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10. Do your horses kick or bite? All horses kick and bite.
--- kick ---Now I have not been kicked by any of mine; so the answer is No, they will not go out of their way to land a kick on someone or another horse. You will not have your arm yanked off when picking up their feet or worry about your head coming off. Now in the pasture the horses kick, nip, play fight, rear up on each other and are generally horses. The weanlings are bit more vigorous in their play and land some pretty hard hits (sounds that way) on each other, does not seem to phase them though, they act as if it never happened.
--- bite --- No biters either, that is usually taught to a horse….therefore… no treats.
“My philosophy… If it has teeth or a mouth – it can bite. If it has legs – it can kick. If it has claws – it can scratch or with falcons they break bones and sever tendons.” Treat every animal as if they do and you are less likely to be injured”. People are injured more often by their own horse and not someone else’s. We tend to keep our distance from the unknown and we to our own detriment tend to lose respect for what our horses can do, because they have never acted like or done that before, and we just do not understand why they did it and make excuses for it when something does happen. I have seen some really baffled people.
11. All the mares palpate (are used to you and a Veterinarian behind them, are used to having all their personal parts handled, and used to you being around and handling their foals. Most of the geldings can be cleaned without the use of drugs, stallions and their parts are handled to assist in breeding, collection and desensitization.
Coggins are pulled with minimal effort, vaccinations are given with the same ease.
12. Do your horses lounge? I do not lounge my horses, since they are not stalled they do not seem to have the pent up energy that a stalled horse does. I will put one in the round pen if I have not ridden it in awhile just to see how they act when saddled.
13. How are they vaccinated? Coggins? All the horses receive Eastern, Western, Venezuelan and West Nile Encephalomyelitis (sleeping sickness), Equine Influenza (KY 97, A1 & A2), Tetanus, Rhinopneumonitis (EHV-1 & EHV2) & Rabies. I do not do strangles or potomac, when these are made safer I will utilize them. I do annual vaccinations toward the end of February or the beginning of March for two reasons: 1. It will boost the mares antibodies so that she has a high concentration in her colostrum 2. It is just before the fly and wet season begins. Foals will receive three doses beginning around their eight month of age. When the mare is properly vaccinated the foal is living off her antibodies that is why a coggins in not really any good on a foal (under 8 months as you are testing his mom and not him). Giving vaccinations to early on a foal will actually compromise their immune response and decrease the overall effectivness. Texas A&M has several workshops for broodmare and performance horse owners. I recommend this short course to all horse owners, the first one is generally in February (look in the calendar section). Coggins are pulled annually on most of the riding horses at the end of February and first week or two of March. I generally take one load of four horses a week in the trailer.
3/6/06 All horses & foals vaccinated with Rabies, West Nile, EWVT, Rhino and Flu.
14. How often are the wormed and with what? I use safe-guard on the foals at 4, 8 and 12 weeks then they get a dose of an Ivermectin product. Mature horses are wormed every three months. I generally alternate between a double dose of Safe-guard and use and Ivermection product. Annual wormings start at the first of January.
15. What kind of tack do you use and why? I ride in a Western synthetic flex saddle with a full quarter tree (most of my horses have withers). Synthetic due to my back as it is easy to lift and very confortable to sit in. I train with a heavier saddle then go to a lighter one. I use a cinch (have to hold the saddle on), off billits and rear cinch, breast collar and a snaffle bit with no curb chain. I just started using a throatlatch strap due to branches pulling the headstall off and the bits out of the mouths of the horses when trail riding in heavy brush. Generally I do not ride with a breast collar unless I have a saddle that slips or if I am in some real hill country, I never go beyond a snaffle as with proper training you do not need to. Never use tie downs (illegal equipment in SHOT) and it is dangerous. My bit is a D-ring copper snaffle. Keep it simple, the horses mouth soft and responsive. I will pull you off my horse when riding if you keep your hand in his mouth and you can walk back to the trailer. They all ride with a loose and slack rein.
If you have any questions that I have not answered please email me and I will list it here. |
