Category Archives: Horse Care and Management

Horse Care and Management

Animals in Disaster: Preparing for the Worst to Create the Best Outcome

Leave a comment

If you’re like me, when you hear the word “disaster”, you probably think in terms of Disasters with a capital “D”: once-in-a-lifetime events causing catastrophic damage and leaving lasting impacts on individuals and communities. While many times we think in terms of natural disasters, like floods, wildfires, or hurricanes, unfortunately, Disasters come in many other forms– infectious disease, transportation or chemical accidents, and even terrorism. When Disaster strikes, sometimes we have warning, and those in its likely path have time to prepare. But just as often, the Disaster is unexpected, sudden, or even insidious, its effects so subtle at first that no one pays much attention until it is too late.

When Hurricane Katrina demolished the city of New Orleans in 2005, officials knew it was coming, though they had no way to predict the catastrophic failure of the city’s levee system that was to come. Human evacuation orders were issued—but no plan was in place for the residents’ animals. This forced residents to make a horrible choice; flee the storm and leave their animals behind, or stay, threatening not only their own lives but those of first responders. One source claims that some 44% of at-risk New Orleans residents did not evacuate because they wouldn’t abandon their pets. Ultimately, nearly 2,000 people and as many as 150,000 non-human animals perished.

Photo by NASA on Unsplash

Two years later, a Harvard School of Public Health survey of residents living in high-risk hurricane areas found that more than 25% of respondents would not obey evacuation orders if they could not bring their pets with them. Later, an article in the September 2017 issue of the American Journal of Public Health detailed the significant physical and mental health risks associated with failing to plan for animals in disaster.

Clearly, making a plan to save animal lives in a Disaster is, in fact, a plan to save human lives.

It isn’t only traditional companion animals that need consideration in times of disaster. Photo by Ben Mater on Unsplash

As a direct result of public outcry in Katrina’s aftermath, in 2006, Congress passed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act, which requires local and state governments to accommodate pets and service animals in their emergency plans. Although the PETS Act was a huge step forward, it remains an unfunded mandate, meaning it is up to municipalities and states to figure out how to make it happen, financially. Further, the PETS Act specifically excludes livestock species and horses, even if said animals are essentially family pets.

Clearly, the PETS Act is a step in the right direction, but for livestock and horse owners, it is not enough. Frankly, state and federal governments should be much more concerned. Not only is there a personal impact when livestock is affected by a Disaster, but there is also an economic one. For a recent example, after Hurricane Ian slammed into the Ft. Meyers, Florida area in September 2022, researchers at the University of Florida estimated a loss of “$220 million worth of animals and animal products.” In the Florida Bar Journal’s March/April 2023 edition, author Mallory Lizana argues for stronger protections for all species:

“Domestic animals depend on us for shelter, food, and protection, especially during times of disaster. Not only are horses and cattle worth saving as sentient beings, but they also play critical roles for Florida’s economy. Furthermore, household pets are considered and treated more like members of the family with every growing year. These animals are worth protecting, not only for their own sake, but for ours as well.”

The bond between an equestrian and her horse is irrefutable and is put to the test during a disaster.
Photo by Kenny Webster on Unsplash

Recently, I had the opportunity to represent the New Hampshire Horse Council at a free training on the subject of preparedness for animals in disasters, sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This particular training was intended to “…introduce participants to the resources available during emergencies that will assist in the management of animals, to identify best practices for emergency response that involves animals, and to assist participants in understanding how animals are included in a disaster plan.” In attendance were firefighters, emergency medical technicians/paramedics, community planners, veterinarians (including two assistant state veterinarians), dairy promoters, county animal response team (CART) members, and concerned private citizens. Attendees represented agencies and organizations spanning at least three states.

Perhaps one of my biggest takeaways from the training is that when it comes to animal emergencies, it isn’t only Disasters that need to be planned for. Smaller scale incidents— like loose livestock in a roadway, a horse stuck in a bridge, or a collapsed barn with live animals trapped inside—can still require a coordinated local response from public servants who may lack animal experience, local residents, and animal specialists. This means community members and organizations with animal expertise, tools and/or other resources must both be included in response planning and be prepared to assist as needed.

Further, the impact of both natural and man-made disasters can be short or long-term. By their very nature, some disasters—like drought, or a disease outbreak—may require long-term strategies to mitigate the effects and move toward recovery.

Drought is one form of disaster with both short and long-term impacts.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Although the focus of this FEMA training was oriented toward “big picture” animals-in-disaster planning, it certainly got me thinking about more practical steps that we as animal owners and caretakers should take to be as prepared as possible if a “worst-case scenario” occurs. With the caveat that it is impossible to predict every emergency situation, by looking at historical events that have occurred in your area and applying a little common sense, you can make an educated guess as to the most likely types of incidents to expect. When it comes to increasing the chances of your animals surviving a Disaster, for sure the best defense is a good offense.

The following is my own personal brainstorm of actions animal owners can take to prepare for a Disaster (or disaster), ranging from everyday good management practices to broader-scale activities. Some ideas relate just to horses, but others include our small animal companions, too. Not all of these steps will apply to every situation; think about your own unique circumstances and adjust accordingly!

General Good Management

Practice good hygiene—isolate new horses and those that travel from the home herd. Do not share equipment or touch unknown horses. Ask guests to come to your facility in clean clothes and wash their hands before interacting with your animals.

Stay alert to animal-related health incidents in your area, and adjust your management plan accordingly.

Microchip all animals, and keep chip info up to date.

Maintain a stocked animal first aid kit(s). Ideally, have two: one to live in your barn, and one to live in your trailer.

Stock at least two weeks’ worth of animal feed and medications at any given time.

Ensure all animals are up-to-date on vaccinations and other routine tests, such as Coggins. Store relevant health paperwork in your tow vehicle, on your phone, and in at least one other location.

Maintain up-to-date identification photos of all animals (to prove ownership).

Ensure all animals have well-fitted handling equipment readily available (halters, leads, harnesses, leashes).

Keep aisles clear, and doors and gates operational (it should not be a struggle to get in and out quickly).

Routinely inspect and repair all fencing, particularly after strong weather.

Photos to identify horses should be taken from both sides, as well as front and rear, with additional close-ups of unique identifying marks, scars, or brands.

If You Need to Shelter in Place

Figure out a system to store extra water—at least 5 gallons per animal—before you need it in an emergency. Have a plan for water access if power is off for an extended period, or if local water sources are contaminated.

Consider installing a generator sufficient to meet basic facility needs.

Purchase livestock marking crayons to mark horses with your phone number. Sharpies can also work in a pinch. Consider your horses’ coat colors in terms of which form of identification will show up best. Both of these methods of marking are commonly used in endurance riding; they are non-toxic and water-resistant.

Label halters with heavy-duty tape and include contact info.

Do not overstock your facility. Ensure adequate, species-appropriate shelter for all animals in your care.

My late horse, Carmel, after the New England Blizzard of 2015.

If You Need to Evacuate

In this case, time may be of the essence—share your plan with staff, family members, and neighbors that may be involved in executing it, and consider doing a “practice run” annually or biannually.

Own enough carriers to safely accommodate all your small animals.

Create an evacuation plan—where will you go with horses? Small animals? Try to plan more than one option. Consider how various routes in your area could be impacted in times of strong weather or mass evacuation.

Keep trucks/trailers accessible (shoveled out in winter), in good repair, and fueled up.

If you do not have enough trailers to evacuate all animals on site, or you do not have enough time to remove them, what will you do for those left behind? Consider: marking animals, leaving them inside vs. outside, water sources, etc. In advance, decide which animals are a priority to evacuate, and which will stay.

It is important to practice trailering frequently enough that you can count on your horse to load, even in an emergency.

Be an Active Citizen

Become familiar with your community’s emergency response plan. Advocate that the needs of domestic animals, including livestock and horses, be included in this plan.

Study the types of natural or man-made disasters that might affect your area. Evaluate your property, or the facility where your horses are stabled, to assess how these types of incidents might impact these areas specifically, and work to mitigate these impacts in advance. Don’t forget to consider the impacts on access roads as well.

Support local and regional organizations specifically tasked with helping animals in disaster, such as state horse councils, the SPCA, Community Animal Response Teams (CART), and safety net organizations, whether as a volunteer or through donations.

Credit for cover image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/8113246@N02/26246210340, shared through Creative Commons license.

Book Reviews, Horse Care and Management, Horses in Transition, Personal Stories, Training Tips and Techniques

What does it mean to be a “Compassionate Equestrian”?

1 Comment

When I founded Cold Moon Farm LLC in 2015, I created the following Mission Statement:

                “Cold Moon Farm is a working horse farm dedicated to promoting the principles of sustainable living, conservation, and the highest standards of compassionate horsemanship.”

For me, compassionate horsemanship lives at the intersection of the following beliefs: the importance of using evidence-based and humane handling, care, and training techniques, whether mounted or unmounted; respecting the horse as an autonomous, sentient being who chooses to comply with human requests but is never obligated to do so; and a strong commitment to doing our best to ensure that every interaction with our horses is positive, respectful, and fair. In addition, compassionate horsemanship includes understanding how the physical and emotional well-being of the people in a horse’s orbit impacts the animal’s care and well-being.

At the time, I had never heard anyone else cite compassionate horsemanship as the bedrock foundation to their practice. What I didn’t know back then was that Allen M. Schoen, DVM, and Susan Gordon had just co-authored a book called The Compassionate Equestrian: 25 Principles to Live by When Caring for and Working With Horsehttps://www.horseandriderbooks.com/store/the-compassionate-equestrian.htmls, published by my friends at Trafalgar Square. In fact, this book wouldn’t cross my path until 2022, and when it finally did, I was pretty floored by the synergy between these authors’ ideas and my own.

As the title implies, The Compassionate Equestrian defines 25 principles underscoring how the act of compassion must affect every action or choice we make around horses and toward each other. Schoen and Gordon discuss ideas ranging from the highly specific (a good rider is a physically fit rider, and a fit rider knows how to slowly condition their horse for peak performance) to the highly esoteric (integrating concepts from Schoen’s Transpecies Field Theory and elements of quantum physics and neurobiology). They discuss individual accountability, and then ask how the collective face of the equine industry might change if everyone involved put compassion forward as our most important and essential concept.

In this blog, I hope to offer just a taste of where my own beliefs and those of the authors intersected. For organizational purposes, I have grouped them into “individual” actions and “collective” actions, but this is pretty simplistic. In reality, even just one individual choosing to begin her journey as a compassionate equestrian will positively impact the collective equestrian community, because she will send ripples of compassion through her every interaction.

After you have reviewed some of these ideas, I am interested to know whether you can recognize an area in which you might shift your thinking, behavior or inner beliefs to embrace “compassion” as the first and most essential quality. How could such a shift make a positive impact on your life? On equestrians in general? Or even on the world at large?


“Be the change you wish to see in the world” (attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, 1913)
Image in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Compassionate Equestrianism—Individual Actions

Ultimately, it is at the personal level where compassionate equestrianism resides. After all, despite our best efforts, we cannot control the behavior or actions of others; in fact, it is hard enough at times to navigate our own way in the world.

                Education The compassionate equestrian is on a personal quest to always know better, and to always do better—not because it will earn her better ribbons, or because her barn mates will look up to her more, but because it is the right thing to do for our horses. She understands that the horse’s welfare is of the highest importance at all times, and therefore asks questions when she does not understand, calls it a day when something doesn’t seem quite right, and constantly assesses whether what she is asking of the horse is reasonable and fair. Horses do express their physical or emotional discomfort, but often in ways that are not clear to humans. The compassionate equestrian seeks to become educated enough that she notices her horse’s sometimes subtle signals of distress. When something is off, the compassionate equestrian promptly secures the assistance of qualified, trained professionals to address the issue. In any situation, she decides for herself if what she is asking of her horse is truly in his best interest.

Anna and I attend a clinic in 2019.

                Being Present When we interact with a horse, we expect him to pay attention to us—so it is only fair that we do the same in return. To borrow a concept from my years of yoga practice, the troubles, worries and stresses of our “real lives” will all be waiting for us when we leave the barn. If we do not release them before entering the stable, those distractions will not only impact how we communicate with our horses, they color the interactions we have with everyone in our orbit. They shape our behavior and our responses to challenge. When we arrive at the barn, we need to take time to pause—for however long is necessary—to center our hearts and minds. The compassionate equestrian enters the barn community with the intention of having an open heart and tolerance for those around her.

                Controlling our Ego One concept I especially loved from The Compassionate Equestrian (and I will paraphrase here) is that there are two beings living inside each of us—our ego, and our “inner wise-guide”. All of our actions and choices will be driven by one being or the other. Ideally, we learn to follow the energy of our “wise-guide” more than our ego. When we ask our horse to do something for us, we need to know that what we are asking is within his skill set, his fitness level, and is in his best interest. If we are asking for something outside of those parameters, it is likely to satisfy our ego—and this is not the action of a compassionate equestrian. There will be times we make mistakes when it comes to our horses; after all, we are only human. When we follow our egos instead of our wise-guide, causing stress or pain to our horse, or to others around us—we forgive ourselves, and actively work to change as we move forward. Just as it takes a body’s systems years to adapt to the physical demands of increasing levels of performance, it will take time to train our mind to prioritize the wisdom of our wise-guide over the ego’s desire for quick results, rewards, and recognition.

Horses do not act from ego. They do not care what they do or do not achieve, but they do care that they feel safe, which includes having the company of other horses (Lee and Anna at a benefit ride in 2020).

Only when we are able to let go of our own ego can we fully embrace the practice of compassion. For most of us, it will take concerted attention to notice where our motivation is coming from, and to shift away from the demands of our greedy ego. In fact, Gordon writes, “Decreasing the destructive impact of egoic tendencies in a very ego-based business will be one of the biggest challenges to unifying a global community of horse people” (pg. 368).

Compassionate Equestrianism—Collective Actions

Practicing compassion is both a habit and a skill; just like other habits or skills, we get better at it the more we do it. It is most difficult to practice compassion when circumstances are challenging, so it is important to cultivate compassion during routine occurrences every day, until it becomes a comfortable and familiar way of navigating the world.  

What would this look like in practice? For starters, we can celebrate everyone’s victories, whether or not they seem significant to us. Smile and say to them, with genuine positive energy, “I am happy for you.” Do the best you can, to the best of your ability, in every action you undertake. If someone offers unsolicited feedback, assume their good intent.

For professional equestrians especially, the horse industry can test a commitment to compassion. When clients are making demands, or bills are coming due, or a top horse has had to be sold, the unrelenting pressures can make even the kindest human turn hard. These challenges can lead to burnout and unhealthy coping mechanisms, or even cause equestrians to question why they got involved in the industry in the first place.

And so, I will argue here that it is perhaps toward these most stressed, challenged or embittered equestrians that individuals must attempt to direct the greatest amount of compassionate energy. For our own protection, being compassionate doesn’t mean that we must keep ourselves or our horses within their orbit. But we can still project toward them, in Schoen’s words, “loving-kindness” and the sentiment, “I wish you well.”

Additionally, we must remember that no one is at their best, all of the time. When an equestrian is scared, or angry, she will behave in a self-protective way toward her horse and others around her.  When she is naïve, inexperienced, or uneducated (as we all are at some point in our equestrian journey), there is an overload of information available at her fingertips, and she may not know whose wisdom to turn to. We all must hold the belief that the majority of equestrians want what’s best for their horse. As professionals, it is our duty to present them with the most current, evidence-based information, and help them to determine the best path forward, for them. Further, we have a duty to work to prevent harm, when it is within our power to do so—essentially an equestrian version of the Hippocratic Oath.  To quote directly from The Compassionate Equestrian, we ask, “What is the most compassionate way to meet the needs of the horse and the capabilities of the rider?”

We must learn to share in the joyful moments of being around our horses, and to celebrate every victory, no matter how seemingly insignificant.

Finally, as a compassionate equestrian community, we must commit to collectively caring for all equines, at all stages of their lives. This would look like an industry committed to ensuring there is a home for every animal it produces; that every equine is provided with humane care and living conditions that allow them to thrive at all stages of life; that every equine, from an early age, is handled and trained so that a lifetime of safe interactions with humans are possible. When the quality of an animal’s life has declined to a point where they are always in pain, or are at risk of causing harm to themselves or others, or are otherwise not able to express the natural qualities inherent to being a horse, a compassionate equestrian community will ensure their humane transition. In a compassionate equestrian community, these actions are the expectation, not the experience only of those horses lucky enough to “fall into the right hands”. A compassionate equestrian community holds its own members accountable, whether they are a backyard hobbyist or top competitor.

With compassion at the core of all equestrian activities and pursuits, we can expect to evolve into a community that shows respect for its members, honors individual responsibility, and unifies the diverse interests of equestrians across disciplines, breeds, and skill levels.

Horse Care and Management

Is it time to rethink the “Traditional Boarding Stable” model?

4 Comments

In my work as a freelance clinician, coach, and judge, I have had the opportunity to visit facilities of all shapes and sizes, all across the country. And increasingly, I am hearing a common refrain among the managers at nearly every barn—boarding horses is a money-losing business, and they don’t know how much longer they can go on.

Now, anyone who has been involved in the equine industry for more than five minutes knows that “equestrian” is a costly sport. Long gone are the days when horses were an essential commodity and even urban homes included space for the family’s horse. Today, horses are a luxury, and nearly every resource required to keep horses well comes at a premium price. Correctly zoned, open land is also attractive to developers, driving up rental or purchase price; feeds including hay and grain are grown and shipped from a distance at great expense; essential farm structures, from run-in sheds to barns to covered or indoor arenas, are taxed per unit. Trucks, trailers, and tractors can all cost more than a down payment on an average home. Add in a dose of worldwide pandemic with its associated shutdowns, and the rippling effects of climate change—perhaps never before have horse keepers seen the costs of so many essential equine expenditures skyrocket.

For several winters, I kept Anna at a local boarding stable with an indoor. Boarding, no matter the facility, requires adjustment and compromise for all involved.

Frankly, the physical resources required to keep horses are just the beginning. Caring for horses well also requires educated caregivers willing to show up reliably and do hard, unrelenting physical tasks in all weather conditions. It requires skilled professionals like farriers, veterinarians, body workers, trainers and more to advocate for the animals’ best interests.

Professional equestrians are often motivated to dedicate their lives to this industry because they are passionate about horses. They genuinely want to see horses happy and well-cared for, and to play a role in their clients’ success. To stay in the equine industry long term requires that these myriad professionals are treated fairly and make enough money to live more than just a marginal existence. Long, grueling hours, demanding clients, and constant money woes lead to burnout and worse.

There are many tasks relevant to maintaining horses beyond just the essentials– such as weed whacking your fence lines to ensure the electric stays working! Izzy is clearly not impressed (the machine was also not on anywhere near where she was grazing).

Over the past three years here in northern New England, facilities that used to charge $600 per month for full-care have needed to increase their rates to $1000 or more—and despite this, some are still not breaking even. Some have had to adopt new fee structures, adding surcharges for what many owners consider essential services—blanketing, fly spray, even soaking grain or storing a trailer. Others are scheduling additional time-and-labor intensive activities—things like schooling shows, clinics, or camps—in an attempt to simply cover expenses. No one seems to be fully staffed, and right now, hiring workers with prior equine experience is a true luxury that comes at a premium cost.

Simply put, the path we are on is not sustainable. Not for facility managers, who are essentially barely treading water, and not for horse owners, particularly those who have already made some significant adjustments in their budgets to make their (or their child’s) involvement in the sport possible. For many horse owners of average means, the traditional boarding stable model is going to price them out of the sport. And if this happens, we all lose—the professionals, the client, and the horses themselves.

So what, if anything, can be done?

It is my opinion that we need to re-think the model upon which the traditional boarding stable is based. By “traditional boarding stable”, I am talking about the sort of place where there is one owner/lessee/manager, who accepts horses for boarding at a set price per month in exchange for a stated list of services. That manager is responsible for acquiring all of the required resources necessary for these animals’ well-being, maintaining the facility, and facilitating the day-to-day care. At such facilities, it is typically assumed by the paying client that their fee includes all of the above, as well as access to the amenities of the farm. The client usually expects to be able to arrive, visit and engage with their horse, and leave without assuming any duties beyond cleaning up after themselves (and frankly, sometimes they even fail to do that).

As I have visited programs around the country, the ones that seem to be doing the best job at keeping costs down, maintaining healthy horses, and preventing burn out among the caretakers are those based upon a cooperative boarding model. In a cooperative boarding situation, “members” (called boarders or clients at a traditional stable) commit to not only caring for their own horse, but to contribute to the overall care of everyone’s animals on a routine, coordinated schedule.

There is nothing better than seeing your horses happy and thriving.

There are many models of successful cooperative boarding stables. Most seem to be coordinated by an elected or volunteer committee, who are collectively responsible for ensuring bills are paid, applications reviewed, insurance secured and shifts staffed. Others operate under the direction of one individual whose role is similar to the manager of a traditional stable—the critical difference being that this person is not personally responsible for being on-site full time, or providing all of the care. Yet another model is one where the members join a co-op overseen by a trainer, who uses the co-op design to keep costs down for her students and to ease the burden for herself. I’m sure there are other co-op models I have not yet encountered.

Members at a boarding co-op typically must commit more time to their equestrian habit than someone paying for full-care at a traditional facility. They are usually personally responsible for daily tasks like cleaning their own horse’s stall or paddock, cleaning and refilling their water, and setting up their horse’s feed, or for coordinating with another member to do so on their behalf. They also typically cover a certain number of “shifts” per week, during which they attend to routine duties for everyone’s horses such as feeding, turn in/turn out, or night check, depending on the set up. And co-op members must be of a mindset that even if it isn’t “their turn” to provide care to the rest of the herd, if they see a problem—a horse’s blanket has come undone, or they passed manure in their water, or a horse seems “off”—it is still their responsibility to address it.

Though laying down isn’t usually a cause for concern, I have learned to always take an extra moment to assess the horse just to be sure it isn’t a sign of trouble brewing–especially if they are laying down at feeding time. I would rather a million times bring up something to an owner that ends up being nothing than ignore it and miss a problem when it is still fixable.

For many horse owners—especially folks who have never been responsible for their horse’s daily care—transitioning to a cooperative boarding situation likely will be a big shock. Taking care of horses is a lot of work, and there is no way to sugar coat that. But unlike keeping your horses at home or renting a dry stall somewhere, at a co-op, that work is shared by the group, meaning it is actually possible to take a day off or even coordinate a vacation. And the rewards are significant—first, the financial costs of keeping your horse will almost certainly reduce, and when expenses are incurred, you will have a better understanding of where they are coming from. But even more importantly, through providing your horse’s daily care, you will acquire a deeper connection with your horse, and it will (force) you to become a better horse person.

Equestrians–bringing glamour to the day-to-day.

I appreciate that a cooperative boarding model isn’t for everyone, and they aren’t without their challenges. In particular, most successful co-ops have some type of screening process, and ask members to adhere to a written code of ethics or list of expectations. Members of a co-op need to be on the same page, philosophically, about how they will care for their herd. There need to be clear procedures in place for members who don’t follow the rules. But none of this is truly that different than at a traditional boarding stable—it is just that the members become responsible for policing themselves, instead of running to a beleaguered manager with every little complaint or irritation. As in so many things, good communication is critical for success.

There will always be a place in our industry for the traditional boarding model, but it is my opinion that cooperative boarding may help keep horse ownership within reach for a wider swath of our equestrian community. Additionally, I frequently hear professionals bemoan a reduction in basic horsemanship skills, across disciplines. With cooperative boarding, instead of further distancing ourselves from a past that put true horsemanship front and center, we would embrace it as the most fundamental core value of our equestrian practice.

                –

Horse Care and Management, Horses in Transition, Personal Stories

Reflections on Gratitude, Part IV: Blessed are the Older Horses

Leave a comment

As daylight grows shorter and we enter the holiday season, it is natural for our thoughts to turn inward. This year, I find myself filled with gratitude to be the caretaker for three special horses over the age of 20 who, though semi-retired, continue to enhance the quality of my life every day.

Lee, currently 22 years old, out for a hack on a crisp late fall morning.

The truth is, I think about older horses a lot, especially those who have ‘served’ their humans, whether as lesson horse, show horse, therapeutic horse or pleasure mount, and are then discarded by their caretakers upon reaching a certain age. I recognize that not all horse owners have the financial or emotional capacity to care for an aging animal, but I also am prescient enough to realize that safe homes for older horses are far fewer in number than the quantity of older animals in need. I personally know people who seem to believe that every older horse will be peacefully retired in a large grassy field somewhere, but most of us who are deeply connected to the equine world understand that not only is this hope unreasonable, it is naïve. I have come to believe that the best chance for an older horse to find a safe haven is to stay sound and be useful in some capacity. But that means as an industry, we need to get over “equestrian agism” and we also need to start planning for the later years of the horses in our care far earlier in their careers.

Carmel, who was probably 18 or 19 years old here, evented at novice level until he was 20 and then spent 7 years teaching various Pony Clubbers until officially “retiring” at 27. I rode him on leisurely walks several times a week until just before his death at 34 years old.

While the cliché “age is just a number” is as relevant to horses as it is to anyone else, in my experience horse folks get a little funny about aged horses, as though chronology alone is enough to determine an individual horse’s suitability for particular activities. It applies at both ends of the age spectrum; just as not all young horses are ready for the demands of performance at set ages (as is asked in racing, futurities, developing or young horse classes, materiale, etc.), not all older horses are ready to completely retire. Yet all too often, equestrians will discount an older equine simply because of their age—despite the fact that these animals are often the ones that are trained enough, experienced enough and mellowed out enough to be EXACTLY the type of teacher the average rider needs.

Carmel happily taught many young riders the fundamentals of good horsemanship. Here, with his friend Molly.

Not too long ago, I overheard someone say (in regards to a lesson horse in his early 20’s), “he’s ancient”, the speaker’s tone and affect making it abundantly clear that she felt a horse of his seniority should no longer be in work at all, never mind be used in a lesson program. Now, I have known this particular horse for at least a decade, and his current workload is a significant ‘step down’ from what he did in his glory days; additionally, he still shows up at the ring with enthusiasm and pep, occasionally runs off with a student, and is as sound as he has been his entire life. He is maintained with no medications, no special shoeing, no exceptional requirements, all of which indicate (to me) that the horse seems to be comfortable and content in his current role. I wanted to ask the speaker what alternative reality would be better for this horse, who currently receives top quality care and love and adoration from his riders in exchange for his daily participation in a non-physically demanding lesson or two. Frankly, there are older humans who do not have it so good.

As bodies age, of course there is a change in what they can physically handle. Age-related disorders may require routine monitoring from a medical expert, life-long medication and/or dietary changes to regulate. Some beings encounter bad luck in their lives, and a previous history of illness, injury, poor nutrition or dental care or inappropriate/inconsistent/inadequate exercise can all accumulate to make the onset of decline begin earlier. But with proactive care, routine maintenance and attention to detail, none of these factors are necessarily career ending; each being must be evaluated as an individual, and their care adjusted accordingly. Note that nothing I have stated here is unique to horses—it applies to humans or dogs or any other species you would like to examine.

Marquesa is frequently called upon to be a role model for younger horses. Above, she is ponying a young Izzy. Below, with Nori.

I now believe that when it comes to horse ownership, there is a ‘point of no return’; if you maintain ownership of a horse beyond the time where they will have meaningful value to others, then you must also accept that you now have a moral obligation to see that animal through to their end of life. If you know that you will be financially or emotionally unfit to do so, then it is imperative that you find that animal an owner who can and will make that commitment, well before the time comes that the animal is unsound, unusable or unfit for work. I will say it bluntly; few quality homes exist for aged animals that cannot fill some kind of “use” unless those homes already were bonded to the animal before they became “unusable”.

Marquesa, 25 years old in 2021, won the North America Online Championships Adult Amateur Introductory Level Championship this year with summer intern Tiger Lily. She scored in the upper 60’s, having never done much correct dressage work at all until after her “retirement” at age 20. Notice that she hacks in a hackamore now, as well!

The best final home for a well-cared for, aging animal is likely the one they are already in. Posting your older equine “free to good home” or “suitable for companion only” is akin to dropping your aged dog off at the shelter. Most of the time, there is no good ending to these stories.

But wait, you say. I only have a limited budget…how am I supposed to move forward with my own equestrian pursuits while maintaining this expensive, long-lived pet?

Well, here are a few options:

  1. When it becomes clear you are outgrowing your horse (size wise, skill wise, or otherwise) sell them sooner rather than later. Don’t wait until the job gets too hard, they get hurt or they get sour from being asked to go past their limit.
  2. Rough board your horse(s). Depending on the region, there are likely a range of rough or co-op board options that can allow owners to significantly reduce the cost of horse ownership in exchange for providing goods and/or labor.
  3. Lease your horse to a less-experienced rider. While not without risk, a carefully vetted and supervised free-lease can be a win/win on both counts. Your horse becomes a schoolmaster for someone else while relieving you of the financial burden of maintaining the horse for a period of months or years. Further, a lease will leave you with oversight over decisions related to the horse’s long-term care. If your horse is quite experienced, charging a modest monthly lease fee (while the lessee pays for his upkeep) can give you money to put in the bank to help support him in the future. Sometimes, a lessee comes to love your horse as much as (or more than) you do, and they are willing to take on permanent responsibility for the animal’s care.
  4. Consider leasing your “move up” horse instead of buying (see suggestion #3, though this time you are the less-experienced rider). Overall, leasing a horse will cost less than an outright purchase, and if circumstances change, a leased horse can always be returned to his owner.
  5. Consider setting new goals. One of the best things about horses (and equestrian sports in general) is that there are many different ways to challenge you and your mount. In my career, I have tried new disciplines because they seemed well-suited to the horse I was riding at the time. Instead of moving up in your current discipline, consider trying something new with the horse you have. Perhaps your former show hunter would like to do low-level dressage; maybe your ring-soured lesson horse would enjoy hunter paces. Trying new things only deepens the bond between horse and rider.
When Lee needed to “step down” from her final competitive career in long distance rides, I began doing 100 mile “virtual” challenges with her instead. So far, she has completed the 2020 Valkyrie 100 Mile, the 2021 Virtual Tevis and the 2021 Warhorse 100 Mile. She has added assorted additional miles to our cumulative 1900 Mile Pony Express Challenge as well.

There are plenty of other ways that people have made it work, and if you are motivated, it is almost always possible to find a solution. It won’t necessarily be easy, and it may even require some hustle and sacrifice. But I think it is beyond time that we in the equine industry normalize planning for our older horse’s later years and honor those who fully commit to the on-going care of these animals—even if that means a comfortable (older) horse is kept in light work.

Snowy may be 28 years old this year but he still enjoyed a recent trip to Hampton Beach, even spooking at the foamy surf as it “chased” him along the shore.

Speaking for myself, watching my semi-retired horses teach other riders–allowing these riders the chance to jump their first cross country fences, to safely ride in the open, to experience what connection feels like– is almost as satisfying as it was to teach my horses these skills in the first place. It may sound trite, but seeing someone else truly enjoy your horse’s company and gain confidence and skills thanks to their wisdom is a reward beyond measure. And when I am having a tough time, or the weather is a little dicey, my “go-to” ride is not my talented youngster; it is the venerable veteran, who I can rely on to have my back when conditions are not the best. My older horses owe me nothing—yet they continue to give.

Every morning that I am greeted by these special creatures is a gift. Whether it is watching Snowy roll in his favorite spot on the grass field, watching Marquesa boss young Izzy around or waiting for Lee to finish her grain, even the simplest and most every day of occurrences bring a smile. How lucky am I to be their steward, and how enriched has my life been for having them in it?

Horse Care and Management, Magazine Articles, Personal Stories

Growing Pains

Leave a comment

Spring Hollow Or Noir, who goes by Nori at home, is a rising 4 year old Morgan and the youngest horse at Cold Moon Farm. I recently learned that she is the first foal of her sire, Spring Hollow Statesman, and many eyes besides my own are eagerly watching her develop. I adore her, I admire her and I am excited about her future. But at the same time, raising young horses isn’t all sunshine and lollipops, and that is what I want to talk about in this blog.

Nori on her third birthday, June 2020

When it comes to raising and developing a young horse, I think it is important for equestrians to share stories of challenge and setback and to be honest about the ups and downs of the training process. Sure, sharing the victories feels pretty sweet and I appreciate hearing about those moments– but let’s not pretend that getting there didn’t include hitting a few potholes along the way. Otherwise, it is too easy to scroll social media posts and feel as if we are being left behind by our peers, progressing too slowly, or are otherwise doing things wrong.

When it comes to Nori, I feel this like whoa, especially when it comes to the past year.    

 Separating Your Seedlings

In theory, I would have liked to back Nori this past summer, when she was 3, as I did with Izzy; here, “backing” is defined as me sitting on her in a saddle while being led around by a ground handler. Compared to Izzy at the same age, Nori looked much more physically developed yet mentally, she seemed much younger. I decided to hold off.

That choice was a good one, because as it turned out, Nori had her own plans for what she wanted to accomplish in her three-year-old summer.

For the better part of two years, Nori and DRF Isabela, (two years older and better known as Izzy) were the best of friends. They shared hay piles, took naps together and scratched each other’s backs. But as Nori matured, small cracks began to form in their relationship. From day one, the herd ranking had clearly been Marquesa at the top, Izzy in the middle and Nori at the bottom. But by summer 2020, Nori began subtly staking her claim on a higher social rank. The symptoms were so understated at first that I almost missed them—slightly more frequent squeals, small bite marks, an occasional challenge for a prime sleeping spot—but by early summer there was no mistaking that in Nori, we had a ‘social climber on the rise’.

Nori (left) and Izzy (right), before the troubles began.

One day in early July, I came home from a day of hiking to find Nori a bit more banged up than usual; she had a few new cuts, all small, and a front leg was a little puffy. Then I realized that she was intermittently locking her stifle. Ugh. After a video consult with my vet, we deferred further investigation of the injury until the next day. Dr. Monika’s exam revealed that Nori had overextended her left stifle, resulting in some inflammation and a possible teeny tiny avulsion fracture where a piece of ligament had pulled away from bone. Stall rest was out of the question so we opted to do a round of NSAIDs and to try to keep Nori as quiet as possible in her paddock. Thankfully, the swelling resolved and the stifle stabilized after only a few minor setbacks.

One of several photos I texted to Dr. Monika as we tried to determine “Red Alert” injury vs. “can safely wait until morning”.

But the die had been cast. Over the next several weeks, while Nori was supposed to be “resting quietly in her paddock”, the tension between her and Izzy escalated. Sometimes, the two were their usual inseparable selves. But increasingly, I heard scuffles in the paddock, their intensity growing with each skirmish.

The final straw came one morning at 5:00 AM. I awoke to the sound of a significant altercation between one or more horses, accompanied by worried whinnies from the rest of the herd. I ran out in my pajamas to find that Izzy had cornered Nori and was trying to kick her over and over. I grabbed a halter and lead and ran into the paddock, swinging the rope and yelling like a crazy banshee woman (it is perhaps a good thing that my closest neighbor is also an early riser). I’m not sure this was the smartest move–nor do I know what I would have done next had it proved unsuccessful– but it distracted Izzy long enough that Nori could get away. I threw everyone some hay, checked over each horse and headed back into the house.

However, I knew the reprieve would only be temporary.

Looking majestic while on a hand walk fall 2020. Two halters because I sometimes don’t trust the rope one!

Over coffee that morning, I commented, “You know, if I was boarding somewhere, I would be all over the barn manager to get my horse out of that paddock. NOW.”

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single readily available location on the property to put Nori, or anyone else, without significant reconfiguration. While I finished my own breakfast, I worked out a short-term arrangement that would at least get us through the day. I moved our elder statesman, Snowy, to a grass field where he spends most mornings anyway, then moved Nori into Snowy’s “Bachelor Pad”– a dry lot attached to a two-stall shelter. As I slipped her halter off, I exhaled a sigh of relief. For the moment, at least, the situation was stabilized.

Later that day, we subdivided the Bachelor Pad in half with three strands of electric rope, added a new gate and voila– Snowy and Nori became neighbors. Despite neither horse having tons of room, they adjusted well and we worked hard to ensure that each horse had extra “out of paddock” time. Snowy spent four or five hours every day in the grass turnout and went for regular rides, and Nori went for hand walks in addition to daily groundwork training. I was relieved that Nori was indifferent when Snowy left to go do things without her; she seemed to enjoy supervising activity in the riding arena, located just adjacent.

Spring 2020, still with the “girls”.

But with fall rapidly approaching and winter on its heels, these two tiny turnouts could not be a permanent solution. After several rounds of brainstorming, we spent the rest of the summer and early fall building an additional in/out stall with its own fenced dry lot area off the side of the barn. In early October, the new “Nori Habitat” was finally ready and she moved in.

Nori in the Nori Habitat.

Seedlings Up Rooted

In a perfect world, a young horse has other young horses to play with. Though Nori seemed quite content in her own space, I worried that she would need additional sources of psychological engagement now that she wasn’t directly next to another horse. But ultimately, I felt the separation was a sacrifice I had to make to reduce the risk of serious injury. I made an effort to spend time with her every day, even as the weather grew colder.

One Saturday afternoon in mid-December, I was sitting at my writing desk and staring out the big window that faces the Nori Habitat. Suddenly, there was a loud “whoosh” and a second later Nori slammed full bore into her heavy duty gate, bending the metal and knocking it off the top hinge. Snow sliding off the metal roof of the barn had startled her, and she did what many startled horses do; she ran. But the paddock is just a few strides long, the footing was slippery from early snow, and she couldn’t stop in time. That night, we had to use the tractor to flatten the gate in order to get it reattached correctly. Fortunately, Nori was uninjured.

Some of the damage from Crash # 1.

A month later, Nori spooked and knocked the gate off its hinges again. The damage was less severe this time, but as we worked to get the pieces reconnected, I felt the first twinges of concern brewing in my subconscious. Is this going to be a “thing”? Will this horse learn to practice self-restraint? Will she desensitize to the noise before she causes herself serious injury?

Then one evening in early February, Nori spooked and ran a third time. Learning from her previous mistakes, she turned to avoid the gate but instead she slid into the wooden fence itself. Her momentum broke a 4×4 post as well as a three board fence lined with strands of aluminum wire. Now loose, Nori ran to the gate of her original paddock, where Izzy and Marquesa stood, whinnying their worry.

It is a true miracle that Nori escaped from this with not even a scratch.

I was incredulous when we caught her that the filly had emerged unscathed. Not even a tiny tear on her Horsewear blanket revealed that she had just demolished a fairly significant fence line.

                By headlamp and tractor light, that evening we managed to reconstruct the fence. The broken post was partially frozen into the ground and we had to pour hot water around the stump, fastening a chain to pull it out of the earth. By 8 PM, Nori was back in her Habitat. But I was a mass of nerves.

Nori loves to hang out in the snow. The Bachelor Pad is in the background.

                This situation is a time bomb, I thought as I tossed and turned that night instead of sleeping. We have been lucky so far. But if she keeps hitting the fence, sooner or later, our luck will run out.

My brain, most of the time.

                I started to worry that, despite my very best efforts, I was failing to meet this horse’s basic needs.

                About two weeks later, on a warmish sunny February afternoon, I went out to throw lunch hay to find Nori soaked in sweat on her chest and flanks. She had been totally fine just a few hours earlier, when I had groomed her, but now she was anxious, pawing and wanting to roll. I immediately assumed she was colicking, but then I heard the roar of snowmobiles and the accompanying cheers of their riders coming from the powerline trails behind the farm. Whenever the machines raced past, Nori’s eyes grew bigger and her anxious behavior increased.

                Still wondering if she was starting to colic, I haltered her and took her out of the paddock. She had a good roll in softer snow and immediately started nibbling hay in between anxious spins. I walked her around and tried to soothe her, but she was inconsolable. I finally put her back in the paddock and watched her helplessly.

                I AM failing this horse. No matter what I do, she isn’t happy.

                There probably isn’t a worse feeling in the world than knowing you have a problem and trying every solution you can think of, only to have the problem get worse.

                Maybe she just needs a little more space?

                I briefly debated putting Nori back out with her original herd, but with winter footing and the memories of earlier issues still clear, I quickly crossed that idea off the list. Then I looked at Snowy, sleeping in the sun in his Bachelor Pad. Without the divider, it was maybe a third larger than the Nori Habitat. The position of the double sided shed provided a buffer from the noises out back. Snowy never reacts when snow comes sliding down off the roof and at 26+ years old, prefers to only amble slowly.

Creeping on Nori while walking solo on the power line trails.

                Within a few minutes, I had traded the two horses—Nori went in the Bachelor Pad (perhaps now a “She Shed”?) and Snowy in the Nori Habitat. He quickly busied himself cleaning up her hay. She spent the rest of the afternoon pirouetting and bucking, pacing and prancing. But she could do so without sliding into the fence, or the gate, and eventually she seemed to burn herself out and settled to eating hay, too.

                And this arrangement is where each horse is currently located. Whether it will work long term—well, at this point, who really knows? It is working for now, and with improving weather and footing, Nori will only be getting more interactions and activities to keep her mind and body busy. All I can do is hope.

                But that day with the snowmobiles was, for me, a personal low. It was a day where I doubted if I have what it takes to work with this talented, athletic, sensitive mare and wondered if she would simply be better off with someone else.

                I want my horses to be content, to feel safe and secure in their environment. What is this mare trying to tell me she needs that I am not giving her?

                This season, it is one of my goals to try to figure that out.

Blogger’s Note: In addition to all of the above, Nori has also intermittently experienced Free Fecal Water (FFW), a messy and unsightly condition in which excess water is passed alongside normally formed balls of manure. My article, “When Passing Manure Becomes a Messy Predicament”, from the March 8 & 15, 2021 issue of The Chronicle of the Horse, takes a closer look at what we know (and don’t know) about this syndrome. One advantage of Nori moving into her own space has been being able to customize her diet; with these adjustments, her symptoms have almost wholly resolved. Fingers crossed!

Horse Care and Management

Grain Mites: Unwelcome Summer Visitors

Leave a comment

While most equestrians living in temperate regions of the U.S. look forward to the pleasant weather of late spring and summer, the humidity and warm-but-not-scorching temperatures are also ideal conditions for grain mites. These tiny members of the Acaridae family are only between 100th to 300th of an inch in length and are relatives of spiders and ticks.  When conditions are ideal, these common pests can occur in large numbers in grain, hay and straw, happily eating their way through your horse’s dinner.

“Grain mites eat the germ out of any kind of stored grain products and proteins,” explains Jessica Starcevich, M.S., staff entomologist with Spalding Labs. “They thrive in high humidity. Depending on the species, this means relative humidity over 70%.”

flour-and-grain-mites5f20f8aa7d8c2
Grain mite (drawing from Penn State Extension website).

 

But a mite infestation is more than just a nuisance—exposure to grain mites can cause allergic reactions in several species. Grain mites are known human allergens, and ingestion of large quantities has caused lesions in the stomach lining of cattle. While more research is needed, there is increasing evidence that grain mites, which also feed on molds and fungus and spread fungal spores throughout their environment, may play a role in triggering equine respiratory syndromes.

Because mites are so small, managers might not notice their presence—at first. But with a fairly long lifespan (mites can live up to fifty-five days) and prolific reproductive capacity (a female will lay 600-800 eggs during her lifetime), it won’t take long for their numbers to compound. An active mite infestation looks as if the grain bin (or bag) has been coated in a light brown dust. The grain itself may appear dusty, and if you begin moving bags around, the mites’ crushed exoskeletons can give off a “minty” odor.

GrainMites
Large numbers of grain mites gathered together resemble a yellow-orange dust. Photo Agna Rodrigues/Bugwood.org

“They are most common in regular whole grains, like oats, corn and barely,” says Starcevich. “But they can infest pelleted feed and certainly sweet feed that has oats and things mixed into it.”

When it comes to grain mites, the best defense is a good offense. Many mite-prevention techniques should already be best practices in terms of grain storage. Strategies such as never pouring new grain over old, thoroughly cleaning out and scrubbing bins in between fill ups, storing grain in airtight containers and religiously cleaning up hay chaff, mold and dust, can all help eliminate the conditions that favor grain mites.

img_4223
Grain should be stored in airtight containers. Be sure to clean out storage in between bags and never pour new grain on top of old.

Additionally, take steps to reduce the humidity in your grain storage area. Consider installing a fan, using a dehumidifier or even desiccant packets (keep these away from farm pets). Grain moisture meters can be purchased from agricultural supply companies; stored grain should absolutely not read at more than 16%, and ideally will be much lower than that.

“Make sure there is no place hospitable for them,” says Starcevich. “If you can dry them out, they will die very quickly.”

During humid months, consider getting smaller quantities of grain delivered more frequently, so fewer bags are stored. With each delivery, do a careful inspection of each bag before opening it. If there is any evidence of mite activity, get that bag out of your storage area immediately—and contact your supplier.

feed-3
Most grain suppliers closely watch for signs of mite activity, and would prefer to be notified as soon as possible if product from their store proves to be infested.

“Suppliers get anxious about mites, but it’s usually not their fault, as mites could have been picked up anywhere along the process,” says Starcevich. “Suppliers actively watch for mites and try to avoid getting them. But if they do, they likely have an action plan for how to take care of it.”

If, despite your best efforts, grain mites appear, don’t panic—but do act efficiently, as it is far easier to control an outbreak when the numbers are small. The most important step is to remove the infested grain from your bin, and if possible, remove the bin itself from your storage area. Contaminated grain should be thrown out, buried in an active compost pile or spread in an extremely thin layer where it will be exposed to the sun. Removable bins should be left in the sun for several days, then treated with an acaricide such as pyrethrin. If possible, do not return grain to the bin for several weeks.

“The biggest thing is to get things dry,” says Starcevich. “And keep food sources away from the mites.”

If removing the bin is not possible, thoroughly clean the entire area, paying close attention to corners, cracks and crevices, then treat it with an acaricide. Wait a week, then treat again, then wait another week before use. While this may seem like overkill (if you will forgive the pun), juvenile grain mites living in high concentrations can morph into a phase called the hypopus, which has a sucker that they attach to animals to help them disperse to new areas. During this stage, they are highly resistant to pesticides.

Finally, reach out to your county extension agent if you have further questions. Usually, consultation and even testings are free, and they will know if there is a specific outbreak of any pests going on in your area.

 

Book Reviews, Horse Care and Management

Book Review: The Five Horse Types in Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine

Leave a comment

The Five Horse Types in Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine by Dr. Ina Gösmeier

c 2014 (Appears to be self-published) 68 pages.

ISBN 978-3-00-0247569-6

One of the fundamental concepts in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is that all beings belong largely to one of the five basic elements—fire, earth, metal, water and wood. Knowing which of the elements most influence an individual can help TCM practitioners better determine the health challenges that individual is most likely to face, as well as how to best address them.

img_3423

Author Dr. med vet Ina Gösmeier is an accomplished German veterinarian and equestrian. Her vet practice is based on TCM, applied kinesiology and Chinese Herbology, and she has travelled with the German team to international championships, enhancing their performance using naturopathic methods. According to the bio in her book, she also teaches, writes and lectures extensively on the subject of holistic medicine in animals, particularly acupuncture and acupressure.

I am not prepared to give up Western medicine but I admit that TCM, with its whole body approach to healing, has a certain logic to it. Rather than just focusing on specific symptoms or disorders, TCM considers the overall balance of chi (sometimes spelled qi), which is an essential life force in the body. Acupuncture/acupressure, for example, seeks to rebalance the chi and restore its harmonious flow along the body’s meridians.

In this quick read book, Dr. Gösmeier explains that horses can be classified into one of five types—Gan/Liver, Shen/Kidney, Pi/Spleen, Xin/Heart, and Fei/Lung– and that identifying horse type can help vets practicing TCM to better predict the course and duration of a disease. Based on certain symptoms for each type, it is possible for a practitioner to identify when an animal is out of balance and in need of treatment. Sometimes these symptoms are behavioral, and have seemingly nothing to do with the source of the problem. Horses are classified by considering their mind/character, social behavior, rideability and physical characteristics.

5elements
Image borrowed from The Naturally Healthy Horse; link provides a summary of the five horse types which is more clear than anything in this book.  But from the chart you can get a sense of how confusing it is even in English!

Each horse type has some positive and some negative characteristics. Some horses show traits of more than one type.

If you are intrigued by these concepts, and want to learn more—do not seek out this book. Originally written in German, it is possibly one of the poorest quality translations I have ever read. I am sure that trying to explain such unique and abstract concepts to any Westerner takes first, a fair degree of comprehension and understanding of the concepts to begin with, and second, requires the ability to break them down into smaller pieces. I would think that each word is carefully chosen, each phrase crafted to impart better clarity and meaning.

Quite simply, these concepts are lost in the translation. But it isn’t just the concepts—it is basic phrases and expressions too, things which someone who is bilingual enough to do a translation should be able to articulate more clearly. It is almost as though someone fed the document through Google Translate and hoped for the best.

I can only imagine that in the original German, this book would be much more enlightening!

1/5 stars

Clinic Reports, Horse Care and Management

Jochen Schleese: Understanding Better Saddle Fit

1 Comment

Proper saddle fit is a topic which has garnered much attention as equestrians have gained a better understanding of the intersection between tack and performance.  Jochen Schleese, of Saddlefit4Life, is a saddle maker who is inspired to educate riders, owners and trainers on the basic concepts of better saddle fit.  He gave a lecture and demonstration on the subject at the University of New Hampshire Equine Program in September of 2017, and the following is a brief summary of his critical points.

Several trends in modern equestrian sport have influenced the needs we must address in the design and selection of saddles.  First, most riders are female, and the structure of their pelvis is different than that of a male.  Female hip sockets face more forward, a shorter tail bone brings the balance point of the pelvis further forward and the seat bones are wider.  However, saddle design traditionally has been oriented towards what will suit a male pelvis; when women try to ride in saddles which do not allow them to naturally sit in a comfortable, supported position, they at a minimum feel like they ‘fight the tack’, or in the long term, can suffer health complications including pain in their back, hips and knees.  And of course, a rider out of balance will negatively affect the horse as well.

img_1488
Jochen discusses the sweat marks and muscling of demo horse Santa Fe ISF, after he was warmed up in his usual tack.

Secondly, the shape of horses has changed, with modern breeds trending towards being more “sporty”.  As trainers, we want to encourage the horse to lift their topline up underneath the weight of the saddle and rider.  But as the horse lacks collar bones, and their entire trunk is hanging from their shoulder muscles, the sheer act of saddling and sitting on a horse causes the topline to be pushed down.  Just as one size shoe does not fit all wearers, one size saddle does not suit all shapes of horse, and as the horse develops muscle, even what once fit well may need adjustments.  If we want to have any chance of engaging the topline correctly, we must set the horse up to be able to lift.

Horses are remarkably tolerant, and most will try to do what is asked of them even if their tack is ill fitting.  But we will see the physical effects of poor fit in myriad ways—subtle cues, such as a wrinkle in the nose, pinned ears, and wide eyes are a good place to start.  More significantly, we can see severe impacts such as the development of subluxations, sacroiliac issues (like hunter’s bump), swayback, scoliosis, muscle wasting and more.

img_1500
Here, Jochen shows how the human pelvis is meant to be centered over the topline musculature.

A well fitted saddle will help prevent these issues, but it must be appropriate for the physique of the horse in question. And we must be cognizant that the shape of the horse will change over time.

It is critical that the position and shape of the saddle do not interfere with the cap of cartilage which is located over the top of the shoulder blade. Equally important is that the saddle cannot sit on the horse’s spine.  Most horsemen know this, but at the same time, may not be able to accurately assess the true width of the spine; just because the channel is clear doesn’t mean that the panels are as well.  Sometimes it is necessary to map out the areas on the horse’s back which can carry weight versus those spots where it simply can’t.

img_1494
Santa at the beginning of the “marking up” process.  You can see the bold “X” of two “no pressure” zones.

Schleese explained that there are fourteen reflex points in and around the saddle area which cause a negative reaction if they are being pinched from a saddle.  Think of a reflex point having sensitivity akin to hitting your funny bone; the response to pressure is involuntary.  Some of these points are more sensitive than others; Schleese used the analogies of “lemon”, “grape” or “egg” pressure to help the audience understand the tolerable amount of force on a given area.  Clearly, a lemon will absorb more pressure than an egg before it breaks.

If these areas are being pinched, riders will likely experience resistance in their warm up for at least twenty minutes; this is the amount of time it takes for the nerves to go numb.

img_1481
These tree points show a design which is common even in modern saddles; they can apply too much pressure to the sensitive region below the withers and near the shoulder cap.

Schleese emphasized that there are nine critical points to check when assessing saddle fit for the horse:

  • Saddle length: The shoulder and loin areas must be non-weight bearing.  In addition, the tree must have the same angle as the shoulder of the horse.  It is critical to correctly identify the end of the shoulder (usually in line with the end of the mane/front of the withers) and ensure that the saddle is not impeding it. This last point was emphasized repeatedly.
  • Balance: The saddle’s balance point should be parallel to the ground when it is correctly placed on the horse’s back. It is the distribution of a rider’s weight, rather than the actual amount of weight, which is critical.  An asymmetrical rider can almost double their impact on the horse.
  • No Rotation/Shifting/Twisting:  The saddle should not shift to the right or left when viewed from behind.  The tree points must be behind the shoulder blades.
  • Wither clearance: You are looking for at least two to three fingers clearance above the withers, but should also look for two to three fingers on the sides to allow for lateral work.  Note here that conformation matters; the saddle will be closer to a high withered horse and farther away from one with mutton withers.  There should be no pressure at all four inches below the withers when the saddle is placed on the horse.  Schleese says you should be able to take a BIC pen, place it under the D-ring, and then slide it down without resistance.  Otherwise, when you add a pad and the weight of a rider, the pinch which the horse feels will replicate the bite of a stallion.
  • Spinal Clearance: This relates to the width of the gullet—you are looking for 3-5 fingers here, enough to ensure that the saddle isn’t interfering with the spinous processes or the musculature of the horse’s back.
  • Billet Alignment: The billets should hang perpendicular to the ground, and the girth should be centered, not tipped forward or backwards. The girth will always position itself at the narrowest point of the rib cage, behind the elbow.
  • Horizontal Panel: The panels should touch evenly on the horse’s back, all the way down their length.  Avoid “bridging” or rocking, which distributes the pressure unevenly, causing the horse to hollow their back.
  • Tree angle: The tree angle should be parallel to the shoulder angle when the saddle is positioned properly.
  • Tree width: The tree must be wide enough to allow for shoulder rotation, especially when jumping, but not so wide that the saddle rocks or sits on the withers.  Most owners are familiar with the concept of narrow, medium or wide trees, but not that the angles of these trees can vary.  This explains why a medium width tree in one saddle might not fit the same as one made by a different manufacturer.

img_1485
Note the angle of the tree points.

There are two styles of saddle fitting: static fitting is done while the horse is still, while dynamic fitting considers how the horse moves as part of the fitting process.  “You must bring your horsemanship and common sense with you,” says Schleese.

Dynamic fitting can give the saddle expert more information.  Schleese likes to watch the horse move on the longe line at the walk with no tack; he watches the horse’s eyes, ears, and mouth, as well as the manner in which they carry their topline.  In particular, he notes the tail carriage, which is essentially an elongation of the spine.  How the horse carries their tail is a reflection of the way in which they have been trained.  Most horses carry their tails to the left (and interestingly, their manes fall right).

“When the tail goes to the left, they will track up more easily on the left side,” says Schleese.

Schleese next will watch the horse with a rider on board, wearing their saddle as positioned by the rider; he notes that dressage riders tend to set it too far back while jumping riders tend to set too far forward.  When mounted, the horse should still track up evenly and the loins should remain soft and supple.  Within eight circles, the horse should begin to salivate and chew the bit.

While it is normal for the saddle to shift slightly away from the direction of the horse’s bend, it should not move dramatically.  Often, issues are more subtle.  For example, a saddle which is jamming into the horse’s back on the right side of their spine will cause their tail to swing left.

img_1458
Jochen began his three hour presentation with a Powerpoint supported lecture. I promise the students in the background were more interested than this photo might indicate!  🙂

Schleese’s mission is to educate as many equestrians as possible on the essential elements of saddle fit.  It is clearly a complex process which requires practice to master, but by reviewing the basics, any horse owner should be able to do a basic evaluation on their own saddle to determine if expert guidance is required.

Horse Care and Management, Personal Stories

Keeping Up With the Jones’

5 Comments

I think every other photo or post on my social media stream is of someone’s baby horse doing some amazing accomplishment.  Whether they are winning on the line, learning to wear tack, or being taught groundwork basics, these youngsters just seem to be high achieving go-getters.

For one example, here is an excerpt from a recent sales post for a 2 year old Connemara cross (same age and cross as my Izzy):

“…Training so far has included all ground manners (cross ties, clips, loads on trailer and trailers well, leads, lunges, stands for farrier and vet, bathes, free jumps).  She has had a lot of saddle work as well as bridled (and longed in tack with no drama)…”

The mare looks lovely and has obviously had a busy spring.  But as I read the ad in early July, I have to admit that I felt, well, inadequate, in terms of my own work with Izzy.   At that time, Izzy’s resume was nowhere near so robust.

img_0964
Look, we cross tie like a grown up horse.

It’s not because she lacks the aptitude or temperament.  Izzy is simply the sweetest youngster I have ever interacted with. She is friendly, inquisitive and confident.  She arrived from Wisconsin the day before an authentic winter blizzard, and she settled right in. “No drama”, to use a recent quote.

Izzy is by the Connemara stallion Skyview’s Triton and out of a Thoroughbred mare named Honest Wit.  She was foaled on May 30, 2015, and so by my thinking she is a “young” two year old—when she arrived here in March, she wasn’t even quite two by the calendar.

img_0502
Fresh off the trailer on a very cold March morning in NH!

I spent time this spring just getting to know her better.   In working with Izzy, I want to make sure that each step of the process is taken as it comes, without hurry and with as much clarity of expectation as possible.  Izzy’s breeder, Janet M. Johnson of Dayton Ridge Farm, spends time with all of her youngsters and they work on learning “age appropriate” skills.  Izzy was already familiar with leading, grooming and having her feet handled when she arrived.  But even so, certain things were new.  The first time my farrier worked with her, Izzy regarded the foot stand with quite a look of horror and wanted nothing to do with it.  She is always a little funny with her right front hoof and sometimes pulls it away.  We just kept patiently handling her feet daily until it became routine.

One day in April, I was grooming Izzy in the barn aisle, holding her lead.  She was a little fussy and almost before I knew it, the lead had slid through my hands and Izzy was galloping down the driveway.  After a (terrifying for me) gallivant all about the front side of the property, and with the help of my housemate Lisa and a bucket of grain, she was back in hand.  But clearly we needed a better system.

img_0942

So I began introducing her to the cross ties.  I did one tie at a time, clipping the lead to the opposite side of the halter and holding it while I worked on grooming.  She explored the boundaries, and the first day that she hit the end of her tie I held my breath, not sure of what to expect.  Izzy pulled for a moment, and then just stood there.  Once I knew her response to the pressure seemed reasonable, I added the second crosstie.  And just like that…we crosstied.

While I was dealing with my knee issues this spring, intern Kelly handled most of the “walk Izzy around the property” duties.  But after recovering from my surgery, I began doing more “walk abouts” myself, taking Izzy up and down the driveway, leading from both sides, practicing transitions between the halt, walk and eventually the trot.  I added voice commands and started carrying a short bat, then a dressage whip.

img_0743
Intern Kelly, with her canine assistant Fox, take Izzy for a walk about.

As the black flies emerged in April, Izzy learned to wear a fly hat.  Bug spray made her very nervous at first, but with calm repetition you can now spray her while she stands loose in the field.

In late spring/early summer, I introduced Izzy to wearing a saddle pad.  I let her smell it, rubbed it on her body, and let her see it come up and over her back from both sides.  “No drama”.  From there, it was an easy step to wearing the soft cotton surcingle, even if I have to adjust it to the absolute smallest setting. Izzy still isn’t a fan of having it tightened, but once it is set, she seems unconcerned.

img_1031
First time wearing a saddle pad. 

I set a few further goals for her for the summer.  When presented in hand, two year olds must wear a bridle with a bit, so I felt it was appropriate for her to learn how to do that.  I wanted her to load onto and off my straight load two horse trailer quietly, and then go for a few short rides.  And I wanted to introduce her to the basics of longeing; in hand, we had started with the voice commands, but I wanted her to understand the concept of moving in a circle, responding to the handler’s voice and body cues, and to be comfortable with the equipment on and around her body. I wanted to do all of this through a series of short playful sessions, so that she enjoyed interacting with humans and remained her confident, inquisitive self.

img_1131
First day in a bridle.  Still sorting out the bit.

I am pleased to say that we have achieved all of that and more.  On each step of the journey, Izzy has remained fairly willing and mostly obedient.  Like any youngster, she has her moments of silliness and lost focus, but more often than not she stays mentally on task.  Izzy calmly wears her bit and bridle, she does transitions in hand and on a longe circle, and has happily walked and trotted over low cavaletti in hand and on the longe.  She ate several meals on the trailer and went for four short rides, two with a friend and two on her own.  And as an added bonus activity, she has been ponied off her turn out buddy Marquesa around the farm.  Maybe if I get brave I will take the pair of them out on the trails to see more of the world!

img_1301
Learning to “pony”– all three of us together!

It is funny, though, because in spite of all this success, when I see a post about someone else’s overachieving baby horse, it is hard to not compare.  Izzy doesn’t free jump (I have no where to do that, anyway), and I can’t really say that she is confirmed on the longe (she certainly doesn’t canter), and what the heck is that contraption they are longeing that youngster in anyway?  Should I be using some contraption?  I haven’t taken her off property to any breed shows, young stock shows or in hand future intergalactic performance horse testings.  She has yet to wear a saddle.  Am I doing this right? My friend’s two year does [insert accomplishment here].  Is this what human parents feel like when they find out that little Susie down the road went to elite swim camp or Johnny across the street just won a ‘budding artist’ award, while their own child is playing in a puddle and eating dirt?

img_0954-1
When learning, it is important to have good role models.

But then I remind myself to take a step back.  Because it really doesn’t matter what all of those other youngsters are doing.  The journey we are on with our own animals is just that—ours.  Izzy has successfully stepped up to—and exceeded—my expectations for her learning and development this summer.  In spite of the transition into the school year, and available daylight growing shorter, I will still have the opportunity to play with her more before winter settles in, to confirm her basic longeing, and maybe even experiment with some basic long lining to learn about steering and pressure on the bit.  But there is no hurry, no rush.  If all Izzy does this fall is continues to mature and develop physically, the time which we already spent laying a foundation this summer will be like “money in the bank” next spring.

Horses do not progress on our schedule.  My mentor Denny Emerson says all the time that the day you come into the ring with an agenda is the day you are not going to get where you want to go.  There is a difference between making progress towards your set goals and making progress, no matter what.  So I guess I will try to worry less about what everyone else’s baby horses are doing and just listen to mine.

She is pretty darn persuasive.

img_0864
The “golden girl”.

Book Reviews, Horse Care and Management

Book Review: Suffering in Silence

Leave a comment

Suffering in Silence by Jochen Schleese

c 2012 Trafalgar Square North Pomfret, VT, 187 pages

ISBN 978-1570766534

I first read an excerpt of Jochen Schleese’s book, Suffering in Silence: the Saddle-Fit Link to Physical and Psychological Trauma in Horses, in an old issue of Dressage Today magazine.  The segment provided there included information regarding the natural asymmetry of the horse, detailing how this condition develops, and how this asymmetry impacts saddle fit.  I was struck by the technical precision in the writing and the clear passion which Schleese had for the subject.  I immediately ordered a copy of the book to review in more depth.

SufferinginSilence

Schleese is a Certified Master Saddler and Saddle Ergonomist, and Schleese Saddles are known as being “ergonomically correct” for female riders.  In this book, Schleese goes into a great deal of detailed explanation regarding the how’s and why’s of his theory of saddle fitting.  In particular, he highlights the personal research he has done into the differences between male and female pelvic anatomy, and how this can impact each gender’s relative position in the saddle. What was even more interesting to me, though, were his thoughts on the ideal fit of the saddle to the horse.

Jochen Schleese discusses the importance of saddle fit

I have struggled to find the ideal saddle fit for two of my own horses; one is a distance horse who has completed two 100 mile competitive trail rides, and the other is a Connemara cross who does mostly dressage (each has their own tack).  In the past, I have had certified saddle fitters adding pads, shims and all manner of other manipulations to make saddles fit.  After experiencing years of frustration, I began working with someone new, who identified some basic issues, such as an inappropriate tree width, as being part of my problem.  Still, the process of finding a correctly fitting saddle can make someone feel like the princess and the pea.

Schleese emphasizes that a well fitting saddle for the horse must be a priority, as this variable, more than many others, can influence a horse’s long term soundness.  In this book, he describes the horse’s saddle support area, with detailed discussion of the muscles, ligaments and tendons involved.  Schleese uses clear descriptions as well as outstanding illustrations and diagrams to help the reader to see and understand where the saddle should be placed, the interaction of the saddle, girth and the biomechanics of the horse, and the importance of clearing the equine scapula.  I can’t say enough about the quality of this discussion, and I think it is something which every horseman should read and absorb.  I simply haven’t seen it done better, anywhere.

Drawing-Important-Areas-on-Horse.jpg
Schleese draws areas important for saddle fit consideration on this horse; this image is used both in their text and on Saddlefit 4 Life’s website.  Unable to find an official credit but go to Saddlefit 4 Life for more!

I have since learned that Schleese is somewhat of a controversial figure in the saddle fitting/making community.  There are some who feel that his “saddles for women” theme is just a gimmick to sell saddles; one saddler I spoke with said that if you want to sell saddles in the modern market, they “all better fit women”.  Schleese also is a proponent of rear-facing gullet plates, a design which is counter to the principles espoused by the Society of Master Saddlers, a large certifying organization based in the U.K.  However, there are many other saddlers who consider Schleese’s work to be inspirational; one local saddler says that his work is in fact what inspired her to become a certified saddle fitter.

Lee Saddle Fit 009.JPG
My mare Lee demonstrates how poorly her old saddle really fit her…and she did a 100 mile ride in this!

With all that being said, I don’t consider this book to be a sales pitch, but rather the outcome of one man’s passion for promoting greater awareness of the critical importance of saddle fit for horse and rider.  The text is clear and accessible to any conscientious horseman, the book is incredibly well illustrated through diagram and photograph, and many additional resources are provided where readers can learn more.

I was so inspired by reading this book that I have actually reached out to Schleese’s company, Saddlefit 4 Life, and we will be hosting a seminar with him at the University of New Hampshire Equine Program on September 20, 2017. Visit www.equine.unh.edu fore more information.

5/5 stars