Yesterday, I told you about your horse’s brain box and how it protects his brain in the event of a forceful head trauma. You also learned that the construction of the brain box makes it unlikely that a head injury will result in a brain injury.

Today, I’m going to give you 3 simple field tests you can perform with your horse in the field. When you learn them, you’ll be able to tell the difference between a minor horse head injury and a real veterinary emergency. You don’t have to be an equine vet to use them. And they could save your horse’s life.

The first 24 hours after a head injury are the most critical. If your horse has, indeed, injured his brain, the next 24 will be the time he’ll show symptoms. That’s why you’ll want to spend as much time with in your horse’s presence during this period as you can.

During this time, you can run a few simple tests to check your horse for a possible brain injury. These are easy observations. You don’t have to be a vet to perform them. Nor do you need any special equipment other than what you probably already have in your own barn.

Before I tell you what they are, I want to give you one important note: if your horse has had a head injury and he is lying down, don’t try to force him to get up. If he attempts it on his own, that’s a good sign, but don’t help him. Even though you desparately want to.

Remember, he’s 10-20 times your weight, and if he does have a brain injury, he may panic, go into convulsions, and become agitated at his inability to stand up. If that happens, he may lose his balance, and fall over on top of you. Then you’ll have 2 injuries to deal with - his and yours, too.

So if you’re on site with your horse who has had a head injury, here’s what to do (and what not to do).

* Vision Test - Hold up one finger about 8 inches away from your horse’s eye. Move it back and forth. If he follows your finger with his eye, you at least know he can still see and his brain is reacting to an external stimulus. This is a good thing.

* Mobility Test - Do this ONLY if he’s already standing. Try to get him to follow you. Horses are herd animals by nature, so this instinct should kick in without his thinking about it. If he does follow you, that’s another good thing. If, however, he can’t put one leg in front of the other without stumbling, that could indicate neurological trauma - call a vet now.

* Consciousness Test - This is perhaps the most important observation you can make. It’s a horse’s nature to be constantly alert for threats from predators. So if your horse is up and alert, he’s probably in no danger at all. If he’s sluggish, but still responds to your handling, he needs to see a vet, but the situation probably isn’t urgent. If, however, he’s comatose and so lethargic that he cannot be aroused, then you do have a medical emergency on your hands. Get a vet out there now.

You’ll also want to check his pupils. When the pupils are really big, we call them dilated. When they’re really small, we call them contracted. You probably already keep a flashlight in your barn. Get one and shine it in your horse’s eyes. His pupils should contract when you do. If they don’t, you’ve got a serious problem, and you need your vet on-site ASAP.

Another indicator is his breathing. If your horse’s breathing becomes very rapid, that is also not a good sign. Call your vet immediately and tell him you’ve got real horse emergency on your hands.

Any of the dangerous signs I’ve described above could mean that your horse has swelling of the brain (the veterinary term is “increased intracranial pressure”). Your horse’s brain box doesn’t allow much room for the brain to swell. So if you your horse fails any of the above tests, you have an emergency situation and you need to take action to save your horse’s life immediately.

Thankfully, horse head injuries seldom result in brain injuries. The brain box offers a lot of protection for your horse. But if the unthinkable should happen, your knowing the warning signs could save your horse’s life.

Yours For Better Horse Care,

Sierra Lynch

You probably watched at least part of the Super Bowl earlier this month. Most people did. And if you enjoy watching football as much as I do, you’ve probably seen more than one player go down with some kind of head injury. It just comes with the territory.

Problem is, it comes with your horse’s territory, too. As gregarious as horses can be, they are definitely susceptible to head injuries. But can they really be life-threatening?

It’s scary enough to see a horse with a head injury. It’s even worse to have watched it happen. I’ve seen them rear so high they fall backwards. That’s scary.

Sometimes a horse may haul off and kick his paddock mates in the face in an effort to achieve the rank of Alpha Horse. Then there’s the not-so-smart horse who collides with an immovable object like a tree - sometimes at a high rate of speed and for no apparent reason. Go figure.

Horse head injuries are nothing to take lightly. Even though it’s one of the least likely injuries your horse will ever have, that doesn’t make it any less of a concern for you as a horse owner. And the biggest concern you have is for your horse’s brain.

Brain protection is one area where your horse has a distinct advantage over us humans. Even though our human skulls only afford 1/4 inch of protection for our brains, your horse’s brain has significantly more protection.

This is mainly because his brain tucked further back in his head than ours is. Plus he has a network of 26 bones to protect his brain. You and I only have 1. So even though a horse head injury can look pretty gruesome, it’s probably not as bad as you might think.

Now, don’t get me wrong. You need to take all horse head injuries seriously. The chances that your horse damaged his brain are slim, but only your equine vet can be sure.

But there are some field-expedient tests you can perform on the spot that will give you a rough indication of how serious a head injury is. But don’t worry. I’ll cover those in a future article in this series. When I do, you’ll be able to tell whether your horse might have a real brain injury, or just “got his bell rung.”

But what I want you to go home with today is this: Your horse’s skull provides a lot of valuable protection to his brain. And it’s a darn good thing.

A professional football player with an injury like this would most likely be out for the season. Is your horse that much tougher than a pro athlete? Maybe. But the biggest advantage your horse has is the general construction of his head. It gives him an advantage of us in the event of a head trauma.

And we’ll talk about that in Part 2 of my series on horse head injuries. So keep your feed reader pointed right here at Horse IQ.

Yours for Better Horse Care,

Sierra Lynch

P.S., If you were like me, you were rooting for the Colts this past Sunday, if for no other reason than they had horseshoes on their helmets (…plus, I like Peyton Manning, too!).

the first thing that you need is money, then land with good enough hay meadows to even bother with, then a big enough tractor to operate a baler, a baler, rake, sickle (or cutter). A truck, or truck and trailer to haul the hay to barn, or other storage location. truck with trailer to haul horses.

other than that, I do not know… I do not know how to get your name out there, but I would suggest promoting your horses (depending on what type you have) at rodeos, let a good barrel racer use one of your horses for their competition…. I hear that good barrel racing horses can go for pretty good $$$

Buying your first or new horse can be a very exciting but nervous time. Will I find what I’m after? Will it be the right horse for me? What is the real reason it’s for sale? Does it have any health problems? HELP…… I don’t want to be ripped off!

RELAX………..here are a few handy hints that can reduce the stress in choosing your new equine partner.

Whether you are looking at buying your first horse or your 3rdor 4th there are a few safe guards you can take to help ensure it is an exciting time in both your lives.

So you have decided to buy a horse, congratulations! Now that you have taken this first step there are a few things you need to decide.

What are your plans with your new horse? Do you just want to go trail riding? Do you want to compete? If so, in what equestrian sport? Western, Dressage, Jumping, Polo, Pony Club, Eventing, Rodeo, Show riding, breed classes???

Do you have a breed preference? What height horse is best suited to you? What sex animal do you prefer? Will it be run with other horses? Are you experienced enough for a young horse? How much are you willing to spend?

Sometimes it can be difficult to pin point exactly what type of horse is best suited to you and your equestrian pursuits. It is advisable to seek out the opinion of a more experienced horse person, someone you trust and has lots of horse knowledge.

Unless you are buying for a particular breed or show ring activity, the coat color is of no importance! I have seen lots of people make mistakes having brought a horse because of their coat color.

I personally have never been a big fan of grays (sorry to all the gray lovers out there), but I will tell you that some of my best horses have infact been gray!

There are quite a few different horse buying guides and sources around. Check out the internet, local paper and local saddlery shop. Don’t forget to ask your friends and horse acquaintances. These people will normally know who is for sale, why they are for sale and what the horse is like.

So you have found a horse that sounds great on paper and have contacted the owner to organize a viewing time. See if you can have a knowledgeable horse person go with you.

Try to arrive a little earlier than the agreed time. This way you will see if the horse has been worked before you get there and hopefully allows you to see the horse being caught and tacked up.

Get the owner to show you the horse being ridden first, and then get your friend to have a try and see what they think. If the horse doesn’t seem to be suitable at this point or it scares you half to death, then don’t get on!!! If you don’t feel comfortable now then you won’t when you get it home.

Ask lots of questions. Even if you think they are silly. You won’t know unless you ask. View any registration papers and competition results.

Have a good look at the horse, pick up all four feet, look in their mouth, under their tail, in their eyes and note anything that looks abnormal. If you don’t know what you are looking at get your friend to look.

If after you have put it through its paces and you think it maybe the right horse for you then I suggest two things, it maybe an idea to put a deposit down (if the owner agrees) and get a vet check done.

A vet will view the horse and conduct a few tests to see if it is healthy and sound. Remember to get an independent vet, one that hasn’t seen the horse before.

It may also be wise to have another viewing of the horse on a different day. Even if you arrived unannounced, at least this gives you an idea of what the horse is like naturally.

Talk to people who may have seen the horse before, they should be able to tell you anything that they have noticed.

See the horse loaded on to a trailer, lead the horse around yourself, try putting the bridle on, any think else you may have to do on a regular bases.

Once you have done all this and you still think the horse is suitable then it maybe necessary to negotiate the price. This is entirely up to you.

But remember that a lot of owners won’t budge on the price, especially if they know it’s a good horse (Although I have picked up a couple of great horses for half price their value, having been in the right place at the right time).

Remember to have all the registration forms transferred over to your name (or at least signed over) before you take the horse home. Also get a receipt saying you have paid for the horse in full before you leave the property.

Congratulations!!! You are now the proud owner of your new horse. May it be a long and satisfying journey together.

Happy Horsing

Tina Williamson B App Sci (Equine)

Several years ago we decided to enter into a free lease agreement with a woman who advertised that her aged horse was bombproof and suitable for an “absolute beginner” This suited us because we were absolute beginners and we wanted an affordable and safe way for our daughter, who was horse crazy, to learn about horses. It seemed perfect. A requirement of the agreement was that he was to be left stabled where he was, so, as we had no where to put a horse anyway it seemed like a perfect situation.
We went over to see the horse and he was beautiful…we fell in love with him (as his crafty owner no doubt knew we would) A deal was made. She threw in the bait and reeled us in good and proper. To begin with it seemed fair enough that we buy the hay…after all our daughter would be learning a lot of valuable information from this experience. As time went by, we were informed that we would have to pay for the dentist and farrier as well (we did)
We were by now, willing to do anything to continue our relationship with this beautiful old ex racehorse. Especially seeing as it wouldn’t be too long before our daughter was able to ride him…well…as soon as he was over his temporary lameness that was. In the mean time, my daughter got to work tirelessly cleaning up after the old fellow (and his owner’s other two horses as well). I know you are probably thinking things like “idiots” “suckers” etc. however, please understand that as beginners we weren’t aware that this wasn’t how it was meant to be. We thought that we owed her a debt of gratitude. We wanted to be a part of the horse world SO much but had neither the funds nor the dwelling nor the experience to even entertain the idea, so we just did what she wanted and for a long time even looked up to her for her knowledge and experience.
As agreed, we were buying the hay (she told us it was $15.00 a bale) We always gave her the money and she picked up the hay. What we didn’t know was that we were also supplying the hay for her other 2 horses as well. She was charging us $15.00 a bale and buying it for $5.00 a bale. Keep in mind that this “free lease” was now costing us around $60.00 per week as she was also charging us $30.00 for stabling (we found out that she had a deal with the property owner and she got a discount because she had 3 horses stabled there…stabling for 3 horses was costing her $30.00 per week…yep we were paying for all her horses…AGAIN.
One morning she called our house to inform us that the hinges on the horse’s stable needed replacing and (like the fools we really were at the time) we went down to the local rural supplies barn and bought lovely strong hinges (another $40.00) and then my husband fitted them. Meanwhile our daughter was still cleaning up poo, cleaning the stables, changing the water daily and still no riding.
We started to become a little suspicious when she wouldn’t allow us to bring anyone to see our horse. She became very insistent that we did not have any conversations with the stable owner either (This was because he didn’t know that we were leasing the horse in the first place…if he did she would not have had her discount on stabling any more) We weren’t allowed to visit at all unless she was present.
Then we decided to buy the hay ourselves one day and discovered what she was doing. It wasn’t long before we had her whole little scam worked out and found out that she’d done it before…in fact she did it all the time. As soon as the victims found out what she was up to and dumped her…she went fishing for a new sucker. Needless to say we learned a harsh lesson and were left feeling ripped off and red faced. As there was no written contract (another mistake) we weren’t obliged to continue and we didn’t.
Looking back on it, several years later and now owning 2 horses of our own, I feel very embarrassed to admit that we were so gullible, but while ever there are inexperienced people out there who are blinded by “horse love” and sly conniving people who are willing to take advantage of them to suit their own needs…I guarantee we won’t be the last. Just take heed, make sure you are aware of all the rules and what will be expected of you AND GET IT IN WRITING. Don’t get caught like us because honestly, there are many people willing to rip you off if you are willing to let them.

Averett University is located in Danville, Virginia. This college offers an equine science degree that can be worked into to almost any other major the school has to offer. The degree is also available as a minor to any major so that students are able to continue their training while attending college. The program provides a large knowledge base in horsemanship and is a gateway into the equine industry.

The program offers a bachelorâ??s degree in equestrian studies as well as a minor. The college has a firm foundation in horsemanship and students learn to exude professionalism. Those students that are interested in management positions in the equine industry will benefit from the business program that the school has to offer. The equestrian center is one of the best facilities on the East Coast. With over 100 acres the school features an indoor arena, dressage and jumping arenas, round pens and a cross-country course. The university also offers horses for training, however, students must bring their own saddle and grooming supplies.

Averett gives students the opportunity to attend professional clinics, workshops and seminars. They are also able to allow students to participate in competitions at no cost. The university is affiliated with the United States Dressage Federation (USDF) and invites many guest clinicians to speak and hold workshops. Many of these guests are Olympic level trainers. Students are able to make excellent professional connections within this program. The university also offers dressage and combined training for those students that are interested in competing.

Students who are interested in gaining hands on experience will enjoy the internship opportunities that are available to them. They are able to work in:

* Dressage barns

* Training barns

* Breeding facilities

* Camps

* Tack Stores

* Dressage

* Show Management

* Equine certification programs

* Teaching beginning jumping

Graduates of the program have many career options available to them including:

* Small business ownership/entrepreneurship

* Tourism

* Sales

* Pharmacy

* Tack

* Feed

* Equipment

* Preparatory for Large Animal Veterinarian

* Preparatory for USDF and CT certification exam

* Instructor/trainer

* Competition rider/trainer

* Equine journalism

Recent graduates have attended veterinarian school, are instructing and training, managing boarding facilities, web master from national equine organizations and therapeutic riding instructors.

My horse is a 17 year old quater horse mare. I ride her at least, well, it's different every day.
She's 15.3hh and there is not that much grass in the pasture, but enough where we need to start feeding her some hay.
I give her a bit of grain every late afternoon.
btw. i know my way with horses.
we were just not sure on how much hay cuz we've always fed them on grass.

My 975 pound TB in medium work gets approximately 8 flakes per day, plus 8 pounds of high fat feed.

It really depends on the horse. Give her hay in the am, when she runs out give her a little more.

i know you'll all probably terribly perplexed about what this could possibly be about… well it's about horses! XD

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http://JuliePoole.com

Julie Poole is considered one of the premiere Knoxville equine & pet photographers.

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Colic is one of the most common horse conditions in which you will need to call your Veterinarian. Colic is not a disease; it is a clinical sign of many possible diseases. Increasing your knowledge of this common condition of horses could save your horse’s life.

Colic means literally a pain in the abdomen. When a horse “colics,” this means that the horse is acting painful, and it appears that the pain is coming from the abdomen.

Horse colic can vary greatly in severity. Some colics will go away with just taking your horse for a walk, but other forms of colic will require surgery, and can be life threatening. So if you think your horse has colic you should contact your Veterinarian immediately.

There are many possible causes of colic in horse. One possible cause of colic could be from a changing diet. The diet could be too high in grain or maybe there is moldy hay in the feed. Another possible cause is when a segment of the horse’s intestine twists in the abdomen, this happens not infrequently in horses. Generally your Veterinarian can diagnose this by ultrasound, palpation, or by use of a stethoscope. To cure this type of colic, surgery is often required. This means you have to take your horse to the Veterinary hospital. Colic surgery in horses is very expensive costing $2,000 at a minimum. Plus the hospitalization is rather extensive too.

Some common treatments for horse colics could include products that relive the pain like analgesics called Banamine or Aspirin. Also, mineral oil is used sometimes if it is thought that extra lubrication in the intestines would help the pain pass. Sometimes in severe cases intestines can rupture which often leads to death. But with proper feeding and care you can prevent most cases of colic.

Often times when calling your Veterinarian about your horse having colic they will often advise you to not let your horse try to lay down and roll over. If they are in pain many horses will try and lay down and roll around on the ground trying to relieve the pain. It is important to prevent this as a horse can do even more damage to themselves in this condition.

A secondary problem often overlooked when horses colic is that lameness could develop. This is a disease of the feet which is also a very common problem of horses.

If you think your horse has colic you should contact your Veterinarian immediately, even if it’s late at night. When your horse has colic minutes and hours count towards finding a resolution to the problem.

Another important thing to be aware of is that some horses are more prone to colic than other ones. This is a question you should ask a horse owner if you are thinking about buying their horse.

By becoming aware of the common disease conditions in horses you can catch them earlier and provide relief earlier. If you have more questions on colic, or think your horse may have colic, be sure to contact your Veterinarian.