I was ruminating the other day about what it is about a really broke horse that makes everything about them look so good, so comfortable and so effortless.
We all know what it’s not. It’s the absence of stiffness, nervousness and fear.
Ok, but what is it? For me, it’s a beautiful blend of a horse who knows his job and is confident in his rider. One that is physically and mentally capable, plus enjoys what he’s doing.
This kind of horse isn’t a 90 day wonder who’s been forced into compliance without time being taken to condition his body and mind, but rather the product of great genes for the event that he’s to be trained for, a compliant, forgiving mind, a big heart, the physical capacity to do the job, plus his rider has explained things in bite sized pieces until he offers them at the slightest suggestion.
If we’re lucky enough to have the kind of horse, who is that trainable, they almost train themselves…but what about the horse who barely checks those boxes? Is he still worth the effort? For most of us mere mortals, that’s the only kind we’re ever going to have! I believe that most horses can develop into better moving animals and we can help build desire in them to do what we need them to by knowing what we want and breaking it down into small “chunks”, being consistent and fair, and as Greg Ward used to say, “improving them 1% a day and in 100 days, they’ll be 100% better!”
That may not be enough for today’s competitive world, but it surely a start that will help ensure them a better life if you have to move on from them.
The single most important ingredient is to help your horse be soft and responsive. When I first get on a horse, I don’t have an “agenda” for that ride, but rather I try to feel for stiff spots. When I find one, I rub on it like water on a stone, until the sharp edges of fear and resistance get smooth. It’s often a long process and patience is a prerequisite. It’s like massaging a sore muscle, you start off finding the area, then working on it a little deeper each time, until it bends and shapes like you want. I work on their face as well as their ribs and shoulders until they’re capable of moving the way I need them to. It will go like that all through their training process, because each time you introduce a new thing or add speed, resistance occurs. No horse can learn when speed increases or lack of understanding their adrenaline anymore than we can learn something when we are in the throes of an adrenaline rush.
In my next few articles, I’d like to go into this more and give you some ideas how to get your horse softer and keep their adrenaline in check.
Please let me know if you have any things that work well for you!
It can be so elusive. What does that mean? And most importantly, how can you develop it?
To me “riding with feel” means being so connected to your horse that you can sense how to communicate seamlessly with him moment to moment (like a dance partner leading the dance.)
For example, you show him what to do next with just the right amount of cuing. Or you detect what he is going to do next before he actually does it. You sense his muscles tighten or his body parts barely move before he actually changes direction. Because you sense these subtle shifts, you are right there with just the right amount of seat, feet or leg support to guide him moment to moment.
So how do you acquire this elusive quality of “feel” in an efficient way?
Well nothing replaces hours in the saddle, but there is an exercise you can do to help your quest.
First, riding a horse with “feel” is a “soft” skill.
In any endeavor (not just horses) a “soft” skill means being responsive to a constantly changing situation. What’s going on is never exactly the same … similar to a quarter back making moment to moment decisions play by play.
“Hard” skills, by comparison are the things you do over and over in the same way (for the most part) … like how you position yourself in the saddle, or how you hold the reins.
It’s important to understand that soft skills take longer to develop because it takes multiple exposures to multiple changing scenarios to develop accurate responsiveness.
It’s also important to know that it’s common to get frustrated as you learn soft skills because there’s no short cut to the time and experience necessary to learn them.
However, I do have an exercise for you that I know will help you develop “feel” by helping you become more mindful of your horse’s movements.
Step one is to walk your horse with your chin up, shoulders back and eyes up.
Breathe as you walk.
Simple.
Now, connect to your core. By this I mean tighten your abs a bit. Push you belly button back and down towards your spine.
Keep walking with great posture, eyes up, an awareness of your core … and breathing. Take your time. Get comfortable, yet alert.
Now, stay in that same posture and core awareness as you connect to your legs. Feel your legs moving with your horse’s ribs and legs. You don’t need to analyze what leg is doing what. Just “feel” the movement.
Keep breathing. Keep you eyes up. Stay soft in your body. Make your elbows heavy. Breathe into any body part that feels tight. Don’t rush. Get loose and stay loose. Be aware. Tune into the movement.
Now, go deeper. Drop your awareness further down and into your horse’s feet. You don’t have to know exactly which foot is where. Just gently take your mind through your core, through your legs, and then through his legs and into his feet.
Stay mentally connected to the rhythm of his feet. As you turn a corner imagine his feet positions. Perhaps in a curve to the left, you notice that his right front foot reaches a bit over the left front foot. Again, there’s no need to be super analytical. Just feel it.
And as you do other things … stopping, backing, trotting, loping … do this same exercise. Connect to his feet. Imagine what they are doing.
If you want to extend a horse’s gait, before you ask your horse with your feet, imagine his feet moving faster. If you want to slow down, imagine his feet slowing down.
Remember, do this exercise slowly at first.
The keys are to keep looking up. Keep breathing, Keep connecting to your core. Then become mindful of his feet.
In my last article I talked about letting your horse help you decide which event he’s most suited for, and now I want to share the factors I believe are most important when selecting a trainer (if you don’t plan to do the training yourself).
1. Shared Values The most important consideration for me is ensuring that my values align with those of the trainer. If I value honesty and open communication, I need a trainer who returns calls promptly and provides honest evaluations of my horse’s ability (or lack thereof). If our values don’t match, I’d likely become frustrated trying to track my horse’s progress. Similarly, if I prefer a high-standard facility where the horses and grounds could pass a military inspection, I wouldn’t be happy with a trainer whose facilities leave my horse standing in the mud during winter.
2. Training Methods Next, I consider whether I appreciate the trainer’s methods. Are they sensitive to each horse’s individuality, or do they follow a cookie-cutter approach? Is it a rigid “my way or the highway” attitude, or does the trainer offer flexibility to accommodate different horses and clients?
3. Proven Track Record and Horse Care It’s also essential that the trainer has a proven track record in both training and showing for the event my horse seems naturally inclined toward. Even better is if they have a proactive program for maintaining their horses’ soundness. Do they take horses for regular soundness checks, nip potential issues in the bud, and ensure proper deworming and vaccination?
4. Facility and Staff Qualifications I always check if the facility is safe and if the staff are qualified. A well-maintained environment with knowledgeable support makes a significant difference in the training experience.
5. Geographical Location Finally, consider the trainer’s location. How often do you plan to visit your horse or observe its progress? If you’re a very hands-on owner, sending your horse to a trainer in a different state might not be ideal.
You might not get every box checked, but it’s important to know what matters most to you. Much like choosing a life partner, it helps to discuss your expectations openly so that everyone is on the same page.
I’d love to hear what other factors you consider important when choosing a trainer!
In this audio I discuss a friend’s experience of feeling self-conscious and distracted during a private riding lesson with a trainer she admired.
Her feeling is natural due to our innate desire to connect and be approved by others.
I then suggest a simple tool for handling such feelings: asking oneself what one’s job is at that moment. In this case, my friend’s job was to gather information and feedback.
I introduced the concept of “pinging” (recently learned by Dr. Stephanie Burns), which involves directing one’s brain to focus on something specific—in this case, hearing and integrating the trainer’s information into the ride—undistracted.
I emphasized the importance of setting an intention to tune into the experience’s purpose and integrate the feedback received.
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT:
A friend of mine asked me this question this week.
But before I share my answer, here’s a little background.
She went to one of her favorite trainers to ride with him, and it was a private lesson. She was very excited and greatly admired him for how he teaches and for his kindness, clearness, helpfulness, and support.
But when she was there and riding with him, she felt self-conscious and distracted from being present with her horse and taking in his instruction.
So that’s what we’re doing here – talking about managing self-consciousness in lessons.
We can all relate to what she said because of our innate desire to connect with other people, to care for them, for them to care for us, for them to like us, and for them to approve of us. We’re hardwired for that as humans.
So that’s what I mean when I say it’s natural.
And while it was a great luxury to have his undivided attention, it is almost like he had laser vision! We imagine someone seeing every little flaw and maybe being judgmental.
And, of course, that’s the farthest from the truth.
Great teachers see what’s working, and then they see the next step we can take to help us in our weaker areas.
My friend knew why she was there and knew all that rationally, but she wanted help to sort out her feelings of distraction and self-consciousness.
A straightforward tool that can be very useful is asking ourselves, “What’s my job?”
At that moment, her job was gathering information to get feedback on what she was doing well and what she could do to keep improving.
I will tell you about this fun fact I learned from my friend, Dr. Stephanie Burns.
We can program our brains in a fun way; she calls it ‘pinging.’
Pinging is telling our brain to pay attention to something.
We can say, “Hey, brain, I want you to pay attention and take in the feedback I’m getting without judgment. I just want to hear it and integrate it. So, that’s what I want to pay attention to.”
When other thoughts arise, or someone else distracts me, I want my brain to say, “Thank you, but no thank you.”
In other words, I will program my brain to take in the information I want and leave the rest.
I’ll relax and take a breath. I’ll keep breathing; I’ll listen and feel my horse, and I’m going to play with the ideas. When appropriate, I’ll get clarification if I don’t understand something.
But my only job is to tune into the purpose of why I’m there.
In this case, the purpose was information and feedback – not to be my close circle of support.
That’s the job of a spouse or a good friend.
She could tell herself, “I’m not there for their approval. I’m there for the information. Before and as I ride, I will set an intention to ping or tune into the information I desire to learn, letting it come into my mind and body and integrate it. To the best of my ability, I will allow that ongoing information to soak in, incorporate feedback and understanding, relax into that cycle, and take in what this experience and mentor offer me.”
So there you go. It’s about directing your brain to be clear about an activity’s purpose, get grounded, and set an intention about where you will focus your attention.
When something distracts you, say to yourself, “Thank you, but no, thank you. I’m here to take in information, relax, hear, see, respond as best I can, and learn.”
Okay, enjoy. I hope that’s helpful.
I hope you have a great week. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
Believe it or not, spring is coming soon and if you have 2-year-olds, you might have to start deciding what route to take with them. How do you decide whether you should go cutting, cow horse or reining with them? It’s really important that the horse has the aptitude and physical ability to do the event that you want them to do, so sometimes it’s best to let them make the choice. Young horses usually show interest in cattle very early on if they want to cut or be a cow horse, but they can fool you and not get really interested in cattle until later. Caylee Wilson just wrote a really good article for the NRCHA news called “Aptitude Test”, and I’d like to quote him in a few places regarding this.
He said, “If you have a horse that’s a good, balanced mover, is cowy, stays light on its front end while using its hocks, and has a very appealing overall look, it makes it easy to do the cow horse on that particular horse. On a horse that can’t do these things naturally or isn’t a very pretty mover, it’s going to take a lot of work to get it to do what the natural horse can do easily, and it’s probably never going to be comparable to the natural moving horse. If that less appealing mover is cowy, has good footwork and is quick to get to the ground on the stop, he might be make a great cutting horse prospect. A smart owner will let the horse’s strengths dictate the horse’s career rather than pushing the horse into a predetermined discipline.”
“Here’s Cayley on a good moving, well balanced horse with lots of eye appeal, and the IT factor!” photo credit Abigail Boatwright
Some things you want to observe while starting him are; does he travel out comfortably, naturally, balanced and want to use his hocks? Is he feely or is he a horse with low energy vs perhaps having a Ferrari’s engine under the hood? Does he have a fragile or fractious mindset vs steady and forgiving? How interested is he in a cow? Does he take guidance from his rider easily on a cow? If he’s athletic but doesn’t like to be interfered while working a cow, cutting might be a better option. The reined cow horse has to be willing to take direction from the rider. Sometimes hotter horses make good cutters if they have athletic ability and enough interest in cattle where it would take a lot more work to make that one a cow horse. If he’s pretty, well balanced and a good mover without much cow, reining may be the best option.
Caylee also addressed a horse’s build and body balance. He said, “smaller horses can end up being really good cow horses. It has more to do with strength and power and whether the horse is strong enough to run and stop and get around for the fence turn. Usually, a bigger horse will be stronger, but they can also be a bit slower across the turn, however, that small horse might have more heart and try and can outperform the bigger horse even though he’s not as strong. Heart is a desire from within the horse himself to perform. I’ve learned over time you can have a perfectly balanced, conformationally correct horse that just doesn’t move well or have the desire to want to do it. I’ve learned that horses can defy their confirmation and size. This is typically an exception and not the rule. That innate drive in the horse is the key element,” Wilson said. I completely agree with Cayley on that!
Kaylee also addressed bloodlines, saying, “it’s nice to have a pedigree with desired bloodlines. The horse must also be a little bit special to make a career as a cow horse. Does it have presence, its own charisma and will it be crowd pleasing?”
Those are all important considerations when evaluating your 2-year-olds potential.
Then, will you be sending it to a trainer? If so, which one? I’ll be covering that in my next article. Also, a full set of x-rays before you get started is important so you know what potential issues you might face and be sure they’re manageable.
If you’ve shown a horse more than a handful of times, you probably know your horse will start getting a bit anxious going in the pen, anticipating maneuvers and/or knows what the sound of cattle banging around at the far end of the arena means. Suddenly, when you walk into the arena, your horse turns into a creature that is unrecognizable.
When that happens, you need a schooling show or two and now’s a perfect time of year to do just that! When I had a training barn, I was always on the lookout for a local show or an AQHA show, because you can enter multiple classes, and they’re much less expensive than national association shows.
It’s important when you go to one to make it as close to the real thing as possible, meaning an announcer is on a PA, use your horse’s show bridle, wear your chaps up and be nervous (even if you’re not!). It’s surprising that they know when you’re there to school. I used to frequent these and if I was using it for schooling, I’d be all kicked back and wondered why my horses didn’t misbehave? Ha! That’s when I realized, I was part of the problem! So, don’t be too relaxed about it.
Next, have a plan. If your horse anticipates lead changes, plan to counter canter at least halfway around the new circle before you let them change. If they kick out, park them and back them up. Then go try it again. If they get chargey on the rundown, stop them and back them up to the end and start again. If they get scotchy on the rundown, plan to go all the way to the fence. I used to buy 2 slots back-to-back so I could take my time and really work on things.
Another time to use schooling shows is before an important first show of the year. That used to be the Stallion Stakes in March for the NRCHA and a lot of trainers used to wish they’d gone to a schooling show or two before that one!
So, if you want your horse to be his best when it counts, be sure to utilize these opportunities. In their absence, get a group together and go to each other’s arenas and whoop and holler for each other! You might just fool your horse the first time or two doing that!
Most of you have heard by now that we have lost a great cowboy, trainer, dear friend and one of the finest horsemen ever. Doug Williamson passed after a long battle with cancer. He will be missed by many but forgotten by none. My 2 favorite quotes from Doug are, “When a horse’s head is high (well above its withers) all its brain dribble out and he can’t think properly!” and “You should never apply more pressure to the bit than it takes to back your horse up.”
I think of Doug every time I quote him and whenever I do the exercise I’m going to share with you below. I smile now thinking all the awesome horses he’s riding out in that great pasture in the sky!!
Circle-Stop-Sweep I’d like to share one of Doug’s favorite exercises to do on a horse with you. Doug used to say, “The circle-stop-sweep, warms up my horse’s body for any situation. It doesn’t matter if I’m reining, cutting or doing fence work. The drill allows my horse to get his physical and mental game tuned in.” Doug used to begin the drill by loping in easy, relaxed circles, coming to an easy stop, then backing a couple of steps, loading up the horse’s hindquarters for action. With the horse’s feet squarely up under his center of gravity, the horse is ready to sweep, or turn move out in any direction with propulsion. The main cue that Doug would give was just enough direct rein to barely see the eye in the direction the horse was traveling, and using the indirect (outside) rein towards the opposite hip to prevent too much bend. The neck rein laid against the middle of the horse’s neck in line with the opposite hip helps keep the rear end engaged and keeping the front end from getting too much bend. The “sweep” is an approximately 180* turn before loping off on the other lead.
It’s a great exercise for all purposes, but here’s how it works for the cow work. Loping an easy circle, then stop, loading up on the hindquarters and a 180* turn towards the outside (where the cow would be), teaches him to think stop and back up before making any turn. A 180* turn is all we ever need on a cow. It’s important for the rider to balance without squeezing his knees or clamping his legs, as that will cause the horse to go forward towards the cow. That causes the horse to roll up into the cow and get behind it, losing control and chasing it across the arena. Doug also said, “It’s important to keep some weight in the outside stirrup so as not to lose your balance.” He might use the direct rein to hint at directionality, but once the turn is initiated he likes to let the horse have the cow. Because the repetition of this exercise, the horse thinks stop and rock straight back before turning on a cow too and will automatically load up his outside hind leg in preparation for the turn. This puts a slight arc in its body with nose and butt being slightly closer to the cow and rib and shoulder slightly moved away. Without that slight arc, the horse is likely to turn on its inside hind leg, which tends to push the horse towards the cow instead of exiting parallel to it. “When the cow takes him, my bridle reins are loose and the cow draws him through the turn.”
This is how the circle- stop- sweep helps Doug with the cow work. It reminds him to always back up before turning and he’s got to back up straight with the butt towards the direction he’s going to turn. If all goes as planned, the horse will be pushing off on the outside hind leg. He is physically prepared to go with and stay with the cow.
We love you Doug and you’ll be sorely missed by all!
Overcome your horse’s natural asymmetry so you can—finally!—ride perfect circles and straight lines.
Does your horse seem to have a “good” and a “bad” side? Is he somehow easier to ride in one direction than the other? Is it hard for you to make your circles to the left match your circles to the right—or for any of your circles to be perfectly round? This is similar to our being right or left handed. Here. We’re looking to help him become ambidextrous.
The effect you’re noticing is caused by his natural asymmetry. In other words, one side of his body is not exactly like the other, and so doesn’t move and respond in exactly the same way (just like ours). That means he’s stiff and resistant to bending in one direction (his stiff side), while he tends to bend too much in the other (his “hollow” side).
As if this asymmetry weren’t enough to deal with, “magnets” also pull your horse out of alignment when you’re trying to ride precisely. Magnets are things (such as the barn or a pasture full of buddies) that attract your horse’s attention, causing his body to bulge or drift that way.
The Enemies of ‘Going Straight’
Getting and keeping your horse straight—whether he’s on a straight line or not—is a fundamental goal of riding. This concept can seem confusing, so let’s consider some definitions.
Straight: Your horse travels with his hind feet in the tracks of his front, with his neck and spine aligned to allow this. This means he’ll be straight on a straight line and curved on a curving line, or circle. (Trouble is, his asymmetry and the pull of magnets make it challenging for you to keep him that way.)
Hollow: Your horse bends or softens excessively in one direction. About 80% of horses tend to be hollow when traveling to their right. When you lope your horse to his hollow side, it will feel as if he’s bending much more than the arc of the circle requires. That’s because his natural asymmetry is causing his hindquarters to drift to the inside of the circle to avoid carrying weight, which in turn causes his neck, shoulders, and ribcage to drift to the outside of the circle.
Stiff: Your horse resists bending or softening in one direction. Horses tend to be stiff when traveling to their left. When you lope your horse to his stiff side, he resists bending on the arc of the circle. His nose won’t be properly tipped to the inside, nor will he have a soft bend from poll to dock.
He’ll feel as if he’s always collapsing/cutting in on his circles when going this direction. You’ll usually feel more comfortable loping on this lead (to his stiff side), as he’s tracking straighter and will usually stop better, but that doesn’t make it his better side. It’s as challenging to supple the stiff side as it is to straighten the hollow side.
Magnet: Anything that attracts your horse’s attention and therefore draws him to it. A horse’s body goes where he looks, and he looks where his mind is. Predictably, this is the gate, the barn, the trailer, where his buddies are, and so on. Magnets are what make straight lines (such as rundowns in a reining pattern) and symmetric circles problematic. To compensate for these magnets and to deal with and overcome your horse’s asymmetry, you must learn to…
Ride a Perfect Circle
This sounds easy, especially at a walk, but it isn’t! Once you master perfect circles in both directions, though, you’ll have evened out your horse’s asymmetry and achieved control over his entire body—essential for any competitive event, as well as for safe, pleasurable trail riding. You’ll also have learned how to overcome the effects of your horse’s favorite magnets.
Before you begin this exercise, turn your horse out and/or work him from the ground to get the “fresh” out and dial his attention in to you. Outfit him in a plain snaffle bit (for clear, comfortable communication) and his usual saddle. Work in an enclosed area with good footing. If possible, work on freshly groomed ground so you can easily see your horse’s tracks, and/or enlist a friend to help you gauge the symmetry of your circles.
The goal. A perfect circle is precisely round as opposed to oval, oblong, cigar or egg-shaped. As your horse travels this circle, he should stay soft in your hand and flexed slightly to the inside through his neck and body. He should walk in an even, four-beat rhythm, at a steady pace—no deviations in speed. His hind feet should follow in the tracks of his front. He should be equally soft and responsive in either direction.
KEY SKILL: Teach your horse to move laterally, off your leg. Let’s review that before we move on. Be sure you can move him out onto a bigger circle by pulling your outside rein way out while keeping his nose tipped to the inside and keeping his body on the arc of that circle. He’ll have to bend and move laterally off your leg (this is no easy feat so practice it at all the gaits before moving on). I’ll cover more of the “how too’s” in my next article.
Here’s a question that you may have heard before: If you had to pick between receiving $1,000,000 today or the value of $0.01 doubled every day for 30 days, which would you pick?
I’ve heard this question before, but recently a mentor of mine who worked in finance challenged me to prove the benefits of compounding interest to myself.
Doing it took a few minutes, but it provided some valuable insights.
Here are the calculations (my insights below): As of Day 10, the doubling penny is worth only $5.12.
As of Day 20, the penny is worth approximately $5,000. At this point choosing that doubling penny still seems like a poor choice.
On Day 27, which is 3 days before the 30 days ends, the penny is worth approximately $670,000. Now, that’s a lot of money for that penny to have turned into but still a lot less than $1,000,000.
But on Day 28 is the first time the doubling penny’s value exceeds $1,000,000. At that point, the penny is worth approximately $1,300,000. Until 2 days before the deadline, that penny seemed like a bad investment.
As of Day 30, that doubling penny is worth an incredible $5,368,709.12.
Approximately $4,700,000 of that growth occurred between days 28 through 30.
So, what’s my point?
My point is all of us strive every day towards pursuits that we have and we love (our horses and our riding), and sometimes it feels like we’re not making progress, especially during the tough times when progress is slow and success is elusive.
The reality is that the doubled efforts will eventually add up to huge gains. Sometimes, it just takes those few extra days for those gains to exponentially increase! So, rise to the challenge and persevere through the times when it seems like you’re not gaining with your horse and you’ll be rewarded when you least expect! Remember slow and steady wins the race and as Greg Ward used to say, “If you improve your horse 1% a day, in 100 days, your horse will be 100% better!” Now that’s doable and well worth striving for!
I hope that you find some inspiration in that like I did. Be well. Be safe.
The summer show season is upon us! And while it brings longer days and time for more shows, it also brings warmer weather and its own set of challenges for you and your horses.
Any animal expected to perform at its top level should be regularly evaluated by a veterinarian during show season. This will allow you to stay ahead of any impending lameness issues which could become problematic under the different training and footing conditions at a show. Hot weather can present additional risks to the horse which you can help prevent with your trainer and veterinarian ahead of time. The two most common clinical problems we see at summer horse shows are colic and shipping fever.
Colic, which is described as the outward clinical symptoms due to abdominal pain, can be caused by many different factors including the following three common culprits: dehydration, a change in diet, and stress. Since the show environment often exacerbates these factors, particularly in the summer, it is common to see colic at horse shows. Even in a perfect management scheme, horses can still experience colic. Although these are quite variable, many episodes of colic are started by the three factors listed above and then progress to something more severe. There are several key steps you can take to mitigate these factors and decrease the odds of your horse experiencing colic this summer.
Dehydration is one of the key factors that lead to colic. Making sure your horse is well hydrated before hauling and during the trip so that there is less “catching up” to do upon arrival is one way you can stay ahead of dehydration. This can be easier said than done as some horses don’t drink very well while traveling. You can encourage a horse to drink by adding a daily electrolyte powder supplement in their feed 3-5 days before leaving and continuing through the show and trip home. Alternatively, you can administer an electrolyte paste starting 2-3 days before leaving and continuing daily. A salt lick in the stall or feed trough also helps keep the horse drinking well year-round. Be sure to offer water at each stop along the way and when the horse arrives. Some horses do not like the taste of new water at different venues, and you might choose to offer water mixed with apple juice or Gatorade to help encourage them to drink better. If you do this, always make sure to hang a second bucket of plain water as not all horses like flavored water.
Another common way horses colic is an abrupt change in diet. Most of us travel with enough of their own feed to last throughout the show for the shorter ones, but since many shows are quite long, it is often impractical to haul enough. So, sometimes you will have to change the hay portion of your horse’s diet at shows. Something as common as a slight change in hay can stress a horse’s delicate GI tract which can lead to colic. However, if the transition to the new hay is done slowly, the GI tract usually has time to adjust to the new hay and colic can be prevented. In order to ease the transition, start folding the new hay in slowly with the hay brought along on the trip so the change is less abrupt.
Stress manifests itself in different ways in horses, and gastric ulcers is a very common symptom of stress. Gastroprotectants are particularly useful in show horses since a large percentage of them have at least a minor amount of gastric upset during hauling and showing. Omeprazole, found in Gastrogard and Ulcergard, is made up of proton pump blockers that reduce the production of acid in the stomach. This is doubly effective as it heals ulcers that are already present and helps prevent new ones from forming. Pump blockers must be started three days before hauling since they are absorbed in the small intestine and work through the bloodstream.
The stress of hauling can also manifest in another way, which brings us to our other most common clinical problem seen at shows: shipping fever. Shipping fever is a condition where horses commonly develop a fever after hauling a long distance or upon arrival in a new environment. The two main reasons for this are bacterial pneumonia from airborne debris and particulate matter and exposure to a viral pneumonia agent such as the equine herpes virus or equine influenza. Horses have a long trachea, and the cilia that helps them clear mucous and debris from their lungs and airway is not very efficient. They really need the ability to lower their head to help clear their airway. Long trailer rides with their heads tied up make this difficult. Compounding this issue is dry bedding containing urine or manure and hay that swirls around in the trailer and becomes inhaled as well as drier dustier conditions during the summer at show grounds. If some of this dust contains bacteria and settles in the lungs without being cleared out, it can set up an infection. Likewise, exposure to viral agents in new environments around new horses can lead to infection. This pneumonia leads to fever and systemic illness, loss of appetite, depression, increased respiratory rate, and sometimes coughing. Since the fever is often the first sign, this condition has been dubbed “shipping fever”.
It is a good idea to check temperatures upon arrival and call a veterinarian to treat early if any abnormality exists. If the pneumonia is not caught and treated early, it can lead to a very serious and difficult to treat condition called pleuropneumonia which is an infection outside the lungs but inside the chest cavity. In most of those cases the horse will not get to show, they will require hospitalization and longer term treatment, and will have to stay after the show until they are healthy enough to haul home.
Prevention strategies for bacterial pneumonia shipping fever include decreasing exposure to dust by using larger shavings as bedding, wetting hay, allowing horses to lower their head while hauling, and feeding on the ground when possible. Immune stimulants, discussed later, can also help. The chances of viral pneumonia can also be decreased by adequate vaccination. It can be helpful to have your horses vaccinated for influenza and rhino (equine herpes virus) within the 6 months prior to showing (they have to be given at least twice yearly requiring an initial vaccine and then a booster to achieve adequate systemic immunity.) Also, the intranasal product called Flu-Avert can be effective. It activates a local nasal immunity to these pathogens almost immediately and for a short-term period. Immune stimulants given as a series at least a week prior to hauling have been effective at decreasing illness. Your veterinarian can advise to the appropriate product based on your horse and availability. Products like Eq-Stim and Zylexis are given as a series of shots to help boost the immunity of the horse and make them more effective at fighting off infection.
Using a few simple strategies outlined above such as keeping your horse well-hydrated, easing the transition to new hay, modifying your hauling techniques, and administering some preventative gastroprotectant, vaccination, and immunostimulation strategies prior to hauling can help keep your horse healthier at shows, especially during the summer. It’s a lot easier and less expensive to keep your horse from getting sick than to treat him if he does.
