Books I would like

The three horse books I would like to purchase. Want to know what the hold up is? They do NOT have electronic versions. I travel some :-) and electronic versions are very travel friendly. Why these three books? I ask my horses to be a partner in my sports endeavors. To help them be their best its important they feel their best. Activate Your Horse's Core The Well Adjusted Horse Where Does My Horse Hurt

I've always like running Tessa in a hackamore, and the one time I tried a bit it took me a year to fix. When I saw this article I just had to share. Many riders underestimate how nice it is to ride and run their horses in a hackamore. Picking the right hackamore is just as hard as choosing the right bit. Since finding the Carolina Bit Company, going to I find the right bit much easier :-) http://barrelhorsenews.com/training/training-articles/3727-hackamores-by-design Is it okay to admit that for the most part I have only tried the more affordable versions?

Motivation from Moshi

Today I read a motivational tip, here is the part I want to share "If Jane corrects me, she always follows up by "retesting" me with the same question. The retest gives me the opportunity to be rewarded for doing things right." LOL, me I was thinking retesting was to double check you fixed a problem, thinking of retesting as a opportunity to praise my horse? It gives such positive feelings when you are retesting, you and your horse both feel the positive emotions. Join a motivational email list, it is amazing how it helps keep you up beat and how much you can learn. Can I suggest Motivation from Moshi?

Phone Tree

Tessa had a beautiful dun filly, Ginger, early Saturday morning.

Are you wondering how this concerns a phone tree? I've only bred 3 mares, the first mare stayed at a friends, since Tammy knew what she doing and the mare was at her place, it was a great introduction. The next mare did great, 3 weeks late :-) very text book, this foal is now 5 years old. Third time the foal was big and not positioned right and didn't make it. Its been a few years since I have done the whole foal raising thing. Anything not text book gets the phone tree activated. So I've talked to 2 friends a lot the last 3 days. Cori has had lots foals, she glances and says thats normal :-), Pam is very knowledgeable about holistic options for horses. Every non text book item gets the phone tree activated. Don't be afraid to pickup the phone and ask your friend for their knowledge and input. Its not tradies, its not a bother, what it is, is how you include your friends in what is going on in your life.

Physical Therapy for Stifle Problems

Did you know? the stifle joint (comparable to a human’s knee) is the largest, most complex joint in the horse, and dysfunction left untreated can lead to additional joint degradation. When reading this article my thoughts started rolling. First was that these basic stretches and exercises would be good for all horses. http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=19560

When the vet says "I've never seen that before" I don't know about you but my heart stopped.  You have to give yourself a moment to be in the moment to accept your feelings (accept the emotions).  On the next breath you have to continue in the moment.  As the vet describes the issue, starts giving options, starts with the maybe we should, (accept the analytical side).  Accept that while you would like to block the moment out, you need to remember what the vet says as possible.

After the vet leaves, do the right thing, call your friends :-)  Many friends are very happy to be there for you.  They understand that mostly you just need to talk to a person they trust and like.  As a few days go by let yourself swing from the emotional side to the analytical side.  Acknowledge and allow each there own moments.  Soon enough you will find yourself in a happy place, accepting of what needs to be done and able to do it.

We all read, horses need a consistent diet.  Don't change things, only make changes over weeks.  Change is bad. Like anything taken too far a consistent diet can be just as bad as a diet with too much change.  From a taste perspective.  Horse needs some medicine for tummy or muscles or cold or you get the idea.  A horse that is used to having the taste of their food change here and there are more apt to eat up when you need them to.   A month ago I needed to give my mare some antibiotics for a cold and she ate them mixed with her grain with out a problem.  Different tasting water? not a problem.  From a gut bacteria perspective only having the same food can mean only feeding the same bacteria.  A bit of variety here can encourage a full colony of good bacteria that can make the difference when your horses diet changes.

Not All Supplements Are Equal

We all know not all manufactured supplements are equal.  Some work better than others.  One companies put weight on horse supplement works great.  But their joint supplement doesn't work as well as another companies joint supplement.  Yet the main ingredients look the same.  

This is a clue as to why some work better than others.  http://holistichorse.com/Nutrition/the-importance-of-digestive-absorption.html

Turns out we need to be experts on the main ingredients and the minor ingredients.  My suggestion?  Try a brand if it doesn't seem to work change brands.

My favorite quote.  Albert Einstein Quotes. Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. 


Finding someone to ride with can be a chore.  The worst.  Personalities have to mesh between horses and riders.  But I have found it is very worth the time and effort.  There are always a luck few :-) who seem to magically improve without a riding instructor. The rest of us?  Takes time and energy to improve.  If you are just doing the same thing you have done before you are not improving.  Improving means you are learning, trying new ideas, even chucking new ideas that don't work. 


Why this quote? every time I start riding by myself for to long I fall back into bad habits, the definition of insanity,  How about you?  What is your definition of insanity statement?

Time for me to stop training and start riding

You spend hours training your horse, then you go somewhere and well,,,, train your horse.  :-)  Me?  My mare did awesome the other day.  Sure she is not perfect LOL, but after sleeping on how she did, I made the comment that it was time.  You ask time for what?  Time for me to start working on Me.  I need to get quiet, supportive and hold up my side of the partnership.  Basically trainers warm up their horses with a basic plan (like stretching before doing a sprint race), depending on the horse they may include a light reminder about an item or two.  During the race, they where in the moment riding their race.  After the race a few came back in and did some light reminder training before leaving.  I noticed a real focus, the pros where riding their race probably from the moment they got up that morning.  As they warmed up, waited their turn, and rode their race they where focusing on Riding Their Race.

Its time, time for me to be in the moment and Ride My Race.

Sweet Feed

Sweet Feed for my horses is for hiding the vitamins and supplements.  Since finding a really great herbal person it also hides herbs.  Do you think I can find high molasses content sweet feed? nope, the manufactures are all cutting back on the sweets because we as consumes are saying we want to feed lots of sweet feed without lots of sweet.  First I noticed doubling the amount of sweet feed to get the horses to eat the additives, so after some thought, went and purchased some molasses.  Now the horses and I am happy again.  Sometimes you have to adjust when manufactures adjust what they offer.

Sharing and Learning

Have a friend who is a barrel racer in Alaska. After another winter in Colorado, was sharing with her about some changes I made in my riding. The fun and interesting item that came up, is that some really nice barrel racers in Colorado mentioned I should go to the horn sooner and stay on the horn longer. Me I was like well there is this and that reason for not. So after a winter of working on learning to go to the horn, I shared with my friend about going to the horn sooner. And you just know she had the same reaction I had. :-) It made me feel better :-)

Be open to learning, its okay to take your time thinking a new item thru before implementing the new way of doing things.

Should top riders bring their top horses?

In Barrel Racing you get all sorts. Some are complainers, its not fair. Me? Bring Game ON :-) Was talking to a very nice competitor and she mentioned that she was not riding her rodeo horse, because people would complain. Ouch.

There are so few events where its $1,000 or more added and open to all comers. This year there are just 3 such events in my area.

One way of thinking about these events is, this is my opportunity to compete against the best. This is how I choose to look at it.

So Complainers go complain somewhere else. When I am ready to compete maybe I will offer to pay her entry, just so I can really see how good I am. Winning means nothing if the competition doesn't show up.

What you give comes back even better

Don't know about you but watched the movie "Pay it forward". It is a great movie. Do get your hankie ready before watching. The other day got an email asking if I would do something, I emailed back sure, then a storm came in and I sat on my ass. After the storm let up I got off my ass and got the item in the mail. Sent an email letting them know the item was on the way. Then I get this really great email not only saying Thanks, but offering a free item. WOW. So I tried to remember have I mentioned the person here? Nope. So here goes, this gal is amazing. If you are looking for how to improve your mental conditioning, Ideal Performance State, go check this person out. http://barbraschulte.com.

More Articles on Slaughter

More and More lately I am reading more rounded articles about horse slaughter

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703808704576062064022541024.html

Here is one such article. I have always been for humane treatment of livestock. To me that means a well funded, rotating people, and different groups helping to make sure slaughter plants are well run. It seems to me that fees and taxes should go up, so that the departments and groups that help with these issues can be well funded.

We owe the horse, the wildlife, and yes people, to properly manage resources for all.

Allergic to Horses? I am

Its a long winding story but if you have some allergies or know someone with allergies, you might find yourself happy to take a time out and read.

I found out I had allergies when I was in bed sick, 3 out of 4 weeks for two months when I was in my late teens. Okay so it started when I was little. My mom mentioned she had to find goats milk for me, but I grew out of it, except I hadn't grown out of it. Not much else happened till I got SICK. Ended up at a nice doctor who specialized in allergies, he started do prick tests (I do not remember the official name), turns out I was allergic to a whole bunch of things, three of which stood out, I was allergic to Horses, Dogs and Cats. On the day I found out I was allergic to Dogs his receptionist gave me a dog :-).

You are going what! He put together a shot regiment that I started, what a difference, it helped a lot. A few years later was starting to have problems again. Having talked about having allergies with some friends, I was much more knowledgeable and decided to try a natural path allergy person.

I was impressed on the first visit. She was able to help me understand and accept quickly by going over the starting information I had from the doctor. By the end of the first visit I had a list 3 times as long and a lot more knowledge. She asked good questions and shared lots of information. Will admit to a bit of information overload when I left. Some items stood out, I was allergic to oranges. So when I would get sick and of course you eat oranges to get better, eating oranges would actually help me stay sick.

My being sick in bed was caused in part by my being allergic to the material my braces were made of. Ouch. Allergies are not to be taken lightly. The good news is that knowledge continues to improve. With the help of first the doctor and now natural path allergists I continue to enjoy being around Horses, Dogs, and Cats.

A friend mentioned that her son was allergic to milk, she was informed that it was important as it effects how kids breath, which effects how the mouth grows which effects the need for braces. Me I had an allergy to milk and I had to have braces, in my case it did have an effect. Parents need to be careful as kids do not outgrow their allergies, their symptoms may change as they grow, which is why treatment is important.

Hope this helps someone who may be allergic to Horses to understand that with treatment they too can enjoy being around horses.

When Purchasing Ask

Sometimes I run across did they know? Nope they didn't. When looking to purchase a horse take someone along, then pick up the phone and call a few other horse people you know. Try to pick someone who is not an impulse purchaser. Gotta smile because I have unknowingly taken an impulse purchaser along and came home with the item we went to look at. Most states have a purchaser decides oops time, this is usually short, so pick up the phone when you get home and call another horse person or two. Have them come out and look the next day if at all possible. Horse Traders / Sellers have a reputation for a reason, its buyer beware. So check and double check. Once you find that horse thats right for you it is all worth it.

Free How To Videos

Want to share some really good free how to videos. Two videos I really like are how to take a horses vital signs and how to give a horse an intramuscular injection. Both these videos are on my review every now and then list. I don't give injections every day, I find the video reminds me of the important steps to take. I hope you find these videos as useful as I do.

http://www.thehorse.com/Videos.aspx?tab=howto

Electronic Greeting Cards

Its a bit off topic but I have really enjoyed Jacquie Lawson's http://jacquielawson.com/ greeting cards so decided to share her contact information. Do check her cards out.

Went For It

Well I went for it, good thing I decided to give myself a few tries. We started working as a team the whole week before, everything looking good. During the time only, Tessa's shoulder injury came back, and I MISSED it. Went in for our run and we blew it big time. I was like what went wrong!!!! The next day arrived, started to warm up, used some unprintable language here, her shoulder was bothering her a lot. I quickly realized what happened the day before. Took a deep breath and let it all go. I was paid and there, so decided to just use our run as a training opportunity. Made sure she was nice and warmed up, and had a fine time just cantering the pattern.

I also discovered a way for me not to get nervous. Looked at the list, thought I knew where I was in the call. Was off my horse checking her rear boots, when I heard my name called! I was up. The gal next to me was kind enough to hollar I was there, while I quickly put the last boot back on, up in the saddle and away we went.