Weekly Tip Page 3

January 2005 TIP OF THE MONTH: This warm spell has made the horses start shedding a little earlier than normal. If you want that to continue, put your horse under artificial light for approx. 16 hours per day to simulate the natural long summer days. This and sheets and blankets when the cool weather returns (and it WILL), will keep your horse shedding and looking great by March. Another important thing is to use a rubber curry for 15 or 20 minutes in short strokes to remove the hair. Daily is best...but a couple of times a week is better than nothing! Don't forget to wash and condition your show horse's tail once or twice a month to keep it growing and healthy.

12-22-04

Keep a hair dryer at the barn to warm bits and hands during the winter months. It’s much faster and easier than having to warm water. Warming the bit also makes the horse more comfortable. You may also want to use the hair dryer to speed up drying your horse if they are accustomed to the noise. Be sure to use the warm setting.

12-03-2004

Horse Blanket Fit Basics
Follow this five-step check list to make sure your horse's blanket properly fits him. From the editors of EQUUS Magazine

Related Resources

Taking the Guesswork out of Blanketing
Horse Blanket Q & A
More Winter Care Articles

When bundling up your horse this winter, take a minute to check the fit of his blanket. Patterns and cuts from different manufacturers can make supposedly same-sized blankets fit quite differently. And changes in your horse's body condition can cause a cover that fit perfectly last year to be painfully ill-suited for his present profile.

The following five-point blanket check will make sure your horse is both warm and comfortable this winter:

1. Can you slip your hand easily between the blanket and his withers? Continual pressure in this area can produce discomfort or even lasting injury.

2. Is there room to slide a hand up into his shoulder area? Too tight a fit here will rub off hair and cause painful friction injuries.

3. Is the neck cut so your horse can graze without pain? Place a tempting treat at floor level and watch for pressure from the front buckles as he reaches for it.

4. Does the tail flap lift easily when your horse passes manure? An ill-designed or too-heavy tail cover will get in the way of falling manure and become a crusted mess.

5. Does the surcingle have to be adjusted tightly to keep the blanket in place? A blanket cut for your horse's body shape will stay in place without a tight, uncomfortable surcingle.

Is there room to slide your hand around the withers and shoulders?
A "yes" to one or more of these questions means that your horse and his blanket are a poor match. Simple alterations and creative use of fleece can fix some minor fit problems but the best solution may be to replace the blanket altogether. Measure your horse before you go shopping and consult with the sellers about the right cuts and styles for his particular body shape and size. Try each purchase on your horse over a bed sheet; if you have to make a return because of poor fit, it will be clean and hair-free.

We tend to think that, due to movies and/or stereotypes, horses love sugar cubes and carrots, as well as apples. While this may be true with a lot of horses, there are also many who don't like these things. Really, we can look at horses a lot like people (as I've mentioned regarding other training issues in my previous articles), and realize that they have varying tastes. Some like these treats and some don't. And some horses like just about anything-I know a horse who loves oranges!

But, since the Holidays are upon us, I know that a lot of horsepeople like myself enjoy giving their horses some little treat as well as their families and (human) friends. There are a lot of options out there for you to experiment with for your horse.

Something I've always enjoyed doing is going with simple, straight-forward grain. I've never seen a horse who doesn't just adore it, and there are many variations on it; plain oats, rolled oats, cracked corn, whole corn, etc. And of course you can go with sweet feed if you like, grain mixed with molasses. I've also never seen a horse that doesn't flip over this mix, although I'm not a big fan of feeding it to horses for long. I don't believe the molasses is the best thing for their teeth. (Again, a lot like people!)

If you give your horse grain now and then, especially as a treat or a reward, then you've got yourself a pretty simple way of giving him a Christmas treat.

But if you want something a little more out of the ordinary, I also really like the little treats you can buy for horses in feed and tack stores now. They're generally healthy, different grains mixed with molasses or apple, and come in a variety of flavors. Plus, they come in a cute little shape most of the time, similar to cookies.

And finally, a perfect source of more information on horse treats lies in the book "The Original Book of Horse Treats: Recipes You Can Make at Home for Your Horse" by June V. Evers. I have not actually read the book myself, but I've heard from many people that it is a great treat cookbook which contains recipes for horse treats that you can make yourself. Author: Caryn A. Tate

Happy Holidays!

11-15-2004- If you have a sheet or blanket that just won't stay buckled (and therefore you can't keep your horse in it!), I have a simple, inexpensive solution. I have a 2 y/o that nibbles at his buckles and gets out of his blankets and sheets on a regular basis and this solved the problem!
Get three bands (like you use to band their mane) and use one on each buckle (tummy strap, right and left rear). If you wrap it around the T and the connector a couple of times, they won't work loose! When you get ready to take the blanket/sheet off, they easily break and you just
put new bands on when you use it again. summited by Kim Wendt

10-20-2004 -Worried about West Nile

Mosquitoes keep biting in North Texas
By APRIL KINSER / WFAA.com
Wondering why you're still swatting mosquitoes in late October?
Unseasonably warm weather and recent rains have produced more of the pesky, biting critters, particularly one species known as the tiger mosquito that usually disappears during the cooler months.
"(Tiger mosquitoes) are mean as all get-out," said Scott Sawlis, entomologist for the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department. "We had some massive rains a few weeks ago and that produced what we call our flood mosquito. * They are large in size, large in number and large in aggressiveness." Texas hosts about 85 species of mosquitoes, about half of which are considered "winter" types that hatch during the fall, triggered by the cooler weather and shorter periods of sunlight, said Dr. Jim Olson, a Texas A&M University professor and medical entomologist. Dallas County alone has about 36 species.
"We have a favorite saying in Texas that we never run out of mosquitoes, we just change species," Olson said. "The threat of danger to humans goes down during the winter because most people take on inside activities."
The tiger mosquito is a threat only to those allergic to mosquito bites. It does not carry the West Nile virus, Sawlis said.
Summer mosquitoes, including those that carry West Nile, St. Louis encephalitis or dengue fever, are usually active from the months of April to October, the experts said.
"What we are beginning to see is the switch from summertime to wintertime mosquitoes," Sawlis said. "Mosquito season is year-round."
Winter mosquitoes usually feast on livestock or people who spend time in or near wooded areas, like hunters. Residents who live near tree-lined areas and streams also should take precautions during the winter, Olson said.
"It's been said before that here in the United States, our best protection against mosquitoes is air conditioning and prime-time television," Olson said. "That's more human behavior changing than mosquitoes changing."
The experts said the best protection against any mosquito is to wear dark, long-sleeved clothing and repellents with DEET and to remove standing water in or around the home.
"What goes on in Texas is the more flooding we get, the more species and more mosquitoes we see," Olson said. "This season is pretty typical. The only abnormality is that the warmer weather is stringing summer out more and the winter mosquitoes are starting to wake up, so you have both. And we have the great honor of having all of them."