WEANING FOALS
As fall approaches, the dreaded weaning process hangs over the h=
eads
of many breeding farms, and broodmare owners. Never having worked with
broodmares before coming to Miner, this was my first time dealing with this
unpleasant task. Being terribly guilty of anthropomorphizing any and all
animals, (as I’m sure many of you are) the thought of separating mom =
and
baby is heart breaking. How horrible to leave a baby horse on its own just =
as
the nights are getting frigid and mom’s warm milk would surely help c=
old
little tummies warm up! However, in the back of my mind I knew they would
probably handle the break easily. They had certainly already grown up quite=
a
bit and become very independent. Not only were they eating large quantities=
of
hay, but had discovered the magically wonderful stuff called grain, getting
bold enough to shove mom out of the way at breakfast to get their fair shar=
e!
We weaned our two fillies in rapid
succession. The oldest (6 months old) done less =
than a
week before the younger one (4 months old). There were not days and days of=
mom
and baby screaming to each other across the farm. In fact after a couple ca=
lls
and a day or two of looking expectantly at me when I walked past as if I wo=
uld
bring their mom back soon, things just continued on like nothing unusual had
happened. The broodmares did a bit more calling, I think more out of discom=
fort
during the drying up process than actually missing their babies. The broodm=
ares
are happily back out in another field with sever=
al of
the farms other mares for the winter. The remaining mare and colt, as well =
as
the two weaned fillies are happily living together in their pasture as well=
.
Because we only have a few foals, unlike
some of the larger breeding farms, we can wean a little bit differently. Al=
l of
our broodmares with foals live together in a large pasture with a covered s=
helter.
Instead of doing a mass weaning of all the babies, we pull one mare out at a
time. While the remaining mares won’t nurse the weaned foals, still
having one or more mares around probably helps ease them into the idea of b=
eing
on their own. Also, by leaving the foals in the pasture they have spent all=
of
their life in and pulling the mares out, rather than moving the foals to
another location, we are able to avoid an additional stress.
The=
one
glitch in the system is that one of our seasoned broodmares, who has foaled
late in the season in the past, seems to sense at the start of the weaning
process probably means her foal being weaned last. The idea of being left w=
ith
several rowdy, obnoxious weanlings is not appealing to her and she tends to
take her frustration out on the babies with nips and kick threats. Since the
general premise of this method is to make this a stress free as possible for
the foals, we weaned her foal second this year even though she was a little
younger than the remaining colt. We’ll remove the last mare in a coup=
le
more weeks and introduce the weanlings (soon to be yearlings!) to some older
youngsters to have as playmates and to continue their learning process of h=
ow
to be a horse in a herd.
—Claire Gebben, Equine Intern<= o:p>
Training Mythunderstandings:
Breaking vs. Training
Many
people who are training horses will ask them que=
stions
that the horse has no way of understanding or answering. Then they will fig=
ht
with the horse or hold him hostage until the horse either gives in or gives=
up.
The so-called trainer walks away feeling like he or she has won the game
because the horse finally did what they wanted him to do. But no actual
communication took place. What happened was "breaking" not traini=
ng.
When you break a horse rather than train it, you get a trained flea. Wh=
at
do I mean by that? Well, you start training fleas by putting them in a jar.=
You
know they are going to jump and if they do that, they'll jump out of the ja=
r.
So you put a lid on the jar. Now when the fleas jump, they hit their heads =
on
the lid. Being smart fleas, they learn not to jump so high. Now you can take
the lid off and they won't jump out. Voila! You have trained your fleas not=
to
jump so high. That is exactly what you do when you "break" a hors=
e.
A lot of people train horses this way. They condition the horse to rand=
om
tasks one by one. They do not do it in a systematic way that is logical to =
the
horse.
Remember that horses have very simple minds. They can only connect a
cause-and-effect sequence of about two steps. To be horse logical, the next
thing you teach a horse can never be more than one step away from the thing=
you
just taught him and not more than two steps away from the thing before that=
.
It should be easy for the horse to understand how to do the next thing =
you
want to teach him because it should flow naturally from the last thing he
learned. It should be horse logical for him to behave in a certain pattern.=
He
shouldn't have to guess about what you want until he accidentally gets it
right. He shouldn't have to stress himself mentally or physically until he
learns to do the "correct" thing by avoiding the
"incorrect" thing.
At Meredith Manor we teach our horses a "language" based on t=
heir
body position relative to ours. The horse first learns on the ground that
certain body language on our part calls for him to be in a certain position
relative to our own. With this as a basis for understanding, we gradually s=
hift
the concepts of mirroring the trainer and working in a corridor of aids from
ground work to under saddle work and eventually to whatever game we ultimat=
ely
want the horse to play.
Horse showing is a game a lot of people like to play with their horses.
Someone defines some rules, prescribes a set of mannerisms, and the guys wh=
ose
horses come the closest to those prescribed mannerisms are the winners. Whe=
n it
gets too easy to win, the somebodies change the=
rules
so it takes something different to win the game. And everybody's off again.
Horse show rules are no more logical than the rules we make up for football=
or
basketball. They're all just artificial rules that can get changed at any t=
ime.
We teach our horses to perform according to these prescribed mannerisms=
to
make them competitive at the horse show game. When you are training, it is
important to remember that producing a prescribed mannerism should not be y=
our
highest goal. The way you mentally and physically gymn=
asticize
the horse is the real game. The horse show mannerisms are only a way for yo=
u to
demonstrate that you and your horse are physically and mentally prepared.
If you've only learned to duplicate the mannerisms, you and your horse =
are
going to be left behind when the somebodies cha=
nge
the rules. If your horse was properly trained, horselo=
gically
gymnasticized both mentally and physically, you=
'll be
able to adjust to the new game rules.
As your horse's trainer, you mentally take command of the horse's muscle
and strength and use it to play whatever the game you want to play with your
horse. Whether it's polo, cutting, reining, jumping, pole bending, barrel
racing or whatever other game you're playing, the real game is the interact=
ion
between you and the horse. It is about mental, not physical control. And th=
at
control has to be methodical and horse logical for you and the horse to play
the game as well as you can. =
Training horses is about develop=
ing
the horse's mental attitudes to the point where they enjoy playing the same
games that you do. That means taking mental control of your horse. The
controlling factor is not strength, not size, not speed. The horse is ten t=
imes
stronger, bigger and faster than we are.
Let other people be the ones who jerk on horses and slap them around or
hassle them until they've "learned" something. You want to be the=
one
who can communicate with the horse using horse logical emotions, horse logi=
cal
shapes and change them from what they aren't into what they can be by using
what they are to start with. Training is about what to do rather than about
what not to do.
—Ron
Meredith, President
Meredith
Manor International Equestrian Centre
© 1997-2008
Meredith Manor International Equestrian Centre. All rights reserved. Instructor and trainer Ron Meredit=
h has
refined his “horse logical” methods for communicating with equi=
nes
over 40 years as a horse professional. He is President of Meredith Manor In=
ternational
Equestrian Centre (
Allergies!
If you don’t have them yourself, you’ve likely lived
with someone that sneezes their way through ragweed season, breaks out in i=
tchy
spots from food (or worse!), or carries their epi-pen
everywhere hoping to stay clear of bees. Allergic responses are the result =
of
the immune system, which is designed to fight disease, going over the top in
the production of antibodies. Humans can get skin sensitivity testing done =
to
identify the offending substances and can often be managed with careful
immunotherapy. Equine allergies can come on without warning and may take mo=
nths
or even years to develop. The most common manifestations of an equine aller=
gy
are skin conditions or respiratory problems.
Our carriage horse, HD Saranac (aka
“The Princess”), occasionally had unexplained hives as a young
horse, but they were transient and infrequent. It wasn’t until she tu=
rned
9 years old that she began to sneeze. And sneeze. And sneeze. Sneezing to t=
he
point that she spent more time sneezing than anything else- poor thing! At first, antihistamines (such as
“Tri-Hist”) provided her some relie=
f, as
did making sure we didn’t ever sweep the barn when she was in it, her
bedding wasn’t dusty at all, and we wet down her hay. Sara was put ou=
t to
winter pasture along with the rest of the herd at the end of the summer and
seemed to do well all winter.
Spring came around and again we were ba=
ck
at the antihistamines and all the management techniques, but this time it w=
as
to no avail. At this point, our veterinarian recommended allergy testing for
Sara. Since horses have fur and variable pigmentation of skin, skin testing=
isn’t
very helpful for a horse, blood testing is necessary to try and identify the
allergens causing the problem. There are several labs that provide this ser=
vice
to veterinarians and will screen the blood serum for many different common
offenders. It is not cheap wi=
th the
testing running about $350, but it also doesn’t take that long to spe=
nd
that kind of money on drugs to manage the problem!
The blood test identified LOTS of things
that Sara is allergic to, but the ones that seemed to cause her the most
problems are the pollens of grasses.
We’d found the answer to the seasonality of her problem! The s=
ame
company that did the testing also provides treatment sets designed specific=
ally
to treat the individual horse’s profile. Again, not cheap, but report=
ed
by the company to be 80% effective, it was worth a try.
The treatment comes in bottles of
increasing strengths of the allergens/antigens. The horse is started on sma=
ll
doses of the weakest strength by giving subcutaneous (under the skin)
injections over a schedule that gradually increases the dose over a period =
of
months until finally the horse will be maintained on a monthly schedule. The
amounts are very small (1cc maximum) and the needles are very small also, so
there is minimal discomfort to the horse. For Sara, she’ll do just ab=
out
anything for a peppermint (fortunately not on the list, but molasses is!) so
she gets a treat at shot time and one person can do it in a matter of secon=
ds.
Once we started the treatment, she star=
ted
getting better within a month and shortly after that was fully weaned from
antihistamines as well. Sara did well from 10-13 years old, and then over a
winter, I forgot the monthly maintanence. I wil=
l not
do that again. The sneezing started up again with a vengeance, so back to t=
he
drawing board. Sara’s back on the plan and doing well so far.
Next time I’ll tell you about the
horrible time we (and she) had getting her symptoms under control this past
summer while waiting the new allergy treatment to kick in.
—
Save the Date!
EquiDay is a long-standing spring tradition in=
the
What does Miner do? The Summer Experience in Equine Management Program<=
/span>
The most prominent feature of the equine program at Miner Instit=
ute
is probably the Summer Experience in Equine Management (SEEM). It is a 13-week long internship de=
signed
for college students that are serious about seeking a career in the horse
industry. Students work in all aspects of the horse barn from the basic cho=
res,
to training young stock for saddle or harness, to managing stallions and
broodmares.
In a competitive job market, it is
important to have experience and a skill set ready to go, not simply an
understanding of things such as breeding and training. While having students
make mistakes is NOT our goal, we understand that the best way to learn is =
by
doing. Anyone who “does”, knows that=
an
even faster way to learn is by making the occasional mistake! SEEM students=
are
the “do-ers” at Miner; they aren=
217;t
simply watching demonstrations or getting horses ready for the trainer.
The program began in 1987, headed u=
p by
Brochures and applications are all
available under the Education section of our website, www.whminer.org.
Wild Cherry Poisoning
Recent remnants of
Hurricane Ike passed across western PA on Sunday and Monday prompting conce=
rns
about leaves from wild cherry trees that were blown into pasture areas. In =
some
cases reports were made about trees being blown down across fences. Each ye=
ar cattle,
sheep and horse producers, across the
Easily identified the members of the “wild
cherry” family include Wild Black, Choke and Pin Cherry. These trees =
can
grow 15 to 20 feet tall and are commonly found in fencerows, roadsides and =
open
woods. Fruits are true cherries and are small (does anyone remember
peashooters?) and have a darkened red to black color. Leaves are positioned
alternately along the shoots and are elliptical in shape with a point. All
plant parts of the cherry tree family contain the poisonous compound but da=
mage
to or wilting of the leaves results in highest poisoning incidences. Damage=
can
result from frost, trampling, drought and wilting as a result of storm dama=
ge.
Cherry leaves contain a compound called glycoside. Wh=
en
damaged or stressed the glycoside breaks down into cyanide and sugar. The
cyanide is the poison compound and the sugar makes the leaves more palatabl=
e to
the animal. Small amounts of healthy plant parts can be consumed safely but
only small amounts, 2 ounces or a few handfuls of damaged leaves can be dea=
dly.
Cyanide prevents =
the
animal from being able to utilize oxygen in the blood at the cellular level.
Animals will breathe normally but the cells and tissue will suffocate. Sign=
s of
poisoning rapidly appear. Animals will tend to breathe more rapidly and dee=
ply.
Later trembling and in coordination lead to collapse. Blood and mucous area=
s of
the mouth will be bright red in color. Violent death results from respirato=
ry
and/or cardiac arrest, usually within moments to an hour. If animals survive
for 2-3 hours their chance of survival is good.
Do not try to handle downed animals. Additional stress
leads to additional complications and handlers have been injured by kicking
animals. Intravenous solutions of sodium nitrate or sodium thiosulfate
have proven successful but timeliness is urgent.
Best control for reducing wild cherry poisoning is to
identify and remove all cherry trees from areas close to grazing livestock.
Treat stumps with herbicides to prevent resprouting.
Note that if you treat growing plants with herbicides prior to leaf drop th=
ese
treated leaves can also result in poisoning.
Sources: PSU Veterinary Sciences, VA Cooperative
Extension.
—Pa=
ul
H. Craig,
Turn on the lights for early spring breeding
If =
you are
planning to breed your mare anytime before April of 2009, you should be
“putting the mare under lights” starting soon! It will take at
least 60-80 days from the time you start the light regimen until she’=
ll
cycle regularly enough to make the breeding go as smoothly as possible. Ear=
ly
in the season, mares go through a period of transition where they’ll =
show
signs of heat, but likely not ovulate the follic=
le.
Ultrasounds, collection fees, shipping fees etc. will add up fast if your m=
are
is in heat for 12 days straight with no egg to fertilize! Mares need at lea=
st 8
hours of darkness to be sure the lighting program works, so invest in a tim=
er
for the lamp. You can either extend the “day” to be around 16 h=
ours
long, or do what we’ve had success with at Miner and give a
“pulse” of light starting 9 ½ hours after sunset.
You’ll need a 200 watt bulb, a timer and a=
way
to make sure the mare keeps her head in the stall so her eyes pick up that
light (close the dutch door, or put a stall gua=
rd up
over the door opening. Once you’ve started the lights, it needs to ha=
ppen
EVERY night without fail until May 1st or once the mare is confirmed 40 days pregn=
ant,
whichever comes first.
USRider Offers Tips for Wint=
er
Travel Season
Lexington, Ky. (Nov. 18,=
2008)
– With the change of seasons, USRider, the
national provider of roadside emergency assistance for equestrians, reminds
those who travel with horse to be careful when traveling and to invest time
doing routine preventive trailer maintenance to enhance their travel
safety “While trailering horses in the winter is not all that diffe=
rent
from trailering any time of the year, you do ne=
ed to
make a few adjustments for hauling in cold weather,” said equine trav=
el
expert Neva Kittrell Schev=
e. She added that during anytime of t=
he
year – regardless of temperatures – the basic rules apply:
Make sure your=
trailer
is safe.
Drive carefull=
y with
safe following distances.
Headlights
on for safety at all times.
Make sure the
horse’s inoculations are up-to-date.
Carry a curren=
t health
certificate and certificate of negative EIA if crossing state lines.
Wrap all four =
legs
with shipping wraps or boots.
Carry an emerg=
ency
first aid kit and know how to use it.
Learn to monit=
or vital
signs of the horse.
Carry backup s=
upplies
appropriate to the length of the trip.
Carry emergency
contact numbers for yourself and your horses and keep in a visible place.
Carry a truck/=
car
emergency kit. During the winter months, be sure the kit includes a shovel,
sand, red flag, horse blankets, human blankets, candle, matches or lighter,=
and
tire chains.
It is very important to make sure your vehicle is rea=
dy
for winter driving to maintained according to the
manufacturer’s service schedule and that you use a trusted mechanic.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> USRider
recommends that you check tire pressure and tread wear before each trip. Th=
is
is especially important with temperature changes. If you are traveling from=
a
warm climate to a cold climate, air pressure in your tires will drop. On the
other hand, when traveling from a cold climate into a warm climate, the air
pressure will rise. The main reason for disablements is early tire failure
(blowout) from temperature build-up from tires that are under inflated. A w=
eak
battery will usually reveal itself during cold weather. So, if your battery=
is
more than a couple of years old, be sure to check it prior to cold weather
setting in.
When driving, a good rule of thumb to follow is
“Rain, ice & snow – take it slow.” Before setting out=
on
a trip, check weather reports and plan accordingly to allow extra time for
inclement weather. Keep in mind that weather and driving conditions can cha=
nge
rapidly, so be aware of changing conditions. It’s important to look a=
head
to keep track of the driving conditions in front of you. Actions by other
drivers can alert you to problems and give you time to react.
“Don’t be susceptible to the false security of four-wheel drive,
cautions Cole. “While four-wheel drive may help you go, it won’t
help you stop.” Another
important way to help maintain control over your vehicle is to avoid using
cruise control on wet roads. Since it’s difficult to know what road
conditions you may encounter during the winter, make it a practice to re-fu=
el
when your vehicle when your fuel gauge drops below the halfway mark.
Be sure to dress the horse according to the situation=
. If
the horse has a full winter coat and does well in daily life, it will not n=
eed
a blanket for the trailer trip. In this case, open the roof vents and a few
windows in the back so the air does not blow directly on the horse. If you =
have
a stock trailer that does not have windows that close, a light sheet can
protect the horse from the wind. If the horse is body clipped or does not h=
ave
a heavy coat, it should wear the same weight blanket that it would normally
wear, and vents and windows should be open.
For more information about the U=
SRider
Equestrian Motor Plan and additional safety tips, visit www.usrider.org onl=
ine
or call 1-800-844-1409.
Nurse Mare farms have a new way to provide for orphan foals!
As the plight of “unwanted horses” contin=
ues
to make headlines, any and all ways to NOT add to the problem are welcome.
Before the drug protocol was developed to get a mare to produce milk (she n=
eeds
to have had one foal in the past, but is currently open and without a foal =
at
side), mares were bred specifically to get them to lactate and then weaned =
very
early from their foal and hope they’d accept the orphan. The problem
existed in that often farms ended up with foals that hadn’t served mu=
ch
purpose except to get mom to make milk.
At the 2007 AAEPconvention, Dr.
Peter Daels presented the previously known drug
protocol to bring mares into milk production along with a new technique to
improve the acceptance rate of the new foal. Mares were lightly sedated, gi=
ven oxytocin and prostaglandin, and were then palpated to
gently massage the mare’s cervix. This all causes a response known as=
the
“Fergesun Reflex”; the mare will lo=
wer
her head and begin to nicker softly to the foal=
as if
it were her own just following birth.
A S=
tandardbred
breeding farm used this procedure on 20 rescued mares and had 16 of the 20
accept the foal within ½ an hour, the oth=
er 4
had accepted their foals within 24 hours. Not only did the mares get a good
deal- life on a cushy farm, but there weren’t the “extra”
foals usually produced to make a nurse mare! Good news all around. For more information on this study=
, see www.thehorse.com and
search “nurse mare”.
—
NYSHC President's Note
Your continued membership
support is extremely important to the success of the NYSHC. These funds are utilized to contin=
ue our
work in the state on your behalf.
We are offering Equisure’s=
$1,000,000.00 Excess Equine Personal Liability Insurance through Saddle
Partners of America as a member benefit. Dues for gener=
al
membership is for one adult and all children in a household under 18
years old; family membership covers two adults and all children under 18. If
you have questions about the NYSHC insurance through E=
quisure/Saddle
partners of American contact: Diane Lesure at E=
-mail:
diane@equisure-inc.com.
You will be mailed directly a copy of insurance cover=
age,
but you can also view a document covering Frequently Asked Questions and ot=
her
information about the program at www.nyshc.org and clicking on the Membersh=
ip
Information link in the left side menu. To guarantee that we acquire this
insurance on your behalf beginning January 1st, please mail the membership =
form
and your check ASAP.
If you are currently a member of the chapters listed,
kindly remember to note that on the form. Forty percent of the NYSHC portio=
n of
your dues will be rebated to the chapter of your choice for their operation=
al
expenses. This centralized process is facilitating more economical insurance
for the entire organization and other benefits.
Group, business, and educational membership dollar amounts are the same as =
last
year and we have apportioned the dues according to the quantity of membersh=
ip
or employees. Our Board of Directors, through conversations, indicated that
equine groups and businesses would like to help us further through increasi=
ng
their support. Thank you in a=
dvance
for your support of the NYSHC.
—George Ki=
ng
HD=
Brookdale (Tedwin Titlist=
x HD
Massena), otherwise known as “Ducky” is a 3year old classic bay
mare with a big star and even bigger personality! Currently measuring 15 hands plus a
little, she’s definitely not done growing. She’s very easy to w=
ork
with and around; she’s started nicely under saddle as a
dressage or sport horse and I think she’ll make a lovely carri=
age
horse as well. Ducky’s first show season brought her from a crowded
junior horse saddle class at the Clinton County Fair and on to a couple of
solid performances in Introductory Dressage Tests at the NY Morgan Show in
September. She’s been on numerous trail rides around the farm and on =
the
“back 40” and takes it all in stride. A perfect partner for the amateur =
owner
and trainer for showing or just for fun!&n=
bsp;
$6000
Min=
er
Institute always has young stock for sale, some more trained than others, b=
ut
all have solid foundations and a history of excellent health care. Prices a=
re
negotiable. To inquire about =
Ducky
or to see what else we might have, contact