Here’s a great tip for keeping flies out of your barn and out of stalls.
Drop four pennies in clear plastic bags half-filled with water. Seal the bags and hang them at barn entry ways and just outside stalls.
Flies may start to come into your barn, but they’ll turn around and leave.
I don’t know why, but some say the water and pennies create a “prism” effect which splashes light in hundreds of directions all at once. The light reflections are supposed to cause flies difficulty in seeing, which is a “danger” signal to them.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Faculty member to AQHA Board of Directors
HorseCoursesOnline.com faculty member, Cathy Hanson was elected to the American Quarter Horses Association’s Board of Directors at the breed association’s 2010 annual convention. AQHA is the world’s largest breed association, registering more than 100,000 new foals each year.
Hanson instructs Preparation for Competition and Showmanship in Hand for the online equine studies programs leading to a Bachelor of Science in Equine Studies or Professional Certification as a horse trainer or riding instructor. The trainer of world champion show pen trail horses, she is currently preparing a new course, Train a Trail Horse which will be available to students this fall.
Honored as AQHA’s 2007 Most Valuable Professional, she is a past president of the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association and currently serves as its Youth Advisor. An author and clinician, her training facility, Hanson Quarter Horses, is headquartered in San Juan Capistrano, California.
Hanson has been a member of the HorseCoursesOnline.com faculty since 2005. HorseCoursesOnline.com is the leading provider of online equine study curriculum for colleges and universities worldwide, serving more than 4,000 students. The online courses are self-paced and students are afforded the opportunity to work one-on-one with award winning instructors with proven records of success in the fields they teach.
Hanson instructs Preparation for Competition and Showmanship in Hand for the online equine studies programs leading to a Bachelor of Science in Equine Studies or Professional Certification as a horse trainer or riding instructor. The trainer of world champion show pen trail horses, she is currently preparing a new course, Train a Trail Horse which will be available to students this fall.
Honored as AQHA’s 2007 Most Valuable Professional, she is a past president of the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association and currently serves as its Youth Advisor. An author and clinician, her training facility, Hanson Quarter Horses, is headquartered in San Juan Capistrano, California.
Hanson has been a member of the HorseCoursesOnline.com faculty since 2005. HorseCoursesOnline.com is the leading provider of online equine study curriculum for colleges and universities worldwide, serving more than 4,000 students. The online courses are self-paced and students are afforded the opportunity to work one-on-one with award winning instructors with proven records of success in the fields they teach.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Speed Kills, Slow Down Your Training/Care
Speed kills.
It’s a common phrase among race horse trainers.
It can mean “rushing a horse’s training” causes injuries. It can mean a horse that runs too fast early in a race will have nothing left for the finish. It can mean too much speed by any horse is going to end in physical breakdown. And physical breakdown for a horse can mean the end of a career, a lifetime of lameness, euthanasia.
Speed kills.
Yet we exalt speed constantly.
We glorify the capture and “competition-training” of a horse in three days, praising the clinicians’ horsemanship skills, when in actuality they’ve done nothing but “flooded” the horse into submission. A horse can be subdued in three hours, yet all horses require a “lifetime” of training.
Farrier competitions are not about the balancing or understanding of the horse’s hoof, but about the speed with which a shoe can be shaped and tacked into place. Farrier competitions are about the speed of using tools, not about time and consideration for a healthy hoof.
When a horse is suffering joint problems or other aches and pains, there’s a rush to get the horse back into competition and we “hail the supplements” that allow us to continue a “speedy” destruction.
We know speed kills, so why don’t we slow down?
For most of mankind, life and the world are about faster, higher, stronger, longer.
When we’re young, everything is about speed. We can’t wait to get there, have this, enjoy that. We don’t want to do one thing at a time; we want to do 10 things at once.
We want to jump on our horses (bareback because we can’t take time to groom and saddle) and race to the far end of the property. We don’t have time to “stop and smell the roses” because we are too busy rushing to accomplish nothing.
When we start to get a little more serious about our horsemanship we start looking for all the short cuts to success.
Videos are going to show us how a horse can go from green to a championship, and it’s only going to take one hour and 20 minutes. (We seldom read about horsemanship, training and health care because reading is too slow, and everyone knows you can’t learn horsemanship from a book.)
We’re going to go to the weekend “expo” and see seven different clinicians each of which as the magic bullet, carrot stick, down-under wand, resistance free bridle, be good halter and clicker tricker.
Or we’re going to take private lessons and speed up our arrival at “expert” in riding and training. And if this instructor should fail in getting us to the top, then we can quickly change to someone else; there is never a shortage of speed merchants.
But there will come a time when you will know that speed kills.
And then you will no longer be impressed by speed.
Instead, you’ll be impressed by the art of horsemanship practiced over a lifetime.
You’ll be pleased by the fact no horse’s training is ever finished; there is no need to rush. You’re never going to complete the journey, so you can enjoy the ride.
Whatever you want to teach your horse, whatever you want to accomplish, it isn’t going to get done in a day, or a week or even a month. What you can teach, what you can accomplish today is a tiny bit more understanding by your horse. And that’s enough.
Slow down! Speed kills!
It’s a common phrase among race horse trainers.
It can mean “rushing a horse’s training” causes injuries. It can mean a horse that runs too fast early in a race will have nothing left for the finish. It can mean too much speed by any horse is going to end in physical breakdown. And physical breakdown for a horse can mean the end of a career, a lifetime of lameness, euthanasia.
Speed kills.
Yet we exalt speed constantly.
We glorify the capture and “competition-training” of a horse in three days, praising the clinicians’ horsemanship skills, when in actuality they’ve done nothing but “flooded” the horse into submission. A horse can be subdued in three hours, yet all horses require a “lifetime” of training.
Farrier competitions are not about the balancing or understanding of the horse’s hoof, but about the speed with which a shoe can be shaped and tacked into place. Farrier competitions are about the speed of using tools, not about time and consideration for a healthy hoof.
When a horse is suffering joint problems or other aches and pains, there’s a rush to get the horse back into competition and we “hail the supplements” that allow us to continue a “speedy” destruction.
We know speed kills, so why don’t we slow down?
For most of mankind, life and the world are about faster, higher, stronger, longer.
When we’re young, everything is about speed. We can’t wait to get there, have this, enjoy that. We don’t want to do one thing at a time; we want to do 10 things at once.
We want to jump on our horses (bareback because we can’t take time to groom and saddle) and race to the far end of the property. We don’t have time to “stop and smell the roses” because we are too busy rushing to accomplish nothing.
When we start to get a little more serious about our horsemanship we start looking for all the short cuts to success.
Videos are going to show us how a horse can go from green to a championship, and it’s only going to take one hour and 20 minutes. (We seldom read about horsemanship, training and health care because reading is too slow, and everyone knows you can’t learn horsemanship from a book.)
We’re going to go to the weekend “expo” and see seven different clinicians each of which as the magic bullet, carrot stick, down-under wand, resistance free bridle, be good halter and clicker tricker.
Or we’re going to take private lessons and speed up our arrival at “expert” in riding and training. And if this instructor should fail in getting us to the top, then we can quickly change to someone else; there is never a shortage of speed merchants.
But there will come a time when you will know that speed kills.
And then you will no longer be impressed by speed.
Instead, you’ll be impressed by the art of horsemanship practiced over a lifetime.
You’ll be pleased by the fact no horse’s training is ever finished; there is no need to rush. You’re never going to complete the journey, so you can enjoy the ride.
Whatever you want to teach your horse, whatever you want to accomplish, it isn’t going to get done in a day, or a week or even a month. What you can teach, what you can accomplish today is a tiny bit more understanding by your horse. And that’s enough.
Slow down! Speed kills!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Who's to Blame? We are, when we vote
545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them...Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits. WHY do we have deficits? Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equate to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country. I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank. I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits...The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party.. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist. If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ. If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way. There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.
Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do. Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese
By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them...Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits. WHY do we have deficits? Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equate to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country. I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank. I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits...The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party.. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist. If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ. If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way. There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.
Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do. Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The first rule of training--no pain
The first rule of training: the horse has no pain.
Unschooled horses, for the most part, want to please. As a member of your herd, they want to be a part of the activity, they want to be accepted and they want your praise.
So anytime a young horse is showing any signs of aggravation, hesitation, or lack of desire to learn, start checking for signs of pain.
The first place to look is the mouth…with the young horse lots of changes are taking place. The edges of teeth may be getting sharp, new teeth are coming in, or “caps” may be retained. The bit you’ve chosen may not fit the horse’s mouth configuration…have you taken the measurements? (Learn about Bits, Saddle Fitting and Hoof Balance in the online course at www.horsecoursesonline.com)
Double check your saddle’s fit. Anything less than perfect and your young horse could be developing back pain. Saddles that don’t fit correctly are the number one cause of back pain, followed closely by poor riding habits. Lots of young horses haven’t reached their potential weight, so it’s common for tack and rider to weigh more than 20% of horse’s total weight. For example, a horse weighing 800 pounds should never carry more than a total weight of 160 pounds.
A horse doesn’t have to be lame to have sore feet, and sore feet will cause problems everywhere.
Feel the feet before you take your horse out of his stall. If the feet aren’t cold, you may have a problem. Take a good look at the shape of the foot, and examine the coronet band for any deviations.
Use hoof testers to determine if the horse’s soles are tender, or there is any heel discomfort. Trot the horse in a circle on pavement to determine if the outside or inside of a hoof is tender.
Using some basic techniques of equine massage, you can go over your horse’s body to find any areas of muscle soreness. (Equine Massage is another course you’ll find a www.horsecoursesonline.com )
If your horse has passed the “no pain” test, you’re on your way to a great training relationship.
Unschooled horses, for the most part, want to please. As a member of your herd, they want to be a part of the activity, they want to be accepted and they want your praise.
So anytime a young horse is showing any signs of aggravation, hesitation, or lack of desire to learn, start checking for signs of pain.
The first place to look is the mouth…with the young horse lots of changes are taking place. The edges of teeth may be getting sharp, new teeth are coming in, or “caps” may be retained. The bit you’ve chosen may not fit the horse’s mouth configuration…have you taken the measurements? (Learn about Bits, Saddle Fitting and Hoof Balance in the online course at www.horsecoursesonline.com)
Double check your saddle’s fit. Anything less than perfect and your young horse could be developing back pain. Saddles that don’t fit correctly are the number one cause of back pain, followed closely by poor riding habits. Lots of young horses haven’t reached their potential weight, so it’s common for tack and rider to weigh more than 20% of horse’s total weight. For example, a horse weighing 800 pounds should never carry more than a total weight of 160 pounds.
A horse doesn’t have to be lame to have sore feet, and sore feet will cause problems everywhere.
Feel the feet before you take your horse out of his stall. If the feet aren’t cold, you may have a problem. Take a good look at the shape of the foot, and examine the coronet band for any deviations.
Use hoof testers to determine if the horse’s soles are tender, or there is any heel discomfort. Trot the horse in a circle on pavement to determine if the outside or inside of a hoof is tender.
Using some basic techniques of equine massage, you can go over your horse’s body to find any areas of muscle soreness. (Equine Massage is another course you’ll find a www.horsecoursesonline.com )
If your horse has passed the “no pain” test, you’re on your way to a great training relationship.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Hear a Horse's Heart Beat, Gut Sounds
Do you know the sound of your horse’s heart beat and gut? And if you do, do you know what they mean in terms of his general health?
Most horse owners think they know a horse’s normal vital signs and how to identify them…but most don’t have a base line for their horse. Do you? For a free report on vital signs and to hear a horse’s heart beat and gut sounds, go to www.horsecoursesonline.com and click on “free report” in the left hand menu.
A full investigation of the meaning of gut sounds and heart rates is included in both the HorseCoursesOnline.com Stable Management and Equine Health and Disease Management courses.
HorseCoursesOnline.com serves more than 4,000 students in 27 countries, providing a Bachelor of Science degree in Equine Studies from Breyer State University or Professional Horse Trainer or Riding Instructor certifications from the Equine Studies Institute.
Most horse owners think they know a horse’s normal vital signs and how to identify them…but most don’t have a base line for their horse. Do you? For a free report on vital signs and to hear a horse’s heart beat and gut sounds, go to www.horsecoursesonline.com and click on “free report” in the left hand menu.
A full investigation of the meaning of gut sounds and heart rates is included in both the HorseCoursesOnline.com Stable Management and Equine Health and Disease Management courses.
HorseCoursesOnline.com serves more than 4,000 students in 27 countries, providing a Bachelor of Science degree in Equine Studies from Breyer State University or Professional Horse Trainer or Riding Instructor certifications from the Equine Studies Institute.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Another useless horse protection law?
How would you like another usless, unenforceable, high cost to horse owners law?
Jane Flaspholer is seeking signatures to have the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1821-1831) amended to make it illegal to transport "sick horses" across state lines. She, of course, has no plan for "enforcement".
Get Real, Jane! We already have a law banning the transport of a horse across state lines without a Coggins test. Who's enforcing that law? You can cross virtually any state line and never get asked for a Coggins certificate...and if you do, no one looks at the horse to make sure the horse being transported is the horse it is supposed to be. No one at horse shows checks on your horse...they just ask for current Coggins...which is about as useless as anything I can think of...a Coggins taken today means the horse didn't have EIA within 15 minutes of the time blood was drawn...but the Coggins is good for six months to a year; the horse could be infected (not likely) for a year and be getting a free pass on the Coggins cert. Get Real!...the Coggins test and the whole "fight to stop EIA" is just a money maker for veterinarians and governmental agencies.
Jane and anyone who wants to stop sick horses from coming into "public" places or crossing state lines... need to ask to have the horse's temperature taken. If the horse has no temp, he isn't sick at that moment and he isn't going to spread EIA. The Coggins test means nothing, the health certificate means nothing.
You want some meaningful change?...ask public facilities to request the horse's temp be taken...you want to protect yourself...don't accept a horse until after you take its temperature.
The last thing we need is another silly regulation which will do no good whatsoever!
Jane Flaspholer is seeking signatures to have the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1821-1831) amended to make it illegal to transport "sick horses" across state lines. She, of course, has no plan for "enforcement".
Get Real, Jane! We already have a law banning the transport of a horse across state lines without a Coggins test. Who's enforcing that law? You can cross virtually any state line and never get asked for a Coggins certificate...and if you do, no one looks at the horse to make sure the horse being transported is the horse it is supposed to be. No one at horse shows checks on your horse...they just ask for current Coggins...which is about as useless as anything I can think of...a Coggins taken today means the horse didn't have EIA within 15 minutes of the time blood was drawn...but the Coggins is good for six months to a year; the horse could be infected (not likely) for a year and be getting a free pass on the Coggins cert. Get Real!...the Coggins test and the whole "fight to stop EIA" is just a money maker for veterinarians and governmental agencies.
Jane and anyone who wants to stop sick horses from coming into "public" places or crossing state lines... need to ask to have the horse's temperature taken. If the horse has no temp, he isn't sick at that moment and he isn't going to spread EIA. The Coggins test means nothing, the health certificate means nothing.
You want some meaningful change?...ask public facilities to request the horse's temp be taken...you want to protect yourself...don't accept a horse until after you take its temperature.
The last thing we need is another silly regulation which will do no good whatsoever!
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