is an excellent way to determine if there is a problem such as laminitis. It’s a good idea to know what your horse’s digital pulse normally feels like so that you have a baseline. When a horse has a stronger than usual digital pulse you should call your vet.

Instructions

There are three ways to check your horse’s pulse.

Place your index finger lightly in front of the left jawbone where you can feel a major artery.

Use a stethoscope to listen to the pulse behind the left elbow.

To check the digital pulse place your fingers on the inside and outside of a leg on the fetlock. When the pulse is normal you can feel it only lightly.

Tips & Warnings

Don’t use your thumb when checking for a pulse under the jawbone. You may inadvertently feel your own pulse.

When checking the digital pulse get a baseline on all four hooves. A normal resting pulse is very light. If you feel a throbbing pulse, call your veterinarian. A strong digital pulse is often a sign of laminitis.

Watch the video

Bridging your reins is a useful technique

“Bridging” your reins is a way for riders to maintain a steady contact with their horse’s mouth when riding.

It keeps the rider from fussing with their horse’s mouth, from inadvertently pulling back, or from having the reins pulled through their fingers by a horse that pulls. It’s also a helpful technique to know when you’re hacking out and need to hold your reins in one hand.

Instructions:

• Hold your reins so that you have light contact when your hands are 4-6″ in front of your horse’s withers.
• Take the “bite” of the rein from one hand and cross it over the horse’s neck so the reins are stacked on top of each other.
• Grab the stacked reins with both hands.
• Hold the doubled “bridge” of reins on either side of the horse’s neck.
• Press down on your horse’s neck to remove any slack.
• Hold the bridge approximately where the neck strap of a martingale or breastplate would be located.

Tips

Some trainers suggest that students tie a knot in their reins and hold at that point. This also helps you keep a steady contact but it does not allow you to easily slip the reins when needed.

Hooking your index finger through your breastplate can also help stabilize your hands and keep you from pulling (or being pulled).

You can buy reins that come with a bridging attachment such as the “4-Star Bridging Reins“.

Everyone should know how to give an intra-muscular shot to their horse because there are times when it’s impractical (let alone too expensive) to have your vet come to your barn to come and give a series of injections for something such as a course of antibiotics.

Instructions

Giving an IM shot is relatively simple:

• Clean the area with alcohol (some sites say this isn’t necessary, but I don’t think it can hurt)
• Insert the needle deep into the muscle
• Attach the syringe
• Aspirate (pull back on the plunger to make sure you are in the muscle, not in a vein). Some medications can be harmful if incorrectly injected.
• Inject the medication slowly.
• Watch your horse for an adverse reaction.
• Dispose of the used needle and syringe properly.

Need something visual? Here’s an  illustrated guide and  another good resource.

This triangular area of the neck is one of the easiest places to give an IM injection.

The neck is the most common place to give shots. Use the area designated by the triangle.

Tips & Warnings

• If you need to give a series of IM shots consider rotating the injection sites. Giving all the sites in the neck, for example, can make your horse sore. Instead of just alternating sides, consider using the buttocks or pectoral muscles too.

While adverse reactions are infrequent, there are some risks to performing IM injections. These include:

• Dependent Oedema – a mild, cool swelling that can occur after IM injection into the chest muscles. It normally will resolve itself over time, but if the swollen area is warm, the horse seems to be in pain or is lethargic, it’s a good idea to call your vet.
• Abscesses and Bacterial Infections are associated with certain medications. The most common one is flunixin meglumine (Finadyne®). One of the most serious side effects of an intramuscular injection of this drug can be a bacterial infection involving Clostridium spp. This is a severe infection that requires veterinary care. Banamine is also associated with bad reactions when delivered through IM injection, and it is recommended that you do not inject it.
• Procaine Reaction – occurs as a reaction to procaine penicillin when the procaine gains access to the circulatory system and causes intense constriction of the blood vessels in the brain. It is very important that when you give this medication that it is not injected into a vein. If this reaction occurs, it manifests itself in ways that vary from muscle twitching to kicking, pawing, seizures, and even sudden death.

Hoof boots are great products that can help you transition your horse to barefoot, ride barefoot horses on harder terrain,  or protect a horse’s hoof if it’s thrown a shoe.

However, getting the right size and shape hoof boot is highly dependent on measuring your horse’s hoof properly.

How to measure

Where to measure your horse's hoof.

• Measure the width of the hoof across the bottom at the widest point.
• Measure the length of the hoof from the toe to the buttress line of the heel. The buttress line is the farthest weight bearing point of the heel.
• Compare your measurement with the proper size chart for the boot. If you are taking your measurements in inches, use the imperial size chart. If you are taking your measurements in millimeters, use the metric size chart.
• Ideally, the width and length measurement will fit into the same boot size. If the width and length measurements indicate different boot sizes, select the larger boot size.

Tips and warnings

1. Hoof boots generally do not fit hooves with a lot of flair. To address flair you should work with your farrier.
2. Look carefully at your horse’s hoof shape to determine whether a boot is likely to fit. Most hoof boots are made for horse who have hoofs that are longer than they are wide. .
3. Hoof boots often don’t fit horses who have hooves with either very high or very low heels.
4. Don’t include the heel bulbs in your measurements — you’ll end up with boots that are too long.

Here’s a handy video from EasyCare that shows exactly how to measure a hoof.

Applying standing wraps takes practice to get it right.

There are many times when you will want to apply standing wraps on your horse — they are useful for shipping, for supporting a leg after an injury (compression can help reduce swelling) or for protecting a leg that has a wound. However, it’s very important to learn proper techniques for wrapping a horse.

Wrapping correctly takes some practice. If you wrap too tightly, you can create pressure points that can be harmful. It’s even possible to damage a tendon and /or tendon sheath with a bandage if there is a thin area of constriction under the bandage. If you wrap too loosely, the bandage will not provide support, and it can slip down on your horse’s leg and may even unravel.

• Start with clean, dry legs and bandages.
• If there is a wound, make sure it has been properly cleaned, rinsed and dressed according to your veterinarian’s recommendations.
• Use a thickness of an inch or more of soft, clean padding to protect the leg beneath the bandage.
• Apply padding so it lies flat and wrinkle-free against the skin.
• Start the wrap at the inside of the cannon bone above the fetlock joint. Do not begin or end over a joint as movement will tend to loosen the bandage and cause it to come unwrapped.
• Wrap the leg from front to back, outside to inside (counterclockwise in left legs, clockwise in right legs).
• Wrap in a spiral pattern, working down the leg and up again, overlapping the preceding layer by 50 percent.
• Use smooth, uniform pressure on the support bandage to compress the padding. Make sure no lumps or ridges form beneath the bandage.
• Be careful not to wrap the legs too tightly, creating pressure points.
• Avoid applying bandages too loosely. If loose bandages slip, they will not provide proper support and may endanger the horse.
• When used for protection, leg padding and bandages should extend below the coronet band of the hoof to protect the area (especially important when trailering).
• Extend the bandages to within one half inch of the padding at the top and bottom.

Tips & Warnings

• Don’t use polo wraps instead of standing wraps. Polos are made from a stretchy material and it is easy to over tighten them and/or cause pressure points.
• Practice, practice and practice some more. Wrapping a horse isn’t difficult but it can take you some time before you can get even tension and a properly applied wrap.
• Ask an experienced equestrian (your trainer, vet, etc.) to check your first attempts and evaluate them. You do NOT want to cause a new problem while trying to help your horse.

If you are someone who learns better by watching, here’s a very good video that demonstrates bandaging techniques. Event better, you can download this video onto your Iphone or Ipod Touch so that you can bring it to the barn to watch it!

Most of the time your horse (hopefully) stops on cue. You increase the contact on your reins and simultaneously ask your horse to slow by stopping his forward motion with resistance from your seat.

On rare occasions, you may need more stopping power. It could be that your horse has bolted or started bucking, or you could be out galloping with a group of friends and find you need just a bit more than normal to get your horse under control.

Teaching the runway stop. Photo from http://www.horseproblems.com.au

The one rein stop is a tool that you should (and your horse) should know for those “just in case” times. But it’s not something to try for the first time when you need it; it’s something you need to teach your horse in advance.

• Start training the one rein stop at the halt. Using one rein ask your horse to bring his head around to the side so that his muzzle is either touching, or close to touching, your leg. You should not have any contact on the other rein. (That’s why it’s called a “one rein” stop).
• Hold until your horse relaxes into this position. You should see his eye soften and he should not be fighting.
• Release and bring his head to the opposite side.
• Rinse and repeat until there is no resistance. You may need to do this dozens of times. Don’t overdo each individual session and remember that your horse will learn what you want him to do.
• Next, try this same procedure at the walk. Bring your horse’s head around to your knee and hold the position until he is completely still and has relaxed into the position.
• Remember to keep your core strong so that you stay in the center of your horse. Don’t lean into the bend because you will unbalance your horse.
• Once you’ve mastered the one-rein stop at the walk, step up the challenge and try it first at the trot and at the canter. Make sure you’ve completely mastered each gait before you move on and make sure you always get to a complete stop.

Why do you need to practice this? First, you need to know the technique before you need it and second, horses learn to relax into it the stop once they’ve been trained with it. If you have a horse that’s panicing, putting them in the one-rein stop can help them calm down.

Equestrians, walkers, joggers and bicyclists all want to use the same trails. There’s only so much public land and it’s important that trail users get along.

Here are some tips for that can help make trail users more comfortable with their shared existence.

Tips for cyclists and joggers:

• Horses are animals and as such, are not predictable. Since they evolved as prey, they have strong flight instincts and can be spooked by creatures they don’t recognize. Things that look normal to us (someone wearing a back pack, riding a recumbant bike, or carrying a child in a back pack) can really frighten a horse.
• If you come up behind a horse, please call out or ring a bell. If we know you are there we can prepare for you to pass. Talking to us is best because then the horse will understand that you are human. Every winter my horse gets spooked by cross country skiers the first few times we encounter them. As soon as they talk to us he calms right down.
• Take your time when passing and leave plenty of room. On a road please don’t ride right next to us or at top speed. If you slow down and give us some room our horses probably won’t even flinch. On a trail, it may be better to wait for a wide spot, especially if you are pushing a stroller.
• If a horse looks scared, please stop your bike or stroller and wait. We don’t want to disrupt your ride or walk, but we also don’t want you to get hurt. Please remember that the average horse weighs more than 1,000 pounds and has steel shod hooves.
• If you’d like to pet a horse, please ask first. My horse is good with people and kids and I usually invite people to approach and get to know us but not every horse is so accommodating.

Tips for equestrians:

• Make sure you have the skills to control your horse before you leave home. Sometimes it’s better to go out on the trail with an experienced trail horse to get your horse used to the sites and sounds.
• Desensitize your horse to potentially scary things such as tarpaulins, flapping paper, dogs, etc. at home. Working with your horse will help build his confidence in you and will teach him how to accept new things. If your horse is scared of bikes, have a friend come over and ride a bike near you in a ring or a field until the horse starts to accept that bicycles are not dangerous.
• If your horse doesn’t do well on their trail, don’t take him to areas where you know you’ll encounter hikers, joggers or cyclists. Work him in quieter areas until you gain more experience or, stay home. Not every horse enjoys being on the trail.
• Remember that most people don’t know anything about horses or how to behave around them. In fact, many people are afraid of them. Don’t assume that people who ride close to you are being rude; they likely have no idea that they could cause an accident.
• Talk to the people you encounter on the trail. Many people are really interested in learning about your horse. Be an ambassador for our sport.

With some mutual respect and education we can make our roads and trails safe and fun for everyone who wants to use them.